We’re doing a three part article series covering the three drugs recently mentioned in a CTV article due to the US feeling shafted by their prices against what other countries pay. These three drugs cost more than “an arm and a leg”, and there ARE healthier, less problematic alternatives!
Let’s wrap up with Keytruda.
“And the annual list price of Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda is $191,000 in the US, while in the U.K., it’s US$115,000; in Canada, it’s US$112,000; in France, it’s US$91,000; in Germany, it’s $89,000; and in Japan, it’s US$44,000.”
Keytruda, sounds similar to “intruder”, although from the website’s opening imagery, I think it’s intended to be some sort of play on words related to “true dat”.
According to the Ketruda website;
“KEYTRUDA is not chemotherapy or radiation therapy—it is an immunotherapy and it works with your immune system to help fight cancer. KEYTRUDA can cause your immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in any area of your body and can affect the way they work. These problems can sometimes become serious or life-threatening and can lead to death. You can have more than one of these problems at the same time. These problems may happen anytime during treatment or even after your treatment has ended.”
Normally, when we refer to the body attacking healthy organs or tissues, we are referring to an auto-immune condition, NOT a healthy, working immune system that knows to only attack what is foreign and of potential damage to the body! In this self-same paragraph, Merck contradicts their own statement of help with statements of harm.
Keytruda works by blocking a Programmed Death Receptor -1 (PD-1) pathway that a given cancer might use to evade the body’s T-cell response. But as shown by the rather long side effect list below, is that wise?
Deliberately causing an auto-immune state of the body in answer to a cancer that is classified as out-of-control or inoperable, is basically asking the patient which way they wish to die!
So what exactly is Ketruda? Ketruda is the brand name for the drug: pembrolizumab.
According to Carolyn Vachani, MSN, RN, in her paper on Ketruda last reviewed on OncaLink February 4, 2024:
“Pembrolizumab is a type of monoclonal antibody which works to stimulate the immune system to destroy cancer cells. T-cells are a type of white blood cell that are very important to the normal functioning of the immune system. Pembrolizumab works as a form of immunotherapy by binding to the “programmed death receptor” (PD1) found on T-cells to stimulate the immune system to find and kill cancer cells.
Pembrolizumab is administered intravenously (IV, into a vein). The dosage may be based on the patient’s height and weight.”
According to DailyMed by National Library of Medicine:
“Pembrolizumab is a humanized monoclonal IgG4 kappa antibody with an approximate molecular weight of 149 kDa. Pembrolizumab is produced in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.”
It’s another chimera drug.
Foods and herbs have been studied to address various cancers for 100’s of years, and modern research continues to back up their use to this day. The problem is that this knowledge is generally kept buried, and many doctors either don’t know about it, or downplay it in favour of drugs they get paid to promote. Occasionally, a clinic somewhere around the world will make the news for having cured someone of cancer, but most of the time, that information is kept hush-hush.
As usual, prevention is key, as playing catchup, depending on when the attempt to clear out the cancer begins, isn’t always successful in mainstream medicine, let alone alternative medicine! This is a reality that mainstream medicine simultaneously boldly admits to yet doesn’t want you to focus on.
The list of cancers that Keytruda purports to treat are as follows:
The foods and herbs that have entered my nutritional/medicinal wholefood database have been researched and tested to treat various cancers including, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, esophageal cancer, intestinal cancer, leukaemia, liver cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and stomach cancer.
Some foods are very good at being anti-cancer, meaning they work to prevent cancer in the body. Other foods have been shown to aid the body in getting rid of cancer. In a medicinal role, the foods in question are eaten in a far more focused manner, in order to make use of the components they carry that help the body remove the rogue cell growth.
However, before I go into the various food lists out there and how they have been shown to aid the fight against cancer, another food/medicine-based controversy broke out on my daughter’s laptop screen when she was researching a new-to-us herb that we’d dug up on private property who didn’t want it there. The Iris flower! Incidentally, it too has been used in times past to address issues such as skin cancer among other things. Depending on your search results however, and where you are looking, you’ll be told this plant is poisonous, or that it is highly beneficial and used in other medicines as well as supplements and even some bar drinks. You can read more about that controversy here.
