Benefits of Broccoli

Cancer Fighting Foods

Health Benefits of Strawberries

Cancer Prevention Tips to Beat the Odds

With 1 in 29 women in South Africa being diagnosed with breast cancer, it's no wonder that cancer is one of the most serious diseases women face!

That's why we wanted to share some tips from CANSA - The Cancer Association of South Africa - to help increase your odds for breast cancer prevention:

·         A breast self-examination (BSE) should be done at least once a month.

·         Get an annual mammogram or do a clinical breast examination at any CANSA Care Centre.

·         Limit alcohol consumption. Your risk goes up by 7% with each drink you have per day.

·         Follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

If you'd like to get more info on breast cancer prevention, visit: www.cansa.org.za .You can also donate your time or cash to help further the research in fighting cancer - just like us.

 

Beat the odds!

The Cost of a Mammogram

A friend mentioned today on Facebook that she went for her yearly mammogram and gynaecologist checkup, both just routine checkups for preventitive measures. The cost was R2046 (that is 233USD - 146GBP - 180EUR). That is excluding the pathologist costs of a further R160. Why can South African government not give each woman a free mammogram per year, the cost of a mammogram will be far less than the cost of cancer treatment itself.



Read article below about the cost of a mammogram in various parts of the world:-


In a recently published study in the journal Cancer, the authors concluded that people without health insurance who lived in rural areas were less likely to have routine health check-ups. According to the lead author, Dr Patricia Carney, “People in rural areas tend to go to the doctor only when they are ill, so they don’t get a chance to talk about cancer screening.”

Previous research that focused on people in cities showed that the rates of cancer screening were lower among the uninsured. In this recent study, 78% of rural women who lacked health insurance had not had a mammogram in the previous three years. As Dr Carney said, “If you have insurance of any kind, you are more likely to go for a health visit, and if you have a health visit, you’re more likely to be up-to-date for cancer screening.”




There are, of course, a variety of reasons why screening rates might be low. These include the distance to the nearest clinic, a lack of interest in personal healthcare and, for the uninsured or partially insured, the cost. This got us thinking: What does a mammogram cost in different parts of the world? In the brief analysis that follows, we have used exchange rates of $1.00 = £0.64 = R8.22, without taking into account purchasing power parity.

In the United Kingdom, where the National Health Service (NHS) has offered a government-sponsored breast screening service for over 20 years, almost 2 million women each year have a mammogram at a cost of $70 to the NHS. For those women with private health insurance, they can expect to pay up to $350 for a mammogram of both breasts and a further $550 if ultrasound images are also gathered. In the USA, there is an innovative service where women can search for breast imaging clinics based on where they live. In Lake Grove, New York, for example, the least expensive price for a mammogram is $210 while the most expensive is $1650.

In South Africa, at a university teaching hospital like Groote Schuur, patients are means tested. A woman earning less than $4,400 per annum would pay just $4.25 for her mammogram, while a woman whose annual salary exceeds $9,000 would pay $40. At a private Cape Town hospital, a woman would pay $120 for a breast examination that includes both mammography and ultrasound. The question we need to ask, however, is this: What is the cost of not having a mammogram?



Posted - Friday, June 29th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
http://www.caperay.com/blog/index.php/2012/the-cost-of-a-mammogram/

Movember 2012 – Knowledge is Power and the Moustache is King

We are open for business, come on in and join our family! Movember, the Global Men’s Health charity initiative staged annually during November, has launched the 2012 campaign and registrations are now open.

This will be the 3rd year that South African men and women register and support the Global charity that is ‘Changing the Face of Men’s Health’, which sees men grow moustaches for 30 days during November in order to raise awareness and funds for CANSA’s prostate and testicular cancer programmes and initiatives.

Movember Supports CANSA’s Men’s Health Programme

Over the past two years, Movember has paid homage to the Modern Gentleman and Country Gentleman, exploring his appreciation and penchant for luxury items, etiquette, craftsmanship, pride and honour. In 2012, Movember gets down to the raw hard truths of the past two years,taking a look, quite simply, at what it means to be a better man. 2012 is the year of Movember & Sons.

In 2011, the campaign had close to 18 000 men (known as Mo Bros) and women (known as Mo Sistas) registered as active participants and R4.9 million was raised for the local men’s health partner, namely CANSA.

Founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003, Movember enjoyed 856 000 Mo Bros and Sistas, registered from 14 countries in 2011, raising over R949 million last year alone. In 2012, Movember will launch in a further 7 countries, increasing the number to 21 countries participating in the campaign. This has resulted in Movember being one of the single biggest contributors to prostate cancer research globally through their GAP (Global Action Plan) initiative – which has already achieved remarkable outcomes and breakthroughs.

Mo Bros and Sistas are asked to register – for free – on the South African landing page of www.movember.com, where participants can also post and chronicle their moustache journey and | or support their favourite ‘moustache merchants’ on their respective Mo Space pages. Mo Bros and Sistas who have registered previously are required to re-register in order to participate in the 2012 campaign. There are a few new additions to this year’s campaign including various challenges within communities and industries participating in the campaign.

Those who have already pledged their support, vowed to grow a moustache and join the Movember conversation include Springboks Andries Bekker, Frans Steyn and Dean Greyling.

Movember Partners

• Major partners to this year’s Movember campaign include OUTsurance, who has committed that registered Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who call in for a free life insurance quote will receive R200 donated to their Mo Space Pages.
• Low cost airline kulula, will allow registered Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who book and fly with the airline an additional bag (or 20kg’s luggage) and free access to the SLOW Lounges during the month of Movember.
• Clover, as promotional partner, will donate a portion of sales of all Clover Mmmilk products over this period to the campaign.

Register Now!

To register and find out more visit www.movember.com

For Your Health

Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer

 

Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer by Laura Roppé

In 2008, just as Laura Roppé was poised to burst onto the music scene, her doctor called her with news that left her spinning. She had been diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. Just days earlier, she had signed a dream-come-true contract with a record label; now, she wasn’t even sure how much longer she had to live. Never one to back down to a challenge, however, Roppé gathered her courage, took stock of her priorities, and made a decision: Cancer may take my hair, she told herself, but that’s all it’s getting.

More than a cancer journey, Rocking the Pink is a quirky, charming, and poignant ode to love, friendship, and music. Roppé is unflinchingly honest and unfailingly funny as she tells the story of her odyssey: from childhood dreamer and giddy valet parker to the Hollywood stars to disillusioned lawyer, wife, and mother; from budding songwriter and late-blooming recording artist to determined cancer survivor. Full of raw emotion and humor that will make you laugh through your tears, Rocking the Pink is a chronicle of discovering one's true self through life’s difficult circumstances and a testament to the hang-in-tough, take-no-prisoners attitude it takes to kick cancer’s butt.

Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer Details:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27857 in Books
• Published on: 2012-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Order from Amazon or Loot Online


Visit Laura Roppe's "Rocking The Pink" Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rocking-The-Pink/227246967287227

Visit Laura Roppe's webpage:
http://www.lauraroppe.com/

And click on the song title to listen to her song - Rocking the Pink



 

Daily Aspirin Dose Cuts Cancer Risk, New Study Says

A new study suggests that those people who take a low-dose aspirin on a daily basis lower their risks of dying from cancer over a number of years. This newest study finds that risks of dying of cancer are up to 16 percent lower when people took an aspirin every day for an extended period of time.

More specifically, the 16 percent figure reflects an average of all types of cancer. In cases of oesophageal, stomach and colorectal cancer there was a drop in deaths from the disease of about 40 percent, the Raw Story notes. But deaths from other types of cancer not linked to the digestive system still dropped by about 12 percent, which means that an overall 16 percent may be a promising lead in preventative cancer measures.

Original research published back in March by Oxford University researcher Peter Rothwell had originally presented a much more optimistic finding about aspirin’s effect on mortality rates. In that study, he reported that those who took aspirin daily for three years could cut their risk of cancer by 25 percent. This newest study demotes that number to a much more modest figure with variable effects.

This newest study, led by Eric Jacobs, looked at just over 100,000 men and women who had no prior history of cancer. Of course, a myriad of variables play into how the aspirin works. For example, the drug did not reduce lung cancer among smokers because that activity cancels out any positive effects of an aspirin regimen.

Researchers remain wary of using aspirin purely as a cancer prevention treatment at the present moment until further research has been conducted, notes the Telegraph. A great many mysteries remain about how and why aspirin has this effect on the body. Some scientists suggest that it reduces inflammation, and may even help stop cancer cells from sticking to blood platelets.

Although the study shows a general trend, aspirin also comes with other side effects because it is a blood thinner and can cause episodes of bleeding in the stomach, especially in older patients. The mysterious effects of aspirin and the potential harms still need further research in order to flesh out how it may become an effective measure in the fight against cancer.


Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/daily-aspirin-dose-cuts-cancer-risk-new-study-says.html#ixzz24M1SX6bx

7 of the Most Unhealthy, Cancer-Causing Foods

Let’s face it: it’s challenging to eat all-healthy foods all the time. Sometimes we just want an easy pre-processed meal for a late dinner, while other times we choose to indulge in a junky treat as a comfort food. But do you know the difference between foods with a little extra fat or sugar, and foods that contain dangerous carcinogens which could do long-term damage to your health? You might be surprised!
There are seven extra-unhealthy, carcinogen-laden foods in particular that you should be sure to avoid. Read on to find out what they are and what ill effects they can have—for your health’s sake!
(List and information via Renegade Health.)

1. Processed Meat: Meats preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, or that contain chemical preservatives, are linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. Most are manufactured with a carcinogenic ingredient known as sodium nitrite, used to turn packaged meats a bright red color so they look fresh. A 2005 study from the University of Hawaii found that processed meats increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 67 percent. Hot dogs, in particular, are made up of meat scraps, including organs, nerve tissue, bone pieces, and other unsavory animal parts. Animals that donate them are likely to have been fed grains laced with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and fecal matter. After a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) declared that consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives. These include bacon, sausage, hot dogs, sandwich meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, salami, and virtually all red meat used in frozen and prepared meals.


2. Soda: It’s loaded with calories, sugar, and artificial ingredients, and has no nutritional benefit. One can of soda contains the equivalent of ten packets of sugar. According to studies, most popular diet and sugared sodas are nearly as corrosive to dental enamel as battery acid, leading to an increase in tooth sensitivity and cavities despite good dental hygiene. A study from the University of Minnesota found that people who drank as little as two soft drinks a week faced almost double the risk of pancreatic cancer. Dark-colored sodas contain a chemical known as 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a byproduct of chemical processing used to create the artificial dye that gives these sodas their color. Studies have linked 4-MI to cancer. Pepsi and Coca-Cola recently announced they would modify the coloring to avoid a cancer-warning label newly required by California law. A UCLA study also directly linked soda with obesity.

3. Regular Potato Chips: They’re full of artery-clogging trans fats, high glycemic carbohydrates, sodium, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. High temperatures used to cook them typically cause the formation of carcinogenic substances like acrylamide, which is also found in cigarettes. Clark University professor Dale Hattis is quoted as saying, “I estimate that acrylamide causes several thousand cancers per year in Americans.” Even those with reduced trans fat may contain acrylamide.

4. Microwave Popcorn: Chemicals in the lining of the bag, including perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to researchers at UCLA. In testing, the chemicals caused liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancers. Microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize, and migrate into your popcorn. Many manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015. Until then, it’s best to pop kernels the old fashioned way.

5. Farmed Salmon: According to David Carpenter, M.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, farmed salmon is not only lower in vitamin D than wild-caught, but higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, flame retardants, and pesticides including DDT. “You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” Carpenter stated. These fish are also typically treated with high levels of antibiotics.

6. Conventional Apples (and Other “Dirty” Fruits): According to a survey by the Environmental Working Group, apples are the most pesticide-contaminated produce on average, with pesticides showing up on 98 percent of the more than 700 samples tested. Other highly contaminated produce included grapes, strawberries, cilantro, potatoes, and oranges, all of which had more than 90 percent of samples testing positive for pesticide residue. In addition to being toxic to humans, pesticides may increase the risk of some cancers, with some studies indicating that maternal exposure may increase the risk of lowered child I.Q. and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Choose organic for these items.

7. Canned Tomatoes: The lining of most canned foods contains bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that acts as an estrogen and disrupts hormonal activity in the body. Studies show that BPA may be linked to heart disease, intestinal damage, and infertility and other reproductive issues. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is widespread exposure to BPA in the United States. Though all canned foods are of concern, tomatoes are particularly dangerous because their high acidity causes BPA to leach into them. University of Missouri endocrinologist Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., notes that you can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a high enough level to impact people, particularly children.


Do you have other foods you avoid at all costs?

Hoping for a Breast Cancer Cure

The T-Shirt of the year.

This is the cutest breast cancer email I have ever received.

The Natural Cancer Therapy You’ve Never Heard Of

Photo Courtesy Of: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably well aware of the link between the foods you eat and your risk of cancer. But for those of you who may be just joining us, suffice it to say that virtually everything you put into (or onto) your body can either help or hinder your natural healing mechanisms, and thereby influence your risk of cancer.

