Fight Cancer With Good Nutrition

Can we eliminate one of the most devastating illnesses known to modern mankind, an illness that has touched all of our lives in one way or another? We all know someone who lives with it, who has survived it or who has died of it. Some of you are currently living with it and some have miraculously survived it. I lost my father...

to it. I’m sure by now you know what I’m talking about; Cancer.

With all of our knowledge and all of the scientific breakthroughs we still have not found a cure for this debilitating illness. Why do doctors continue to be baffled and why does the treatment have to be so horrific? Cancer is a word no one wants to hear. The treatment alone can kill and can be draining on your system, so much so that many people opt to not have treatment at all. We have not even mentioned the costs associated with cancer treatment which can be astronomical. The “standard of care” consists of body altering surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Chemotherapy infuses poisoning chemicals that destroys the immune system and despite how sick they make you feel the cancer can grow so rapidly that your immune system never gets a chance to repair itself. If we know that ingesting chemically laden foods and breathing chemically laden air can cause cancer why would we want to put additional chemicals into our body in order to cure it? Two to five percent of the 350,000 people a year who undergo in-hospital chemotherapy treatments die as a direct result of the toxicity from the treatment itself. That’s 7000 to 17,500 people too many. Twenty one percent of patients receiving high-dose chemo die as a complication of the treatment. You or a loved one could be part of this statistic.

Don’t become a statistic! We need to get to the root of this evil before it strikes. Cancer can be a merciless adversary. One way that we can inhibit it and even stop it in its tracts is to keep our bodies as clean as possible. Clean by consuming the right foods and keep our bodies as free of toxins as we possibly can. Toxins cause irritation. Free radical damage is what occurs as a result of constant irritation in our body. These free radicals tear at the cell’s membrane, and in some cases, damage the cell’s DNA structure. When the DNA structure is interfered with, mutation can occur, which leads to the formation and growth of cancerous cells.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock “The typical Western diet, high in red meats, bad fats, food additives and carbohydrates is a perfect cancer brew”.

Fighting cancer is a war and it involves life-style choices and changes of old habits. Changing old habits is never easy but it can be simple. This quote from Dr. Khalid Mahmud makes a lot of sense “Eat God-made foods, not man-made foods”. Remember the old adage, KISS (keep it simple, stupid) these words of wisdom can protect you from the ravages of cancer by just making a few simple changes in your everyday diet. According to Dena McDowell, MS, RD, for the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center agrees that eating the right foods actually helps prevent cancer. "There is a strong connection between what you eat and whether you develop cancer in your lifetime," says McDowell. The American Cancer Society Nutrition Guidelines calls for a diet that is as plant-based as possible.

Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters.

Start with eating at a minimum of five but on average seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. As you continue to change you’re eating habits your taste buds will change and good nutritious healthy foods will taste better to you than chemically laden, poor quality foods.

Eating foods that contain ample nutrients have been shown to prevent cancer. The damaging effects of free-radicals are minimized by nutrients known as anti-oxidants. These include Vitamins A, C, and E, calcium and vitamin D, the B vitamins and folic acid, the minerals selenium and zinc and beta carotene. The higher the amount of antioxidants you consume the better. A unit of measurement that defines the antioxidant value of foods is called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

Use healthy fats such as olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and green plant food sources, especially spinach, flaxseeds, mustard greens and algae’s. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to have an anti-carcinogenic effect in the laboratory.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of anti-oxidants that quench free radicals. They contain bioflavonoids (plant chemicals) that have anti-cancer properties, bioflavonoids turn on phase II enzymes that rid our body of cancer-causing toxins. Fruits and vegetables also contain fiber that binds the toxins excreted into the intestines, these toxins are then not absorbed back into the system. Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters. Scientists have learned that various components of plants (phytonutrients) can attack cancer cells at all levels but at the same time have no harmful effect on normal cells. These phytonutrients strengthen normal cells so that toxins or free radicals cannot affect those cells preventing cells from becoming cancerous. This is especially important in preventing secondary cancers that can be created in the wake of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Turmeric is the spice most often used in curry powder. It has an active ingredient called curcumin that has shown resistance to colon, breast, liver, oral, skin, and stomach tumors in laboratory testing on animals.

Yogurt with live probiotic cultures consumed in high quantities has been linked in some population studies to reduced risks of cancer, particularly of the breast and colon.

Green Tea is the best source of catechins in the human diet, containing about three times as many catechins as there are in black tea. The catechins found in tea selectively inhibit specific enzyme activities that lead to cancer and may also repair cellular damage caused by free radicals. Green tea has been shown to inhibit or block cancer development in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. Studies done in Asia show that frequent use of green tea can lower the risk of many common cancers including the recurrence of stage 1 breast cancer.

Grapes, especially red and purple varieties, contain high levels of resveratrol, which belongs to a classification of plant chemicals called polyphenols. Resveratrol has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells and inhibit the formation of tumors in lymph, liver, stomach and breast.

Variety is certainly the spice of life. Pay attention to the colors of the fruits and vegetables you choose—green, red, yellow, orange, purple, blue, and white—as nature has imbued each with unique nutrients and phytochemicals that deliver a more complete nutritional benefit when consumed together. Think of assembling a rainbow of colors on your plate; it’s more pleasing to the eye and will give you a good balance of phytonutrients at each meal. I created NV so that we all could have a rainbow of essential fruits, vegetables, fiber, probiotics, turmeric, phytochemicals, carotenoids, ellagic acid, resveratrol, and antioxidants. NV has an ORAC value of 6880 per serving, that’s huge! NV has all the essential nutrients needed to prevent the onset of cancer.

Dr. Steve Nelson of the Synergy Wellness Clinic states that “If people don’t supplement, consume a nutritious diet, apply homeopathic therapies and pay attention to their bodies they are going to continue to get sick”. No one knows for sure if cancers are ever eradicated in your body. Sticking to a nutritious diet and supplementing with NV is so important since a dormant cancer can be reactivated by a bad diet. If we start right now we can improve our chances of having a healthy future.

Wouldn’t it be nice if future generations could say “once upon a time people got cancer” like we think of the black plague? The time is now to make that a reality.
by: Denise McKinley R.N.