Just running a word search on “cancer” in my health article folder where I download articles and papers from various sources, reveals a staggering 140+ list where nutrients such as magnesium, and flavinols are mentioned alongside troublesome causes such as glyphosate, lead exposure, and deficiencies in one’s diet.
In Mercola’s article on 10 Common Nutrient Deficiencies published May 16, 2022, he says this about Vitamin D:
“Vitamin D — An estimated 40% of Europeans are deficient in vitamin D, while 13% are severely deficient. Among older Americans, however, it’s estimated that up to 100% may be de¦cient, in large part due to less time spent outdoors.
It’s now known that vitamin D is necessary not only for healthy bones but for health throughout the body. As a powerful epigenetic regulator, vitamin D influences that activity of more than 2,500 genes, and vitamin D receptors are present all over the body, including in the intestine, pancreas, prostate and immune system cells. Vitamin D plays a role in numerous diseases, including:
– Cancer
– Diabetes
– Acute respiratory tract infections
– Chronic inflammatory diseases
– Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosisTo ward off infection and prevent chronic diseases, the level you’re aiming for is between 60 and 80 ng/mL, with 40 ng/mL being the low cutoff point for sufficiency to prevent a wide range of diseases, including cancer.
The single most important method of optimizing your vitamin D levels is exposing enough of your skin to the sun during around solar noon”
He shares this about Vitamin A:
“People who eat foods rich in vitamin A, or retinol, not beta-carotene, experience a reduced risk of developing squamous cell skin cancer as well, as vitamin A affects cell growth and differentiation, which plays a role in the development of cancer.
Vitamin A is a group of nutrients that falls into two different categories: retinoids found in animal foods and carotenoids found in plant foods. The two are chemically different and provide different health bene¦ts, but both are necessary for optimal health. Plant foods high in beta-carotene include sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe and mangoes. Animal foods rich in vitamin A include liver, egg yolks and grass fed butter”
In his discusson on Iodine, Mercola says that:
“…iodine is an essential mineral that helps prevent polyunsaturated fats from oxidizing, alkalizes your body’s pH, protects against cancer and is a natural antibacterial agent. Foods that are naturally iodine-rich include spirulina, sea vegetables, prunes, raw dairy products, eggs and Himalayan pink sea salt. Eating these foods on a regular basis will help ensure adequate levels.”
About your typical black pepper found in the middle of most dining room tables:
” Immunomodulatory and Anticancer Activities — Piperine is packed with flavonoids, carotenes, vitamins and antioxidants that have shown a beneficial effect in the prevention of cancer. 26 Lab studies have found that black pepper has an immunomodulatory effect, and it augments the production of nitric oxide while enhancing the cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells. 27
These findings suggest that black pepper plays a role in anti-tumor activities and may potentially be used to help regulate inÄ“ammatory responses and prevent carcinogenesis. Piperine also has antimutagenic and cancer-preventive effects in lab studies and animal research.”
Remember that Mercola’s footnotes are clickable so you can do your own research.
Your sulforaphane vegetables, mostly in the cabbage family, are considered anti-cancer due to how sulforaphane works in the body.
Mike Adams, known as the Health Ranger, wrote about sulphoraphane in 2022, saying:
“Sulforaphane also exhibits powerful anti-cancer properties. GreenMedInfo lists the best properties of this molecule as reflected in published medical literature. It shows that sulforaphane is documented to help with:
– oxidative stress
– inflammation
– prostate cancer
– breast cancer
– colon cancer
– autism
– pancreatic cancer
– diabetes type-2
– DNA damage
– bladder cancer
– insulin resistance
– … and many other conditions.”“Remember: Everybody can make unlimited quantities of sulforaphane for nearly free. No person needs to wait for a doctor’s permission to grow and eat broccoli sprouts. You don’t need health insurance coverage or a visit to the (toxic) pharmacy.
Even better, corrupt, pharma-infested governments of the world can’t take away your broccoli sprouts unless they go full tyranny and start banning seeds. Even then, seeds are pretty easy to hide from government thugs.”
Vitamin C is often written about over at OrthoMolecular.org, where they released a news release on the subject of Vitamin C and Cancer in September 2010. Here, they discuss extremely high doses administered via IV, that have successfully fought off cancer. For this method to be of use, you need a naturopathic or nutrition-minded or integrative doctor to administer and monitor the results.
Quercetin and Kaempferol have both been noted to inhibit growth of cancer cells according to a footnote of Mercola’s in his article on Flavanols deficiency in age-related memory decline.
In Mercola’s article titled “Flower Power”, he notes this about Saffron:
“Saffron is a spice that is hand-harvested from the crocus flower. Once harvested it is sold in thread form or ground to a powder and used in tea or health supplements. Saffron helps lower inflammation, improve mood and may help with heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. It has also been traditionally used in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and reproductive health.”
Turning now to the nutritional/medicinal wholefood database that I have been building since early 2021 from textbooks, articles such as those quoted above, ebooks, papers, etc, let’s take a look at the various foods listed for the list of cancers I mentioned earlier. Do note that these lists are not exhaustive, as they are either longer than what can be shared here, or have not yet been entered into my database.
Breast cancer:
Asparagus, Avocado, blueberry, carrots, dandelion, fish, eggs, chia seeds, flax, grapes, garlic, licorice root, beef, port, yogurt, olive leaf and olive oil, oranges, pomegrante, pumpkin seeds, sesame seed, turnip greens and walnuts.
Cervical cancer:
Tomatoes
Colon cancer:
Beets, blueberry, cabbage, carrots, dandelion, flax, garlic, grapes, kale, licorice root, yams (prevent colon cancer)
Esophageal cancer:
Garlic
Intestinal cancer:
Elecampane
Leukemia:
Grapes, lavender
Liver cancer:
Dandelion, lavender, olive leaf extract
Lung cancer:
Aloe Vera, carrots, garlic, pomegranate, watercress
Ovarian cancer:
Beans/legumes, ginger
Pancreatic cancer:
Many of the foods listed for pancreatic cancer not only assist the body in removing it, but also prevent it in the first place, foods such as:
Aloe Vera, asparagus, green tea, kale, lichen, onions, rhubarb, spinach, tarragon, and turmeric
Prostate cancer:
Flax, grapefruit, licorice root, olive leaf extract and oil, pomegranate, spinach, tomatoes
Skin cancer:
Eggplant, ginger, turmeric
Stomach cancer:
Cabbage, garlic, grapefruit, oranges, pineapples, shallots
In general, eating for prevention is far better than playing a potentially deadly game of catchup!
Foods that have been known to successfully prevent cancer in general include:
Aloe Vera, Asparagus, beets, black pepper, blueberry, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cayenne, chokecherry pits, red clover, cocoa (non-irradiated), eucalyptus, flax, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, grapes, green tea, kale, lichen, licorice root, yogurt, olive oil, onions, oranges, potatoes, parsley, rhubarb, shallots, spinach, strawberries, tarragon, tomatoes, turmeric, watermelon, and yams.
If there is a history of cancer in your family, you want to be adjusting your diet to include as many aspects of the above list (and remember, the list is actually longer than this, including in my database!) as possible on a weekly, rotational basis.
If you or a family member has been diagnosed with cancer and not yet begun treatment, seek out a naturopathic doctor who has been trained in nutritional medicine. If you would appreciate accountability in sticking to the regimen they set out for you, give me a shout and let’s set up an accountability schedule that will look at your whole person, not just your cancer diagnosis. God created you with a body, a mind, and a spirit, so how you look after yourself in general, the environments that surround you every day, as well as the food you eat are all important.
If you or a family member is in the middle of treatment for cancer, talk to a naturopathic doctor or practitioner about herbal or nutritional complements that could help offset the damage done by chemotherapy, radiation, or to convalesce after surgery. I’ll give you a very big hint: GINGER!!! I’ve witnessed the effects of this wonderful root, first hand!
It is literally a crying shame that the world of big pharma would tell a cancer patient that they must shell out the big bucks if they want to be well. What if you don’t have health insurance?! What then?! Look to the world of plants that God placed on this earth ofr us to use. He truly has provided everything we need for life and godliness!
Stay safe, and lower the costs to your health and to your pocketbook by using food as your medicine.
