SURPRISE...SURPRISE.... SURPRISE...Things about cancer that will surprise everyone

SURPRISE...SURPRISE.... SURPRISE...Things about cancer that will surprise everyone

I am entitling this blog surprise because what we think is healthy to our bodies isn't always the case, such as working out regularly. Did you know that working out regularly produces estrogen, a known cause of breast cancer? Did you also know that being over weight is also a known cause of breast cancer and stomach Cancer?

How about foods that you thought were healthy such as green bananas, rolled oats, and white beans. Or how about something simple like water. It is suggested to always use Filtered tap water then bottled water. There have been studies that suggest that a lot of bottled water is nothing but municipal water which is unfiltered. So, if some food that we think and use as ”diet foods” are bad for us, what do we eat??

Organic foods.. (foods which are grown without chemicals)... ahhh that must be the answer, but wait, Organic foods are not always good for you and might cause certain cancers. I say this, because there are studies that suggest that many grocery stores advertise that they have full “organic” isles which are in fact, not organic foods.

Concern about the possible effects of food additives on health, including cancer, is one reason that many people are now interested in organic foods. They are often promoted as an alternative to foods grown with conventional methods that use chemical pesticides, herbicides, hormones, or antibiotics. These compounds cannot be used for foods labeled as "organic." Organic foods, as defined by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), also exclude genetically modified foods or foods that have been irradiated (the process of exposing foodstuffs to ionizing radiation). Ionizing radiation is energy that can be transmitted without direct contact (radiation) capable of freeing electrons from their atomic bonds (ionization) in the targeted food. This treatment is used to preserve food, reduce the risk of food borne illness, prevent the spread of invasive pests, and delay or eliminate sprouting or ripening. Irradiated food does not become radioactive. The radiation can be emitted by a radioactive substance or generated electrically... I've included several links for you to investigate.

Whether organic foods carry a lower risk of cancer, because they are less likely to be contaminated by compounds that might cause cancer, is largely unknown.

Several studies have looked at the nutrient content of organic versus conventionally grown fruits or vegetables, and while some studies suggest a higher nutrient content, others suggest no difference. It is not known if the nutritional differences that have been reported would result in health benefits, such as a reduced cancer risk.

Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains should form the central part of a person's diet, regardless of whether they are grown conventionally or organically.One thing you need to know, is that organic and non organic foods ARE equal in nutritional value. For example, organic apples will provide no more “value” nutritional wise then non organic.. The only difference is, that truly organic foods have not been exposed to pesticides or growth hormones. There is no getting around the fact that it is well known, that red meat does cause cancer, so put your BBQ's away. The biggest one's, the top 5, are :

1. Hot dogs

2. Beef Jerky

3. Sausage

4. Ham (oh no, my favorite)

5. Corned beef

Researching this subject, I came across this (I rarely copy and past anything - rather I research a subject and make my own conclusion based on the subject matter), but the following I could not put better (this is from the ACS):Previous studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables were packed with a higher nutritional content, but these studies have been debated and refuted. If there is a nutritional content advantage, then it is likely to be very marginal and not make much of a difference. However, organic fruits and vegetables have not been exposed to pesticides and chemicals, which some consumers believe may be harmful to their health. So, will eating non-organic fruits and vegetables cause cancer?

The chemicals used in non-organically grown foods have been thoroughly studied. The consensus among major peer-reviewed studies is that consuming non-organic fruits and vegetables is not harmful to your health. However, this is debated by organic food advocates, and some people refuse to believe that these foods are safe to consume. With the scientific data that is available to us today, consumers need to make a personal choice of whether to buy organic or not.

The American Cancer Society recommends a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables to help reduce your risk of cancer. Here's what they have to say about organically grown produce:

"The term organic is popularly used to designate plant foods grown without pesticides and genetic modifications. At this time, no research exists to demonstrate whether such foods are more effective in reducing cancer risk than are similar foods produced by other farming methods."

Other surprises:

Do you see why I used the above to prove my point? I have my problems with the ACS, but they are progressive when it comes to food and Cancer. We at AJ's Wigs encourage each and everyone of you, no matter store bought or whole sale foods bought, to wash your food thoroughly. The surprise in this whole blog, is that nothing is full proof.

