Holistic health care and cancer

I wanted to take a minute today and talk about diet as it pertains to cancer. I don’t know why I find the subject so interesting; maybe it’s because I recently had my own brush with cervical dysplasia — a huge motivating factor in my ongoing quest to eat a healthier diet — or maybe it’s because the more I read about natural heath care, the more I see one recurrent theme: certain foods contribute to the growth of cancer cells. Modern medicine still treats cancer as if it is such a mystery, but what I’ve read from various sources indicates that it’s not always so enigmatic: feed your body the natural, whole foods it was designed to digest, and avoid anything processed, synthetic, modified, or full of toxic chemicals.

According to multiple practitioners of natural health care, the following foods should be reduced or eliminated to prevent or treat the growth of cancer cells:

• Sugar
• Anything processed (white flour, white bread)
• Genetically modified foods (such as meat or dairy treated with added hormones; in fact, some natural health care experts caution against eating meat and dairy altogether)
• Artificial preservatives
• Chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Chemicals found in water such as chlorine and fluoride

Today while researching the topic for an article, I ran across the story of Dr. Lorraine Day, who successfully treated a massive tumor with diet and exercise. You can see the shocking pictures of her tumor here.

I’ve drastically overhauled my diet in the past year and a half, but it’s a constant, ongoing process to eat healthier foods and learn more about what’s safe and what’s not. I’m glad Ryan is as committed as I am to eating clean (maybe even more so) because it would be difficult to have a household divided on the subject of diet. And of course I have my weaknesses: I love ice cream and mac & cheese, and I rely on my morning coffee to get myself in gear. But a large portion of my diet is now fresh, raw fruits and vegetables (Dr. Joseph Mercola recommends at least one-third of your diet be raw), I buy organic as much as possible, and I’ve really cut down on processed foods and sugar.

I’m not intending to recommend treatment for anyone; I know cancer is a sensitive subject and anyone faced with such a diagnosis would probably be more than willing to do whatever their doctor recommends. But the recent media attention to the Daniel Hauser case has raised some questions about the validity of alternative treatments. My cervical dysplasia has not recurred, and I’m going to continue eating a diet that gives me the best possible chances of keeping it that way. If you’re interested in learning more about the effects of diet on degenerative diseases, I highly recommend browsing the Web pages referenced above.