Mostly, we find out about cancer fighting foods from studies where people are asked about their past eating habits.
Of course, this is problematic. How many of us remember what we had for breakfast a week ago, let alone what our eating habits were like years ago? Add that to the mechanism in our brain that always seems to see things in the most positive light, those negative eating habits may suddenly have been transformed.
This is all very interesting, because recently the results of some longitudinal studies have shown a light on what have been thought to be effective cancer fighting foods. And casts a doubt on some of the previous conclusions.
A longitudinal study is done when a group of people are followed over a period of time and then what happens to them is correlated with the traits the scientists have been tracking. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Framingham studies, from which much of our ideas about lifestyle and heart disease come from.
But the data are much more reliable!
We'll take a look at some of these new studies and how they reflect on what are cancer fighting foods in a future blog. Stay tuned!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Cancer Fighting Foods
When given a diagnosis of cancer, very few people receive information about cancer fighting foods from their medical doctor. It's just not one of the usual treatment modalities they prescribe. And this is odd, considering that organizations such as the American Cancer Society (ACS) inform us, on a quite regular basis, about how our eating habits affect our chances of getting cancer.
It is even further odd in that, given that the world of cancer interventions have drastic physical effects on the patient. If someone close to you has been treated for cancer, you no doubt know of the weakness, the nausea and vomiting, the hair loss -- to name just a few of the more well-known side effects -- that accompany cancer treatment. Radiation and chemotherapy have cancer as a known potential side effect! Surgery, if not done carefully, can actually spread cancer.
While I've titled this article "cancer fighting foods" it sounds as though certain foods fight cancer as a special function. Let's look at this for a second. What is the "cause" of cancer? In the end, the creation of a detectable cancer is actually more a failure of the immune system than of some deadly agent coming in and disrupting things. It's not uncommon for cells in our body to just not come out right, for whatever reason, and there are myriads of reasons -- from ultraviolet rays from the sun to poor nutrition. The immune system scurries around the body looking for these cells that "just don't look right". If the immune system didn't do this, cancers could proliferate, because those early odd-looking cells were not eliminated.
This is why AIDS patients have a great tendency to cancer, as do those people, who have to take drugs which suppress the immune system, such as people who have had transplants.
And, surprisingly, in spite of all kinds of "healthy" cookbooks put out by the ACS (and other health organizations, such as the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) -- there are those who claim that these groups are under financial pressure from the food industry to keep you from really knowing the truth.
Not possible? Let's backtrack a bit. Remember the Tobacco Industry and the cover up about the dangers (and as well as the powerful addictiveness) of cigarettes? How much of a hew and cry has there been about the unhealthiness of American fast food before fat people sued fast food companies as contributing to their obesity and Morgan Spurlock nearly won an Academy Award with his "Super Size Me." Whether you agree with the obese folks suing the fast food industry or not, there's certainly been some benefit by them shining the light more brightly on the unhealthiness of the nation's food supply.
While you could claim that the Tobacco Industry supporting tobacco is a bit different than the relationship of the ACS to the food industry because of the obvious financial incentive that the Tobacco Industry has in selling tobacco.
The American Cancer Society isn't selling cancer, are they?
Look, I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. However, I do think in terms of dynamics. When we have statistics that prove this or that, it's useful to understand how those statistics were derived. The website http://newstarget.com writes that that ACS, along with the other two behemoth health organizations -- The American Heart Association (AHA) and The American Diabetes Assoiation....don't
While complete diets are a bit beyond the scope of this blog, you may find further exploration of cancer fighting foods helpful. If you currently have a diagnosis of cancer, you may want to read about one person's victory over esophageal cancer, using nutrition here. If you are simply trying to lead a healthier life and are open to ways which can make you feel like you are years, and even decades, younger, you might want to check out the information on raw food diets by a real expert here.
