Not many medical conditions strike an emotional response or fear more than cancer. How do we prevent the onset of chronic disease? I sell prescription medications and I know that none of them really have anything to do with preventing either of these conditions. Very expensive medications are used to treat them however. If an individual was given the opportunity to pay to prevent or pay to treat, most would pay to prevent. Most; however, are paying to treat.

Many things happen in order for cancer to be diagnosed. There is rarely one quick, single event that occurs that results in a tumour. Genetic expression, the way in which our DNA shows the outside world the results of its work, obviously is key. DNA does what its environment tells it to do– the world around the cells and inside of the cells of our bodies is the director of what the DNA does. This world around the cells is determined by our diet, our environment and our lifestyle. These are largely controllable by us.

In much the same way it takes more than one insult from our environment, diet or lifestyle to equate to cancer – and these categories don’t necessarily contribute with insults. For example, with lifestyle you can exercise more (every day) and live a less stressful life (personality, job, relationships). With diet you can eat a Mediterranean type diet that has been show to prolong life overall. Environment can be more of a “herd” type of contribution in some ways (organic growing and pollution) and it can be difficult to avoid some toxic exposure. Less time in the sun, drink more water to eliminate waste and eating and use organic whenever possible are huge ways to reduce a negative message being sent to your genes and improve a positive message to them as well.

Overall, these are preventative measures I would suggest taking:

photo credit: juhansonin via photopin cc

• remember to eat a high fibre diet,
• omega-3, vitamin D, anti-oxidants,
• plenty of organic greens and organic whole foods,
• lots of water,
• low refined carbs,
• good healthy fats,
• limited red meat,
• Mediterranean type diet,
• drink lots of green tea,
• limited alcohol,
• maintain a healthy weight and waist circumference,
• reduce stress,
• maintain a healthy gut flora,
• avoid toxins and sensitizing agents,
• maintain and support hormone health,
• exercise every day,
• keep caloric intake low,
• and make sure the extracellular matrix sends the right signals to your so called “genetic destiny”.

Notice two things here: 1– I am a pharmacist and 2– none of these recommendations include one prescription medication. Chemotherapy can be useful in resetting the system if cancer strikes, but if you don’t change how you are living, you are destined to have it return. If you’re looking for more information on this, check back on previous blog posts on nutraceuticals.