10 Cancer Fighting Foods

Are you eating to lose weight, or are you eating to rebuild the terrain that cancer hates?

Visceral belly fat is not passive storage, it behaves like active endocrine tissue that drives the inflammation and insulin resistance linked to cancer growth and recurrence, which is why I stopped treating the number on the scale as the real goal a long time ago. I am Dr. Dino Prato, founder of Envita Medical Centers, and for 25 years my team and I have helped thousands of cancer patients who had already exhausted the top cancer hospitals in the country, using precision testing and custom built immunotherapy. In this episode I break down the 10 metabolic foods I use to lower energy density without starvation, feed a resilient microbiome, and give the immune system what it needs to recognize abnormal cells.

I will show you why high water, high fiber, high phytochemical foods stretch your stomach receptors and create a natural satiety response, backed by a 2022 systematic review showing lower energy density produces larger sustainable reductions in daily intake. I walk you through watermelon and its lycopene and citrulline, cucumbers and the apoptosis research, celery as a source of apigenin, arugula and the cruciferous compounds the National Cancer Institute links to carcinogen inactivation, eggs for protein and choline with muscle as a glucose sink, zucchini noodles as my low glycemic pasta swap, psyllium husk and the 2023 meta analysis on body weight, fermented foods for microbiome diversity, berries for anthocyanins and oxidative stress, and broccoli and Brussels sprouts for sulforaphane. I also give you the exact plate order I recommend, the pre meal drink and 10 to 20 minute wait, the interval walk after eating, and the five questions I want you asking at your next oncology appointment covering fasting insulin, A1C, immune profiling, inflammatory markers, gut microbiome, and muscle mass. If you do not have much appetite, I tell you plainly that you need nutrient dense calories instead, and I want you working with your doctor before you change anything.

To learn more, visit: www.envita.com

Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your licensed healthcare provider before making any medical decisions. Individual results will vary, and Envita Medical Centers does not guarantee outcomes. Some treatments discussed may not be FDA-approved or available in all locations. Testimonials are shared with patient consent and may not reflect typical results. Do not delay or disregard professional medical care based on the podcast's content. Certain treatments may be available only at Envita’s international clinic in Hermosillo, Mexico. No specific outcomes are promised or implied.
________________________________________
Outcomes Disclaimer
The results referenced from Envita's Precision Cancer Care: 35-Fold Improvement in Response Rates are from a retrospective analysis of 199 late-stage cancer patients treated at Envita Medical Centers between 2021 and 2023, as published in the Journal of Cancer Therapy. These outcomes are not guaranteed and will vary based on individual factors such as cancer type, stage, genetics, immunity and prior treatments. Any comparisons to standard care or clinical trials are based on published data and internal analysis, not head-to-head studies. Individual results will vary.

You can read the full peer-reviewed study at: 

