Unraveling the Mystery of the Big 'C' - Part 1

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought the best way that I could contribute would be by focusing my blogs on the enormous impact that food choices can have on cancer. Food influences cancer in so many different ways that I will introduce this over a number of blogs.

Even if cancer doesn't run in your family, I'll bet you've worried about the prospect more than once. I know I have and cancer does not run in my family. We can't help but think about it or worse, worry about it when so many loved ones all around us are being diagnosed.

At first I was paranoid about buying my first cancer nutrition book. I thought I might somehow jinx myself. In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Knowledge is power and I'm empowered now. I've made lifestyle choices that greatly diminish my chances of ever being diagnosed with cancer, and since it takes about 10 years before a cancer tumor is even detectable, I've at the least laid solid groundwork for the fight of my life if I ever am diagnosed. That has given me a tremendous amount of peace. I no longer worry about what might happen because I've given myself the best odds.

Almost nothing is worse than feeling helpless. Feeling like you're a victim of your genes, just waiting for that shoe to drop, is no way to live. Well I have good news for you. Your genes and family history are not the overriding factors with cancer; your lifestyle choices are. In 1981, a major review on diet and cancer that was prepared for the U.S. Congress estimated that genetics only determines about 2-3 percent of total cancer risk.

The China Study, the most comprehensive study of nutrition to date, found that cancer could be turned on and off like a light switch in laboratory animals based on the proportion of the milk protein casein that was included in the animals' diet. As a result of the study and according to traditional regulatory criteria, casein is the most significant carcinogen ever discovered. Casein comprises 87 percent of cow's milk protein. It promotes cancer in all stages: initiation, promotion, and progression.

Cancer is a disease of affluence, common in highly developed countries that consume a diet high in animal products and added oils. Cancer is rare in underdeveloped nations where the diet is comprised mostly of whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

Evidence of this can be found if you compare the change in Japan's eating patterns both before and after World War II. Prior to the war, the Japanese ate very traditional foods: rice, vegetables, and a little bit of fish. After the war, their eating patterns became "Americanized" and 20 years later, their incidence of breast cancer has doubled.

Migrant studies also support this conclusion. When people migrate to a country with a more affluent eating pattern and start eating the typical diet of that country, they assume the disease risk of the area to which they've moved.

Genes do not change that fast. Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. Remember, families don't just pass down genes. They also pass down recipes!

So I hope you will follow my blogs this month as I unravel the mystery of food's impact on cancer so that if you choose, you can begin to create new tasty and health promoting traditions for you and your family.

I am a Plant-Based Nutrition Counselor, a graduate of Cornell University's plant-based nutrition program, and am board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. I help people to achieve their wellness goals by providing them with the tools that they need to gain control over their health. I hope you enjoy my blogs. If you would prefer individualized assistance with your weight, with a chronic, degenerative disease, with other health and wellness aspirations, or if you would like me to speak to a group, please give me a call at 724.469.0693 or email me at traceyeakin@gmail.com to arrange a time.

I can personally attest to this lifestyle. The results are nothing short of dramatic.  I had been a vegetarian for 20 years when 3 years ago I adopted an entirely plant-based lifestyle. Since that time, I have lost over 50 pounds and have kept it off and resolved an autoimmune condition known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP. My body was attacking and destroying my platelets. I could have faced the removal of my spleen or platelet transfusions. A low-fat, plant-based lifestyle changed everything for me. My goal is to help as many people as possible to make similar positive changes in their lives.