Please let me know how you are doing, and of any stories of success you have had with cancer fighting foods. Your stories of success can help, as I'm sure you know, others who have had that frightful diagnosis of cancer. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me so I can get this important message out.
jkftdclite
It is even further odd in that, given that the world of cancer interventions have drastic physical effects on the patient. If someone close to you has been treated for cancer, you no doubt know of the weakness, the nausea and vomiting, the hair loss -- to name just a few of the more well-known side effects -- that accompany cancer treatment. Radiation and chemotherapy have cancer as a known potential side effect! Surgery, if not done carefully, can actually spread cancer.
While I've titled this article "cancer fighting foods" it sounds as though certain foods fight cancer as a special function. Let's look at this for a second. What is the "cause" of cancer? In the end, the creation of a detectable cancer is actually more a failure of the immune system than of some deadly agent coming in and disrupting things. It's not uncommon for cells in our body to just not come out right, for whatever reason, and there are myriads of reasons -- from ultraviolet rays from the sun to poor nutrition. The immune system scurries around the body looking for these cells that "just don't look right". If the immune system didn't do this, cancers could proliferate, because those early odd-looking cells were not eliminated.
This is why AIDS patients have a great tendency to cancer, as do those people, who have to take drugs which suppress the immune system, such as people who have had transplants.
And, surprisingly, in spite of all kinds of "healthy" cookbooks put out by the ACS (and other health organizations, such as the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) -- there are those who claim that these groups are under financial pressure from the food industry to keep you from really knowing the truth.
Not possible? Let's backtrack a bit. Remember the Tobacco Industry and the cover up about the dangers (and as well as the powerful addictiveness) of cigarettes? How much of a hew and cry has there been about the unhealthiness of American fast food before fat people sued fast food companies as contributing to their obesity and Morgan Spurlock nearly won an Academy Award with his "Super Size Me." Whether you agree with the obese folks suing the fast food industry or not, there's certainly been some benefit by them shining the light more brightly on the unhealthiness of the nation's food supply.
While you could claim that the Tobacco Industry supporting tobacco is a bit different than the relationship of the ACS to the food industry because of the obvious financial incentive that the Tobacco Industry has in selling tobacco.
The American Cancer Society isn't selling cancer, are they?
Look, I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. However, I do think in terms of dynamics. When we have statistics that prove this or that, it's useful to understand how those statistics were derived. The website http://newstarget.com writes that that ACS, along with the other two behemoth health organizations -- The American Heart Association (AHA) and The American Diabetes Assoiation....don't
tell people what [eating a healthy diet] means. In order to appease food manufacturers, the soft drink industry, and junk food makers (many of which actually help fund these health organizations), the big three have left out the most important information consumers really need to know in order to protect their health. Namely, that there are a handful of food ingredients called metabolic disruptors that are responsible for the majority of chronic diseases in western societies.
These ingredients include white flour (promotes obesity and diabetes), high-fructose corn syrup (also promotes obesity and diabetes), hydrogenated oils (promotes heart disease), sodium nitrite (causes leukemia and brain tumors), MSG (causes obesity and nervous system disorders) and aspartame (causes blindness, brain disorders and nerve damage), among other ingredients.So, along with avoiding these metabolic disruptors, what kinds of foods should we eat? What are the best cancer fighting foods out there? Well many people swear by raw foods diets. There have been people who have not only beat cancer, but have gone on to live lives of abundant, energetic health -- indeed, have energy unusual for their age.
While complete diets are a bit beyond the scope of this blog, you may find further exploration of cancer fighting foods helpful. If you currently have a diagnosis of cancer, you may want to read about one person's victory over esophageal cancer, using nutrition here. If you are simply trying to lead a healthier life and are open to ways which can make you feel like you are years, and even decades, younger, you might want to check out the information on raw food diets by a real expert here.
Please let me know how you are doing, and of any stories of success you have had with cancer fighting foods. Your stories of success can help, as I'm sure you know, others who have had that frightful diagnosis of cancer. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me so I can get this important message out.
jkftdclite
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