https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=132493

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Are you eating simply to lose weight, or are you eating to rebuild the terrain that cancer hates? There's a difference there. Now, weight loss is not just about vanity or a number on a scale. The deeper goal is a biological transformation. We want to help the body become metabolically flexible, reduce the toxic visceral belly fat that has inflammation that feeds cancer and insulin resistance, lower systemic inflammation, and improve insulin sensitivity, and feed a healthy, gut-resilient microbiome. Ultimately, the objective is to give the immune system the exact nutrients it needs to recognize and eliminate abnormal cancer cells. Things like visceral fat, it's not just stored energy, it acts like an active endocrine tissue that drives inflammation that can lead to cancer growth or spread, even if you have cancer or you're in remission. And so we want to remove that. I'm Dr. Dino Prado, founder of NVITA Medical Centers. For the last 25 years, my team and I have helped thousands of cancer patients that have failed the top cancer hospitals across the country. And we did it with precision targeting, testing, custom-built immunotherapy, and it's made a big difference. In this episode, I'm going to talk about the foods we should consume that can help us with the nutrient density of the body, with nutrients, and help us to fight visceral fat and help us to be healthier overall and hydrate even during cancer treatment. Make sure you're working with a doctor before you change anything, and let's get started. Consuming foods that are high in water, fiber and phytochemicals are actually important, but they also tend to be low in calorie density. So we still need our high nutrient dense foods like grass-fed beefs that are organic, our wild-caught fish, and et cetera. These are really, really important, our organic fruits and vegetables. But when we eat these fruits and vegetables that are high in water, they stretch our stomach receptors. And so for a lot of patients that are trying to lose weight, we can almost get almost like a natural GLP1 that trigger satiety. A 2022 systemic review of meta-analysis confirmed that lowering the energy density of food is associated with a larger, sustainable reduction in daily energy intake without starvation. So we're eating foods that are loaded in nutrients, water, electrolytes, and minerals, and these are gonna help us stay full longer, and then we're gonna eat our proteins, and that helps us to lose weight. Now, these are for people that are trying to lose weight and belly fat in particular and prevent cancer. That plays a huge role. So I'm gonna go right into the 10 metabolic foods that do this. Number one is watermelon. Despite the myth that water metal contains too much sugar, it features a unique metabolic paradox. Its glycosemic density is low, meaning there isn't a lot of sugar compared to the water and fiber. This makes it an exceptional high-volume food. So as you eat it, it makes you feel full. And it deals with overnight cravings for people that are eating processed foods. It's loaded with lycopene and citrulline and polyphenols. Lycopene is a carotenoid widely studied in humans and animals for its anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory pathways. It contains L-citrulline, which supports atrial health, regulates nitric oxide pathways, relaxes blood vessels, and improves circulation, optimizing immune cells and immune transport throughout the body. That's huge. Food number two, which is in the family of watermelon, cucumbers, they are ultimately low calorie, high-volume foods. They are crunchy, they require your chewing, they give your brain the idea that you're getting full and they're registering fullness. But cucumbers belong to a family that have important biochemical compounds. In preclinical research, these compounds have been studied for their ability to influence apoptosis, get rid of cancer cells, program cell death, inhibit cancer cell proliferation and growth. And so here's a strategy. You slice these with the watermelon in the morning throughout the day. And whenever you need snacks or something, you use these. But when you go to eat your meals, you're eating the high-quality proteins, your grass-fed beefs and your wild-caught fish and all those nutrient-dense foods, which you can check my other episodes for, and you combine these so it helps you feel full and you're not eating garbage throughout the day, and you've got the fiber and the hydration. It's far better than other processed electrolytes. Food number three, celery. Far from being a boring food, celery is a powerhouse of phytotherapy. It satisfies the nervous system and it helps with cortisol and cravings. Celery is a primary source of apigenin, which has been known as a powerful flavonoid against cancer. A review in Cell and Bioscience highlights apigenin's anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer activities. You see, this is the combination of these things that you can grab as snacks and get rid of all these processed products. And it's fantastic for the kids and the entire family because it hydrates and gives nutrients and removes the processed food and the binging, which is so powerful to your healing. Food number four, arugula, one of my favorites. I almost eat it every day. While spinach and lettuce are great, arugula offers a peppery, bitter phytochemical punch. Now you can eat the other vegetables if your body can handle it, but arugula is very powerful. The bitter flavor profile is intentional, it stimulates digestive enzymes to help deliver and encourages slower and more mindful eating. And arugula is a cciferous vegetable, like in the family of broccoli and cauliflower. But arugula is very powerful. National Cancer Institute notes that cerous greens contain important chemicals that break down during digestion. And these chemicals have been studied to help and activate carcinogens that cause cancer. Put a bed of arugula underneath anything you're eating, whether it's your eggs, your chicken, your wild-caught salmon, and there you have more volume in your food and high nutrients and immune-supporting signaling. Food number five, eggs and egg whites, very powerful proteins. We need almost one gram of protein for every pound of body fat or close to it. And so we need high quality protein to help our muscles. And one way to do that is with eggs. Muscles are very important. They're an important primary glucose sink, if you will. They take all the glucose in, so it's not sitting around the body. It drives the insulin sensitivity down and it provides a vital amino acid reserve for the immune system and detoxification pathways required for health. So get your eggs. Eggs are one of the best breakfasts in the morning. Dietary protein is a fundamental driver of satiety, tissue repair, hormone balance. So you want to get these in the foods, and this is going to help with your blood sugar, visceral fat, insulin, and eggs have choline. I also like to take additional phosphatylcholine, about 3,000 milligrams a day, because these work, but the egg whites are powerful. You can have them with sautéed fruits, vegetables, and that makes it a very powerful food. Zucchini. Now, zucchini is important for those of us who love pasta. It's a way for us to have more like a pasta without having to make pasta. We can get a spiral later that is sold online, very inexpensive on Amazon, run our organic zucchini through. And now we have a noodle that we created from a vegetable, and we can add our lycopene from our organic tomatoes, dress it up, and of course gives a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, whatever you like, oregano. And you now have developed a healthy salad because it's not really pasta, but it's like pasta with much lower glycosemic impact, but it's filling because the food has water and fiber, and that goes into the gut microbiome. And we see this with cucumber, zucchini. So important. And we're using things like our watermelon for our dessert. So this is important. This helps us keep our blood sugar down, lose the excess fat if we're overweight, and visceral fat so that we can prevent heart attacks and heart disease and diabetes and cancer. So I like this idea because it moves us into just making these simple changes and bringing in some of these foods so that it can really help us. Another food is like a psyllium husk. A 2023 meta-analysis found that taking psyllium before meals was significantly associated with a reduction in body weight. And there we don't even need a GLP1 inhibitor, help with BMI, and it helped particularly those that were overweight. Now, psyllium is soluble and gel forming, and it can make you feel full. You have to be very careful when you use this, mix it with water, and then drink a whole nother glass of water behind it and start with little doses and build up. But psyllium husk can be really great for people who get hungry all the time at night or they just need more fiber in the diet and they can start slow and build that up. Food number eight, fermented foods. And here, fermented pickles, organic. You can make them yourself, you can purchase them. Fermented foods introduce a beneficial live microbiome, sauerkraut, kimchi. This helps your gut microbiome diversity and directly help regulate your systemic immunity and signaling. So this plays a big role in your health. Use one or more of these fermented vegetables throughout the day with all your meals. It's so important. They're crunchy, they have good flavor, and they help with signaling in the gut microbiome. Food number nine would be things like berries. Blueberries are very powerful. They have strong polyphenols, resveratrol. Some raspberries, some people are sensitive to oxalate, so you may want to not go crazy on those. But berries are very good. They're also loaded with polyphenols, nutrients, as I mentioned, and they're gonna help you. They have anthocyanidins. These are anti-cancer properties in these foods, and they're good for the gut microbiome, great in quenching oxidative stress and free radicals. And you'd want to keep these. Now, one tip here is you can get them organic because they can go bad sometimes when you buy them. So you can buy the frozen organic and then just quickly add them to whatever you're doing. And sometimes they're good to eat as a dessert, frozen as they are, low glycosemic, high nutrient, high ability to help with polyphenols in the diet and help you. Now, number 10, which I already mentioned, but I'm gonna add it again: cruciferous vegetables going beyond arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale. But I particularly like the Brussels sprouts and the broccoli here. And I'll tell you why, because they're very important. You've seen it before. They have sulfirophanes, which are very powerful for cancer. And you can add these into the diet. These sulfirophanes in a 2026 study were premier chemo preventative agents, upregulating their two antioxidant pathways: assistant and cellular detox, apoptosis to dying off of cancer cells and old cells in the body, and they were important in the epigenetic process. So you're now bringing health to the body, and it's easy because you're chewing, it also makes you feel full when you're eating broccoli and add a little extra virgin olive oil, some fresh garlic. You know, you're starting to see the picture. These are the things you want to put into your diet. So you can look at these 10 powerful foods, and then you've got a master plate strategy for fighting cancer and helping yourself be healthy. So let me break down how you want to eat these on your plate. If you're having a meal, you eat half of the protein, then half of the plant fiber, vegetable, and then the starch. And then you can finish the meal. Before you start the meal, you drink green tea or herba mate or water. Wait about 10 to 20 minutes, then eat to see you're already fuller. And these are for the people that want to lose weight and prevent cancer. And then after your meals, you want to walk. And you maybe want to walk three minutes slow and then speed it up for three minutes and alternate until you go about 30 minutes. And now you're changing the world for your body. And of course, make sure these are foods your body can digest. You don't have to follow this religiously. These are just giving you ideas of a way to think about eating and incorporating healthier foods. And this is important for cancer patients. Make sure you're getting nutrient-dense foods. If you start eating too many of these foods that are full of water, and let's say you don't have much of an appetite, that's not a good place to start. You actually need more nutrient-dense foods. Sometimes you might need healthy protein shakes that are organic, high quality proteins that your body can digest to give you a good caloric intake. But for patients that are overweight or have belly fat or want to lose weight or just look good and be healthy, this program works really well because it makes you feel full, gives you energy, and it allows you to bring your health to the next level. Now, I'm gonna end with a little bonus section. Five crucial questions for your next oncology appointment if you're a cancer patient. These are the questions you would ask your doctor. Number one, metabolic health. What does my fasting insulin look like? What's my A1C hemoglobin, my triglycerides, liver enzymes, fructosamine? What are those numbers? Look at those. I mean, those are usually not run that often on cancer patients. You should run those. Those are your metabolic health. Fix those numbers. Have you done an immune profile on me? Do you know my full immune system and spatial biology? That's critically important. And inflammatory markers. Maybe all they can run is C-reactive protein, but that's a good place to start. And there are other inflammatory markers in a more expanded panel you can run looking at cytokines for cancer patients. Gut function. Did you look at my gut microbiome and my terrain? Can we improve on that? See, these are the things that functional medicine and naturopathic doctors do all the time. And it plays a big role to health. What does my muscle mass look like? Am I wasting? Do I need to improve on it? What can I do to protect the cachexia or the sarcopenia occurring in my muscles, depending on where you're at? And can we add these things to my personalized treatment plan so that I can get these things all working in my favor so my body can be stronger and heal? That's the questions you want to ask. And if your doctor says we don't do that, find a different doctor or add a doctor to your program so that you can reclaim your health and move yourself to a far better quality of life. If you liked this episode on 10 powerful foods you can use to help you lose weight and feel better, you may want to watch this other episode I did on cancer-linked visceral fat. And I think you'll find that it shows you how much this visceral fat impacts cancer and why we need to get rid of it and get our metabolic flexibility back in order. I hope you found this episode helpful and may the Lord bless you on your journey to healing.