Thursday, September 15, 2011

7 Ways to Slash Cancer Risk




By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com senior editor
Would you change your lifestyle if you could slash your risk of getting cancer by a third or even half? That’s the challenge posed by a huge new report just released by The American Institute for Cancer Research that pulls together and analyzes the most comprehensive data on cancer prevention yet.
Okay, I admit it, you’re not going to like some of this advice, and neither are your family members. I know I don’t. Give up salami, one of my favorite lunch options? Yikes. And alcohol? As native Californians who grew up going wine tasting in the Napa Valley whenever possible, my siblings would be really sad if family dinners were no longer accompanied by a bottle of good zinfandel or pinot. And what’s a burrito without a cold beer and lime to go with it?
But this evidence is so compelling that I think all of us in Cancer World are going to have to look twice at some of our lifestyle choices and may feel newly motivated to make changes, or nag at our loved ones to do so. Imagine, by following these guidelines, we could prevent:
  • More than 45 percent of colon cancer cases
    (Translation: 49,000 people would not get colon cancer)
  • 38 percent of breast cancer cases
    (Translation: 70,000 people would not get breast cancer)
  • One third of all the most common cancers
This report is a big deal because the experts who compiled it looked at every major study and based their recommendations on hard evidence of what really works to reduce cancer risk. “This is the practical application of five years of work sorting through what the science really says,” said panel member Steve Zeisel, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


1. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day. As well as helping prevent weight gain, research shows that activity itself helps prevent cancer by keeping hormone levels healthy, which is important because having high levels of some hormones can increase cancer risk.



2. Lower your weight to the lower end of the body-mass index for your height. Even more important, banish belly fat, which acts like a ‘hormone pump’ releasing estrogen into the bloodstream as well as raising levels of other hormones. This is strongly linked to colon cancer and probably to cancers of the pancreas and endometrium (lining of the uterus), as well as breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women.


3. Avoid sugary drinks and high-calorie foods. Cutting out foods made from white flour and sugar, such as candy, pastries, and other baked goods that aren’t whole grain, is one of the fastest ways to lose weight, and is also healthier for blood sugar balance.



4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. This one’s been pretty thoroughly covered in a previous post on anti-cancer foods.

5. Eat less red meat and little or no processed meat. Experts say there’s no longer any doubt that eating beef, pork, and other red meats raises the risk of colorectal cancer. Red meat contains heme iron and other substances that damage the colon lining, making way for tumor growth. Processed meat is even worse. When meat is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives, cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) are formed that damage cells in the body, leading to cancer. While studies show we can eat up to 18 ounces a week of red meat without raising cancer risk, research shows that cancer risk starts to increase with any portion of processed meat.


6. Limit alcohol to two drinks a day for men, one for women–but none is best of all. Unfortunately for all those of us who like a drink now and then, there’s convincing evidence that alcohol increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and colon. This one got hit with a double-whammy of evidence this week; the National Cancer Institute also reported the results of a huge study detailing the risks of alcohol for women. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, cancer blogger for the American Cancer Society, spelled it out in black and white: “there is no level of alcohol consumption that could be called safe.” Scientists are still researching how alcohol causes cancer. One theory is that alcohol can directly damage DNA, increasing our risk of cancer. Research shows that alcohol is particularly harmful when combined with smoking.

7. Limit salt intake. Salt and salt-preserved foods are linked to stomach and other digestive cancers; limit salt to 2400 milligrams to be safe.
One last thing; this report did not even address smoking, because experts consider that such a no-brainer at this point. Smokers increase their chances of getting almost all kinds of cancer every time they light up. So the only recommendation is, don’t.





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Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

FACTS

Good Health to all.

I was posted this article, which may have some provoking thoughts:

The below is absolutely 100% true and as a doctor I have been telling people this for 15 years now. No one wants to listen. Folks need to wake up. Cancer treatment is about making money. It is a 120 billion dollar a year industry in the United States alone and estimated to be a 600 billion dollar a year industry worldwide. A successful cancer case according to the American Cancer Society and the American College of Oncology and Hematology means that the person survives for 5 years.

Both the American Cancer Society and the American College of Oncology and Hematology admit that a person is likely to survive cancer for 7 to 10 years even if they do absolutely NOTHING. Of course, only the doctors get those magazines - not you, the cancer patient.

Alternative medicine's track record of curing cancer is 10 times higher than that of conventional medicine. Note that I say CURE.

Remember another thing. A TUMOR is just a symptom. It is not the cause of cancer. Science is cause and effect. Remove the cause and the effect disappears. I am in my third battle with cancer right now. I have not done any chemotherapy or radiation or surgery for any of my bouts with cancer. I survived leukemia, I survived Non Hodgkins Lymphoma and now I have Glioblastoma which is supposedly an incurable form of brain cancer. I was given two months to live 5 months ago. I have been using Chinese herbs, high doses of vitamin C, acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy and nutritional changes. Yes, at first it got worse. It had metastasized to my lymph nodes, my lungs and my bones.

As of this week, I am happy to say that there is no evidence now of any cancer in my lymph system or my bones. I had 6 tumors in my lungs, now there are only two. The tumors in my brain have shrunken tremendously. I never did any of their chemo, radiation or surgery.

Here is a very interesting statistic that you can only have access to by being a doctor. Every year more than 1,000 doctors oncologists (cancer doctors) are diagnosed with cancer. Less than 10% of them choose to do the treatment that they have been giving to their patients. Sort of like the fact that less than 25% of all pediatricians vaccinate their own children because of the fact that the risk of sudden death or serious side effects from the vaccination is higher than the risk of catching the disease one is being vaccinated for. This is not bullshit people - it is truth. Medicine is about money, not about your health and the system traps people, especially the elderly, disabled and poor into a deadly treatment regime that puts them in an early grave. Meanwhile, all the jet set billionaires are flying off to Europe and paying big bucks for alternative treatments and getting cured.

Does alternative medicine work all the time? No. Of course not. Nothing works all the time. But there is a reason for that. You don't die until it's your time to die. Nothing can make you live longer than that time. However quality of life comes into play. Those cancer patients who use alternative therapies for their cancer, yet still die from the illness, suffer a much higher quality of life. They die able to spend time with their families and even recognize their family members. They don't become emaciated like those who do chemotherapy or radiation do and rarely is a person who goes under the treatment of chemotherapy able to recognize anyone for the last few days of their lives. Their bodies become ravaged to the point that you can't even recognize them either. They suffer at a much much higher rate and they have one let down after another as doctors tell them, ahhh - it's looking good, only to tell them on the next visit it's looking worse, you need more chemo and radiation.

What is criminal about this is that YOUR DOCTORS KNOW THIS SHIT.

I took an oath as a physician. I have always followed it. That has certainly not made me successful financially as a doctor because I have consistently refused to go along with conventional medicine's bullshit.

Read the below carefully. It may indeed make a difference in your life.

Rick Cantrell, PhD, MD, PsyD

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .