Fiber-Girl - Prevent Cancer with Food

Preventing Cancer with Diet

I remember learning in college that cancer cells are constantly springing up in our bodies. Shocking, isn't it? Free radicals (often created from toxins) are affecting cell DNA all the time. But our body's immune system thwarts the majority of those new cancer cells. Even more shocking is that by the time we discover that we have cancer, it has been around for a long time. After the original cancer cell is developed, that cell has to reproduce millions of times to become diagnosable. Yet it takes just three months, on average, for that first cell to double, six months to have four, and one year for sixteen. After twenty doublings, that cancer cell will grow to one million cells, which is the tiniest lump a woman can feel in her breast.

It can take between eight and twelve years for a cancer to be clinically diagnosed. Somewhere along that timeline, the cancer often stops growing, usually suppressed by the immune system's tight genetic control. So, if cancer cells reproduce so slowly, and the immune system has so much time to fight those cells, then why so much cancer? And why so much cancer today than ever before?

Toxic substances concentrate at higher levels as we go up the food chain. Bioaccumulation This is why we're told by the Environmental Protection Agency to stay away from "the big fish," especially shark and swordfish. Think about shark and swordfish - fish don't get any bigger than that. These fish are on the absolute top of the seafood chain. As we go down the food chain to anchovies, we find much lower levels of mercury and other toxins. We are never told to stay away from seaweed, even though it lives in the same mercury-infested waters, because seaweed is a plant, and plants are at the very safe bottom of the food chain.

Growth hormones speed up replication of all cells, including cancer cells. If a growth hormone gets hold of a cancer cell, it doubles faster, giving the body less time to fight it. Growth hormones and antibiotics (most of which are illegal in European countries) are fed to livestock in the US to produce more meat and milk, faster and cheaper. When they are passed on to us, our cancer risk rises.

Meg's Story

One of the most amazing individuals I have come to know throughout my nutrition career is Meg Wolff. Meg spent decades of her life fighting cancer, and now, another decade later, she's still celebrating her cancer-free status. To look at Meg, who is in her early 50's, you would never know. She is slender, attractive, and looks healthier than most people in her age category. Look closer though, and Meg will show you she is missing a leg and a breast.

Meg was first diagnosed with bone cancer in her early 30's, which led to the amputation of her leg. Years later she was found to have breast cancer that spread into many lymph nodes. After many rounds of chemotherapy and life-draining drug treatments, Meg was a walking skeleton, barely able to eat or take care of herself. Her doctor told her to "make her peace with God."

Finally, Meg decided to try changing her diet. She tried a macrobiotic diet, which consists almost entirely of plant foods: vegetables, whole grains and legumes. It was this "crazy diet" - devoid of meat, eggs, and dairy products - that gave Meg back her life. Today she dedicates her life to sharing her story with the ever-increasing number of people facing cancer. She has written two books, keeps an updated website and blog, and gives seminars to groups throughout New England. In her journey, Meg has met a surprising number of people who share a remarkably similar story to hers: a plant-based diet fights cancer. next...

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Bronwyn Schweigerdt

I am a speaker, nutrition instructor and author. I have a Master's degree in nutrition from Tufts University. I love to give seminars and teach classes. I teach regularly for State Agencies and the Co-op but would love to do more. If you have a group that could use a fun, challenging nutrition speaker email me!