Six Well-Researched Ways to Prevent Cancer

by Implementing Health Hacks

#HealthHacks are in Bold!

I believe that God created us in a way that is absolutely amazing! When you get a cut on your finger, processes are put into motion that bring healing to the injury. I have seen our body’s inherent healing ability shown in so many ways!

We are physical, spiritual and emotional beings. The body likes to stay in balance. Correcting any imbalances can reverse most issues. Anything that pulls the body out of that state of homeostasis is a potential danger zone. This paper will deal with five of the causes of cancer as well as addressing at least five ways to prevent those causes. Many of the ways to prevent cancer will overlap. Getting the metabolism – or more specifically – the mitochondria to a state of health so that the body can do the job I believe it was created to do, is the foundation. These ways of prevention or healing are what I call #HealthHacks and are best applied consistently as a lifestyle – and are only some of what you can do to protect you and your loved ones!

*SUGAR / *METABOLIC SYNDROME

For years since Dr. Warburg’s research on the metabolic theory of cancer, sugar has been suspect for its contribution to the growth of cancer. “One of the most familiar metabolic alterations encountered in several types of cancers is the upregulation of glycolysis, which is also maintained in conditions of normal oxygen tension (aerobic glycolysis, Warburg effect) while oxidative phosphorylation is apparently reduced.¹” The obvious solution to a cancer that is fed by sugar is to eliminate sugar. The question this raises is – what can you then eat? Carbohydrates in the form of grains metabolize to sugar and even excess protein can be converted to glucose! That doesn’t appear to leave anything to eat!

Recently, while in the cereal aisle of our nutritional center a customer asked what she could eat if she had to eliminate sugar. As I looked down the aisle of processed and even whole grain cereals, it occurred to me that even here, in the place people think of as healthy, there was an abundance of offerings that I don’t consider food!

Dr. Perlmutter says that, Our “health, on a global scale, has suffered profoundly as a consequence of commercially influenced dietary recommendations.²” Our society has become so commercially driven! It is the status quo that needs to change! Or, maybe, we just need to understand that the “food” items that are the most processed are typically the ones sold to us for profit and the foods closest to how they were created may be part of a healing plan. The other recent epiphany for me about diet is found in the Human Biology text – our bodies can produce energy from glucose as well as fat. It typically doesn’t resort to fat, however until the carbohydrates are sufficiently restricted. The same diet that retrains the body to burn fat instead of glucose is the same diet that many are now using for reversing cancer (as well as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s Disease!) Bottom line, for preventing cancer the number one strategy is to eliminate sugars, grains and starchy carbohydrates. (Maybe I shouldn’t have started with this one – I know it is difficult – stay tuned and I will share ways to replace sugars that you choose to replace with something satisfying and healthier! 🙂 )

2.) *LACK OF ANTIOXIDANTS / *LACK OF FIBER FOUND IN FRESH, ORGANIC FOODS

The American Institute for Cancer Research has come out with two, very thoroughly researched documents that cover twenty years of research each to come up with conclusions that basically say that there are ten causes of cancer – nine of them are within our control. Another study used their recommendations and found that the people who followed at least five of their ten recommendations had 67% less chance of developing cancer³!

There are literally thousands of peer-reviewed research studies that have shown that the people who consume the most fresh fruits and vegetables – great sources of antioxidants as well as fiber – are the ones less likely to develop cancers. Organic fruits and vegetable have been shown in a review of 343 studies to have more antioxidants and more “other chemicals”. Later in the research, the scientists admitted that the “other chemicals” found in organic produce was really more vitamins and minerals¹ Genes are the one thing that they say we are not in control of, but much current research flies in the face of this statement! Many genes with a predisposition to cancer can be turned off by a proper diet and environment. Suggestion number two is make sure you are consuming large quantities of antioxidants – preferably from colorful, organic food sources.

3. *ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS / *IMPAIRED LIVER FUNCTION

It has amazed me over the years to see how many challenges can be helped by clearing the liver to allow it to better do its job of detoxification in the body. The liver’s function and our ability to handle the toxins – and even excess estrogens that we are exposed to are so interrelated, that I will cover both together in this paragraph.

The largest contributor to cancer as far as environmental toxins, would likely be a toxin some knowingly choose to put into their bodies. Smoking impairs the flexibility of the arioles in the lungs, over time impairing their function greatly. Second-hand smoke can also cause cancer and impact non-smokers. The other reason the lungs have a third of the cancer deaths locked down is that the first location a cancer tends to metastasize to is the lungs.

