A woman who was given just five years to live with an aggressive cancer claims she has beaten the disease - by eating pineapples.

Candice-Marie Fox, 31, found out she had thyroid cancer and reluctantly went under the knife to remove more than 20 lumps three years ago.

But when the disease spread and doctors said she had a maximum of five years to live, Candice rejected life-lengthening chemotherapy which she claims had 'killed' friends.

Candice-Marie Fox, 31, found out she had thyroid cancer three years ago and decided to battle the disease by eating healthily

She gave her life an overhaul to try and banish the disease, eating up to three pineapples a day - as well as dozens of grapefruits, lemons, apples, kiwis and bananas.

The fruits are high in a cancer-zapping proteins - called bromelain - which some scientists claim 'eat away' at tumours.

The former model also ditched other 'toxins' in her life - including alcohol, meat and even her husband - and within just six months she says that her grade four cancer was almost gone.

Medics have now confirmed the marketing worker is completely free of tumours and she now runs a website encouraging others to take control of their health.

Candice, from Houghton Regis, Hertfordshire, said: 'I changed my whole outlook on life.

Candice reluctantly went under the knife to remove more than 20 lumps

'Instead of living for parties and weekends and working and doing the same stuff I did day in, day out, I changed my whole view.

'I decided to live for me and love life for what it is. It sounds so away with the fairies, but it is the only way to live - and it worked.

'I got rid of everything toxic in my life and became so grateful for life.

'I had got rid of the massive tumours by arresting and starving them with the pure science of food.

'Like pineapple, kiwi and papaya - I found out that the bromelain eats away at a particular protein layer of the cancer.

'There is a protein in animal products that feed the cancers and when I was eating big hefty meals my body couldn't heal because all of my energy was going into digesting the meal.

'If I was eating one bit of fruit at a time, which eats away at the layer of the cancer, I was killing it and within six months my cancer was gone.

'There are now no tumours left in me. I'm so grateful for the cancer now in hindsight because it turned me into the person that I was meant to be.'

Candice found a lump above her left collarbone in 2011 and an ultrasound revealed around 20 papillary thyroid carcinomas.

Doctors said if the parcel courier didn't have the lumps removed she would lose her voice and possibly die within a year, so she endured a four-and-a-half hour operation.

Candice now runs a website encouraging others to take control of their health.

She also had radioactive treatment to 'mop up' any cancer that was left and two months later doctors performed a scan to check.

But she was horrified when it revealed the cancer had spread to her liver and the back of her neck - with pre-cancerous cells also in her lung - and she had a maximum of five years to live.

Doctors told her to come back in six months for chemotherapy to reduce the incurable cancer but Candice refused.

She had lost both her best friend Jamie Brownsmead, 31, and cousin Frankie Gerathy, 13, to cancer in 2009, and blames body-weakening chemo for their demise.

British Candice, who was living in Karratha, Western Australia, at the time, recalled: 'I was a blubbering mess.

'I thought, 'what have I done to get myself in this situation?' That was the darkest point I have ever been when I was in hospital.

Candice pictured with her friend's children making one of the fruit smoothies which she claims has cured her cancer

Candice continued: '[The doctor] said come to come back in nine months because they had done too much to me there, and we can give you chemo.

'Instantly alarm bells went off in my head. My best friend and my cousin died because of chemo and there was no way I was doing that.

'I got strong from that point. I stopped going into myself and crying.

'I decided I had five years left, or six months to get rid of this crap, and show them that I can do it on my own.

'I started eating so much fruit - sometimes weeks on a fruit only diet.'

Candice researched on the internet and switched to an almost entirely fruit and vegetable diet.

She gorged on fruits like pineapple which are high in bromelain which some nutritionists claim 'eats away' at cancer, and ditched heavy meals which zapped energy away from 'healing'.

Candice binned chemical-filled beauty products and cleaning sprays, quit smoking and took up yoga in order to get rid of the disease

She binned chemical-filled beauty products and cleaning sprays, quit smoking and took up yoga, as well splitting up with her husband of two years.

As well as joining a positive-thinking dance group which performs in public places, she took up meditation and gave up her un-fulfilling job as a courier.

She explained: 'Stress, chemicals and animal products all feed cancer, so I just got rid of them.

'My husband was not supportive and it wasn't working, we we split up too.

'I had got rid of the massive tumours by arresting and starving it with the pure science of food and a positive attitude.'

Medics have now confirmed Candice is completely free of tumours

When she returned to her doctor six months after her dire diagnosis tests confirmed she had almost completely killed her cancer.

A test for thyroglobulin - a protein produced by cancerous cells - revealed she had reduced her levels from 13 to 0.7 nanograms per millilitre.

Recent tests showed her cancer was at a 0.2 level - just 0.1 above they expected healthy level, and in the normal range for healthy people.

Candice, who runs a modelling agency said: 'I'm living life on my terms now. I'm not upset, I'm not waking up sad, I'm waking up choosing what I want to do with my life.'

Mark Simon, director at the Nutritional Oncology Research Institute in California, has helped Candice, and has seen her test results.

He said: 'At this point in time, we can say that there is NED - 'no evidence of disease' in Candice.

'Her tumor markers which reflect the number of cancerous cells has been well within the normal range for over two years, so we can confidently say that her stage four thyroid cancer is under effective management.'

He continued: 'Candice possesses a level of faith, self-love and purpose that I am sure is a factor in her remarkable healing journey.

'I can tell you that most thyroid cancer patients with similar circumstances to Candice who follow the conventional path do not survive or experience a very poor quality of life.

'Cancer is an infection of aberrant cells and treating cancer is like dealing with a Bacterial infection.

'We attempt to maintain an environment not conducive towards tumour growth and proliferation.

'Diet plays a major role along with regular exercise, positive attitude and even spirituality.

'Fruits like pineapple contain a mixture of proteolytic enzymes such as bromelain known to have anti-cancer activity.

'Science does not provide all the answers and we most remain open to forces beyond our comprehension and understanding.'

Candice ate up to three pineapples a day to try and get rid of cancer

When asked about whether pineapples and other fruit could have helped to beat Candice's cancer, oncologist Professor Karol Sikora said: 'The truth is we just don't know.

'It's much more likely that the cancer is going through a quiescent phase.

'Doctors say that there is a year to live or a specific amount of time but they really don't know definite times.

'There may be some truth that pineapples would help to beat cancer and we do in fact use some plant extracts in chemotherapy drugs, including yew trees and periwinkles.

'But there is no evidence to say that this would be the case.'

Helen Thompson, senior information nurse at Cancer Research UK says there is no evidence that fruit like pineapples can cure cancer.

She said: 'There's no scientific evidence that eating pineapples, or large amounts of fruit, can cure cancer.

'A cancer diagnosis can sometimes prompt people to make lifestyle changes like taking exercise and eating healthily.

'While studies show that having a healthy diet can reduce the risk of developing cancer, there's no strong evidence to show that diet can cure cancer.

'Leading a healthy lifestyle, including eating a balanced diet can make people feel better and may reduce the likelihood of other medical conditions.