How are our eating habits connected to cancer rates?

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by Debra Macapagal

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How are our eating habits connected to cancer rates?

The eating habits of humans today have a tremendous impact on our health and can be connected to higher and lower cancer rates.

The purpose of food is to give our bodies energy to sustain its self for our daily activities. Our bodies have many different systems that require certain elements in order to function properly. When we deprive our bodies of these essential requirements our systems begin to deteriorate. When systems such as our immune system are not working properly disease can easily take over.

Dr. David Servan-Schreiber the author of Anti Cancer: A New Way Of Life, discusses in his book the steps he took to battle his cancer, by changing to a healthier diet, including more exercise and reducing stress. He mentions that we all have cancer cells that lay dormant and these cells are more likely to be activated in someone that has an unhealthy lifestyle compared to someone who is healthy.

Foods most likely to contribute to higher cancer rates, are processed foods, fast foods, meat from factory farms and produce containing pesticides.

Processed foods contain chemicals such as Nitrosamines which is used to cure meats. This chemical has known carcinogenic properties.

In Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation he examines the impact fast foods have on childhood obesity and cancer rates worldwide. In 1971 McDonald's made its first appearance in Japan. Only 3 decades later "1/3 of all Japanese men in their 30s - members of the nation's first generation raised on Happy Meals and "Bi-gu Ma-kus" - are overweight".

The same factors that contribute to obesity from fast foods are also known to increase the risk of other diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

According to the Stanford Cancer Centre website "there is also evidence that total fat intake of greater than 30 percent of total calories can increase the risk of developing some cancers."

Meat and milk products from intensive factory farms are laced with products such as Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), and antibiotics. BGH is used to increase the amount of milk the cow produces. Too often, they are forced to produce more milk than is healthy, causing their immune systems to become compromised and require antibiotics.

BGH has been linked to cancers such as breast, colon and prostate cancer. Our over exposure to antibiotic in the meat we eat, can also inhibit our body from naturally fighting off disease. BGH has been banned in Canada and Europe because of the health risks.

Pesticides on sprayed on our produce could also have an impact on cancer rates.

A list of the pesticides known to be sprayed on food is at the following link http://eap.mcgill.ca /MagRack/JPR/JPR_18. htm. It categorizes each chemical according to how likely it is to cause cancer.

The Environmental Working Group has an extensive list of fruits and vegetables that are exposed to chemicals. The list ranks each item according to its toxicity. The top 12 for the most exposure are:

Peaches

Apples

Swe et Bell Peppers

Celery

Nectari nes

Strawberries

Cherr ies

Lettuce

Grapes

Pear s

Spinach

Potatoes

Acco rding to the Environmental Working Group "Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 14 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day."

Changing our eating habits and learning where food is coming from can help maintain a healthier lifestyle and reduce the risk of cancer.

Cooking healthier meals at home from scratch will help eliminate any additives, preservatives, antibiotics and other drugs we don't know about from finding their way into our bodies.

Locally raised meats are a good choice as they are often from smaller farms, and don't require hormones or antibiotics as the animals are less prone to illness. The local butcher should carry meat from farms within your area. Check with the butcher to find out the healthiest choice of meats.

Organic fruits and vegetables would be the best eat as they do not contain pesticides.

Certain fruits and vegetables also contain chemical compounds or nutrients such as Indoles, Anthocyannis and Phenolics, that are known to fight off and lower cancer risks.

Visit the Stanford Cancer Centre website for a list of foods that contain the agents mentioned above as well as other nutrients needed to reduce your probability of getting cancer.

Considering the above information, if one had bad eating habits such as consuming fatty, contaminated meat, and food covered with poison chemicals, their cancer rate would be higher than one whose eating habits contain fresh organic fruits, vegetables, meats and grains.

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