This is not an “alternative” view at all. Rather, even the conservative American Cancer Society states that one-third of cancer deaths are linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, and carrying excess weight.
Once you understand this, it is not a stretch to embrace the teachings of the Gerson Therapy, which has helped thousands of people recover from so-called incurable diseases, including cancer.

What is The Gerson Therapy?
The Gerson Therapy, developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920s, is focused on the concept that you have the power to heal yourself, and it uses non-toxic methods, including organic foods, juicing, detoxification and supplements, to activate this healing potential.
As stated by the non-profit Gerson Institute:

“The Gerson Therapy is a powerful, natural treatment that boosts your body’s own immune system to heal cancer, arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and many other degenerative diseases. One aspect of the Gerson Therapy that sets it apart from most other treatment methods is its all-encompassing nature.

An abundance of nutrients from thirteen fresh, organic juices are consumed every day, providing your body with a superdose of enzymes, minerals and nutrients. These substances then break down diseased tissue in the body, while enemas aid in eliminating the lifelong buildup of toxins from the liver. With its whole-body approach to healing, the Gerson Therapy naturally reactivates your body’s magnificent ability to heal itself – with no damaging side-effects.”

The Gerson Research Organization maintains a collection of reports documenting the research behind the Gerson Therapy as well as the role of diet on cancer, and you can read case studies here
Many of the success stories include people whose conventional doctors gave no hope for recovery, who were able to overcome their disease against all odds using not toxic cancer drugs but natural fruits and vegetables. The system is not a miracle cure for everyone, and even the Gerson Institute states that “No treatment works for everyone, every time” … but most conventional physicians offer only ONE route for cancer treatment — drugs, radiation and surgery — while ignoring or discounting alternative options such as this.

The Problem with Conventional Cancer Treatment
Unfortunately, the leading cancer treatments in the United States are notoriously toxic and come with devastating, including lethal, side effects. Conventional medicine is so desperate to give the illusion of fighting the good fight that many of these drugs are used despite the fact that they’re not really doing much to prolong or improve the quality of life of those diagnosed with cancer.

The best-selling (and extremely expensive) cancer drug Avastin, for example, was recently phased out as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer after studies concluded its benefits were outweighed by its dangerous side effects. Treating a disease that is in large part caused by toxins with toxins seems ignorant at best.

Cancer is, by and large, mostly a man-made disease, the tragic result of humans veering too far off course and avoiding health-sustaining diets and activities, while embracing a highly unnatural sedentary, stress-filled lifestyle with exposure to excess chemicals around every corner.

Among the primary culprits fueling our cancer epidemic are:
- Pesticide and other chemical exposures
- Processed and artificial foods (plus the chemicals in the packaging)
- Wireless technologies, dirty electricity, and medical diagnostic radiation exposure
- Pharmaceutical drugs
- Obesity, stress, and poor sleeping habits
- Lack of sunshine exposure and use of sunscreens

I strongly believe that cancer rates are escalating because modern medicine is in no way, shape or form addressing these underlying causes of most cancers. Instead, most of the research is directed toward expensive drugs that target late stages of the disease and greatly pad the drug companies’ wallets — but simply do not prevent or “cure” cancer.

If ever there was an area in which an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure it is cancer. I strongly believe that if you are able to work your way up to the advanced health plan, you will virtually eliminate the risk of most cancers.

This is what sets the Gerson Therapy apart from conventional cancer treatments as well. Even though there are some aspects of this program that conflict with my own views, such as the consumption of fruits and fruit juices, there is no doubt that it is far less toxic than most conventional treatments. And, unlike chemotherapy and cancer drugs, it is seeking to address the underlying systemic causes of cancer and activate your body’s ability to heal itself.

Why Haven’t You Heard of the Gerson Therapy?
Some of you may have heard of the Gerson Therapy, but the vast majority have not. In fact, most alternative cancer treatments are belittled, discredited or completely ignored by the mainstream press and public health agencies.

Why?

Most public health organizations are bought and paid for by the very same companies whose products contribute to cancer … or are heavily financed by the cancer drug industry. This includes even generally well respected organizations like the American Cancer Society.

In a report titled American Cancer Society —More Interested In Accumulating Wealth Than Saving Lives, Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, plainly lays to bare the many conflicts of interest that hamper the effectiveness of this organization.

For example, the ACS has close financial ties to both makers of mammography equipment and cancer drugs. But that’s just for starters. Other conflicts of interest include ties to, and financial support from, the pesticide-, petrochemical-, biotech-, cosmetics-, and junk food industries—again the very industries whose products are the primary contributors to cancer!

