The modern ways of living in first world countries may be causing cancer. Sleeping patterns, eating habits, lifestyle choices?these all can affect our bodies more than we may like to admit. A recent study in the UK showed how 600,000 deaths from cancer in the last five years could have been prevented by applying some simple lifestyle changes [1].
How to Avoid Cancer
Cancer doesn?t just come from ?bad genes.? If it did, primitive societies would have it (they don?t!). Cancer materializes from a combination of lifestyle, genes, and environment. What?s the answer to preventing it?
First, make sure you don?t have it yet. Get screened. If you do already have cancer, early detection may save your life. Mammograms, colonoscopies, Pap tests and PSA tests are not fun, but they are essential. After you are certain you?re cancer-free, here are precautions to take in order to avoid cancer naturally.
Be One With the Sun
As much as possible, go to sleep and rise with the sun. The body?s repair mechanisms are adjusted to a circadian rhythm, also known as an internal clock. Processes are linked to certain times. The best quality sleep happens when the circadian rhythm is lowest, from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am [2]. So if you go to bed at midnight and get up at 8:00, those eight hours of sleep don?t have the same value as going to bed at 10:00 pm and waking up at 5:00. As the saying goes, an hour before midnight equals two after. Sometimes old sayings carry great truths.
Our sleep patterns are pre-established whether our social life allows for them or not. If you miss the prime time for the circadian rhythm, then too bad. You will just get a different, less quality kind of sleep.
Quality of Sleep
The link between cancer and lack of sleep is also being vigorously studied. The risk of getting the second most common cancer, colorectal cancer, increases by 50% for people who sleep less than six hours a night [3]. The risk for prostate cancer doubles for men with insomnia and also rises significantly for breast cancer in post-menopausal women who have troubles sleeping [4]. But pause for a moment before you get out those sleeping pills for a good night?s rest. They may be just as dangerous. Read this blog post for more facts on the risks of sleeping pills.
Not only does the amount of sleep affect our bodies ? the amount of light does too. For women, sleeping in a lighted environment may greatly increase chances of breast cancer. Studies have shown that women who live in areas with bright lights at night that seep in have higher rates of breast cancer. On top of that, women like nurses and flight attendants who work night shifts are 60% more likely to get breast cancer than most [5].
Cancer-Free Diet
In last week?s blog we talked about the benefits of eating like a caveman with the paleo diet. 25 years ago, there was a vital study done on a primitive culture in Papua New Guinea, called the Kitava Study [6]. This community had lifestyles and eating habits that resembled paleolithic life more than any other culture in the world. They were not yet exposed to Western civilization.
Researchers could find no indications of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, obesity, acne or dementia in the entire community. The most common causes of death were due to childbirth complications or infection. If these outside factors didn?t interfere, residents lived to be 70 to 100 years old. They existed on vegetables, root vegetables, fruit, fish, and a lot of coconut. Their intake of vitamins, minerals, saturated fat and fiber was very high.
Their diet contained less than 0.2% of Western-type food, ?such as edible fats, dairy products, sugar, cereals, and alcohol? [6]. The researchers compared this number with Sweden at the time, whose citizens ate mostly Western foods?75% of their diet was processed Western food. Can you imagine what the national number would be today in the US? This is why I often support the paleo diet. There?s no need for carbohydrates in our diets except for the ones found in fruits and vegetables. Carbohydrates are linked to obesity, which is also linked to cancer. Therefore, make sure that you consume certain foods to avoid cancer from dwelling in your body.
Cancer-Preventing Lifestyle Choices
While sleep and diet are some of the biggest tools in the fight to prevent cancer, about four out of every ten deaths from cancer could have been prevented with the following changes in lifestyle [7].
Exercise: I usually don?t even recommend patients go to the gym ? just do chores around the house that get you moving!
Quit Smoking: This should be a no-brainer by now?smoking kills 443,000 people every year and causes serious illness in 8.6 million others [8].
Eating Well: Stay away from processed foods, gluten, and unnatural meat ? and get plenty of vitamins, minerals and omega 3 fatty acids.Consuming foods to avoid cancer is the best way out!
Stop Drinking: People who drink excessive amounts of alcohol are five times more likely to get cancer [9].
Sun Safety: Get enough sunlight to make vitamin D but wear good sunscreen or cover up ? a good tan isn?t worth the risk of skin cancer. Go to see a doctor to check for skin cancer regularly.
As always, please see a health professional before implementing any of these life changes. It?s easy enough to make a change and assume it will turn your life around, but there may be other factors involved that should be addressed and monitored by a physician.
Holistic Health
Holistic medicine is mostly a preventative medicine. Conventional medicine is for acute situations and for patients who don?t want to change their lifestyle habits. These are to help avoid cancer naturally (Keyword Added) and other diseases or before they become severe?but real healing takes time. Since there?s no magic potion, it?s vital to start listening to your body today. Our bodies have the natural tools to prevent sicknesses, as long as the modern world doesn?t get in the way. Call today if you are interested in an appointment. We can continue the path to wellness, not illness.
http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/12/26/600000-preventable-c…;
http://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/tip-of-the-week/331-an-hour-bef…;
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.25507/full
http://www.cancercenter.com/community/newsletter/article/researchers-ar…;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR20080…
http://www.staffanlindeberg.com/TheKitavaStudy.html
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/introducingca…;
http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/osh.htm&nb…;
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/alcohol/stats…;