Feel Better Look Better Live Better – Whatever Your Age
Humans have never been sicker than they are right now. Today we have more drugs, more technology, more medical advances and yet chronic diseases are killing approximately 3 out of every 4 people in the developed world! Continue reading “Four Things You Can Do To Improve Your Health Forever”
In Part 1 we looked at how diet and nutrition differ and how nutrients can only benefit us when they are assimilated into the cells. In Part 2 we learned why the the nutritional content of our foods has declined and how modern medications often aggravate the problem. Now we’ll look at the different types of nutrients there are, their relationships and how they benefit us.
Continue reading “Understanding Nutrition Part 3”Cancer Part 1 – Natural Strategies for Preventing Cancer
CANCER – just the word is enough to frighten us but did you know –
Cancer is thought by some scientists to be significantly influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle choices1. By making simple lifestyle changes, we can reduce our chances of ever getting cancer! These same lifestyle changes can also support recovery for those diagnosed with cancer.
Cancer is the second biggest killer in the industrialized world after heart disease. According to Dr. Patrick Quillin, ex-Director of Nutrition for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, it became the leading cause of death in the USA as of January 20052. Approximately 40–45% of the industrialized world’s population can expect to develop cancer in their lifetime.
Cancer begins when a single cell mutates, usually due to external stimuli, and starts dividing uncontrollably. These external stimuli include toxic overload, stress, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise. However, a well-functioning immune system can eliminate mutated cells before they become cancerous. Thus, maintaining a strong immune system is the first line of defense in preventing cancer.
For cancer to thrive, certain conditions need to be present:
By addressing these conditions, we can create an environment less conducive to cancer. Here are five areas to focus on:
Every day, we are exposed to toxins from the air, water, food, and materials in our surroundings. These toxins accumulate over time and can contribute to cancer. Common toxins include heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, food additives, and pollutants. In the U.K. it’s estimated that the average person ingests ±4,5 litres of pesticides & herbicides and ±5kg of food additives every year.3
While stress may not directly cause cancer, it weakens the immune system and increases susceptibility. Adopting stress-management techniques can improve overall health:
Nutrition is one of the most critical factors in cancer prevention. Unfortunately, most people never stop to think about what they put into their bodies.
Supplementing with organic, whole-food-based vitamins and minerals can further support the immune system and overall health.
Here are just a few studies confirming how nutrients influence cancer risk:
Obesity is a significant risk factor for several cancers, including breast, colon, and kidney cancers14. Maintaining a healthy weight involves:
Exercise not only helps with weight management but also increases oxygen levels in the body, making it less hospitable to cancer. Studies show that even moderate exercise, such as brisk walking for 30 minutes a day, reduces the risk of certain cancers like breast and colon cancer15. Exercise also improves the immune system, the lymph flow, assists in detoxification and helps weight control. It also increases the feeling of wellbeing, enabling one to cope with stress more effectively.
Cancer prevention is possible through informed lifestyle choices. Reducing toxin exposure, managing stress, adopting a nutrient-rich diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and staying active can significantly reduce cancer risk.
Heart Disease – the world’s biggest killer
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in 2021 that “an estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke.”1
This is aggravated by the fact that as a country’s GDP increases, so does the incidence of HD2. This has dire consequences for developing countries like South Africa, India, China, etc. Deaths due to HD in low income countries = 103/100000 in 2011 while in high income countries it was 208/100000, a +100% increase! This is because as people’s incomes go up, they tend to eat more processed and pre-prepared foods. These statistics confirm what every health authority states: that HD is primarily caused by lifestyle choices. This means that changing our lifestyles changes our risk of HD.
What is amazing is that the medical profession generally ignores this and treats HD with drugs that aren’t that effective and have many nasty side effects. It’s often safer, and much cheaper, to use natural remedies to control cholesterol, blood pressure and homocysteine – the major causes of HD.
In this, the first in a series of 3 articles on HD, we’ll take a look at cholesterol.
Does cholesterol cause HD?
Cholesterol is touted as the mother of all evils according to modern medicine. For the last 40+ years we’ve been told that cholesterol is the major cause of HD. We’ve been told that we eat too much cholesterol and that we need to cut out all fatty foods and only eat low fat/no fat processed foods. We need to check our cholesterol levels regularly and take statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) if our blood cholesterol levels are even slightly elevated. In fact, one prominent doctor in the USA has suggested that every adult should take a statin as a preventative measure!