Once you realize that these conflicts of interest are there, it becomes quite easy to understand why the ACS never addresses the environmental components of cancer, and why information about avoidable toxic exposures are so conspicuously absent from their National Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns
“This is no accident,” Dr. Epstein writes. “Zeneca Pharmaceuticals–a spin-off of Imperial Chemical Industries is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chlorinated and other industrial chemicals, including those incriminated as causes of breast cancer.

Zeneca has also been the sole multimillion-dollar funder of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month since its inception in 1984, besides the sole manufacturer of Tamoxifen, the world’s top-selling anticancer and breast cancer “prevention” drug, with $400 million in annual sales. Furthermore, Zeneca recently assumed direct management of 11 cancer centers in U.S. hospitals. Zeneca owns a 50 percent stake in these centers known collectively as Salick Health Care.”

It’s no small irony that the cancer drug Tamoxifen has been found to cause cancer and increase risk of death, while several top-notch preventive strategies and many safe and effective cancer treatments are ignored.

The ACS, along with the National Cancer Institute, virtually exclusively focus on cancer research and the diagnosis and chemical treatment of cancer. Preventive strategies, such as avoiding chemical exposures, and potential cures, such as the Gerson Therapy, Dr. Nick Gonzalez’s nutritional approach or medical marijuana, receive virtually no consideration at all.

My Top 12 Tips for Cancer Prevention
Cancer is devastating far too many families and taking many way before their time. It’s time to fight back and take control of your health by following the cancer-preventive lifestyle changes below.

1. Avoid Fructose and Sugar
It’s quite clear that if you want to avoid cancer, or are currently undergoing cancer treatment, you absolutely MUST avoid all forms of sugar — especially fructose — and this is largely due to its relation to insulin resistance.

According to Lewis Cantley, director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, as much as 80 percent of all cancers are “driven by either mutations or environmental factors that work to enhance or mimic the effect of insulin on the incipient tumor cells,” Gary Taubes reports.

Some cancer centers, such as the Cancer Centers of America, have fully embraced this knowledge and place their patients on strict low-sugar, low-grain diets. But conventional medicine in general has been woefully lax when it comes to highlighting the health dangers of this additive.

As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day including fruits. But for most people it would also be wise to limit your fructose from fruit to 15 grams or less, as you’re virtually guaranteed to consume “hidden” sources of fructose if you drink beverages other than water and eat processed food.

2. Optimize Vitamin D
There’s overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that vitamin D deficiency plays a crucial role in cancer development. Researchers within this field have estimated that about 30 percent of cancer deaths — which amounts to 2 million worldwide and 200,000 in the United States — could be prevented each year simply by optimizing the vitamin D levels in the general population.

On a personal level, you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure. And if you are being treated for cancer it is likely that higher blood levels—probably around 80-90 ng/ml—would be beneficial.

If the notion that sun exposure actually prevents cancer is still new to you, I highly recommend you watch my one-hour vitamin D lecture to clear up any confusion. It’s important to understand that the risk of skin cancer from the sun comes only from excessive exposure.

3. Exercise
If you are like most people, when you think of reducing your risk of cancer, exercise doesn’t immediately come to mind. However, there is some fairly compelling evidence that exercise can slash your risk of cancer. One of the primary ways exercise lowers your risk for cancer is by reducing elevated insulin levels, which creates a low sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells.

For example, physically active adults experience about half the incidence of colon cancer as their sedentary counterparts, and women who exercise regularly may reduce their breast cancer risk by 20 to 30 percent compared to those who are inactive.

It’s important to include a large variety of techniques in your exercise routine, such as strength training, aerobics, core-building activities, and stretching. Most important of all, however, is to make sure you include high-intensity, burst-type exercise, such as Peak 8.

These exercises activate your super-fast twitch muscle fibers, which can increase your body’s natural production of human growth hormone.

4. Get appropriate amounts of high quality animal-based omega-3 fats.

5. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.

6. Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for this purpose, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.

7. Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. Cruciferous vegetables in particular have been identified as having potent anti-cancer properties. Remember that carb nutritional types may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than protein nutritional types.

8. Maintain an ideal body weight.

9. Get appropriate amounts of high-quality sleep.

10. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.

11. Reduce your use of cell phones and other wireless technologies, and implement as many safety strategies as possible if/when you cannot avoid their use.

12. Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them. Better yet eat as many of your foods raw as you can.

