According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, 25% of cancer incidents worldwide is caused by obesity or overweight. In the majority of cases, this is caused by a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating practices. These lifestyle patterns increase the risk of cancer by increased inflammation in the body, increased estrogen and even the best testosterone levels, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, and depressed immune function. Obviously, regular exercise and diet changes should be able to make the necessary changes to your body.
Dietary factors account for a minimum of 30% of all cancers in western countries, and around 20% in developing countries, according to the World Health Association. A finding that stood out among the study was that people who did not eat meat had a much lower risk of being affected by cancer. Large studies in Germany and England have shown that vegetarians were around 40% less likely to develop cancer, compared to meat eaters. One particular study in the United States on Seventh-day Adventists, a religious group that almost completely follow a meat-free diet or eat only a modest amount of meat found that cancer incidents among the members of the group were much fewer than the general population. This finding is corroborated by a Harvard study that found that people who ate meat daily had a colon cancer risk that was three times higher than those who seldom ate meat. Red meat has been found to be the culprit in these studies.
A large study involving 88 084 women and 47 881 men participating in the Nurses’ Health Study (from 1980) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (from 1986), followed until 2010, revealed some noteworthy findings about the effect of alcohol on cancer. The study concluded that drinking was correlated with increased risk of cancer, though it is a minimally increased risk if the intake is limited to two drinks per day in the case of men. In the case of women, however, alcohol related cancers such as breast cancer risks increased even with one alcoholic drink per day.
Epidemiological studies reveal that smoking or chewing tobacco is the main reason for as much as 50% of all cancers in men. The main effects of smoking are the cancers of the lungs, throat and the mouth. Among women, tobacco related cancer incidents are lower, but not completely absent. Those who are addicted to smoking, evidently, are at very high risk of being affected by cancer. A de-addiction program should be very high on their priority list.
The common ginger root may be the most potent weapon in your arsenal against cancer. Regular consumption of ginger may not only prevent cancer, but is also effective in treating a host of inflammatory conditions and nausea. The BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine published a study that showed that the common ginger root had cancer fighting properties, especially the ability to combat ovarian cancer. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition (2012) stated, “Whole ginger extract (GE) exerts significant growth-inhibitory and death-inductory effects in a spectrum of prostate cancer cells.” It was found in the study that ginger tricks the cancer cells into self-destructing. Thus, prostrate tumors were shrunk by an average of 56%.
If there is any protective diet that can help your body fight against cancer, it has to be a diet that has fruits, and green and yellow vegetables as its main component. Considerable anti-cancer properties are shown by the biologically active ingredients of these fruits and vegetables, which are from the carotenoid family. A practical way to ingest more of these foods is to prepare a weekly menu that includes a generous serving of these fruits and vegetables.
In a study published in 2009, in the journal of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the anti-cancerous properties of curcumin (turmeric) are clearly stated. Curcumin can “kill a wide variety of tumor cell types through diverse mechanisms.” The authors recommend that drug development with curcumin as its active ingredient was an urgent requirement in battling cancer. Furthermore, there are studies that point out the low rates of some types of cancer in countries where about 100 to 200 mg of curcumin is consumed as part of diet on a daily basis over long periods of time.
The very close connection between oxygen and cancer was discovered by Dr. Otto Warburg, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1931. According to his studies, oxygen-deprived cells turned into cancer cells which are anaerobic and thrive in an environment that lacks oxygen. Daily aerobic exercises such as walking, bicycling or hiking; in other words, just moving your body on a regular basis will help your body utilize oxygen and remove waste via the lymphatic system. A very effective form of body movement that brings oxygen to cells and flushing out the lymphatic system is rebounding on a mini-trampoline.
When people breathe using the upper chest, oxygen levels in body cells are low, according to Dr. K.P. Buteyko, who has studied respiration for about 50 years of his life. Healthy breathing is from the diaphragm rather than the chest, is slow (about 12 breaths in a minute), and is through the nose rather than the mouth. Healthy breathing is quiet and light, not particularly rapid or labored. The key is to practice breathing from your diaphragm, which will come automatically to you after a spell of conscious practice.
Drinking an adequate amount of water daily is an absolute necessity for the utilization of oxygen in the body, and for transporting blood and other bodily fluids. In a dehydrated body, cellular respiration, and the removal of other toxins and metabolic wastes will not take place to the optimal level. Drink filtered water, or restructured/ionized water, to provide higher levels of hydration and oxygenation at the cellular level.
There are many charts and articles online on how to formulate an alkaline diet, which may be rather confusing for readers. However, it is quite simple. You just have to increase the amount of plant-based foods in your diet and reduce the amount of processed foods and animal-based foods. The latter group is acidifying. Increase the amount of dark, leafy vegetables such as parsley, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, sprouts, mustard greens and collard greens, for example, in your diet. Organic green supplements that contain chlorella, alfalfa grass, spirulina, and barley grass also help to alkalize the body.
What do you think are the ways to prevent cancer? Please do share your views with us.
Image courtesy: nutritionsmart
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