| | Naturopathic Medicine : Cancer | |
Cancer Issue
Prevention is the most important step in any health care plan, and
preventing cancer is 99% possible with a sensible sleep/work/play
regime plus a low calorie, diet. A favorite bumper-sticker recently spied on I-5 reads "In Garlic we trust." Yes!
Yes!
Garlic protects against cancer. Reverently place several cloves of
garlic in your juicer along with just about any vegetable concoction.
Besides garlic, the single most important nutrient in winning the
cancer "war" is good old Vitamin C. Linus Pauling's famous studies
definitively proved the efficiency of Vitamin C in extending life
expectancy. In his first study with 100 terminal cancer patients and
1,000 controls, Pauling found that those taking 10 mg of C daily lived
4 times longer than those using only chemotherapy and/or radiation.
Vitamin C boosts the immune system by enhancing phagocytic activity
(white blood cells that gobbling up "foreign" bodies and debris).
Ascorbate (the technical term for Vitamin C) also helps to prevent the
formation of destructive N-nitros- amines, made from nitrates which
convert to nitrites in the stomach. Nitrates are found in cured
meats, drinking water, cigarette smoke, sprayed on precut vegetables
or on produce grown in soil heavy with nitrogen fertilizers. Buy
ORGANIC! Pauling's work has been duplicated and published in
prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine
and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For the patient who
already has cancer, there exist protocols that administer Vitamin C as
curative, although Pauling never made that claim publicly.
The patient with cancer has, by definition, a compromised immune
system because it failed to perform its function of surveillance,
foreign body destruction and removal. The treatment of cancer
requires stimulating and strengthening the immune system. The cancer
cell is surrounded by particular molecules (hydroxylamines) which
produce an electrical field of abnormal positive charges around the
cell. The positive charges repel the body's own phagocytes which are
necessary to destroy or convert the cancer cell back to normal. The
process of neutralizing the electrical charges can be accomplished
with various nutrients, including "megadoses" of Vitamin C, such
as 80 grams daily, according to some physicians who offer comprehensive
health care.
Vegetarians and 7th-Day Adventists are among the lowest-risk
populations for cancer of any kind. These groups typically eat 3 to 4
times more Vitamin C as the average population. Vitamin C is
especially protective against oral, esophageal, stomach, cervical,
lung, rectal and breast cancers. The most concentrated source of
Vitamin C is the Acerola cherry, grown in Puerto Rico (1300 mg per 100
grams; 100 gm = 3.5 ounces). Next best raw food sources are red chili
peppers (369 mg/100gm), guavas (242 mg/100gm), red sweet peppers
(204 mg/100gm, kale (186 mg/100gm), and parsley (172 mg/100gm), with
collard greens, turnip greens, green peppers, broccoli, and Brussels
sprouts following close behind.
Many of these juiceable fruits and veggies also contain other cancer-
preventing nutrients such as beta-carotene (pro-Vitamin A), Vitamin E,
potassium, selenium, and fiber. Please make sure you get enough
vegetable fiber; you can use the pulp "leftovers" from juicing
to add to veggie-burgers, gazpacho soup or a cold rice salad. Carrots are the highest juice source of Vitamin A; spinach is highest for Vitamin
E. An adequate daily supply of Vitamin A is 5,000 I.U.s, so a 2 ounce
"shot" of carrot juice should do it. Vitamin A ("retinol"
or "retinoic acid") is a potent anti-oxidant, which prevents excessive
free radical damage -- an important balance to the crucial need for
plentiful oxygenation, which is best achieved by aerobic exercise.
Vitamin A and beta-carotene are known to be helpful in preventing
prostate, cervical, lung, stomach and oral cancers. As for Vitamin E,
also known as alpha-tocopherol, the overall risk for cancers in non-
smokers is decreased 89% with adequate E intake; that is
approximately 200 I.U.s daily, which is supplied by 2 handfuls of
sunflower seeds, 4 handfuls of almonds, 2 pounds of spinach or 3
pounds of asparagus.
Selenium is another antioxidant (a co-factor in the enzyme
glutathione peroxidase) inversely correlated with breast, colon,
gastric and rectal cancers. Selenium is high is oranges, grapes,
radishes, almonds, onion, cabbage, and butter.
Needless to say, we don't advise eating butter. Animal fats, in fact,
are the last thing we need. Obviously human bodies have teeth and a
need for B-12 so meat may be an important part of the diet -- but NOT
meat FAT, especially if it's cooked. A well-done burger is 10 times
more carcinogenic than a rare one. The cow, abused by domestication,
is the unwitting principle offender in this country. At the top of
the food chain, your average American cow has such messed up innards
that it can't defecate and give birth without mechanical assistance.
The average American cow is laden with hormones, antibiotics,
pesticides. Its milk polluted, and so are all bovine dairy products.
Switch to delicious goat's milk. Unlike cows, who pass all ingested
pollutants into their milk, goats filter garbage out through their
intestinal tract. The other thing about cow's milk is that the
percent fat listed on the container is quite misleading. "2% fat
milk" means 2% of the milk solid. Since most of the container holds
water, the milk portion is actually 25% fat. That means that "4%
milk" has a 50% fat solid, and "1%" has a 12.5% fat solid.
A healthy diet has no more than 10-15% of the total calories as fat -- and these
fats should come from fish oils or high quality vegetable oils (flax,
olive, safflower). If possible, these fats should be stored in the
refrigerator and stay at a temperature well below 200 degrees
Fahrenheit for cooking. That means slow baking and no frying. Fried
foods give rise to all cancers, especially colon cancer.
Three other tips for avoiding cancer:
- Smoking is a foolish, smelly, silly looking activity that can
definitely ruin your day, if not your life. If you know anybody
who still smokes, and can't quit cold turkey, please ask them to
get help from a naturopathic physician, acupuncturist,
hypnotherapist or 12-step program.
- One of the most potent carcinogens in our food source is the
aflatoxin found in almost all peanut crops. Avoid all peanut
products, including peanut butter. Even the organic kind. It's
not the soil, it's the fungus that grows on the stockpiled nuts.
- Err on the side of extreme moderation when it comes to pickled or
salt-cured foods. These two methods of preparing food create
carcinogens within the body and detrimentally alter gut flora.
Merely moderate dietary changes in most adults won't make that much
difference in longevity at this point. For those of you who plan to
be healthy beyond the year 2000, it is really very important to adapt
to a clean diet immediately. Make it your goal for the '90s. A
juicer can be an invaluable tool in helping you make the switch to no-fat snacks and delicious appetizers.
 | A graduate of Bastyr University in Seattle, she completed both the Naturopathic and Acupuncture/Oriental Medicine programs. Her preceptor work (similar to residencies) took place in Seattle, West Virginia and China,......more |
|
|
Popular Related Articles/Areas
Popular & Related Products
Popular & Featured Events
Dimensions of Wellness
|
|