After delivering those dreaded words “You have cancer,” physicians specialized in cancer treatment (oncologists) may offer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or immune system therapies. But, what should the person with cancer do?
Many medical professionals believe there are many things we can all do to prevent cancer, and that we should do those same things if we are diagnosed with cancer. This is known as “Prevention is the cure.”
What is cancer?
Cancer happens when a few cells change and multiply out of control. Some cancers grow rapidly; others grow slowly. Many cancers have visible tumors. Others, like leukemia, are found in blood.
- A newborn has 26 billion cells. An adult has 49 trillion cells.
- Healthy cells are constantly created to do their jobs and then die in just days or months.
- Cancer cells do no work and refuse to die.
- A few cancers are genetic, but, 90% of cancers are now believed to be caused by our lifestyles—diet, toxins, stress levels, and even lack of exercise.
The many causes of cancer may include social and economic factors and cultural differences that affect cancer risk.
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death of all Americans.
- African Americans who have cancer have the highest death rate and shortest survival of all ethnic/racial groups in the U.S.
- Black men have the highest rate of cancer in the United States.
- Prostate cancer is the leading type of cancer in African American men and breast cancer in African American women.
- Lung and colon cancer are the second- and third-most common cancers in African Americans.
- Approximately 37,000 Black men and 36,000 Black women will die from cancer this year.
What should I do?
Don’t be a victim of cancer! Take charge of your health!
Prevention is the cure: Listed below are 10 important things you can do to lower your risk and even help fight cancer if you’ve been diagnosed:
- Stop the high-fat meats (except fish): Eat less red meat, pork, whole milk and high milk dairy products (yogurts, ice cream and cheeses.) This the first critical step to reduce cancer risk. Choose a more plant-based diet. Eat grass-fed beef and butter or Ghee; hormone and antibiotic-free chicken, turkey or pork. Stop using margarine!
- Eat more vegetable fiber to lose weight and get lean. Drink way more purified (not tap or spring) water!
- Stop high sugar, bad carbs: Baked goods, candy, breads, pasta, pizza, French fries, white flour, and any product with high fructose corn syrup all cause inflammation and can lead to heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
- Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! Work up to 30-45 minutes of aerobics three to five times per week with some weight training. To start, walk 30-45 minutes after dinner and build from there.
- Take high-quality multivitamins containing Vitamins B, C, E, A, zinc, copper, selenium, and iodine. Take Vitamin D3 2000 IU daily.
- Stop eating fried foods made in vegetable-base hydrogenated oils. Very bad!
- Drink less alcohol and don’t smoke!
- Take Omega 3 fish oil and flaxseed oil daily. Eat non-fried, ocean-caught (not farm-raised) fish twice a week: salmon, cod or halibut.
- Eat more vegetables, especially broccoli, collard and mustard greens, cabbage, Brussel sprouts and cauliflower.
- Every day take curcumin and other natural anti-inflammatory agents: vitamin C and probiotics.
To de-stress, mediate, pray, or take long walks. Forgive those around you. Do whatever it takes to lower your stress levels.
Remember: “Prevention is the cure!”
Dr. Alyse Hamilton is the founder and medical director of the Advanced Health and Vitality Center in Edina, Minnesota. Dr. Hamilton offers her patients positive results from her exceptional professional training and an extraordinary passion to provide safe, proven and effective treatments for adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, chronic fatigue and pain, menopause, andropause (male menopause), fibromyalgia and age-related conditions.
She partners with her patients to guide them to true health from the inside out. Her goal is to ensure that her patients reclaim their energy, memory and vitality so that they can once again enjoy the things that are missing in their lives. Her practice also offers IV nutritional support with the Myer’s Cocktail and Glutathione, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and the Riordan protocol for high-dose vitamin C infusion therapy.
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That’s good to know that exercise will help you to fight cancer. I could see how making your body stronger would help give it a better chance of fighting off cancer. My father was just diagnosed with prostate cancer, so I will have to make sure that we both exercise so that he can get healthy and I can stay healthy.