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WHY WE STARTED JUICING
Juicing became part of Stu’s routine very early on. Not because we thought juice was going to cure his cancer, but because Stu really didn’t enjoy eating vegetables, particularly the cruciferous ones we were trying to get more of into his diet. We’d been given a juicer as a wedding present, so it suddenly got considerably more use than either of us had expected.
For us, fresh juice was an easy way of adding fruit and vegetables to everything else Stu was eating. We tended to make the juices mostly vegetable based and add a little fruit to make them more palatable. Looking back, I think that distinction is important. Juicing was something we added to Stu’s diet. It wasn’t a replacement for food, and it wasn’t a treatment for glioblastoma.
WHAT WE DID
There is an enormous amount online about special diets, juicing, detoxing and cancer. When someone you love has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, it is very easy to feel as though absolutely everything they eat needs to have a therapeutic purpose. That wasn’t really how we used juicing.
Stu needed to eat, maintain his strength and get through treatment. Juicing was one practical way I could get some additional fruit and vegetables into someone who would quite happily have avoided a large proportion of the vegetable aisle.
Whole fruit and vegetables are generally preferable nutritionally because juicing removes much of their fibre. Juice can still contribute nutrients, but it shouldn’t be treated as nutritionally equivalent to eating the whole food or as a replacement for a balanced diet. Current guidance also counts fruit or vegetable juice as a maximum of one 5 A DAY portion, however much you drink. Cancer.org
For someone going through cancer treatment, maintaining adequate energy, protein and overall nutrition can be much more important than following a supposedly “perfect” diet. If treatment is affecting appetite, weight or the ability to eat, that is something to discuss with the oncology team or a dietitian rather than trying to fix it with juice. Macmillan Cancer Support I was always absolutely astounded by the sheer amount of junk food available in vending machines in the oncology waiting room though!
BROCCOLI SPROUTS & SULFORAPHANE
This was one of the reasons cruciferous vegetables became such a feature in our kitchen.
Broccoli, broccoli sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables contain glucoraphanin, which can be converted into sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has been studied extensively in the laboratory, including in glioblastoma research.
There are some interesting findings. Studies in GBM cell lines and animal models have investigated several possible mechanisms through which sulforaphane might affect tumour cells, and research published in 2025 found that sulforaphane enhanced the effects of chemoradiotherapy in experimental GBM models. PubMed But this is where I would put a very large line between interesting research and evidence of a treatment.
As of 2026, this research does not show that eating broccoli sprouts, drinking broccoli juice or taking a sulforaphane supplement treats glioblastoma or improves survival in people with GBM. Laboratory results are an important early part of research, but they can’t tell us that something will have the same effect in a human body.
Stu also took a sulforaphane supplement as part of his wider supplement protocol. That protocol was reviewed with the doctors and practitioners we were working with. I would never suggest copying it without discussing supplements with your own medical team because supplements can interact with medicines and cancer treatment. Macmillan specifically recommends discussing supplements with your cancer doctor, specialist nurse, pharmacist or dietitian. Macmillan Cancer Support
OUR JUICES
We experimented. A lot. And I can’t tell you how many times Stu turned his nose up to his daily juice.
ABC JUICE
STU’S MEGA MIX
I started by juicing the cucumber, celery and apple, then used some of the liquid to blend the leafy vegetables. I mixed it all together and froze the thick mixture in ice cube trays. Each day I could then put a couple of cubes into the Nutribullet with a little frozen pineapple, ginger, turmeric and water.
It wasn’t delicious. It was practical.
MAKING IT MANAGEABLE
There are two common types of juicer: centrifugal juicers, which use a fast-spinning blade, and cold-press or masticating juicers, which crush and press the fruit and vegetables more slowly. We used a cold-press juicer, but I don't think anyone dealing with a brain tumour diagnosis needs another expensive piece of equipment added to an already enormous shopping list. If juicing is useful to you, use whatever makes it manageable.
And wash fresh fruit, vegetables and salad thoroughly under running water. We used something called Vegewash. For anyone whose immunity is particularly low during treatment, food-safety requirements can also change, so follow the advice of your medical team. Macmillan Cancer Support
ALANNAH SHEEHAN
I’ve followed Alannah Sheehan on Instagram for a long time and I think she’s really bloody inspirational. Alannah was diagnosed with glioblastoma in March 2020 when she was just 32 and had young children. Before treatment started, she began drinking a fresh green juice every day and completely changed the way she ate. As a chef, food became a huge part of how she approached life after diagnosis, alongside working on her mindset and mental wellbeing. She talks very openly about the role she believes nutrition has played in keeping her well and, six years on from her diagnosis, she is still sharing what she has learnt along the way.