Another surprise, I believe worth mentioning, is don't wait to eat until your hungry. Eat little and often to avoid being hungry, even if you're not wanting food at the moment. Going through cancer treatments can cause you to have a loss of appetite, sometimes a significant loss depending on where and how you are going through treatments. If you wait until your hungry, you have already lost your nutrients from your previous meal, you have lost your energy, there is no food in your actual stomach to keep your body full of fuel.

Another surprise is make your plates look appealing. Such as Add parsley, lemon slices, cherry tomatoes, and other colorful garnishes to your plate. After treatments, a lot of our patients totally lose their appetites. Your taste bud's lose their senses so foods don't always taste great. But here is the biggie... Patients should avoid eating their favorite foods during chemotherapy as the treatment can make the food taste different and give you an aversion to it.

Wow, here is a surprise even I didn't know about. Did you know, there is a link between Acne and cancer? As if acne weren't bad enough, there is evidence that people who are prone to acne are prone to certain cancers such as melanoma and breast cancer .Women with a history of severe acne as a teenager were 44 percent more likely to develop melanoma as an adult. They were also 17 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those with mild or no acne. Hormones(remember above we talk about food/hormones?) that drive acne and breast cancer may also play a role in mole formation and melanoma development. It may be advisable for women with this history to be especially vigilant about breast- and skin-cancer screenings.

And yet another surprise

There are 28 million Cancer Survivors per year world wide.... 28 million!!!. so when ever you here the words, “You have cancer”, always remember, Cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. I tried to google the number of cancer patients world wide from the World Health Organization and I was shocked and surprised that there are no real numbers beyond 2012 except there are 14 million cases per year (2012) and that there are 8 million new cases a year. However, huge strides are being made to kill “the crabs” (they call the cell the crab because of the shape of the cell). I think the surprise here is two fold. The World Health Organization (who) keeps up yearly with almost everything, but it doesn't keep up with a top 3 killer in the past 4 years.

Here's one for ya

Approximately 77% of all cancers are diagnosed in people who are 55 years old or older. What??? Say it isn't so!!!!, Ahhh, but it makes so much sense. Let's take smoking. When my parents and grandparents were younger, the tobacco companies used to pass cigarettes out like they were candy at schools for free. By 1950/1960, everyone smoked. Billboards of men with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths were everywhere. Remember the Marlborough man?? (The perfect definition of a man's man)There was also no “smoking age”.

In or around the mid 50's, processed milk started hitting the stores and the days of “fresh milk delivery” straight from the cow, started to come to an end. Now, milk can last up to 3 weeks. By the mid to upper 60's, the rest of processed foods hit the shelves from meats, to butter and even to quick cake mixes with chemicals and artificial ingredient's in them. What was also effected was everything from skin care, to shampoo's and conditioners and on and on. Most of these were done for mass marketing. A perfect example is the beloved Twinkie, with a shelf life of , in excess, of 45 days.... 45 DAYS... wow. Think about it.. something that can sit on a shelf for 45 plus days and still be considered...FRESH. Some even go so far as to say Twinkies can last years because of NPR. While Twinkies are indeed a highly processed food — its three dozen or so ingredients include polysorbate 60, sodium stearoyl lactylate and others that could only come from a lab — it isn't any more so than thousands of other food products out there. Urban legend says that Twinkies could outlast the apocalypse.

Many might disagree with me, but around the early 80's, after things like HIV appeared on the scene, Cancer was on the rise and the government released reports of the use of growth hormones that were being fed to animals used for food. And lets not forget, red dye #1, blue dye #30 and the rest of the “dye's” that were put into foods.. then, artificial this and artificial that. A great awareness came into play about what was acceptable to use in our food and what were the long term effects of everything. In the early 90's, people started to turn to growing their own vegetables or purchasing from farm stands.

Now, when new Cancer rates sharply increased in the 2000's, this writer honestly believes that it if the effects of 30 years of pushing the limits of mass marketing foods and product's. But a great awareness came into play and we started looking at the effects of what we had done. Whole food stores sprang up, more and more education and research was implemented. But I find that no one talks about how we got here and why has Cancer become a big business. How about the fact that you can only add so many chemicals to foods and skin care etc, before the body reacts. This make me so mad!!! I find very few blogs and not very much information about the subject.

Ok Ok OK, maybe the above statement is too strong but we at AJ's Wigs who work with Cancer patients every day, are asked by our patients every day, “WHY ME”. With the education we have, and all the above history we know about, even we find ourselves asking.. Why?