What amounts and combinations and exposures will minimise our risk? How well do we understand our total load or exposure to carcinogens? And what can we do to reduce our risk given that we know it is now impossible to escape exposure altogether. The only proper answer to these questions is: we don’t know.
What amazes us here at ANH is that, despite all the unknowns, there is an arrogance in certain quarters of the cancer establishment that often suggests that we know most of what we need to know, treatments available today for most cancers are by and large successful or at least promising, and everything that can be done in the area of prevention is already being done. A very senior UK government official recently told a colleague of ours as much.
Getting back to basics
To us, it seems we’re only scraping the surface, and it’s high time oncology re-engaged with the basic biology of the human body to understand better what needs to be done to reduce the risk of cancer cell proliferation. We all produce many thousands of cancer cells every day, but tumours, or uncontrolled cancer cell proliferation, occurs only when fundamental dysfunctions in the control mechanisms develop.
We’ve got to stop fighting cancer as if it were an infectious disease that needs to be poisoned with chemicals or radiation, or cut out from our bodies. In essence, we are cancer – and cancer is us.
Cancer can be viewed as a signal for life change. And interestingly, for those who have yet to experience it, that’s why so many people who have experienced cancer remission as a result of so-called unconventional treatments often refer to their cancer as a gift. These people see the cancer as a kind of teacher: a process within the body that has signalled the need for a dire change in their lives, in what they eat, how they behave, how they move, what they expose themselves to – and above all, how they manage their emotional and spiritual states.
In two of our stories this week, we look more closely at cancer; in our book review feature we review Jonathan Chamberlain’s Cancer Survivor’s Bible and in our news feature we take a look at the shocking state of UK dietician’s advice for cancer patients.
It’s not a war?
Perhaps one of the problems is that, at least within the conventional medical establishment, we still think about a ‘war on cancer’ and, accordingly, we hand the reigns of responsibility to crack teams of radiotherapists, chemotherapists and surgeons.
When the dawn of real integrated oncology arises, we are more likely to see genuine solutions being delivered. And of course, this won’t necessitate a war. Wars cause people to get hurt. At the centre of truly integrative oncology, of course, won’t be people who are trained to poison cancers or cut them from our bodies. In the new era, the focus will be on bringing natural processes into balance, while minimising risk from the multitude of sources we already know to contribute to today’s cancer epidemic. Emphasis will be placed on building immune competence and endocrine balance, while strengthening our biotransformation and detoxification capabilities. We look forward to the day that those who don’t already know about these approaches can benefit from them.
Happy reading – and forwarding. You’ll also note from our Facebook piece that we’re all going to have to work harder to ensure social media help us to create the kind of positive shifts so many of us are working so hard to stimulate.
Yours in health, naturally
Rob Verkerk PhD
Founder, executive and scientific director
ANH Feature: More dietetic crimes against humanity................
If you were diagnosed with bowel cancer and were scheduled for tumour removal and a gut resection would you instinctively choose food like this for your healing and recovery? Actually – would you ever choose food like this?
Meal suggestions
Tinned macaroni cheese, spaghetti or spaghetti bolognese
Instant potato mixes
Frozen or ready meals that can be baked or microwaved
Baked beans on toast with grated cheese or a poached egg
Tinned or packet soups made with fortified milk (see below for ingredients) or add grated cheese – eat with bread and butter
Longlife double cream
Tinned milk puddings, sponge puddings, crème caramels, instant whip (made with fortified milk)
Milk – dried, evaporated or longlife
Tinned fruit in syrup
Cheese and cheese spreads for toast
Snacks for between meals
Breakfast cereals (if softened with milk)
Sweet biscuits (dip in tea to soften)
Piece of cake (add cream/custard to soften)
Rice pudding
Scones
Muffins
Cheese and biscuits
Cubes of cheese
A close relative of one of the ANH-Intl team is being faced with such a nutritional dilemma in a major UK NHS hospital. But luckily is one of the few informed consumers that knows better than to follow these frankly terrifying nutritional guidelines from the dieticians at the hospital.