Looking for Alternative Cancer Treatment?
Only you can determine what type of treatment to seek if you are struggling with cancer; if alternative treatments make sense to you, please be sure to listen to my interview with Dr. Nick Gonzalez, a physician focused on alternative cancer treatment using a three-pronged nutritional approach similar to the Gerson Therapy.

You can also view the highly popular video of Dr. Burzynski and article which now has half a million views.

Breast Cancer Survival and Soy

In my Care2 posts last week, The Best Detox and Breast Cancer Stem Cells vs. Broccoli, I documented ways to boost our liver’s ability to clear carcinogens, make our DNA more resistant to any damaging agents that make it past our first line of defense, and then ramp up immune surveillance of any budding tumors—all in hopes of preventing cancer. But what about for those who already have it?

Though small consolation, one consequence of the fact that breast cancer is now the #1 cancer killer of young women is that breast cancer survival is a very active area of research. For example, a major study was recently published that followed 4,000 women with breast cancer for 7 years. Not all of them made it to the end. The researchers tried to figure out if there was anything about the diets of the non-survivors that may have played a role in their deaths. Two dietary components in particular were associated with an early death: saturated fat and trans fat.

Breast cancer survivors may decrease their risk of dying by 41% simply by avoiding saturated fat, found primarily in the American diet in cheese, chicken, and junk food (see my 3-minute video Breast Cancer Survival, Butterfat, and Chicken). And breast cancer survivors may improve their survival 78% by avoiding trans fat, found primarily in in junk food and animal products (see my 1-minute video Breast Cancer Survival and Trans Fat). Ideally everyone should try to minimize the intake of both, as explained in Trans Fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol: Tolerable Upper Intake of Zero.

On the other hand, the two foods expected to improve breast cancer survival are flax seeds and soy products. Breast cancer is initially so slow-growing that women may have tumors for years or even decades before they’re diagnosed (see my 1-minute video Cancer Prevention and Treatment May Be the Same Thing). So one might expect that the same dietary factors that helped grow the tumor in the first place would keep goading it on after diagnosis. This may not always be the case, though. Alcohol, for example, is strongly associated with breast cancer risk, but the data has been mixed as to whether once you already have a full-blown tumor, it makes a difference if you continue to drink or not. Still, in general, the diet that helps prevent breast cancer is the same diet that’s going to help prolong survival. And that certainly seems to be the case for the phytonutrients found in flax and soy.

Flax seeds are the most concentrated source of lignans, a class of cancer-fighting compounds that may cut breast cancer mortality risk in half (see my 3-minute video Breast Cancer Survival and Lignan Intake). Interestingly, there are no lignans actually found in the seeds, just precursors that the good bacteria in our gut turn into lignans. This may explain why women who have frequent urinary tract infections have higher breast cancer rates—the courses of antibiotics wipe out the gut flora critical to the production of these anti-cancer compounds (see my 2-minute Flax and Fecal Flora).

Soy foods appear to help prevent breast cancer and prolong survival more directly, though—the subject of today’s NutritionFacts.org video pick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF2z04bA7Aw&feature=player_embedded

In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.

Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk

Women eating plant-based diets may have lower breast cancer rates because they have larger bowel movements. In The Best Detox, I described the role of the liver in removing toxins from the blood stream, which can then be jettisoned through the bile into the digestive tract, and eliminated. Our gut is our body’s disposal system; anything it wants to get rid of, it throws down the trash chute. One can imagine our enterocytes, the cells lining our intestinal wall, as a vast array of trash pickers, resource recovery workers. They’re sifting through the river of garbage flowing past and picking up anything of use–a vitamin here, a mineral there, such that by the end there isn’t much left that’s desirable—and what’s left truly gets, ahem, dumped.

The digestive tract is also how we get rid of excess hormones and cholesterol. Our body expects there to be an ever-flowing torrent of intestinal contents to flush this stuff out to sea. We did, after all, evolve over millions of years on a diet centered on unrefined plant foods. We aren’t designed for burgers and milkshakes; we are designed for fiber, and lots of it. Anthropologists estimate we evolved eating 100 grams of fiber a day or more!

