Sugar: An Ally to Cancer Growth

Sugar... We are possibly all victims to the addictions of sugar as it has been said to be just as addictive as cocaine. It is used in our everyday life and it is virtually impossible to get away from it either in its natural or processed form. It has been linked to many different illnesses; just read the horror stories from a simple google search. Seeing that our goal is to raise awareness on the evils of cancer and its proponents (Yes, we said proponents), that has taken the lives of so many that we hold dear and still does... We will give evidence to that call, Allaah Willing.

Islaamic Scholarly Ruling

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The evidence for the prohibition of that which is harmful is to be found in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah.

From the Qur’aan:

“And do not throw yourselves into destruction” [al-Baqarah 2:195]

“And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another)” [an-Nisaa’ 4:29]

The prohibition on killing oneself is also a prohibition on the means of doing so. Whatever causes harm is haraam.

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” We might also quote as evidence the verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But if you are ill or on a journey or any of you comes from answering the call of nature, or you have been in contact with women (i.e. sexual intercourse) and you find no water, then perform Tayammum with clean earth” [al-Maa’idah 5:6].

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

In the case of that which is harmful in conjunction with something else, such as if this food is not compatible with that food, in the sense that if you eat the two foods together it will result in harm, but if you eat them separately that will not result in harm, and the doctor has advised this dietary restriction for one who is sick and has told him, “If you eat it, it will harm you,” then it becomes haraam for him.

Shaykhul-Islaam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a person feels that some kind of food will cause him harm or give him indigestion, then it becomes haraam for him.

If a person says: If I fill my belly with this food, I will need water, and if I add water to it I will hardly be able to walk and it will bother me; and if I sit it will bother me, and if I bow it will bother me, and if I lie on my back it will bother me, and if I lie on my stomach it will bother me. In this case Shaykh al-Islam says:

If he fears that it will harm him, then it becomes haraam for him to eat it. And what he said is correct, because it is not permissible for a person to eat that which will harm him or to wear that which will harm him or to sit on that which will harm him. Even the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them), with regard to prostration, if the heat would harm them, they would spread out their garments and prostrate on them, lest they be harmed and so that they might be at ease in prayer.

What Shaykh al-Islam mentioned comes under the heading of fear of harm and indigestion, meaning that it is not as a result of the food itself, rather it is the result of consuming too much of it, and even if there is someone who would not be harmed by that, but based on the medical advice that he will be harmed, because if the stomach is filled it will bother him and cause some discomfort…

It was said that one of the harmful things is to eat food on top of other food. If that is correct then it is also haraam, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And do not kill or murder your own persons. Surely, Allaah is, towards you, continuously Merciful” [an-Nisaa’ 4:29].

It is not far fetched to say that this is correct. As it is something that it tried and tested...

Ash-Sharhul-Mumti‘, 15/9-11

The Science

Can sugar cause cancer or at least worsen the disease? Evidence was discovered in a study funded by the sugar industry nearly 50 years ago — Yes 50 years ago! Unfortunately the work was never published. In 2017 an article was published in the journal PLOS Biology citing internal documents by the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF), suggesting that knowledge of a possible link between sugar and cancer goes back as far as the 1960s.

The research was on the sugar industry sponsorship of germ-free rodent studies linking sucrose [2] to hyperlipidemia [3] and cancer: An historical analysis of internal documents [4]. How is it that these things have been uncovered so many years ago, yet we still have no true push by FDA or the AMA for more research on how cancer increases the cancer. I remember the candies and snacks given out for free in our oncology clinic, pure evil...

1-Affinity

Cancer cells love sugar! That is why refined carbohydrates like white sugar, white flour, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and soft drinks are extremely dangerous for anyone trying to prevent or reverse cancer. Sugar essentially feeds tumors and encourages cancer growth. Cancer cells uptake sugar at 10-12 times the rate of healthy cells. In fact, that is the basis of PET (positron emission tomography) scans -- one of the most accurate tools for detecting cancer growth. PET scans use radioactively labeled glucose to detect sugar-hungry tumor cells. When patients drink the sugar water, it gets preferentially taken up into the cancer cells and they light up! The 1931 Nobel laureate in medicine, German Otto Warburg, PhD, discovered that cancer cells have a fundamentally different energy metabolism compared to healthy cells. He found that malignant tumors exhibit increased glycolysis -- a process whereby glucose is used as a fuel by cancer -- as compared with normal cells.

2-Acidity

Warburg also found that cancers thrive in an acidic environment. Sugar is highly acidic. With a pH of about 6.4, it is 10 times more acidic than the ideal alkaline pH of blood at 7.4.

3-Immunity

Sugar suppresses a key immune response known as phagocytosis – the Pac-Man effect of the immune system. Consuming 10 teaspoons of sugar can cause about a 50% reduction in phagocytosis. If you consider the sugar in your cereal, the syrup on your waffles and pancakes, the sugar added to your morning coffee or tea, the sugar in cold beverages like iced tea or lemonade, the HFCS in prepared foods, salad dressing and ketchup, and of course sugary snacks and desserts, you can see how easy it is to suppress your immune systems significantly. Not only the amount of sugar, but also the frequency of ingesting sugar is relevant to immune function. In one study, research subjects were found to have nearly a 38% decrease in phagocytosis one hour after ingesting a moderate amount of sugar. Two hours later, the immune system was suppressed 44%; immune function did not recover completely for a full five hours.

4-Activity

In most people, when sugar in any form is consumed, the pancreas releases insulin. Breast tissue, for example, contains insulin receptors, and insulin is a powerful stimulant of cell growth. One group of Australian researchers concluded that high levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) may actually be causative of cancers of the breast, prostate, endometrium and pancreas. A broad study conducted in 21 countries in Europe, North America and Asia concluded that sugar intake is a strong risk factor contributing to higher breast cancer rates, particularly in older women. A four-year study at the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection in the Netherlands compared 111 biliary tract cancer patients with 480 healthy controls. Sugar intake was associated with more than double the cancer risk.

5- Obesity

Sugar ingestion seriously contributes to obesity, a known cause of cancer. Obesity also negatively affects survival. More than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are caused by excess body fat, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. These include esophageal, pancreatic, kidney, gallbladder, breast and colorectal cancer.