by Gwyn Whittaker, Owner of Greenfare
We all have cancerous cells in our bodies at all times. Our daily choices either promote their growth or help prevent—and sometimes even reverse—them. Understanding this gives us the power to influence the second most common disease in the U.S., which claims more than 600,000 lives each year. However, these numbers can be reduced through simple lifestyle changes recommended by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, a society of medical professionals dedicated to disease prevention. Our body's natural killer cells are equipped to fight cancer, unless they are overwhelmed by harmful habits.
If you are diagnosed with cancer or heart disease at INOVA or Kaiser Permanente today, your doctor will likely recommend adopting a plant-based diet, exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, getting seven hours of sleep, avoiding alcohol and smoking, managing stress, and maintaining healthy social interactions. These principles form the foundation of lifestyle medicine.
Pericles Silva, the Chef and Sports Nutritionist at GreenFare Organic Café, told me a decade ago (when he was at Whole Foods Market, where he started and routinely taught the Health Starts Here program) that “it’s not what you eat, it’s what you don’t eat.” At Greenfare, we see people recover from chronic illnesses remarkably fast through our monthly 21-Day Kickstart program. The key? Removing processed foods (salt, oil, sugar, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, and artificial colors) as well as biologically processed foods—such as animals fed corn and soy, which in turn accumulate harmful compounds like heme iron, TMAO, IGF-1, and trans fatty acids (so detrimental they have been banned from the food industry). “We also eliminate exposure to chemicals commonly found in conventionally grown produce. When people consume organic, minimally processed whole plant foods free of these harmful substances, their bodies naturally return to health,” he said. “The speed of recovery has been the biggest surprise to me—our medical system is focused on treating sickness rather than reversing it, yet when the right conditions are in place, health is the natural outcome.”
Cancer results from the uncontrolled growth of cells triggered by various carcinogens. A Group 1 carcinogen is something that has been scientifically proven to promote cancer. These include smoking, alcoholic beverages (a single glass of wine increases breast cancer risk by 10%, while two glasses raise it by 30%), processed meats (such as bacon and sausage), radiation, and numerous harmful chemicals.
Our genes provide a roadmap for how chronic diseases, including cancer, manifest in our bodies. If cancer runs in your family, the principles of lifestyle medicine offer a proactive path to prevent it. Knowledge is power.
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