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What we eat is of upmost importance to our overall health and wellbeing – and only you possess the power to choose foods that will nourish and satisfy your body as well as keep it functioning at it’s best.
It is important to note, before we get started on a sort of anti-cancer plan, that there are may be many different factors involved in cancer, it isn’t merely about what you eat, but a reflection of other lifestyle factors also – exercise, stress, family, work, sleep, pollution, genetics, smoking, alcohol, etc. And, even after having correctly balanced all of these things to the best of your ability, you may still be at risk of cancer, because at this very moment medical researchers have still not determined it’s true cause.
So, now onto what sort of diet you should be eating in order to nutritionally build your immune system and therefore protect yourself from disease…
- Start by thinking about what you eat. Keep a food journal for a week, learn about the sort of eater and chef you are. Think about the sort of foods you really enjoy, take time eating food and taste it, does it satisfy you instantly or throughout the day. Do you snack a lot? How much are you drinking?
- From this point on, be conscious of how much you are eating, and try to reduce it. Keep in mind that the slower you eat, the less you will consumer, because you will feel satisfied earlier in your meal. And remember not to eat so much that you can actually feel it sitting in your stomach – it’s not about being ‘full’ or ‘stuffed’, it’s about giving your body the energy and nutrition it needs in order to keep working properly.
- Read. Arm yourself with some fantastic and easily readable research books on the subject of nutrition. Try out John Robbins ‘Healthy at 100’ and Michael Pollan’s ‘In Defence of Food’ – these are both grounded in research and come to some very interesting (and similar) conclusions. If you want to know your facts, then these are great resources.
- Know you are armed with some great knowledge, start implementing lifestyle changes that will benefit your health. Some people prefer to switch everything all at once, but many benefit from slow change. Edit just one thing every week or fortnight, and keep it permanently changed in your life.
- Try reducing your consumption of processed foods, meat, dairy and non-organic produce. These are the most commonly cited contributors to illness, and avoiding them in large quantities is certainly not a bad thing! Create clean, wholesome, colorful meals that are simple to prepare and based on fruit and vegetables.
- Try growing some of your own food. Think back to life in the country before 1900, when many people across the world were growing their own food, rearing their own animals and picking wild produce. Try to imitate their behaviour, and you’ll soon discover how much more satisfying food is once you’ve worked for it. Even if it’s just in a small way, start by growing your own herbs, then tomatoes, then strawberries, etc.
- Increase the amount of time you spend outdoors throughout the year. Find a job that you love, that fulfills you and that you do not find stressful. Find an exercise regime that suits you, and do it routinely throughout the week – our bodies love routine! Sleep more, go to bed early so that your body can wake up naturally.
More alternative routes to avoiding cancer through diet:
- Raw Food – There is a large community of men and women who believe that eating only raw food is necessary for optimum health. They believe that heat kills most of the nutritional value of the produce, and so by not cooking it we can enjoy greater energy, health and vitality.
- Detoxing – Enjoying only fruit and vegetable juices for a limited period of time could help flush through your systems and get them functioning properly.
- Exercise – This has already been briefly mentioned, but it is of great importance to work up a sweat very frequently in order for your body to release toxins through your skin and through breathing.
- Fresh/Sea Water Swimming and Steaming/Saunas – There has been much talk of the importance of hydrotherapy in the natural health community. Take every opportunity to swim in natural hot and cold water, as well as enjoy natural spa steam rooms. This has been noted since the Roman era to be good for your immune system, and people always used to live near a source of natural water, because it is such a precious resource.
- Flaxseed Oil (Budwig Diet) – Supposedly consuming 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed each day is a good immune booster and should inhibit the growth of cancerous cells.
For my last and final word, may I suggest you give regularly to a cancer research charity that you trust? This will enable them to carry out vital research, and learn more about what causes cancer, so that you and your family can live a longer and healthier life.