Fact Check: False claims of curing cancer getting viral

A post is getting viral on social media that reads: Dr. Gupta says, no one must die of cancer except out of carelessness. The post further states that research by Maryland College of Medicine has found that cancer will disappear if patients stop eating sugar, drink lemon juice before meals for three months and take spoonfuls of organic coconut oil morning and night.

Claim

The viral post on Facebook reads: Dr. Gupta says, No one must die of cancer except out of carelessness; (1). First step is to stop all sugar intake, without sugar in your body, cancer cell would die a natural death. (2). Second step is to blend a whole lemon fruit with a cup of hot water and drink it for about 1-3 months first thing before food and cancer would disappear, research by Maryland College of Medicine says, it’s 1000 times better than chemotherapy. (3). Third step is to drink 3 spoonfuls of organic coconut oil, morning and night and cancer would disappear, you can choose any of the two therapies after avoiding sugar. The viral post is shared by a Facebook page HolisHealth.com.

Investigation

Vishvas News started the investigation by breaking down various elements of the viral claim. We cropped the image of the person claimed to be Dr. Gupta and performed a reverse image search. The post returned results related to the viral post.

We investigated the first claim: Stop all sugar intake, without sugar in your body, cancer cell would die a natural death.

As per an article on the website Cancer Research UK, the cancer cells usually grow quickly, multiplying at a fast rate, which takes a lot of energy. This means they need lots of glucose. Cancer cells also need lots of other nutrients too, such as amino acids and fats; it’s not just sugar they crave.

The article further states that there’s no evidence that following a “sugar-free” diet lowers the risk of getting cancer, or boosts the chances of surviving if you are diagnosed.

As per Dr. Manish Singhal, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, if sugar is so bad for cancer and omitting sugar can be so good, then what should happen to a diabetic patient who gets cancer. A diabetic patient has mean sugar much higher than a normal person. For such patients, cancer should move to the last stage rapidly. That does not seem to happen. The bottom line is to eat intelligently. No doubt white sugar is wasteful calorie with low nutritional value and hence it’s consumption be restricted. A diabetic patient has mean sugar much higher than a normal person. Such patient should die of disease or their cancer should move to the last stage rapidly.

We investigated the second claim: Blend a whole lemon fruit with a cup of hot water and drink it for about 1-3 months first thing before food and cancer would disappear, research by Maryland College of Medicine says it’s 1000 times better than chemotherapy. 

We started the investigation of the second claim by searching various reports. We found various reports suggesting that compounds found in citrus fruits (including lemon) may be effective as anti-cancer agents.

A May 2000 report by Postharvest Center, University of California explains the potential of citrus limonoids as anticancer agents:

The experimental results described above indicate that citrus limonoids may provide substantial anticancer actions. The compounds have been shown to be free of toxic effects in animal models so potential exists for use of limonoids against human cancer in either the natural fruit, in citrus fortified with limonoids, or in purified forms of specific limonoids. Although the initial studies are very promising, they have been conducted primarily with invitrocell culture and animal models. Thus, research is needed to determine whether the limonoids may be useful in preventing or treating cancer in humans.

Although, citrus fruits may potentially harbor anti-cancer properties but it has not been reported that it is a proven remedy against cancers of all types.

As per Dr. Manish Singhal, it is a good habit to drink lemon juice with hot water, not to say that it cures cancer. If it was so simple should we stop all the research in cancer, if yes then don’t blame science later that nothing has happened in cancer treatment.

We investigated the third claim: if someone drinks 3 spoonfuls of organic coconut oil, morning and night and cancer would disappear, you can choose any of the two therapies after avoiding sugar.

The claim that coconut water can kill cancer cells has been proven false.

Conclusion

The post claiming that cancer will disappear if patients stop eating sugar, drink lemon juice before meals for three months and take spoonfuls of organic coconut oil morning and night is fake.

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