Cancer Prevention

An excerpt from the book A Living Miracle

This truly is the way to go! Though I wrote this book principally for people who have recently been diagnosed with this serious health challenge and those that care for them – I would also hope that many more interested readers will incorporate my prevention techniques into their daily lives – especially if cancer has been the cause of death of a family member, which greatly accentuates one’s risk:

1. Eat a variety of organically produced foods – no single foodstuff provides all the nutrients that a person requires. It is important, therefore, to eat a wide variety of foods every day of your lives, including lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds.

2. Maintain not just an ‘average’ bodyweight, but strive for an optimum weight and lean to fat ratio, to minimise strain on organs and joints and possible future health problems.

3. Avoid too much fat in general and saturated fat from animal products in particular. A diet low in total fat may reduce the risk for cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, and rectum. Such a diet will likely be low in saturated fat and cholesterol and may also reduce risk of heart disease.

4. Eat foods with adequate amounts of complex carbohydrate and fibre. In my practice, I find most people following a Western based diet eat inadequate amounts of natural whole grains in their natural sprouted state. I recommend an increase in the amount of these foods within your daily prevention plan by eating more fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, whole grains and pulses. A high natural-fibre diet may reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer.

5. Avoid too much sugar. How sugar feeds cancer is explained a little further on. A diet high in sugar promotes tooth decay.Sugary foods are also often high in fat and calories and low in vitamins and minerals.

6. Avoid too much sodium. Too much sodium in the diet may contribute to high blood pressure, especially for people with a family history of high blood pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease.

7. I do not advocate the use of alcohol, when one is considering preventing cancer. However, if you do drink alcoholic beverages, please restrict to one or two small glasses of organically produced red wine once or twice each week. This will provide a few antioxidant compounds. Drinking too much can lead to many health problems. Heavy drinking is associated with cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver. Cancer risk is especially high for heavy drinkers who also smoke. Alcoholic drinks are also high in calories and deplete your vitamin and mineral status.

Copyright 2008 Pat Reeves. This is an excerpt from Pat's Book A Living Miracle www.foodalive.org