A Q&A with Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, and Alison Jefferies, MEd

Q

What is the Mix of Six?

A

Cohen: Often, after finishing cancer treatment, doctors will say, “There is nothing you need to do; we will simply scan you on a regular basis.” But based on the overwhelming amount of evidence that links lifestyle to cancer prevention and control, this lack of advice and guidance is, to me, medically unethical. Harnessing the power of lifestyle change needs to start at the time of diagnosis.

In our book, Anticancer Living, we discuss the six factors that make up what we call the Mix of Six. Patients can live by these six lifestyle factors to create a body that is inhospitable to cancer. Grounded in my own research as well as the latest scientific studies, the Mix of Six is a great tenet to live by whether you’re in the midst of battling cancer, are a caregiver, or are trying to reduce the likelihood of ever developing cancer.

Many people continue to view cancer as a disease that can strike anyone at any time. Just random bad luck. Or they consider cancer to be a genetic disease—a predisposition inherited from our parents. What often accompanies this belief in randomness or predestination is a feeling that we have no control over cancer. That once diagnosed, there is little we can do to alter the course of fate. But that’s simply not true. In fact, “random” bad luck accounts for the minority of cancers, and inherited gene mutations account for only between 5 to 10 percent of cancers. Cancer does not grow in isolation. It develops within an environment we help create with the things we eat day after day, our stress levels, our physical activity, our support network, the quality of our sleep, and our exposure to environmental toxins.

The Mix of Six is:

Love and support

Stress management

Sleep

Exercise

Diet

Environmental exposures

The Mix of Six influences cancer risk and survival after a cancer diagnosis. And importantly, each of the six affects multiple key biological processes linked with cancer growth in our bodies—what are called the cancer hallmarks.

That said, as powerful as we know lifestyle factors are in preventing cancer and improving outcomes for those with cancer, we need to avoid guilt, blame, or shame about what may have caused a cancer. We may never know the root cause of an individual cancer, and in many respects, the source of the disease is secondary to the path of recovery. We need to start where we are today and move forward in a healthy, hopeful, and positive way.