The liver requires antioxidants (see cause #2) to complete the P450 or first phase of liver detoxification. Without antioxidants the liver cannot complete its work and 7-estradiol and other cancer-causing compounds may accumulate to cause future damage. Avoiding toxins can help – at least the ones you are aware of!

Our society is replete with estrogens from plastics, chemicals in our skin care and cosmetics; toxins in the smoggy air that we breathe; added chlorine and fluoride in the water we drink; BPA and other chemicals in the plastics we tend to drink out of; chemicals in our new carpet or paint; hidden molds in the walls of our homes; the high wires’ electrical fields now so close to our homes; or the cell phones we hold so close to our heads are all said to be potential sources for environmental toxins that our bodies have to find a way to eliminate. The liver’s job is to detoxify these chemicals – usually by making them more water soluble to keep them moving out of the body all-the-while less bioavailable so that they are not reabsorbed into our tissues.

The process of liver detoxification requires antioxidants, but sometimes we are exposed to things that add more work to the liver and make its job more difficult. As an example, a molecule of cholesterol has an –OH group on the first and 25^th carbon (thus the name 1,25, dehidroxycholecalciferol, that is the blood chemical tested for to determine vitamin D status.) Pharmaceutical estrogen and progesterone manufactured from horse urine are said to be linked to higher cancer rates. Estrogen is a very similar compound to cholecalciferol. The drug form adds an –OH group that the liver then has to figure out how to clear. Such hormones can accumulate if the liver does not have the extra antioxidants to get them past the first stage of liver detoxification. The sad truth is that when the liver unable to clear –OH groups that collect, they may accumulate and à 17-estradiol à cancer. The solution? First of all, in my opinion the hormones implicated in cancer are the man-made ones. Women with higher levels of naturally occurring estrogens as they age are shown to have higher bone density and less cancer incidence.

Clearing the accumulation of environmental toxins by including more antioxidants to allow the liver to get past the first phase of liver detoxification (from the P-450 cycle) to the second phase of liver detoxification and sufficient fiber to help clear those toxins out can be important adjuncts to the prevention and even reversal of cancer. Another critical help to liver function, besides antioxidants, may be herbs such as milk thistle to protect the liver combined with dandelion, artichoke, a short – two-month – cleanse with phyllanthus or even the combination “Essiac”.

4. *ALKALINIZING THE BODY

Our bodies, when in a healthy state, are just a little on the alkaline side. Too much acidity provides an environment that cancer can thrive in. Fruits and veggies help to keep us on the alkaline side and so can minerals. But remember that maintaining pH balance is a job your body is used to doing! Freaking out to maintain a specific pH in urine or saliva may not be helpful as pH in different areas of the body will naturally vary! Think of stomach acid vs the next step of alkaline small intestine to see the variance between two closely related parts. The bottom line is, whatever you can do to get the mitochondria healthy, the better able to balance itself the body will be!

5. *EMOTIONS / *SPIRITUAL STABILITY AND PRAYER LIFE

A peaceful emotional state may also prevent a cell’s genetic predisposition to manifest itself as cancerous. I believe that so much benefit is found in reaching out for your creator, investing time in His book and staying filled with the right spirit. Sounds so simple, but as in everything it is the execution of all of the above into a lifestyle you can enjoy and live with is key

In the forward to Dr. Mercola’s forthcoming book, Fat For Fuel, Thomas Seyfried, PhD and author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease and professor of biology at Boston College says, “I truly believe that the concept of Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy [MMT] will have a significant impact on health. As I mentioned in my book, cancer is not likely to occur in people with healthy mitochondria. Dr. Mercola has expanded this concept to a broad range of chronic diseases that involve mitochondrial dysfunction. He provides a clear rationale as well as guidelines for implementation of MMT. This book should be read by anyone interested in maintaining their health without toxic pharmaceuticals.”

6. EXERCISE

No discussion of the causes of cancer and the ways to prevent it would be complete without bringing up exercise and the importance of oxygenation and, moving the body – rebounders being especially critical for lymphatic health – aerobic exercise critical for the oxygen and large muscle exercises for the strengthening of bones and teeth. The bottom line is that so often, changes in lifestyle – that are within our control – can prevent cancer.

Six Well-Researched Ways to Prevent Cancer by Implementing Health Hacks

Six Well-Researched Ways to Prevent Cancer

by Implementing Health Hacks

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