One of the things I really like about Alannah is how generous she is with her experience. She regularly shares what she’s eating, juicing and cooking, as well as the realities of living with a GBM diagnosis, on Instagram at @worth_fighting4. She has also created a Survive & Thrive membership where she shares recipes every month and members can connect with each other. She also makes a set of affirmation and wellness cards inspired by the things that helped her through the difficult days after her diagnosis. I have a pack myself and they are ace. They feel very Alannah: positive without pretending any of this is easy.
What I really like about Alannah is how openly she shares what has worked for her and the role nutrition has played in her life since diagnosis. As with so many of the things we tried with Stu, it’s impossible to separate out exactly what has contributed to someone doing well, particularly alongside conventional treatment. There still isn’t evidence that a particular diet or juicing can treat glioblastoma, but that doesn’t make the experience of people like Alannah any less valuable. I think there is a huge amount to be gained from hearing from people living with this disease who have found ways of eating and living that help them feel stronger, healthier and more in control of a situation where so much can feel completely outside your control.
Alannah’s website: alannahsheehan.com
HINDSIGHT
WHAT WE KNOW NOW THAT WE WISH WE'D KNOWN THEN
I’m not sure there is much hindsight to share here other than: could I have made the juicing more fun for Stu? He didn’t love vegetables, but he was 39, not a child, and I was his wife, not his parent. I tried my best to get him to eat and drink the things that had been recommended to us without turning every meal into another part of his treatment - or an argument. Perhaps freezing batches of concentrated juice into cubes could be seen as taking a shortcut, but have you ever tried keeping a fridge permanently stocked with fresh vegetables, juicing and blending every day, managing appointments, researching treatments, organising medication and caring for someone 24/7 whilst also trying to work? It’s a recipe for constant mouldy salad drawers.
I think there is something much more useful in that than another perfect cancer diet. Doing something small and manageable is often better than making an already impossible situation even harder. And food still gets to be food, we absolutely loved going out for food and sharing meals. Not everything someone with cancer eats has to become another weapon in a war.
CURRENT INFORMATION · 2026
American Cancer Society · Diet and cancer
Macmillan · Nutritional support
PubMed · Sulforaphane / GBM research
PubMed 2025 research
Macmillan · Diet and food supplements
Macmillan · Food safety when immunity is low
World Cancer Research Fund · Fruit & vegetables
Juicing became part of Stu’s routine very early on. Not because we thought juice was going to cure his cancer, but because Stu really didn’t enjoy eating vegetables, particularly the cruciferous ones we were trying to get more of into his diet. We’d been given a juicer as a wedding present, so it suddenly got considerably more use than either of us had expected.
For us, fresh juice was an easy way of adding fruit and vegetables to everything else Stu was eating. We tended to make the juices mostly vegetable based and add a little fruit to make them more palatable. Looking back, I think that distinction is important. Juicing was something we added to Stu’s diet. It wasn’t a replacement for food, and it wasn’t a treatment for glioblastoma.
WHAT WE DID
There is an enormous amount online about special diets, juicing, detoxing and cancer. When someone you love has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, it is very easy to feel as though absolutely everything they eat needs to have a therapeutic purpose. That wasn’t really how we used juicing.
Stu needed to eat, maintain his strength and get through treatment. Juicing was one practical way I could get some additional fruit and vegetables into someone who would quite happily have avoided a large proportion of the vegetable aisle.
Whole fruit and vegetables are generally preferable nutritionally because juicing removes much of their fibre. Juice can still contribute nutrients, but it shouldn’t be treated as nutritionally equivalent to eating the whole food or as a replacement for a balanced diet. Current guidance also counts fruit or vegetable juice as a maximum of one 5 A DAY portion, however much you drink. Cancer.org
For someone going through cancer treatment, maintaining adequate energy, protein and overall nutrition can be much more important than following a supposedly “perfect” diet. If treatment is affecting appetite, weight or the ability to eat, that is something to discuss with the oncology team or a dietitian rather than trying to fix it with juice. Macmillan Cancer Support I was always absolutely astounded by the sheer amount of junk food available in vending machines in the oncology waiting room though!
BROCCOLI SPROUTS & SULFORAPHANE
This was one of the reasons cruciferous vegetables became such a feature in our kitchen.
Broccoli, broccoli sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables contain glucoraphanin, which can be converted into sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has been studied extensively in the laboratory, including in glioblastoma research.
There are some interesting findings. Studies in GBM cell lines and animal models have investigated several possible mechanisms through which sulforaphane might affect tumour cells, and research published in 2025 found that sulforaphane enhanced the effects of chemoradiotherapy in experimental GBM models. PubMed But this is where I would put a very large line between interesting research and evidence of a treatment.
