ENSURE: Ensuring cancer cell growth?

In a previous posting (here), I pointed out the connection between cancer and sugar. To quickly review, cancer cells thrive on glucose and carbohydrates and sugars turn to glucose in your body. After reading over the available information, I firmly believe that glucose and elevated insulin levels, if not THE causes, are at least major contributors to cancer tumor growth.

Believing as I do, I was shocked to find out that the nice maintenance lady where I work had been diagnosed with an aggressive thyroid cancer and she was drinking a lot of glucose. Due to the damage to her throat from the cancer and her subsequent surgery, according to a friend, the only thing she was able to ingest was ENSURE.

A quick check on the internet showed that ENSURE, while it may contain vitamins, is completely loaded with sugars. So this poor woman, recently diagnosed with cancer, in pain from surgery and not able to eat, got her last "nourishment" from a product loaded with sugar, maltodextrin and corn syrup. Your body converts these items to glucose, and glucose is what cancer cells thrive on. Needless to say, she did not survive long after her diagnosis. It was only 2 weeks from the time she found out she had cancer to the time she died. No, I am not claiming it was the ENSURE that killed her, but I certainly don't think it helped.

I didn't know her well enough to say for sure why she initially became a cancer victim, but I had seen her on one occasion smoking a cigarette. I do know that obesity was not an issue, because this woman was quite thin and very physically active. Even though she was in her 70's, she still mowed the lawn, took care of the landscaping, shoveled snow, raked leaves, cleaned up the parking lot, and kept the sidewalks at our office in great condition. I saw her quite often when I ended up pulling overtime on the weekends. She was friendly, always had a smile on her face, and seemed to actually enjoy her work.

And now she is another cancer statistic.

Hopefully by avoiding sugar and eating low carb, I will greatly reduce the possibility of getting cancer, but in case it does somehow happen, I want it on record that I do NOT want ENSURE. I think all that would do is ENSURE my cancer hung around even if I had surgery or went through chemo. I think an Atkins shake would be a much better option. True, it isn't a perfect solution, but the Atkins shake has only 4g of carbs per can (with 2g of fiber) while the ENSURE has 40 grams of carbs and NO fiber. With the established tie between cancer and glucose, ENSURE should be the last thing that doctors recommend to their patients.

Cancer patients need to keep up their strength and nourish their healthy cells while doctors try to eliminate the bad cells. I believe that recommending a product like ENSURE is a misguided attempt to keep them strong enough for treatment. Instead of giving patients sugar, there is something that will keep them strong without fueling cancer growth. It's called fat. Cancer cells cannot utilize the energy in fat, but the rest of the body sure can. If I ever get cancer, just get me a tub of coconut oil and a spoon. Better yet, get me a nice, cold quart of heavy cream and a bendy straw.


Here are the ingredients of the 2 products discussed in my post. Judge for yourself!

Ensure: Water, sugar (sucrose), corn syrup, maltodextrin (corn), calcium caseinate, high-oleic safflower oil, canola oil, soy protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, corn oil, calcium phosphate tribasic, potassium citrate, magnesium phosphate dibasic, natural and artificial flavor, soy lecithin, sodium citrate, magnesium chloride, salt (sodium chloride), carrageenan, choline chloride, potassium chloride, ascorbic acid, ferrous sulfate, alpha-tocopheryl acetate, zinc sulfate, niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, vitamin A palmitate, thiamine chloride hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, chromium chloride, biotin, sodium molybdate, sodium selenate, potassium iodide, phylloquinone, vitamin D3 and cyanocobalamin.
http://www.allegromedical.com/emergency-preparation-c5023/ensure-nutritional-supplements-8-oz-cans-p176498.html

Atkins Shake: Water, calcium caseinate, soybean oil, whey protein concentrate, cocoa (processed with alkali), cellulose gel, contains 0.5% or less of the following: potassium phosphate, cellulose gum, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavor, carrageenan, sucralose (a non-nutritive sweetener), magnesium chloride, magnesium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, d-biotin, d-calcium pantothenate, folic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, sodium ascorbate, thiamin mononitrate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin D3, vitamin E acetate, vitamin K1, chromium chloride, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, potassium iodide, sodium citrate, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite, zinc sulfate, maltodextrin.
http://www.atkins.com/products/cafe-mocha-shake