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Focus on Cancer Prevention
Perhaps you think that cancer is such a bleak and scary foe that there is nothing you can do: if it happens to you, it does. Or, maybe you take a more optimistic view: it would never happen to me. Fatalistic or optimistic, a passive approach won’t do. We are all at risk, but we can help ourselves to lower our risk substantially, and to help our bodies be the best they can be.
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Eat Food
It is time to clear out of the diet all those things we call ‘food’, but which really aren’t food. You know what I mean: refined, processed and chemical-laced concoctions that entice us to enjoy the taste, texture, sweetness or saltiness that they offer. But you know it and I know it... they are void of nutrients, and furthermore what they do contain is dangerous. They undermine our health, create an environment where disease can flourish, and lead us astray. We are a nation obsessed with “overconsumptive under-nutrition”.
With real food, you get real flavour and great pleasure.
Our food should be nourishment. And yes, it should be enjoyable, pleasurable, enticing and delicious. With real food, you get real flavour and great pleasure. Include naturally raised beef, chicken or fish to give your meal staying
power; plentiful vegetables to add color and texture; beneficial fats for flavour
and enjoyment; and a host of nuts, seeds, spices, herbs, legumes and whole grains to
add texture and variety. Real food has so much to offer!
The fats we choose can be healing or harmful; harmful fats harm, and must be eliminated. Remove the heattreated, processed, and damaged fats from your diet, and you are left with a wonderful array of naturally occurring and beneficial fats to enjoy. Of course, we must emphasize the omega-3 fatty acids that are so protective, because our cell membranes are made of fats: healthy fats = healthy cells = a healthy body. Wild caught fish, sardines, ground flaxseeds, flax or Udo’s Oil, and fish oil are a few of the ways that we can increase these important omega-3 fatty
acids. Enjoy as well, naturally occurring fats such as extra virgin coconut oil, organic butter, fresh nuts and seeds, avocados, whole eggs, extra virgin olive oil, and so much more.
Burn Clean
Ask naturopathic doctors what they consider to be the keys to preventing cancer, and they are sure to remind us of the importance of efficient digestion and elimination. Bloating, gas, heartburn, and constipation are ways of creating toxins from within -- and we all know we don’t need internal toxins on top of the external ones! As well, in such conditions we are unable to assimilate the nutrients in our food. Removing wheat, corn, and sometimes dairy can clear up many digestive problems; these hard-to-digest foods are all too common in our diets, and removing them makes a surprisingly enormous contribution to good digestive health. Digestive enzymes, apple cider vinegar or hydrochloric acid, and probiotics make a positive contribution. Once your digestion is optimal, you are on your way to solving constipation problems. Ask for our Eliminating Constipation handout in-store for further suggestions, if you need them... and get things moving! Aim for one to three easyto-pass bowel movements every day.
Our hard-working livers are so very important in processing and eliminating the many toxins we come in contact with everyday, from our own hormones to drugs we must take to chemicals in our food and our environment. Remove all food chemicals, and then gradually replace your personal care and home care products with clean, healthy choices. You may be surprised to realize that you are exposing yourself and your family to chemicals from the scents in dish soap or laundry soap, from the chemical scents used in candles, from everyday household cleaning products, dryer sheets, air fresheners, and so much more. Rethink these choices, and ask us for better suggestions. Assist your liver to work efficiently by consuming lots of vegetables (especially greens), spices such as turmeric, beets, lemon, and easy-to-digest high nutrient foods. Adopt some simple detoxifying habits such as skin brushing, rebounding, castor oil packs, dry saunas, and drinking lots of water. Check out
our Liver Detox Day handout, which can give your liver rejuvenating rest once every week or two. And use some herbs, such as those in Liver Flush, from time to time to help your liver accomplish its workload more efficiently.
Be Happy
Perhaps even more important is our emotional state. What happens to us is not as important as what happens in us when a problem arises. We must learn to become aware of our true feelings and of hurtful relationships, to let go of anger, to offer forgiveness, to heal wrong beliefs about ourselves. Accepting what we cannot change, and changing what we can, will help. Seek out at least one supportive relationship. Take time to think, pray, and take care of yourself. An excellent book to help you
understand the importance of this is, When the Body Says No... available at Goodness Me! I recommend it.
Cancer is a little bit about risks, past health history, and genetics, but much more about the internal environment that we create: one that supports the growth of cancer or one that supports health and wholeness. Don’t look back; look forward. The power to change your health is in your hands... and the time to do it is now.
Choose well... and live well.
Janet Jacks
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