The truth is that there are now a number of major studies worldwide3,4,5 that show that our diet has nothing to do with our blood cholesterol levels. Nor does cholesterol cause HD! In 2018 a major review of studies concluded that “In our analysis of three major reviews, that claim the cholesterol hypothesis is indisputable and that statin treatment is an effective and safe way to lower the risk of CVD, we have found that their statements are invalid, compromised by misleading statistics, excluding unsuccessful trials, minimizing the side effects of cholesterol lowering, and ignoring contradictory observations from independent investigators.”6.
Why this massive bombardment of (mis)information portraying cholesterol as bad? Well, quite simply, because cholesterol is a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Just think of all the cholesterol lowering drugs prescribed annually, all the cholesterol tests and all the low fat/no fat foods. All the margarines, cooking oils, mayonnaises, low fat dairy products, diet drinks and snacks, etc. All of these are huge money spinners, so we’ll keep on getting told that cholesterol is the evil that causes HD.
Let’s look at what we’ve been told about cholesterol. Specifically, that it clogs the arteries, raising blood pressure and increasing the risk of HD. If this were true, why are only the arteries around the heart affected? Why not all the arteries in the body and all the veins? How come surgeons are able to take ‘clean’ arteries out of someone’s leg to bypass the blocked arteries around their heart? It doesn’t make sense, does it?
What is actually happening is that the arteries become inflamed, causing them to swell and restricting blood flow. Science is telling us that this is caused by an imbalance in our omega 3/omega 6 ratios. This ratio should be 1:1 but in developed countries, eating ‘western diets’, the ratio is 1:15/1:16.7 Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory, while omega 6 causes inflammation. Western diets contain masses of omega 6. It’s in all the plant oils (sunflower, canola, palm, etc) that are found in just about every processed, packaged and baked foods. It’s also in all the maize derivatives like modified corn starch, high fructose corn syrup, etc., that are predominant ingredients in modern manufactured foods. High homocysteine levels also increase inflammation – see Part 3 for more info
The body tries to protect the wall lining of the arteries using cholesterol. It’s actually using cholesterol as a ‘band aid’ by laying down a protective layer of cholesterol over the inflamed areas. Currently, science isn’t quite sure why the arteries around the heart are the most susceptible to this inflammation, but they do know it’s happening. The question then is, does it make sense to treat the problem by trying to lower the cholesterol level? Surely it would be far more sensible to treat the cause of the problem, inflammation? One would think so, but something as simple as increasing the intake of omega 3 won’t make billions for the pharmaceutical, medical and food industries.
The sensible thing to do is to improve our diets, eliminating the processed foods (all of which contain huge amounts of omega 6 as already mentioned) and increase our intake of omega 3 and anti-oxidants, which also combat inflammation.
Are Statins the answer?
What about using statins to reduce cholesterol levels? Well, firstly, studies show that they only reduce the risk of HD by ±0.05%. Not much to get excited about! What most people aren’t aware of is how statistics are manipulated. For instance, a study published to prove the efficiency of a major statin stated that the drug reduced the risk of HD by 30%. What they didn’t mention is that the actual risk was reduced from 0.05% to 0.03%! This infinitesimal benefit can never counter all the negative side effects of taking the drug. Statins have horrendous side effects, including dizziness, muscle and joint pains, memory loss, swelling (inflammation – the cause of the problem in the first place!), reduced immunity, increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer. In addition, studies show that they have little or no benefit the older one gets.
On the other hand, there are literally thousands of studies showing the benefits of supplementing with omega 38,9 (a Google search of ‘omega 3 heart health’ yielded 13,5 million entries!), improving one’s diet and increasing exercise levels. All of which are free of side effects and not expensive. The bottom line is, there is no longer any justifiable reason why anyone would take, or prescribe, statins as a remedy for HD.
What can we do?
Here are the basic things we can do to keep our hearts healthy and control our cholesterol levels.
For more information on health go to the Health News page
References
1. htthttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseases-cvds
2. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index1.html
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=rethinking+dietary+cholesterol
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19852882
5. http:// http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20685950?dopt=AbstractPlus
6. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512433.2018.1519391?src=recsys#abstract
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909
Hypertension
High blood pressure or hypertension (HT), often referred to as ‘the silent killer’, is another factor causing millions of deaths worldwide. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say one in three Americans over the age of 20 have hypertension. And over 40 million people wind up in hospital each year with it. These statistics are similar in all the developed countries and, as poorer countries GDP’s increase, so does the incidence of HT. It’s estimated that HT causes ±7 million deaths worldwide annually. Continue reading “Heart Disease -Part 2”