Food as Medicine
“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” Ayurvedic Proverb
Having lost my grandfather, Larry McGee, to cancer along with my son’s diagnosis of stage 4 kidney cancer, my theme for Lander’s journey has always been, “God will do his part, the doctors will do theirs, and I will do mine.” Overcoming cancer and sharing resources is a passion that I work on daily in one form or another.
I believe focusing on things within my control is the best use of my time and energy. This focus led me to see how vital a healthy diet can contribute to overall well being. I’ve seen estimates of up to 35% of environmental causes of cancer are dietarily related, with tobacco attributing up to 25%. I imagine that number of dietarily related cancers is higher. Regardless, diet is considerable, and avoiding harmful foods is essential.
Angiogenesis
A common characteristic across almost all types of cancers is forming new blood vessels; a process is known as angiogenesis to support tumor growth. These additional blood vessels bring nutrients such as glucose and amino acids required by cancer cells. These blood vessels are spindly and threadlike, similar to varicose veins, but are sufficient to support and facilitate cancer cells to grow and spread. Malignancy is when a cancer cell breaks off and travels in the bloodstream to another part of the body, establishing another tumor.
Understanding this part of the cancer process is crucial to figuring out how to cure many forms. If we can stop the tumor from receiving the substances it needs to thrive, we can kill it and make other therapies more effective. This is one route by which we can take the fight against cancer.
A fantastic thing about this is many plant compounds are known to be antiangiogenic, or they stop or kill the formation of new blood vessels.
Potent Plant Compounds can be found all over and can be utilized by eating or taking supplements.
Some Antiangiogenic Compounds – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1891166/
- Aloe Vera leaf and pulp extracts
- Artemisinin – Sweet Wormwood
- Curcumin – Tumeric
- Protocatechuic acid – Green Tea
- Flavonoids: apigenin, fisetin – German chamomile
- Omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid)
- Panax Ginseng (saponins: 20(R)- and 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3)
- Resveratrol – Grapes
- Quercetin – Cappers, Onions
- Soy isoflavones (genistein, daidzein)
- Selenium
- Vitamin D
Another great resource is Dr. William Li https://drwilliamli.com/how-we-can-starve-cancer-with-food/
There are unlimited things we don’t know about the benefits of different compounds or have a full grasp of why they are vital to optimal health with Antiangiogenic be but one.
Plant Rich Diet
It has been proven that a plant-rich diet has numerous health benefits, and by studying different disease mechanisms, we can further understand the reasons. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts get the lion’s share of the deserved health spotlight. But I want to highlight the radish. I love radishes and believe time will prove the spicy root contains a wide range of ways to make humans healthier. The sharp flavors come from compounds found in the plants. Many times magic is found in these compounds.
Radish Article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6412475/
Radishes remedies have been used to treat a wide range of stomach issues since ancient times. Some research has evens shown antimicrobial and anticancer properties. One exciting compound being looked at for the benefits is glucosinolates and is exclusively found in cruciferous vegetables.
For us eating raw fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms lead to giving our bodies a chance to use them. Salads and quick marinates are the go-to most of the time, especially for cold seasons for fresh and local when root crops and leafy greens may be all that is available.
The benefit of eating whole food is we are getting other things that are also beneficial with the nutrients. The downside is that we may not be getting enough of a compound for a therapeutic effect. For example, it would take eating a tremendous amount of turmeric to get curcumin in levels found in a quality supplement.
Juicing
Another way of flooding the body with nutrients is by juicing. In this process, we remove the fiber and concentrate the other parts. Juicing can boost the body’s ability to receive antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and cancer-fighting compounds that are more bioavailable and extremely difficult to get by eating.
At one point, I was anti juicing because removing part of the plant seemed to be counterproductive. Still, after being on this cancer research journey and diving into Gerson Therapy, I began to come around. I think juicing has an important role but not a sole way of getting fruit and vegetable servings.
Plants provide us with a vast range of ways of being healthy. A major problem is our diets are often utterly void of them. We can improve our life by adding quality foods.
“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”