So our body is counting on a massive, quick-flowing stream of contents through our digestive tract, and when there’s excess estrogen in the trash, our body expects it to just zip right out. But what if we don’t consume an adequate amount of fiber to soften and bulk up that intestinal flow? What if that river dries up into just a slow trickle of sludge? We still have the same number of trash pickers, but the volume and speed of the flow is way down, so they’re finding all sorts of stuff that otherwise would have been lost. Uh oh—that means they’re picking back up the estrogen that your body intentionally dumped, and thrusting it right back into the system. Fiber to the rescue, diluting, speeing, and bulking up the flow, so lots of stuff never even makes it to banks of the river to be picked at and inappropriately saved. This may be why women who eat lots of plants (the only place fiber is found) have lower estrogen levels and a lower risk of breast cancer, as detailed in today’s NutritionFacts.org video pick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r47e-ySk48&feature=player_embedded

As I show in my video Food Mass Transit, meat-eating women average a four-day mouth-to-anus transit time, likely too long to meet the target 200 gram (half pound) minimum fecal output for cancer prevention. People don’t realize you can have daily bowel movements and still be effectively constipated. You can be regular, but four days late. In other words, what you’re flushing today you may have eaten last week. If you want to test it for yourself, all you need to do is eat a big bowl of beets and see when things turn pretty in pink. Ideally, to reach that half-pound target, your intestinal transit time should be down in the 24 to 36 hour range.

Small bowel movements are also associated with a variety of other diseases such as appendicitis, colon cancer, constipation, and diverticulitis. See my 2-min. video Stool size matters. Just eating antioxidant-rich foods can improve stool weight. See Bulking Up on Antioxidants (2-min). And finally, check out Bowels of the Earth to find out which country has the largest (and smallest) average stool size. Find out who’s #1 at number 2!

In health,

Michael Greger, M.D.

Nobody Should Go Through Cancer Alone

Nobody Goes Through Cancer Alone
Let me introduce you to Nancy Novack. When my dear friend Nancy was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer – a diagnosis few survive – her wonderful physician assured her that she would not go through this experience alone, that he would be with her every step of the way. In that instant, Nancy knew it was not her time and she would survive, against all odds.

That was almost a decade ago and, thank God, Nancy is thriving. Since being given a new lease on life, Nancy has dedicated her life to the nonprofit she founded, Nancy’s List, whose motto is “Nobody goes through cancer alone.”

Nancy’s List
Nancy was lucky when she was diagnosed with cancer to have a wonderful support network of people and practitioners who loved and supported her, but since then, she has met hundreds of people who lacked such love and support. Her visionary dream is to assure than anyone in the San Francisco Bay area who winds up with a cancer diagnosis will find the support they need, the resources that will help them thrive – and perhaps even more importantly to the healing process, they’ll find community, fun, laughter, and activities that have nothing to do with cancer that allow them to make friends with others going through what they are.

Since then, Nancy’s List has hosted multiple sailing expeditions on San Francisco Bay for children with cancer (as part of her Nancy’s Kids program). She’s thrown a crazy ass fundraising dance party jam with me, wine tasting parties, events with local musicians, and dozens of other events that gather people with cancer with the people who long to support them. She also rallies the community together in beautiful ways to make life better for all the people cancer touches, not just the cancer patients, but the caregivers who nurture them.

Even my daughter and mother got involved with Nancy’s List. For Valentine’s Day, my mother helped Siena’s school make Valentines for the kids in the cancer unit. Siena then delivered the Valentine’s with Nancy.

Nancy’s Big Visions
Although Nancy is a PhD psychologist who now devotes most of her practice to working with people with cancer, she lacks a big organization that keeps Nancy’s List chugging along. Nancy’s List has been a labor of love that has been Nancy’s gift to the community, often at the expense of her own financial stability and personal time.

Like many visionaries with big dreams, Nancy has sacrificed in order to bring her vision to life – and miracles are happening because of her sacrifices. The stories she tells of children with cancer who have never been sailing telling her that it was the best day of their lives bring me to tears.
And she’s got way bigger visions, if only we can help her raise some dough.

Please Consider Donating To Nancy’s List
Owning Pink doesn’t need a champagne toast, and I certainly don’t need a cake or presents because I already have everything I need. But if you feel inspired to give even $1 ($20 or more would be even cooler!) to support Nancy’s List, you’ll not only be giving me a huge gift (because I really dig feeling generous, influential, and helpful); you’ll also be giving a ginormous gift to Nancy and the community she serves.

