DoyCave.com

…where Doy occasionally writes.

Tag: Cancer

  • How to decrease your cancer risk right now

    hot dogs on grillIt’s scary time on Eating To Live…just in time for Memorial Day, even! I’m sure it won’t be this way often, so don’t assume I’ve gone dark or anything.

    Cancer is honestly one of those things you can’t talk about without a collective hush coming over the room. It’s a plague that’s taken too many of my friends and affected too many of my family. And it’s on the rise.

    WebMD reports worldwide cancer rates are going to jump more than 75% by 2030.  In the U.S. specifically, obesity related cancers such as breast cancer and colon cancer are expected to rise, and the blame is increasingly falling on our diet.

    Our food, in many cases, is killing us, and a 2007 World Cancer Research Fund review of 7,000 clinical studies says it’s LITERALLY killing us.

    The review, which I’ve only read recently, thanks to Holly Lee’s nutrition blog, essentially says that processed meat should be stricken from your diet right now in order to reduce your cancer risk.

    In fact, the study reported that every 50 gram serving (roughly 1 hot dog) eaten per day increases colorectal cancer risk by 21 percent. Yes, you read that right. As a result, the study recommends people simply avoid processed meat.

    Why processed meats?

    The two big chemical offenders here are Sodium Nitrite and Monosodium glutamate (MSG). Sodium Nitrite is a color additive used to make meats look bright red and more fresh, and MSG adds an addictive savory flavor to make even long-packaged processed meats taste good.

    Both are horrible for you and are linked to both a sharp rise in colorectal cancer risk as well as neurological disorders, obesity and other serious health conditions.

    Still not convinced?

    A separate study, published in 2005 by Hawaii University, reports that eating processed meats increases pancreatic cancer risk by 67%. That makes you almost SEVEN TIMES more likely to get pancreatic cancer, which, if you didn’t know, has a five-year survival rate of less than 5%.

    I’m not a vegan evangelist by any means. I’m on my diet out of necessity. I’ve adopted this strict diet in order to fight the Coronary Artery Disease that would otherwise have surgeons sawing open my chest. I’m sure that a vegan diet can improve your health, but I know it’s not for everyone.

    I will, however, say this. If you’ve never had a doctor give you a bad prognosis, you won’t understand the regret and the self-hatred that comes when you realize your disease is something you could’ve easily prevented. I’ve been there, and it’s a bummer of a ride.

    Because I honestly care about you four faithful readers, I hope you never take it.

    Further reading:

  • A Cancer Cure You’ve Never Heard Of?

    2164797Just for the record, I wasn’t sold on plant-based nutrition from the outset.

    We briefly tried to go vegan early last year. It lasted a couple of weeks before we were back to grilled chicken and burgers.

    My entry into the Esselstyn diet has honestly been one of necessity. I’m going down this road because if it will indeed reverse my heart disease, I might just get to see my grandchildren one day.

    That said, however, I’m becoming more and more convinced of the value — dare I say necessity? — of plant-based nutrition in battling America’s most debilitating diseases. The modern American diet as we know it is a sure-shot killer, and more and more people are being taken from this earth by its slow and deadly precision.

    This weekend I saw the documentary, Dying to Have Known by filmmaker Steve Kroschel (presently available on Netflix instant streaming). In this film, he specifically focuses on Gerson Therapy, an intense regimen of plant-based nutrition that is purported to CURE cancer. You read that right, by the way. Cure. Cancer.

    In the film, Kroschel talks mostly with patients, all diagnosed with various forms of cancer, some given only months to live. In each case, they claim the cancer went into remission and hasn’t come back since.

    The science behind the therapy lies with Dr. Max Gerson, who wrote about his first successes with cancer in the 1958 book, A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and the Cure of Advanced Cancer. The therapy aims to strengthen the liver, flooding the body with antioxidants and starving and dissolving the cancer cells.

    The therapy and the man behind it are genuinely interesting. Dr. Gerson went before the senate in in July 1946, bringing with him five cancer patients healed with his plant-based therapy. He was shot down by the medical establishment, received very little press coverage, and after his death in 1959, we’re still hearing very little.

    Unfortunately, however, Kroschel’s take on the subject isn’t very thorough. He often gets in the way of the storytelling, interjecting his own feelings, questions and reflections about the subject and avoiding some of its most basic facts. Other than knowing the source of the therapy and some of its success stories (in overview), I left wanting to know more about this therapy and what it’s about. My summary above is based on internet research, not what I learned in the film.

    In short, the film is more personal essay than journalism; more reflection than reporting.

    That said, however, I would still recommend seeing it. It’s important to hear stories from real people who have made changes in their lives for the better. In this case, the changes probably saved their lives outright.

    I take the time to write these articles for you, my four faithful readers, because I genuinely want you and your families to flourish on this earth, unhindered by the toxicity and disease that plagues the citizens of this country.

    Obesity is at an all-time high. For the first time in history, our children may live shorter lives than we live. Cancer is at an all-time high. Autism affects more children than ever. Obviously, something is wrong.

    I don’t claim to have all the answers, and I certainly can’t say that spinach will save our country or our lives.

    I can, however, say that it won’t hurt. And I can definitely say you’ll be healthier as a result. I’m living proof of that.

    Check out Dying to Have Known. It’s just over and hour and can move slowly at times, but the knowledge gained within is worth your time…and your health…and just might spark your interest in learning more.