Research in the U.S. has shown 70 percent of diseases including cancer are related to unbalanced and unhealthy dieting, a herbal treatment expert said in Jakarta on Saturday.
U.S.-based Paulus W. Halim has been a herbal treatment consultant for cancer patients for 25 years and said Eastern medicine combined with Western cancer treatments including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy could offer new hope to cancer patients.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted nine million people would die from cancer-related illnesses in 2015 and 11.4 million in 2030.
"Cancer cells are carried in the human body, even in a healthy person," Halim said.
And a decrease in the body's level of immunity can activate the development of these cells, he said.
WHO statistics show cancer killed approximately 206,000 people in Indonesia in 2005.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Indonesia, while bronchus, trachea and lung cancers make up the leading causes of deaths among Indonesian men.
But Indonesia is one of the world's richest countries in terms of natural resources required to make up herbal treatments used to help fight cancer.
From the 40,000 varieties of flora worldwide, 30,000 exist in Indonesia.
And more than 900 of these were used in herbal medicine, Halim said.
Plants such as daun dewa (gynurae procumbensis folium), kunyit putih (kampfera rotunda) and varieties of edible mushrooms such as maitake (Grifola frondosa), shiitake (Lentinula edodes) and reishi (ganoderma lucidum) were just a few plants that could be used in the herbal treatment of cancer patients, he said.
In conjunction with herbal and conventional treatments, cancer patients should also ensure 80 percent of their diet consisted of fresh vegetables and fruits.
The remaining 20 percent should be made up of cooked foods including beans, Halim said.
"Don't feed cancer with foods (including) white sugar, sweetener, cow's milk or red meat," Halim said.
Too much of this type of food would encourage cancer cells to grow.
Halim said unhealthy psycho-emotional and hormonal conditions, a polluted environment and a reckless lifestyle including smoking and a lack of exercise should also be avoided.
He said cancer patients should follow a vegetarian diet "because humans are basically herbivore creatures".
Halim also said most people regarded food "as just food" but that cancer patients particularly should see food as a potential medicine.
Halim said a healthy mind and spirit were also essential in the fight against cancer.
"That is why maintaining a positive attitude and always being with people who care is important."
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