Nutritional crimes against the sick..................
Some of you may have taken a sharp intake of breath reading the abbreviated list above, but it's only when you read the full booklet (unfortunately unavailable online) given to patients with bowel cancer that you realise what a truly heinous crime against humanity is being waged by UK dieticians. Their recommendations defy most logic, common sense and the call of our DNA — let alone the science. Patients are encouraged to eat foods high in sugar, fat and dairy in an attempt to increase calories and told to "avoid filling yourself up with large servings of vegetables, salads, water and fizzy drinks as they give bulk but are low in calories and protein"! Fizzy drinks, at least we can agree on something.
Other tips include eating little and often, what you want and when you want it, treating yourself to your favourite foods and having a glass of sherry, brandy or any alcohol before a meal to stimulate your appetite. If that's not bad enough, words really begin to fail us at the imperative to "add glucose powder, sugar or honey to drinks, fruit juice, puddings, porridge etc. And to use syrup and honey on bread or puddings". Ahem, weren't these recommendations for patients with bowel cancer recovering from surgery? And aren't there well established links between sugar, processed food, lack of fibre and phytonutrients and colorectal cancer?
In case you think we're making this up you can take a look at similar guidelines from another two UK NHS sources we've found online:.......................
NHS Derby City and NHS Derbyshire County: Big Nutrition for Small Appetites: getting a lot out of a little
Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals: Making the Most of Every Mouthful
This seems to be standard dietetic fodder recommended to many different groups of patients. You may like to remind yourself of our earlier feature this year on the differences between dieticians and nutritional therapists and revisit the horrifying nutritional guidelines for cancer patients from London's Royal Marsden hospital.
Fortified milk and dairy intolerance.............
Apart from loading the sick and vulnerable with saturated fat, simple carbohydrates, gluten and sugar, the other common recommendation is to make your own 'fortified or enriched milk' and use it ubiquitously. It's a simple innocuous looking recipe to the uninformed, consisting of 1 pint of full cream milk with 4 tablespoons of dried milk powder added to it. For a little extra 'enrichment' — it's all about getting those calories in — you can also use evaporated milk or double cream for further 'enrichment' of cereals and puddings. Apparently fortified milk is one of the best ways to increase your caloric and protein intake. What happened to simple chicken and fish? Two of the most easily digested proteins that carry very little risk for an inappropriate gut response or creating further inflammation in an already wounded intestine.
Is this really an innocuous healthy food? What about our ability to digest milk and dairy products? Milk is one of the most well known foods allergens through either an allergy to the cow's milk protein or a deficiency of lactase to digest the predominant sugar, lactose. Reactions can be swift (30 mins to 2 hours after eating) and include a range of symptoms from nausea, cramps, bloating and gas to diarrhoea. Whilst these are unpleasant, they are not considered life threatening, but what people fail to realise is that they are still a source of intense inflammation. And inflammation is one of the key foundation stones of chronic disease.
Simple but very efficient way to prevent cancer is
having balance of Yin-Yang in meals.
As 2/3 of food is Yin this naturally shifts human to cancer
as cancer is strong Yin state of body.
I agree with what you have written chrisb1 - as always your straight to the point.
While I don't doubt that diesel fumes are one of the many causes of cancer, the report and classification by the UN seem to be a bit suspicious especially with the Rio+20 and the agenda for the 21st century in the next few days!
I haven't yet read in detail what the actual carcinogen is in the fumes that is being held responsible but if it is the particulate matter itself, then that would seen to be a simple process of particulate filtration. It is well known that diesel combustion more efficiently that petrol in most engines!
The communists at the UN don't do anything without reason and this seems like another double edged effort and I suspect is not to do with health but in imposing future restrictions.
If health were a major concern for these people they would end mainstream medicine and abolish the pharmaceutical companies as a start.
They seriously need to address so much more before they start to tackle road fuels. Parabens, sls, benzene, phenols, amalgams, vaccines, toxic drugs, pesticides, fluoride, aspartame, to name but a few and as you point out diet is crucial to better health.
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