Give your Plate a Makeover (top 8 food tips for cancer prevention)

Last week my husband and I celebrated what would have been his mother’s 57th birthday. Having lost both his aunt and his mom to cancer, we are particularly tuned in as to

what we can do

in our power
towards cancer prevention

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Jan.

Replace Commercial Meat with Hormone-free Meat

If there is only one thing you change in your diet for cancer prevention, make it this change.  Animals not raised in the pasture are fed Bovine Growth Hormone. We then ingest these growth hormones which elevates our Insulin Growth Factor (IGF-1), which is an independent risk factor for cancer.  It is highly likely that IGF-1 promotes the transformation of human cells to cancerous forms. IGF-1 is also a growth factor for promoting the progression and invasiveness of cancer cells.
Tip: Choose hormone-free, grass-fed, pastured raised meats (grass-fed burgers are delicious!), wild salmon, cod or halibut or beans as your protein source.

Replace Sugar + Artificial Sweets with Natural Sweets

Cancer loves sugar. Dr. Susan Silberstein, from the Center for Advancement in Cancer, says “We can get a lot of PET scans or eat a lot of sugar if we want to get cancer growing.”  Cancer cells’ uptake of sugar is five times that of normal cells. Excess insulin (as a result of excess sugar) works as a catalyst in promoting cell growth. One way of isolating cancer cells from one another is to starve them of sugar.  Before you reach for your diet soda, know that as you digest the aspartame rich drink, the carcinogen formaldehyde is produced as a by-product.
Tip: Use xylitol (from birch) which is naturally created in our bodies and raises glutathione (antioxidant), stevia (sweet herb), or small amounts of natural sweeteners like grade B maple syrup or palm sugar.  Try Kombucha for a carbonated mildly naturally sweet beverage.

Replace French Fries with Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

When food is cooked at high temperatures (think french fries and potato chips), a chemical called Acrylamide is formed. Acrylamide caused cancer in animals in studies where animals were exposed to acrylamide at high doses.  Not to mention, commercial fats and meats are full of omega-6 fatty acids which we already consume too many of in processed foods, commercial meats and dairy, corn, canola, and soybean oil.  Use omega-3 friendly oil like olive oil.
Tip: Chop sweet potatoes in fry shapes or chip shapes and roast with olive oil and sea salt at 375 for approx. 40 minutes.

Replace “the Bun” with Sprouted Buns or go No Bun

Aside from wheat and gluten being top hidden food allergies for many, there isn’t any nutrition left in refined white flour.  The kicker is that bakery goods and some flours often contain a “dough conditioner” called potassium bromate.  When bromine is absorbed or ingested, it displaces iodine, leading to iodine deficiency which is highly correlated to an increased risk of breast, thyroid, ovary and prostate cancers.  Click here to read more about the Bromide Dominance Theory.
Tip: Try Sprouted buns, gluten-free buns, or go no bun. Craving something starchy? Go for a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.  Either way, add lots of colorful veggies.

Replace Pesticides with Organic
Back to bromide.  Pesticides (specifically methyl bromide, used mainly on strawberries, predominantly in California) are powerful chemicals that lead to detrimental long-term consequences.
Tip: Buy these “Dirty Dozen” organic – Celery, Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Blueberries, Nectarines, Bell Peppers, Spinach, Kale, Cherries, Potatoes, Grapes (Imported). Download your own Guide.

Ditch the Soy or Use with Caution
Soy has received lots of attention in the past as an aspiring “health food”.  What is commonly thought of as a main component in Japanese and Chinese food, Asian cuisine on average contains very small, condiment amounts, such as 2 teaspoons per day.  There are a few problems with soy but one major one is that in the US, about 80-90% of our soy is Genetically Modified (GMO). GMO Soy is “roundup ready”, meaning it is  resistant to incredibly dangerous herbicides.  The weeds that the herbicides kill are now becoming resistant to roundup so they are using even more of it. Eating a lot of soy disrupts our endocrine system – preventing ovulation and stimulating the growth of cancer cells.  Hypothyroidism is often a result of eating a lot of soy.
Tip: Choose another protein source or if you can’t do without, chose only organic soy and old fashioned forms such as miso, tempeh, natto, shoyu, tamari, or small amounts of organic tofu. Read The Whole Soy Story by Dr. Kaayla Daniel for more.

Add Antioxidants
One of my professors and an expert on cancer prevention said that free radicals are like sparks in a forest – if you catch them early, you’ll be okay but if they are let to linger, they cause a catastrophe.  We make free radicals all of the time – through breathing, exercise, etc. and if have enough nutrient stores, we have the antioxidants to counteract free radicals.
Tip: Focus on the ACESZ. Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Zinc.  Loads of leafy greens, organic red, blue and purple berries, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apricots, avocados, broccoli, green tea to name a few.

Check your D
There is a growing amount of research correlating Vitamin D deficiency with cancer.  The Life Extension Foundation, Van den Bemd et al (2002), reported that vitamin D not only slows cell cycle, it also induces apoptosis (programmed cell death = a good thing), differentiation, and inhibits angiogenesis.
Tip: Have your D checked. Consider cod liver oil, sardines, oysters, pasture raised eggs, pastured butter, and some sunlight (without getting burnt).

Resources:
Helayne Waldman, M.S., Ed.D, Bauman College, Introduction to Cancer
Joseph Mercola, DO, Avoid This if you Want to Keep your Thyroid Healthy
Joseph Mercola, DO, Don’t Drink your Milk
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, The Whole Soy Story
Life Extension, Disease Prevention and Treatment

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