DONATE HERE

Cutting-Edge Cancer Therapy

Enzymes extracted from food sources like pineapples and papayas, among others, are showing tremendous promise in the treatment and prevention of cancer. Enzymes have been used for many years in Europe to treat cancer and other diseases. Numerous European studies on enzyme therapy have been commissioned by the European Union in an effort to establish policy on enzymes for cancer treatment. Here are some of the findings:

Researchers examined the effectiveness of enzymes as cancer treatment or as a complementary treatment for various types of cancer and published their results in the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies. They concluded that “these studies demonstrated that enzyme therapy significantly decreased tumor-induced and therapy-induced side effects and complaints such as nausea, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, weight loss, and restlessness and obviously stabilized the quality of life.” For some types of cancer “enzyme therapy was shown to increase the response rates, the duration of (cancer) remissions, and the overall survival times.”

Enzyme therapy has demonstrated its effectiveness in breast (Cancer Biotherapy journal) and bone cancer treatment (Vnitrni Lekarstvi journal). It has also been effective following breast cancer surgery to alleviate arm swelling (Rozhl Chir journal). Enzymes have been helpful in preventing the fibrous changes in the lungs, skin, fatty tissue, soft tissue, liver, and kidneys, which are linked to radiation treatment for lung, cervical, breast, and lymphatic cancers (Likars’ka sprava journal).

In a study of mice published in the journal Cancer Letters, the enzyme bromelain (found in pineapples) was able to prevent skin cancer. Experts speculate that this may be because bromelain digests the outer protein membrane of the cancer cells, so the immune system can recognize cancer cells and kill them more effectively.

In another animal study published in Integrative Cancer Therapies, animals with cancer that was treated with three types of enzymes—chymotrypsin, trypsin, and papain—lived substantially longer than animals which did not receive enzyme therapy. Similar results were found in research in the same journal studying pancreatic and breast cancers in humans.

Research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and published in the journal Pathobiology found the enzyme bromelain showed positive effects on the immune system. The researchers indicate that the improvements in immune system markers may help explain some of the clinical effects they’ve observed following bromelain treatment in patients suffering from chronic inflammatory disease, HIV, and cancer.

While it is still in early stages and needs additional research and funding for research, enzyme therapy has shown promise for various types of cancer.

Top 10 Foods and Drinks for Cancer Prevention

Cancer is such a staggering epidemic–the sheer number of people affected by the disease is as heartbreaking as it is mystifying. As we are slowly learning more about the causes, we are beginning to learn more about preventive measures.

In terms of the relationship between diet and cancer, this leads us to lists of what not to eat (french fries, sigh), as well as the other side of the coin: What we should eat (artichokes and red wine, yay!).

In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) the authors Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey and Anne Wordsworth consider the importance of eating specific foods and drinks for cancer protection. Here’s what they suggest:

1. Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and kale. These score high for containing many anti-cancer substances, such as isothiocyanates.

2. Globe artichoke for very high levels of salvestrols.

3. Dark greens, such as spinach and romaine lettuce, for their fiber, folate and a wide range of cancer-fighting carotenoids. Other dark colored veggies, too, such as beets and red cabbage.

4. Grapes and red wine, especially for the resveratrol.

5. Legumes: beans, peas and lentils, for the saponins, protease inhibitors and more.

6. Berries, particularly blueberries, for the ellagic acid and anthocyanosides

7. Flaxseed, especially if you grind it yourself and consume when fresh, for the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, lignans and other “good fats.”

8. Garlic, onions, scallions, leeks and chives, for many anti-cancer substances including allicin.

9. Green tea, for its anti-cancer catechins, a potent antioxidant.

10. Tomatoes, for the famous flavenoid lycopene.

Top 10 Foods That Increase Cancer Risk

Nearly 1.5 million new cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed last year–while 559,650 people were expected to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. That’s more than 1,500 people a day–such a startling statistic. In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) the authors write that the Number 4 solution is to “Eat a Healthy Diet.” Listed within are the 10 Foods and Drinks to Limit or Eliminate:

1. All charred food, which create heterocyclic aromatic amines, known carcinogens. Even dark toast is suspect.

2. Well-done red meat. Medium or rare is better, little or no red meat is best.

3. Sugar, both white and brown–which is simply white sugar with molasses added. (See Care2′s Directory of Natural Sweeteners for great, healthy alternatives.)

4. Heavily salted, smoked and pickled foods, which lead to higher rates of stomach cancer

5. Sodas/soft drinks, which pose health risks, both for what they contain–sugar and various additives–and for what they replace in the diet–beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

6. French fries, chips and snack foods that contain trans fats.

7. Food and drink additives such as aspartame.

8. Excess alcohol.

9. Baked goods, for the acrylamide.

10. Farmed fish, which contains higher levels of toxins such as PCBs.


Now that you know what not to eat, see the Top 10 Foods and Drinks for Cancer Prevention