Is food the problem?

Jackie07 · 02-29-2012, 03:32 AM

The message below was posted yesterday by a 'guest' on the Her2 Forum - thought we could discuss it here:

Sir/Madam:I had a mtmeactosy in January 2010 at the age of almost 82 (Feb. 1.) I had been healthy most of my life. I only missed two days of teaching school over a 20 year period. We only ate sweets away from home. I didn;t make a practice of pie and cake baking.A health problem of weakness began in the late seventies. It was occasionally and maybe once a year happening. My doctor suggested eating a deli meat when it happened. By 1996, it began to happen more intense. I made three trips to the ER over a period of perhaps three years, but nothing showed up to be wrong. I decided it was low blood sugar which proved wrong. For three years I walked three miles a day until in the summer of '07 when I began to get weak while walking. By the summer of '08, the doctor wanted to know what I ate. He found that I didn't have protein for breakfast. So I started eating close to 20 grams of protein each meal. This stopped the weakness.When I found my cancer, I couldn't believe it as we measured our food that we ate. Yet we did gain weight with the protein diet, but we ate carbs, too. I wondered if the protein caused the cancer. My mom and dad ate the same foods which were raised on a farm without sraying fpr pesticides. My dad died with prostate cancer and my mom died with diabetes. Is food the problem?

ElaineM · 02-29-2012, 11:14 AM

Deli meat has nitrates and other chemicals which may be carcinogenic.
Environment can also contribute to cancer. Even living on a farm may not protect a person from environmental issues. My aunt was just complaining last week about jet planes dumping fuel in her rather rural area which is about 20 miles away from a major airport. Jets dump extra fuel before landing to lessen the chance of emergencies during landing. Jet fuel may have elements that can affect crops, animals and people walking around during the dumping.

Jackie07 · 02-29-2012, 05:49 PM

The only reason why your doctor suggested 'deli' meat that I could think of is that your weakness was caused by lack of sodium. Deli meat is heavy on salt and could have solved the problem you were experiencing back then.

Cancer is caused by the inability of our cells to self-regulate. Except children who were born with cancer(or have developed early in life), most cancer cases concentrate on the population of the elderly. When we age, certain components of the cell get shortened each time it divides. This 'aging' process can be hastened by environmental factors such as pesticide or other 'poisons' around us.

If you click on the 'Diet and Nutrition' heading (or do a 'Search' using the key terms you have in mind) you will find ample previous discussions on the subject, including the summaries/advice given by the dietician(s) on the Her2 Board.

Family cancer history can also play an important role. The genes passed down from our parents often determine what types of illnesses we most likely to get.

Please work closely with your doctors/dietician/nurse in maintaining your health. I'm sending you good vibes.

Mtngrl · 03-03-2012, 03:17 PM

With most kinds of cancer, the cause is unknown. It's actually pretty exciting to find a clear cause, because then you can prevent it, which is far more effective than just treating it. It's a short list: smoking and lung cancer, lack of refrigeration and stomach cancer, and now HPV and certain cancers. For everything else, it's probably a cascade of genetic, environmental, and epigenetic effects.

Nevertheless, there are epidemiological studies showing strong correlations between diet and cancer incidence. Among the most telling involve Asians switching from their traditional high-vegetable, low fat, low meat diets to western diets. Same genes, more cancer. Sometimes it involves a move to a different part of the world, but for some it's just a diet change.

It isn't possible to redo the past, but we can make different choices going forward.

sdstarfish · 03-09-2012, 02:11 PM

This case is very interesting to me in regard to a blood glucose perspective. The weakness in the morning due to lack of protein could be a blood sugar issue if one is hypoglycemic. I realize the post indicated that blood sugar wasn't the case; however, standard blood sugar tests are often not as thorough as they could be, and it is possible that this was misinterpreted. Anyone who does not have some type of protein in the morning on a regular basis puts their glucose levels at risk, because without protein, foods release sugar into your bloodstream more rapidly. Sometimes, low blood sugar can also be due to a chromium deficiency. Chromium keeps the pancreas in balance (the pancreas produce insulin). Also, blood sugar levels can change over time due to age.

Protein in and of itself is not carcinogenic. However, some proteins can be contaminated by additives that may be carcinogenic, such as nitrates, hormone injections, pesticides, etc.

Lisa

www.pinkkitchen.info

R.B. · 03-17-2012, 05:03 AM

The more I understand what we have done to our food, and the biology of the body, the more glaringly obvious it is that food is very much at the root of our western inflammatory conditions.

Blondie · 05-08-2012, 07:37 PM

I am currently reading "Dr Neal Bernards Program for Reversing Diabetes". He is Vegan and has very interesting statistics relating to illness and Western diet. He recommends no animal products- low fat diet consisting of veges, fruit, legumes etc.

It is a very good book and I have begun following this diet. He also discusses how sugars, choc, cheese and meat are addictive and explains the chemical processes related to this, which all makes sense.

I have watched many of his lectures on you tube which I also recommend. He has a great sense of humour and explains everything so well.

I have returned to a vegan diet- don't need the extra chemicals, hormones and fat. Also, I love animals and it is incongruent if I continue to eat them! Also, the farming of these poor animals in these times is terrible! Dr Neal highlights that 1 million animals are eaten per hour in the United States!

Dr Bernards general theory is to have a low fat diet- get rid of the excess fat in cells and then the Insulin can get into the cell. Being overweight is related to insulin resistence so this makes sense. Sugar and hormones can feed cancer so I believe and hope that this diet will help keep me cancer free!

Dr Neal also discusses how a high fibre diet is important if you have hormonal related cancers- when the liver processes hormones these are excreted via feaces. If waste is sitting in bowel too long, then these hormones are reabsorbed by the bowel. Thought that was quite interesting....