Is there an ultimate diet for health, energy and disease prevention?

There is no one diet. Cultures from all over the world have thrived off of very different diets. The human body is amazingly adaptable. Your best bet would be to include eating plants and animals, nuts & seeds, eggs & fish. Have the majority of it be plant based.

theplainvegan wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

She should be listening to her oncologist.

I agree, I've never asked why she doesn't turn to her oncologist for advice about diet. I personally consult my physician when I have questions related to nutrition.

Side note, unless your physician is trained in nutritional science, they probably know very little. Most have zero education in this science. You'd be better off getting a referral from a dietitian.

cbl40 wrote: »

Lots of fruits and veggies, low sugar (cancer cells like sugar), green tea. Check out the blog Crazy, Sexy Cancer by Kris Carr (I think that's her name) and you can see her thoughts. Best of luck.

Cancer cells thrive on glucose (which is a sugar) but it's also what your body runs on, even if you have a very low sugar diet; your body creates glucose through glucenogenesis (coversion of fats/proteins into sugar). That's the basic misinterpretation that occurs with those who follow LCHF/Keto diets. The exception is your brain can run on ketones which is why some cancers can be improved with treatment when following ketogenic.

There is no "diet" that helps. You should know that. cancer doesn't care who it picks on, doesn't matter if you are fat, skinny, just right, cancer just does. not. care.

You can be living the healthiest lifestyle in the world, eating veggies, doing it "right" if you are going to get it, you'll get it.

Of course if you are reading this and you are under 26, and have not had a HPV vaccine, what are you waiting for? Get to the Dr and get it! Mine was caused by HPV, its the fastest growing strain, HPV positive. Go get the vaccine!

If I have scared some into doing it, GOOD, because I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

FindingBecky wrote: »

I'm here on MFP mostly to lose weight, but as a 2-time cancer survivor, I also have an interest in knowing how to eat in the most healthful way possible from here on out. At this point I'm following a balanced, mostly-from-scratch diet that doesn't exclude any food groups, but have to admit that I'm fascinated and confused by how ketogenic dieters and plant-based dieters both claim to have the ultimate approach to lowering disease risk and improving physical function, despite these diets being almost diametrically opposed. Then there are the intermittent fasters, the gut health contingent, the paleo folks, and so forth. Thoughts? Experiences? I'm interested in knowing why you chose the path you chose, and what your results have been like, both physical and mental. Thanks in advance!

Interesting question.

I am pretty skeptical of any claims that there's a best diet, and to a certain extent I think health improves when people are not stressed, active, and at a healthy weight. Some people find it much easier to eat well and in a calorie-appropriate way when doing very low carb, whereas others find plant-based an easy way to eat (and same with IF). A lot of these things also come with a belief system that helps people stick to it by giving them a broader story or group -- having a reason is always a hard thing when the initial motivation wavers some and it gets easy to say "just this once."

My personal feeling, which is based somewhat on looking at blue zone diets and some other information, as well as what seems to be broadly agreed upon (David Katz's research and so on) but is also just intuitive, so I'd never claim it's right, is to look at what seems to be in common: be active, eat appropriate calories, don't smoke, don't drink to excess, get enough sleep, don't endure unnecessary stress (including about diet), eat enough vegetables (I'd say lots), eat fruit if you enjoy it, eat enough protein (this is more debatable, I know, but I find it easier to eat right if I do, and as a woman getting older anything to help with muscle mass is important to me). Beyond this, I think it makes sense to focus on whole foods (although this also just may be something that helps me eat better and not too much), and whether it's things with more fat (the low carb folks) or things with more carbs (the starch solution or plant based folks), I doubt it matters all that much, if all else is equal and you get in a decent amount of vegetables and don't overeat.

I think a lot of foods (fine in moderation) are obviously easy to overeat and take over too large a percentage of many contemporary diets in industrialized societies, and those including things like fast food (based around a burger or chicken and fries), sweet treats (sugar and fat, mostly), snack foods (fat, carbs, and salt, mostly), and just sugar (soda, energy drinks). By cutting out these foods a lot of these diets cure the issue of people overeating these things, at least so long as they stick to it. I don't think a diet high in high fat and carbs foods and low in vegetables is bad for you because "carbs," but I do think some end up fixing that issue and eating a better diet because they effectively remove the high fat and carbs foods they were eating when going low carb. I'd say blaming "carbs" is a wrong understanding of what happens in most such cases, but the subsequent diet may be more healthful (at least if more vegetables are added -- in my personal view, anyway!).