Spring 2008
Cancer Prevention - 'Winning the Cancer Game' by Guy Dauncey
There are many ways to describe how the world came to be so affected
by cancer. Describing the widespread pollution of the world by toxic
chemicals is one way. This is another way, which is equally important.
It starts with farming, two hundred years ago, and the German chemist
Justus von Leibig, who wondered what soil was made from. So he burnt
some. The ashes contained nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, so
farmers began feeding their soil with fertilizers, instead of organic
matter. This has led to a dramatic loss of minerals. From 1940 to
2002, plants grown on modern farms have lost 47% of their iron,
21% of their magnesium, and 100% of their copper. (Except when they
are grown organically.) Humans 0, Cancer-cells 1
The plants are now more susceptible to insects and pests, so farmers
treat them with pesticides and fungicides. This seems to make the
problem go away, but plants have evolved over millions of years,
and are extraordinarily successful at fighting off disease. When
they sense an attack coming, they generate phytonutrients to defend
themselves. When we eat them, we acquire their disease-fighting
qualities. When the plants are no longer attacked, they don't generate
the phytonutrients - so even if we eat our five servings of fruit
and veggies a day, they won't contain the disease-fighting properties
we need. (Unless they have been grown organically). Humans 0, Cancer-cells
2
Our bodies need selenium, too: it's a natural cancer-fighting agent.
But the fertilizers bind to the selenium, inhibiting its uptake
by plants. Mercury pollution and acid rain from burning fossil fuels
also inhibit its uptake. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 3
The food is harvested, but since the phytonutrients known as salvestrols
give fruit juice a bitter taste, and we prefer a sweet, smooth taste,
they are removed by the bottlers. We also ship our food in from
Florida and California where it is picked unripe, before it has
had a chance to develop salvestrols. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 4
Meanwhile, people are getting richer. And what do rich people do?
They eat more meat. Vegetables are poor people's food. This is good
news for the cancer cells, because meat gives nowhere near the protection
that plant foods do. Wherever people eat a vegetarian diet, they
have less cancer. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 5
What else do we eat? Sugar, of course! The average North American
consumes 150 pounds of sugar, sucrose, and fructose a year. This
requires the pancreas to produce more insulin, raising our blood-sugar
levels, which the body stores as fat. The fat sends weird messages
to our hormones (another cause of cancer) and sucks up toxic chemicals
such as PCBs and chemical flame-retardants. This is great news for
the cancer cells. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 6
Because many people don't like to get fat, however, the food industry
uses sweeteners made from aspartame, which has "Warning: Cancer!"
written all over it. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 7
By now, we're getting busy, so we sit our kiddies by the TV where
the average child watches a junk food commercial every five minutes.
By age of 2, 20% of our babies are eating candies every day. The
lack of exercise, combined with the sugar, makes them overweight.
Then we feed them hot dogs, containing nitrite additives that form
carcinogens. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 8
Meanwhile, we are cooking our meat at high temperatures, eating
baked goods, and using microwaves. All this generates acrylamides,
which are known to cause cancer in animals. Our fruits and veggies
often have pesticide residues on them (unless they have been grown
organically), and our soft drinks contain ingredients that form
benzene, another potent carcinogen. To make the junk food taste
better, industry adds chemical colorants, flavourings, and preservatives.
Humans 0, Cancer-cells 9
And finally, many mothers do all this during pregnancy, feeding
their growing babies the worst possible diet. And still too many
mothers fail to breastfeed, depriving their children of their full
immune system development. Humans 0, Cancer-cells 10
The way to turn the game around? Stop all the nonsense. Eat fresh,
home-prepared, locally grown, organic, vegetarian food, raw where
possible, with all its minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, antioxidants,
and salvestrols intact. Humans 10, Cancer-cells 0
Guy Dauncey is Co-Chair of Prevent Cancer Now (www.preventcancernow.ca),
and Editor of EcoNews (www.earthfuture.com).
He lives in Victoria.
For information on salvestrols, see www.salvestrols.ca
'Common Ground', July 2006, p 24'
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