There is a wealth of research being presented linking cancer to diet so I’m going to break the nutrition part of this article into two halves. In this article I want to cover general health nutrition. In Part 2, I will talk about nutrition more specific to cancer.
So let’s start with a question. Are you living to eat or eating to live? Lets face it, most of us live to eat. Our social gatherings revolve around food. Our family gatherings revolve around food. Business meetings frequently happen around a meal. Most of us can’t even imagine going to a movie without popcorn or candy.
We eat as a reward when we’re happy. We eat for comfort when we’re sad. How many of us spend any time thinking of the nutritional content of the food we are about to put in our mouth? What is your level of nutritional awareness? Nutrition is defined as the sum of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and utilizes food substances. Food is generally looked at as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and intrinsic factors. Most foods contain at least some carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, today’s farming practices and food processing can leave food devoid of vitamins, minerals and intrinsic factors. This means we are no longer eating food that can provide “nutrition”. Agood example of this is the fact that an average man can eat four salami sandwiches on white bread to feel full; while it takes just one and a half on whole wheat bread before he feels full. Why is that? Well, to produce white flour over twenty-five nutrients are removed from the wheat. With all of those nutrients gone, is it any wonder why we can eat so much more of it? While processed food is being linked to many of today’s diseases, including cancer, its interesting to know that even unprocessed food is less nutritious today than it was years ago. For example, in 1914 an apple contained on average 13.5 mg of calcium and 4.6 mg of iron and today an apple contains on average 7 mg of calcium and 0.018 mg of iron.
Everyone knows that minerals are important to us and most of us know that minerals come from the soil. In 1914, the apple tree could take the minerals out of the soil and convert them to a form that we could use. That process is the same today. The difference is farming practices today deplete minerals from our soil, which leave the apple tree unable to get the minerals that it needs.
Commercial fertilizers are not the answer. While they typically add nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the fertilizers leave us short by approximately sixty of the minerals essential to our health.
The 1992 Earth Summit Report indicated that the mineral content of the world’s farm and range land soil has decreased dramatically.
| Percentage of mineral depletion from soil during the past 100 years, by continent: | |
| North America | 85% |
| South America | 76% |
| Asia | 76% |
| Africa | 74% |
| Australia | 55% |
Unhealthy soil produces unhealthy plants, which are then attacked by bugs and fungi. This process leads to an increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides, which damages what little nutrients are left in the plant. What kind of affect does this have on our nutrition?
In 1963, Dr. Jerome Weisner, Science Councilor to John F. Kennedy stated that “The use of pesticides is more dangerous than atomic fallout.”These are staggering facts given that most of us admit we don’t eat organic, whole foods. These facts also explain why we are being called the “overfed, malnourished” generation. Eating foods that don’t contain the nutrients required to survive certainly helps to explain why obesity is such an epidemic today. WE HAVE TO EAT MORE TO TRY AND OBTAIN THE NUTRIENTS OUR BODY REQUIRES. According to the researchers from the American Cancer Society, being overweight or obese substantially increases the risk of dying from cancer.
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 348, No. 17: 1625-1638) researchers determined that overweight and obesity may account for 20% of all cancer deaths in US women and 14% in US men. That means 90,000 cancer deaths could be prevented each year if Americans could only maintain a normal, healthy body weight.We only have a few options once the food enters our mouths; utilize it, eliminate it or store it. We’ve determined that the food we eat is lacking in nutrients. This means we will have a difficult time utilizing it. With nutrients missing, we will have a hard time eliminating it. This leaves us with only one option: the “store it” option.
So what do we do to ensure we are getting the best nutritional bang for our buck?
- Choose organic whole foods as much as possible.
- Stay away from processed foods; the further it has been taken away from the form found in nature, the worse it is for you.
- Read labels; if a product has more than 10 items listed in the ingredients section and you can ‘t pronounce half of them, don’t buy it.
- Ask yourself one simple question before you put anything in your mouth. “Will this help my body or hurt it”?
- Supplement. Organic or not, soil depletion is still an issue so it’s important to supplement with a good vitamin and mineral product. Windhawk Balanced Naturals Multi Vitamin and Mineral Formula. What makes a good supplement? The vitamins will come from food and they will be listed on the label that way; for example, Vitamin C (from Camu Camu berries). Make sure the minerals are present the way they are when delivered by nature. When you eat live, raw plants the minerals in those plants are attached (chelated) to an amino acid. When you supplement with minerals look for amino acid chelated minerals, for example Calcium (as amino acid chelate).
And as always;
- If you are going to cook your meals, be responsible and supplement with plant based digestive enzymes – Windhawk Balanced Naturals Enzyme & Probiotic Formula – so that you can get the most out of the nutrients available.
In the Cancer Part 2 article, we will show the link between toxins, fat and cancer, as well as what you can do nutritionally to help lower your risk.
For more information about the Multi Vitamin & Mineral Formula, and the Enzyme & Probiotic Formula , please call (480) 603-1888.
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