Hi ,

First of all, what a heartbreaking circumstances! I hope these tips can help you improve the situation a bit!

Since the premise of both chemotherapy and radiation is to poison and kill cancer cells, there is, in fact, typically a concern about the use of anything anti-inflammatory or detoxifying during cancer treatment. The reality is that chemo & radiation therapy is also a burden on the healthy cells in the body.

This is why I wouldn’t recommend taking anti-inflammatory supplements and anti-oxidants a few days before chemo or radiation therapy until a few days after the therapy.

Since every cancer is unique, I always recommend discussing supplement tips with the treating doctor.

That being said, here are some general tips I can recommend to you:
• To help to boost the immune system ensure that vitamin D is at least 50 ng/ml (120 nmol/l). A lot of people are deficient and boosting vitamin D from a place of deficiency requires different dosages. Here in the Netherlands, you can take up to 4000IU daily without consulting your doctor. However, in her case, I would strongly recommend discussing testing vitamin D levels with her treating doctor for determining what is the best approach.
• Keep in mind that sugar is a fuel source for cancer cells. Your body will always have some sugar in the blood, but staying away from a high-carb diet, a diet high in refined carbs, flour & sugar might be a piece of good advice.
• Make sure there is enough zinc in the diet or supplement with zinc. Zinc is an essential mineral needed for the immune system… and a lot of people are deficient in zinc as well. Zinc supplementation is expected to have beneficial effects because it can inhibit NF-kappa B. (See this study)

If you are going to recommend zinc as a supplement: the upper limit from zinc is age dependent (Look here for an overview). The upper limit for an 18-year-old girl is 34 mg daily.

Going over the upper limit can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches, gastric distress, vomiting, and loss of appetite. This can be hard to distinguish from chemo/radiation therapy.

Daily dosing with 10mg is a safe starting point. Again, It is always a good idea to discuss this with the treating doctor.
• In order to help the body detoxify I would recommend a B complex. Be sure that vitamin B12 en folate are in the methylated form. The brand Thorne has a great basic B complex you could use.
• Eating food can be difficult for a lot of patients. Liquid calories are often easier to consume. Daily green smoothies with ingredients like avocado, broccoli, kale, fresh lemon juice, cucumber, celery, and green apple can help boost anti-oxidants for cellular healing. These smoothies can also help to boost nutrients required by the liver for detoxification.
• Talking about detoxification by the liver: Cruciferous vegetables are a source of sulfur. Sulfur is needed for the trans-sulfuration pathway. The trans-sulfuration pathway is a chemical pathway used by the liver for detoxification as well. Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and many more. Everything in the onion family will help as well.
• Daily sunlight exposure can be helpful.Believe it or not, but most of your melatonin production is done in the mitochondria (the energy factories of your cell). The melatonin in mitochondria will act as an anti-oxidant giving your mitochondria more protection. The infrared light from the sun stimulates the release of melatonin in the mitochondria giving healthy cells more stamina. 
• In order to boost energy, a twice-daily dose of Acetyl-L-Carnitine can help to improve fatigue. This supplement is taken on an empty stomach.
• Radiation & Chemo can cause enhanced intestinal permeability (leaky gut). We talk about this in the Gut Health Masterclass. Enhanced intestinal permeability can cause extra inflammation. Supplements like GI Revive made by Designs for Health can help regenerate the intestinal villi and nourish the mucosal lining of the intestines.
• Incorporate a variety of anti-inflammatory herbs and nutrients.  I typically recommend Meriva curcumin (e.g. Thorne), mushroom extracts (e.g. Gaia or EcoNugenics, especially maitaki), and EGCG (a green tea extract).
• I also recommend a modified citrus pectin formula which has been researched significantly and shown to inhibit cancer cell growth, to encourage apoptosis of cancer cells, and to inhibit metastasis. It’s called PectaSol-C by EcoNugenics. (Look here and here)

Take out the tips you feel you can recommend. I know it’s a lot! I have put the more exotic solutions at the bottom of the list. I also feel that the more ‘simple’ solutions will have the biggest impact (vitamin D, eating a clean, low sugar, high vegetable diet, B vitamins). 

The more exotic solutions will build on the fundament laid down by the more ‘simple’ solutions. 

I hope this helps!

Hi  sorry to hear that about your friend’s daughter. It’s never easy…

In addition to Daniel’s excellent recommendations, I’d like to add a few other comments pertaining to chemo support:
• Cells with frequent replication (turnover) are likely to be more heavily damaged by chemo e.g. lips, mouth, and the gut lining. For relief, consider l-glutamine, CoQ10 (100mg), and full-spectrum Vitamin E (e.g. Jarrow Tocosorb). Open capsules and mix all together in a little extra virgin olive oil. Swish in the mouth for several minutes and either spit out or swallow. Up to 3x/day.
• Ginger is an effective anti-nausea agent for those using chemo. Can be tea, steeped and macerated whole ginger, eaten raw, or used in supplement. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361530/
• Quercetin can increase chemo efficacy. 500mg, 3x/day is consistent with the study dosage for breast cancer.
• High dose melatonin. Chemo patients receiving melatonin had lower incidences of neuropathies, thrombocytopenia, stomatitis, and malaise. In many of these studies, 30mg/day was used. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10674014/ & https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11862501/
• For highly suppressed blood cell production (which can contraindicate chemo), stimulate synthesis with 500mg curcumin 3 x per day and methyl-B combination daily (800mcg folate, 1000mcg B12). https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(20)87113-0/fulltext

Please send her my prayers and well wishes for a successful treatment and recovery. ❤️