Heidi du Preez, Pr.Sci.Nat., MSc.
Date written: August 2013
Heidi du Preez is a registered Professional Natural Scientist, who obtained her master degree in Food Science. She is currently specialising in Nutritional Medicine. Heidi consults to both the food and health industries and as a Nutritional Scientist in Cape Town. She uses a holistic, biomedical approach, incorporating diet, supplementation, detoxification and spiritual well-being in her treatment regimen. Her focus is on the prevention and cure of chronic, metabolic and degenerative diseases. Heidi is Chairperson of The South African Association for Nutritional Therapy (www.saant.org.za). She is the author and publisher of the health recipe book Naturally Nutritious Wholefood Cookbook. email: heidi@naturalnutrition.co.za website: www.naturalnutrition.co.za
What is cancer?
Cancer is probably as old as life itself. It has been found in fossils and in Egyptian mummies. However, today, cancer has become a major health problem in the developed world – one in four deaths is due to cancer1. The prediction for the future is one in two people will have cancer. This is a major concern for everyone, and we all know of many individuals right now who suffer from cancer.
But what is cancer? Cancer is a disease of the cell. Every human body contains trillions of cells, controlled by what scientists call DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is the raw material of life; it provides the computer program for each cell. When things go wrong, the body has a mechanism to bring things back into harmony. But when the body is overwhelmed by chemicals, stress, poor nutrition and a toxic environment, it will result in DNA failing to stop cell division at the right time and it runs amok. These malignant cells isolate themselves, rapidly reproduce, create their own blood supply and then invade the surrounding tissue (healthy cells) and inhibit their function. A tumour is formed and this is what we know as cancer.
In their complexity, these cancer cells have learned to disguise themselves to the immune system as normal cells. The immune system simply does not recognize cancer. Cancer usually occurs where we have an old injury or weakened area deprived of oxygen in the body. It can occur in several hundred forms, depending on where the malignant cells are formed, so there is unlikely ever to be one miracle cure or magic bullet.
Cancer can be avoided by a change of lifestyle and diet; it is the conditions we ourselves create, which provide the soil in which it grows. Cancer is not an isolated problem, but rather a result of a multitude of factors which create the environment for it to flourish. The causes of cancer will differ from person to person, and therefore the treatment protocol. Cancer should be addressed through a holistic approach, but prevention remains the best ‘cure’!
Can sugar cause cancer?
Cancer occurs when certain alterations and defects in our metabolism turn off important cell growth regulators, allowing cells to continually divide unchecked. Genetics can play a part where we inherit a variety of mutations and alterations from our parents, but epigenetics have the greatest influence – where we acquire internal defects over time due to environmental exposure and behaviours, such as smoking and poor diet. Aging also has a role to play. Degeneration as we age, and due to nutrient deficiencies, will result in the immune-, nervous- and organ systems weakening and collapsing. This sets the stage for cancer. Chronic systemic inflammation can also result in cancer and is related to degeneration. Cancer arises from the relationship of these two internal disease states: the breakdown of systems integrity and the arising of chronic inflammation.
There is no single cause of cancer and one needs to explore all the factors leading to degeneration and inflammation in the body. Apart from stress, our diet has the greatest impact on our well-being. A poor diet deficient in essential nutrients and laced with synthetic chemicals are contributing factors. Refined sugar is one of the main culprits, since it adds calories to a diet and can lead to obesity, which is a major risk factor for cancer. Cancer cells use sugar, which encourages them to grow, as their basic ‘fuel’. A high sugar and refined carbohydrate intake further promote cancer growth by leading to a high degree of acidosis, inflammation, immune system suppression and prostaglandin production. But it would be unfair to blame the full cancer issue entirely on sugar. Cancer represents many different diseases, and insight into the complex causes of cancer requires detailed analysis of factors inherent in the occurrence of each specific type of cancer. The following multiple etiological factors leading to cancer in general, need to be taken into consideration:
Environmental and lifestyle factors – associated with 70 to 90% of human cancers
- Numerous ubiquitous chemical carcinogens, such as food additives (colourants, flavourants and preservatives), drugs, pesticides, insecticides and other industrial chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics and uranium found in contaminated drinking water
- Carcinogens in body care and domestic cleaning products
- Smoking – one in every three cancer cases is caused by smoking. Passive smoking also has major influence, affecting non-smoking spouses, children, friends and colleagues
- Viruses – hepatitis B can cause liver cancer and HPV (human papillomaviruses) causes cervical cancer
- Alcohol – excess intake increases cancer risk
- Sunlight – excess exposure to UV light can lead to skin cancer
- Ionizing Radiation and gamma rays – exposure to X-rays, mammography, computed tomography (CT) scans, fluoroscopy, and other medical radiological procedures. A newer source of X-rays is the use of backscatter scanners in airport security. Sources of gamma rays include emissions from nuclear power plants, scientific research involving radionuclides, military weapons testing, and nuclear medicine procedures such as bone, thyroid and lung scans3
- Food preparation – charcoal broiling, microwave cooking and pickling increase cancer risk and burning of aromatic hydrocarbons, like fat and oil
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals, interfering with hormone receptors, hormone synthesis or hormone conversion
- Excess oestrogens and xeno-oestrogens
- Dental work – mercury from amalgam fillings and toxins trapped in root canals (cavitations) associated with breast and prostate cancers
- Lack of exercise – leading to low oxygen levels, acidity and inflammation
Genetics – less than 10% of cases
The potential for cancer might be present in a gene pool, but whether it expresses itself depends on many other environmental factors, such as smoking and poor food choices.
Stress – major role
Chronic stress and emotional issues increase inflammatory conditions in the body and suppress the immune system, which is the background for defects and mutations leading to cancer. To examine the stress-immune-connection, Robert Ader, studied conditioning in rats in the 1970s, feeding them the horrible-tasting drug cyclophosphamide along with saccharin. He had the experimental intention that the rats would associate the saccharin with the nasty taste and learn to dislike the saccharin even without the cyclophosphamide. What happened was more dramatic than mere dislike. The rats died – the more saccharin they drank the faster they died. Somehow they were able to suppress their immune system to the extent that they died2. Today we know that saccharine causes the formation of kidney tumours in rodents, which could have also contributed to the deaths of the rats. However, in the intervening decades, Ader and others have fleshed out many details of how immune cells – B-cells, T-cells, natural killer cells and macrophages – communicate with the brain.
Longevity, urbanization, processed or refined food and the flood of toxins into the environment have all played a leading role in the upsurge of cancer in the developed world. It is clear though from the above that cancer is actually preventable, and while aging and inherited genetics are not preventable, one can certainly do a great deal to improve health as one ages, by limiting the possibility of oxidative damage, defects and mutations from happening.
Hope against cancer!
Cancer does not need to be a death sentence. It can be an opportunity to find one’s way back to optimum health, through attaining balance on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. Cancer is not really a disease, but simply the body’s reaction to negative experiences or lifestyle choices. Cancer is merely a symptom, the cause is a living being – with a body, mind and spirit – that is out of balance. Recognising that these aspects function holistically towards well-being can contribute to restoring harmony within the body. By simply cutting out the cancer or overtaxing the body with more toxic chemotherapy drugs or radiation, the real causes have not been addressed. An effective cancer protocol should restore health to the whole ‘person’ by addressing the real causes of inflammation, degeneration and oxidative stress by amending lifestyle and diet, and through detoxification and stress management.
However, the most honourable fight against cancer should be prevention:
- Address nutrient deficiencies
- Enjoy a wholefood diet, organic when accessible. Avoid all processed and refined foods
- At least 50 to 70% of the diet must be raw, with a great percentage green leafy and cruciferous vegetables
- Drink purified water only
- Take wholefood supplements and antioxidants to compliment a good diet
- Address the oestrogen problem
- Avoid oestrogen drugs, contraceptive pills and HRT
- Avoid xeno-oestrogens (petrochemicals)
- in the home – detergents, pesticides and plastics
- food – animal fats (from animals exposed to growth hormones), pesticides, herbicides and water
- mineral oil-based creams on your skin
- Avoid influx of carcinogens in daily use - Infants and children are the most susceptive to toxins and carcinogens, therefore eliminate these substances even before conceiving the idea to conceive!
- In our homes – household sprays, dog dips, cleaning products (vinegar and baking soda works miracles for ‘healthy cleaning’)
- In our bodies – colourants, flavourants, preservatives, refined oils and margarine, nitrosamines (bacon and other processed meats). Quit smoking. Make smart seafood choices and only use low-mercury fish and meat from grass-fed, and organic animals. Avoid cooking with Teflon – only use cast-iron or stainless steel
- On our bodies – toothpastes, shampoos, aluminium anti-perspirants / deodorants and other personal care products – use only all-natural and organic where possible
- Dental health – a good biological dentist can determine through a panoramic X-ray or Cavitat test whether cavitations have an adverse impact on health and replace amalgam fillings with white fillings
- Address colon health – avoid constipation and restore dysbiose (imbalance in flora) by eradicating parasites, pathogenic fungi and bacteria
- Exercise to stimulate the immune system and oxygenate body cells
- De-stress – psychological and spiritual approaches to stress management should be at the forefront of cancer treatment and prevention. Adequate sleep, rest and recreation is vital for balanced health.
Although research has indicated over many decades that genetic, environmental, nutritional, emotional as well as possibly other unidentified factors play a role in the cause of cancer, no one can pretend that they have all the answers to this epidemic. We too must stay humble in our ignorance of why certain people fall prey to cancer and others don’t; and how particular strategies seem to work with some cancer patients who survive, and why they don’t with others. It is evident that our will, our physical and emotional strengths and weaknesses, and the treatment regimens selected all play a complex interrelated role in our outcome, not only in cancer, but in all areas of life. What appears to be most critical to our health, happiness and well-being is that as individuals we make prudent, heart-felt choices on how to live in ways that honour our own needs and those of others, so that our lives are lived fully. In this way we can all aim to achieve an enhanced and meaningful quality of life.
References:
- Siegel, Rebecca, Naishadham, D. & Ahmedin, J. Cancer Statistics. Cancer J Clin 2013; 63: 11–30.
- Ader, R. & Cohen, N. Behaviorally conditioned immunosuppression. Psychosomatic Medicine 1975. 37: 333-340.
- Ionizing Radiation. http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/radiation-chemicals-and-breast-cancer/ionizing-radiation.html