As of 2026, this research does not show that eating broccoli sprouts, drinking broccoli juice or taking a sulforaphane supplement treats glioblastoma or improves survival in people with GBM. Laboratory results are an important early part of research, but they can’t tell us that something will have the same effect in a human body.
Stu also took a sulforaphane supplement as part of his wider supplement protocol. That protocol was reviewed with the doctors and practitioners we were working with. I would never suggest copying it without discussing supplements with your own medical team because supplements can interact with medicines and cancer treatment. Macmillan specifically recommends discussing supplements with your cancer doctor, specialist nurse, pharmacist or dietitian. Macmillan Cancer Support
OUR JUICES
We experimented. A lot. And I can’t tell you how many times Stu turned his nose up to his daily juice.
ABC JUICE
- Apple, carrot & beetroot
- 1 carrot, washed and topped and tailed
- 1 red apple
- 1 beetroot, washed and peeled
STU’S MEGA MIX
- Spinach
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Apple
- Broccoli or kale
- Frozen pineapple
- Turmeric
- Ginger
I started by juicing the cucumber, celery and apple, then used some of the liquid to blend the leafy vegetables. I mixed it all together and froze the thick mixture in ice cube trays. Each day I could then put a couple of cubes into the Nutribullet with a little frozen pineapple, ginger, turmeric and water.
It wasn’t delicious. It was practical.
MAKING IT MANAGEABLE
There are two common types of juicer: centrifugal juicers, which use a fast-spinning blade, and cold-press or masticating juicers, which crush and press the fruit and vegetables more slowly. We used a cold-press juicer, but I don't think anyone dealing with a brain tumour diagnosis needs another expensive piece of equipment added to an already enormous shopping list. If juicing is useful to you, use whatever makes it manageable.
And wash fresh fruit, vegetables and salad thoroughly under running water. We used something called Vegewash. For anyone whose immunity is particularly low during treatment, food-safety requirements can also change, so follow the advice of your medical team. Macmillan Cancer Support
ALANNAH SHEEHAN
I’ve followed Alannah Sheehan on Instagram for a long time and I think she’s really bloody inspirational. Alannah was diagnosed with glioblastoma in March 2020 when she was just 32 and had young children. Before treatment started, she began drinking a fresh green juice every day and completely changed the way she ate. As a chef, food became a huge part of how she approached life after diagnosis, alongside working on her mindset and mental wellbeing. She talks very openly about the role she believes nutrition has played in keeping her well and, six years on from her diagnosis, she is still sharing what she has learnt along the way.
One of the things I really like about Alannah is how generous she is with her experience. She regularly shares what she’s eating, juicing and cooking, as well as the realities of living with a GBM diagnosis, on Instagram at @worth_fighting4. She has also created a Survive & Thrive membership where she shares recipes every month and members can connect with each other. She also makes a set of affirmation and wellness cards inspired by the things that helped her through the difficult days after her diagnosis. I have a pack myself and they are ace. They feel very Alannah: positive without pretending any of this is easy.
What I really like about Alannah is how openly she shares what has worked for her and the role nutrition has played in her life since diagnosis. As with so many of the things we tried with Stu, it’s impossible to separate out exactly what has contributed to someone doing well, particularly alongside conventional treatment. There still isn’t evidence that a particular diet or juicing can treat glioblastoma, but that doesn’t make the experience of people like Alannah any less valuable. I think there is a huge amount to be gained from hearing from people living with this disease who have found ways of eating and living that help them feel stronger, healthier and more in control of a situation where so much can feel completely outside your control.
Alannah’s website: alannahsheehan.com
HINDSIGHT
WHAT WE KNOW NOW THAT WE WISH WE'D KNOWN THEN
I’m not sure there is much hindsight to share here other than: could I have made the juicing more fun for Stu? He didn’t love vegetables, but he was 39, not a child, and I was his wife, not his parent. I tried my best to get him to eat and drink the things that had been recommended to us without turning every meal into another part of his treatment - or an argument. Perhaps freezing batches of concentrated juice into cubes could be seen as taking a shortcut, but have you ever tried keeping a fridge permanently stocked with fresh vegetables, juicing and blending every day, managing appointments, researching treatments, organising medication and caring for someone 24/7 whilst also trying to work? It’s a recipe for constant mouldy salad drawers.
I think there is something much more useful in that than another perfect cancer diet. Doing something small and manageable is often better than making an already impossible situation even harder. And food still gets to be food, we absolutely loved going out for food and sharing meals. Not everything someone with cancer eats has to become another weapon in a war.
CURRENT INFORMATION · 2026
American Cancer Society · Diet and cancer
Macmillan · Nutritional support
PubMed · Sulforaphane / GBM research
PubMed 2025 research
Macmillan · Diet and food supplements
Macmillan · Food safety when immunity is low
World Cancer Research Fund · Fruit & vegetables
juicing
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