Stabbing Cancer with a Fork

I'm going to open your eyes to stuff that does and does *not* cause cancer!  Because cancer sucks, punch it :D

There's more to this than eating steak and ice cream (I literally have medical forms that tell me to eat both ;) ).  And you should be more paranoid about pepperoni than about cellphones.

I went to a nutrition course and while fish isn't a cure for cancer, there are some reasons why America has 30x the cancer rate compared to Japan.  The following list helps to slow cancer growth and is indicated in preventing it as well so it's worth eating this way even if you're not diagnosed.  The teacher said most cancers take 20~ years before they show signs that doctor's can pick up on.  Creepy!  Mine, of course, is totally bizarre and probably started 6 months-a year ago….possibly from some contaminent I was exposed to.  I bet there was asbestos in Savannah D:

First is a list of things that are awesome for preventing/slowing cancer and second is a list of sometimes hilarious things that people think cause cancer but there's little/no research that shows any link

Tips I learned

-You're not going to like them……..  the top three points:  eat healthy, exercise, and don't smoke!  Cancer rates would drop by 1/3rd if people would eat a primarily plant-based diet, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy body weight

-Cancerr rates would drop by 30% if people avoided tobacco

-Eat fish at least three times a week, it's got teh good fats in it

-Be active (did you know that exercising combats chemo fatigue?  Red blood cells get killed off but if you circulate them you get more out of them and feel more awake)

-Fruits and veggies–especially dark and/or smelly ones (papaya and pineapple are especially good for digestion)

-Nuts and beans are good

-Avoid processed red meat (bacon, pepperoni, sausage)….never was a big fan of that stuff anyway

-Soy is good

-Increase fiber - healthy digestion is important because it's the immune system's first line of defense (25-30g per day is good…no idea how to figure out how much fiber I'm eating, I leave that to my mom the chef)

-Eat whole grains daily

-Eat yogurt (stony field farms is good) or if you UTTERLY DESPISE yogurt like I do, you can take probiotics.  Make sure they have a bazillion cultures and include a bunch of different types

-Eat like a diabetic.  Insulin production from sugar can increase cancer

-Alcohol is a carcinogen =O!  Avoid!!

-Reduce salt, additives, preservatives

-6-8 cups of fluid daily but avoid fruit juice (sugar!)

-Get some fish oil pills…1/day if you eat 1-2 servings of fish per week, 2-3x/day if you don't eat fish but it may make you burpy!

-Polyunsaturated fat is awesome–includes fishes, flaxseed, canola/walnut/soy bean oil, walnuts–they decrease inflammation whereas the saturated and trans fat is inflammatory

-Use ginger, garlic and tumeric-they are anti-inflammatory

-Get bloodwork checked for vitamin D, should be over 50.  People in the north with less sunlight tend to have more cancer recurrence because of a vitamin D deficiency

-TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Green or black tea, although green tea apparently messes with iron absorption so that doesn't help me given I'm currently anemic :P

 

Stuff That People Think Causes Cancer But Really Doesn't

-Cellphones

-Power lines

-Artificial sweetener

-stress

-beef hormones

-breast  implants

-genetically modified foods

-flouride

-antiperspirants

-abortion

-birth control pulls

-proximity to nuclear facilities

-electromagnetic fields from electric blankets

-computer terminals

-household appliances

~

My information comes from the American Institute for Cancer Research.  They have an excellent series of brochures including a set of recipes (: