Cancer Prevention

I wrote recently about how Cancer has affected my life. To date I’ve been lucky not to know anyone (except my mother’s second husband, and now my mother) who has had this disease. 

And what a horrific disease it is. Chemo, radiation, surgery, hair loss, nutrient loss, sometimes organ or breast loss; death. And the statistics are bleak. Very, very bleak.

According to Cancer.ca, 2 of every 5 people will get cancer. 1 of 4 will die from cancer.

But then you hear of some amazing cancer success stories. People who have totally overcome or manage the disease either through mostly natural means, like Kris Carr, or by whatever means necessary. 

I cannot speak about this disease as an expert, and at the time of writing this, my mother is recently diagnosed so isn’t showing many signs except being tired and some pain so I have not seen first hand how it affects a person. However, I am a nutrition expert and I can talk about cancer prevention from a holistic perspective.

Some Causes of Cancer:

Free radicals – these are chemicals (molecules) that we ingest either from food or in the air that are essentially broken (they gain or lose an electron). They are looking for another molecule to latch onto, and that is usually our cells.
We naturally form free radicals as part of the normal metabolic process in our body, but when we’re subjected to external free radicals from chemicals, stress, pollution, pesticides, GMO’s etc, this is where the damage occurs. It damages our DNA, our cells, and can lead to cancer. You combine this with high acidity in the body (not enough green veggies, too much stress) and low oxygenation (no exercise, shallow breathing) and you have a recipe for cellular disaster.

Smoking – I probably don’t really need to go into detail here. There’s more than enough data to support this argument. If you are still smoking, seriously, for the love of all things good, please consider quitting. I know you want to. You know you want to. What’s the deal? Just fucking do it. Get the patch, get whatever you need to just do it.

Sun/UV and Radiation exposure – protecting yourself with clean, chemical free sunscreens or protective clothing (however, I do want you to get your 20 mins or so of sun so you get Vitamin D), and ensuring if you go for x-rays you have superfoods like chlorella before and afterwards to help get rid of any free radicals developed.

Genetics – sometimes people develop rare forms of cancer from wonky genes.

Cancer Prevention Tips:

Get your gut healthy – scientists are discovering more and more about this key area of our body and how much it impacts our health. Probiotics, reduce stress, avoid foods that can trigger digestive upset (you know what these are for you), eat slowly and mindfully, chew fully.

My mother has pancreatic cancer, but prior to this she had diverticulitis, and I found out recently her gallbladder removed at 23. Unfortunately the importance of having that organ removed wasn’t communicated to her and with a lifetime of digestive issues that went unchecked, it led to a very weakened system. Did it cause her cancer, I don’t know. But I’m sure it didn’t help.

If you’ve had your gallbladder removed or any other organ, like appendix, please seek help from a holistic practitioner who will give you strategies on how to help your body compensate for the missing organ. Nothing is in our body by accident, everything has a function. 

Try to avoid as many chemicals as possible – switch to organic or more natural beauty products, household cleaners, get rid of artificially scented items in your home (essential oils are fine). Many of these pesticides and chemicals are cancer causing.

Get some free radical fighting antioxidants in you – The majority of research I found on antioxidants and cancer prevention was weak, however these were studies that only looked at one particular antioxidant, given as a supplement, over several years. I wouldn’t expect my cells to be protected by only taking Vitamin E every day. However, in combination, all the antioxidants like Vitamin A, C, E, selenium, manganese, Zinc taken together as, well, I don’t know, maybe a meal would be more beneficial.

So what does that look like? Basically, any recipe on this site, foods that are colourful, whole, not processed, mostly green, plant based. 

Stress reduction is vital to our health. That constant release of stress hormones is not doing us any good, it weakens our immune systems, causes hormonal imbalance in women, and causes our digestion to go off kilter. Get some good relaxation techniques under your belt such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga.

Reframe toxic thoughts – Playing those negative records over and over again in your head is actually affecting your cells. The Human Genome Project discovered that indeed our genes can be affected by our thoughts (and what we eat).

What if you have cancer (or know someone who does)?

Again, it’s beyond my scope to discuss cancer treatment once an individual has one, and this is especially true if they are being treated using chemo or radiation. However there are many clinics and resources available out there to help people.

Gerson Therapy is one method of cancer reversal, again, Kris Carr’s products are worth a look, and there is the Hippocrates Centre who specializes in this. I encourage you to have a holistic healing group of experts on your team, that include medical oncologists, and holistic cancer practitioners (ND’s, nutritionists etc). We are not simply organs, we are thoughts, feelings, energy, and cells all rolled up into one being. Why would we only allow one type of treatment? I encourage you to look into alternative, complementary modalities to help you on the journey and provide you with a well-rounded treatment plan.

Cancer awareness month should be cancer prevention month. Let’s PREVENT cancer in the first place, not wait until it happens, then “fight” for a cure. 

I would love to hear your experience with cancer, I know many people get it and are able to fight it, please share your successes, your losses, your experience. Feel free to email me at coconutlimenutrition@live.com or comment below.

If you are interested in exploring how you can improve your health check out my services page.