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AND…ONCE WE FIND THEM,
WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THEM?

For about 49 years, learning about health and nutrition has absorbed me, much as I enjoy being absorbed in a good mystery. I would love to have you join me in looking at some health information from the vantage of a “nutrition detective”.

My husband, Al, recently showed me a Wellness Newsletter that his former employer sent to retirees. We read an article that is entitled, CANCER: Control Your Risk Factors, and when we finished we agreed that there was some very good information, -but some important things were missing. So let’s delve into this case try to find the missing factor(s).

I’ll start by looking at the list of eight risk factors. These included:
1. Smoking – It tells us that Tobacco is the most preventable cause of cancer. Being a bit rigorous in our pursuit of the “missing” factor(s), we note that preventable does not imply that tobacco is the most prevalent cause. (By the way, I am not building a case for Tobacco – It is a disaster if we are interested in health.)

2. Drinking Alcohol – We’re told that heavy drinking is bad, and that drinking is most related to certain types of cancer (e.g. mouth, throat, esophagus…)

3. Sun Exposure – Radiation from the sun is a major cause of skin cancer while, paradoxically, we need exposure on our skin to manufacture Vitamin D.

4.  Dangerous Chemicals – We ingest dangerous chemicals by breathing, eating, drinking and/or touching them or applying them as skin care. Fortunately, not all air, water, foods, and things we touch are heavily laden with these chemicals, but they are prevalent, and we can and should limit our exposure.

5. Poor Diet – The Wellness Newsletter defines a poor diet as too many total calories, too much saturated fat, red and processed meats, too much salt, sugar and fried foods. The description of this risk factor tells us what not to eat; but surely just eating anything else without regard to its nutritional content does not necessarily provide a healthy diet! We’ll get back to this.

6. Inactivity – We need at least 30 to 45 minutes of physical activity most days of the week to control weight and prevent cancer. Why? Is losing or gaining weight the main goal? We’ll also get back to this.

7. Overweight and Obesity – The Newsletter stated that The American Cancer Institute for Cancer Research estimates that more than 100,000 cancer cases are attributed to overweight, and discusses how obesity is connected to various specific types of cancer.

8. Infectious Diseases – This is the last risk factor cited in the Health Newsletter, and the writer noted that an immunization can prevent various infectious diseases related to the Hepatitis B virus, which can cause liver cancer. Notice, that it doesn’t say there is a vaccine for Hepatitis B itself.

I find it interesting that they did not even mention that a very real and major risk factor for cancer is radiation from Cat Scans, Mammograms, etc. I talked about those dangers in a previous post. Could it be that the American Cancer Institute for Cancer Research is somehow tied into the Cancer industry and is loath to even put the idea into our heads that one of the major things they do to detect cancer is absolutely known to cause it?

Here are a couple of questions that may give us a clue about the missing risk factor(s).

Question #1 – At a very basic level, how does each of these risk factors affect our body? Is there something in common?
Answer #1 Yes! Each risk factor physically or chemically attacks, weakens and destroys cells. Hmmm, maybe the health of the cells is something to focus on. This could be, so let’s look further.

Question #2 – Are these risk factor only related to the incidence of cancer?
Answer #2 – NO! Each of these is a risk factor for many other diseases. So, maybe we can say that when cellular health is compromised, the risk of many diseases is enhanced.

The next three risk factors do not have an immediate effect of physically irritating or killing cells. However, they are real risks.

Question #3 – Similar to Question #1 – At a very basic level, how do risk factors 5, 6 and 7 affect our body? Is there something in common? Although we ask the same question, we have a different answer.

Answer #3 – Each of these risk factors have a long-term contribution to unhealthy cells and a compromised immune system. For example the lymphatic system, which is an important part of our immune system, depends upon exercise to physically circulate fluids. Obesity can place a long time excessive demand on the heart and circulatory system as well as other bodily processes.

Question # 4 – We are told to avoid a poor diet, but what is a healthy diet? What nutrients are necessary for optimal health? Do you know? Most people do not know even though they acknowledge that good health is very important. Do you know, on any given day, what foods you need to eat to meet your nutritional needs for that day? Or, what nutrients might you have a greater need for because of some change in your cells that you can’t even feel?

Answer #4 – The description of a healthy diet continually changes as nutritional and other scientists learn more about how our body works. It is widely accepted that healthy cells are necessary for a healthy body. Thus, the goal of a healthy diet is to build healthy cells. I’ll talk more about a healthy diet in future blogs, but for now, we can identify two of the missing risks.

Question #5 –Some people who contract the Hepatitis B virus get some of the diseases associated with it whether or not they get the immunization, and some people get liver cancer with or without the immunization. WHY?? This holds for other infectious diseases and effectiveness of immunizations as well. WHY??

Answer #5 – The answer appears to be that some people have a stronger immune response at the time that they are exposed to a given virus.

Now let’s look at those missing risk factors…

Missing Risk Factor #1 & 2 – It seems to me that we should know both, what to eat as well as what not to eat. Therefore, nutritional deficiencies pose one risk; and, not knowing what and how much of a nutrient we need is another risk. These are separate risks because most people who know the requirements of a good diet do not always act on their knowledge. In today’s world, even those who eat only the best organic food and eat for optimal health may end up lacking in some of the nutrients needed for optimal health. This is because even organic growers cannot control for what may be in the water used for irrigation, for contaminants brought down in rain, for airborne particles of pesticides or herbicides wafted on windy days from fields sprays miles away and for heavy metals and other contaminants that may still be in the soil. All of these can potentially be absorbed by the plant and so may be ingested by the person eating the plant.

MISSING RISK # 3 – A compromised immune system is the major risk, and: (1) we can optimize our immune system through nutrition, exercise, rest and mental attitude, and (2) medical science can give us an assessment of the health of our immune system. Again, in today’s world, even if we do all of these things to optimize our immune systems, it still may not be enough! We live in a world of incredible beauty and goodness, and we live in a world of incredible stress. Air and water pollution, traffic congestion, noise, children, TEENAGERS, marriage, elder care…and the list goes on and on. Most people don’t even recognize their stresses or stressors, but the body does and it reacts whether we know it or not. That is why the additional of natural food based supplementation is so important. That is why I am so passionate about sharing the benefits of supplementation and how to select your supplements so you get the most out of them.

MISSING RISK #4 – We can focus on building a healthy immune system and minimizing the risk of cancer, as well as other disease, or we can ignore life style risk factors and rely on drugs and surgery for our cure. Failure to understand and optimize our own immune system is a major “missing” risk factor.

In conclusion, this article discusses risks in the conventional framework of what is called Health Care in the United States. I don’t call it that. I call it Sick Care. Beyond this article, our “health care system” in general addresses prevention in terms of immunization, periodic medical tests and drugs. And this leads me to the final missing risk.

Hundreds of years ago, Hippocrates (the father of medicine) noted that the body is self-healing if properly nourished. He was aware that we are designed with an immune system that handles most types of attacks on our body. Conventional medical practice today relies on drugs and surgery to combat illness rather than nutrition, which builds a healthy immune system. They have forgotten the Hippocratic Oath that they took. It says among other things…”First..Do No Harm”!

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