Healthy lifestyle and diet is crucial for your overall health, and this is especially important when diagnosed with some life-threatening disease. You must change your diet as soon as possible, and in this post you will learn how.
According to numerous studies and researches, the development of diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and cancer is closely related to the consumption of highly processed foods.
How Does an Alkaline Diet Fight Cancer?
An alkaline diet consists of alkaline foods, and excludes all acidic foods. What’s more, some believe that you should cut out all foods which lead to acidic environment from your everyday diet. The concept behind this is the notion that cancer cells can’t thrive in an alkaline environment, ending up dead. Since consuming alkaline foods will naturally make your body’s environment alkaline, these foods help the eradication of cancer cells.
Inflammation is one of the major causes of cancer, and did you know that acidic foods can cause inflammation?
The Battle against Inflammation
The inflammatory process in a healthy person begins when the damaged tissue releases chemicals. This causes white blood cells to produce substances which cause division of cells and trigger their growth to rebuild tissue and repair the damage. This whole process ends when the wound is healed.
The inflammatory process in case of chronic inflammation starts even if there’s no injury, and can last more than is needed. Chronic inflammation can be caused by abnormal reactions to normal tissues, obesity, infections, etc. Sometimes, it can even lead to cancer and DNA damage.
10 Steps towards an Alkaline Diet
We are constantly surrounded by acidic foods which in fact consist most of the modern western diet. With the help of the following 10 steps, you can significantly simplify this process.
1. Eat Your Greens
Latent acidosis is an acidic pH caused by an acidic diet. This environment is perfect for thriving cancer cells, so an alkaline diet will help you restore the normal pH balance and prevent cancerous cells from spreading.
It’s recommended consuming green leafy veggies like cabbage, kale, broccoli, leek, beans, etc. Although the best way to eat them is raw, you can also find out other ways to prepare them. It’s also recommended eating 2 to 3 fruits a day to reduce your acidic level and keep your pH level balanced.
2. Swap Your Protein
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are caused when meats like beef, fish, pork or muscle, are cooked on high temperature. These substances are mutagenic so they can damage the DNA and cause cancer.
IARC (the International Agency for Research on Cancer) states that lunch (cold) meats raise the risk of colorectal cancer. Therefore, it’s recommended to reduce the consumption of meat and always go for organic, free-range and appropriately fed meat. Good alternatives for protein sources are beans, lentils, peas, nuts, and seeds.
3. Eliminate Sugar
Cancer cells use more sugar (glucose) per unit of time than healthy cells. Also, the metabolism of sugar produces acid, which further contributes to cancer progression.
High intake of sugar causes insulin resistance, since it causes further pressure on the pancreas to produce insulin. This in turn is strongly connected to proliferation of cancer. You should also avoid high fructose corn syrup due to the carcinogenic mercury it contains.
That’s why you should eliminate all forms of sugar from your diet, including high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave, and all other “natural” sugars. This will also prevent lack of magnesium in your organism which is often depleted as a result of metabolizing excess sugars.
4. Eliminate Gluten
Glutinous grains like rye, spelt, and wheat, cause inflammation. What’s more, wheat is loaded with pro-inflammatory pesticides. Therefore, you must avoid baked goods like cookies, cakes, bread, muffins, crackers, pasta, cereals, etc. in order to adopt cancer-suppression diet.
Processed gluten-free foods might be convenient, but they are also packed with unhealthy oils and sugars which destroy their health benefits. Instead of these grains, consume amaranth, millet organic rice, buckwheat, and teff.
5. Stop Eating Dairy
One of the major cancer-causing foods is cow dairy, as stated by Prof. T. Colin Campbell, PhD., Cornell University. The protein casein, which is often added in powdered milk used in the production of yogurt and cheese, causes inflammation and bone deterioration. Swap your dairy foods with almond or coconut milk.
6. Switch to Heart-Healthy Oils
Stop eating processed corn, hydrogenated, safflower, soy, sunflower oil and margarine. The communication of neurons requires fat. Neurons function as a bridge for electrical impulses to travel from one place to another within your nervous system. This communication is vital for survival on a daily basis. This task however, can’t be performed by hydrogenated fats.
When absorbed, they prevent the function of cells, and these inefficient cells compromise the transition of electrical impulses, thus creating electrical dead spots in the body. As a result, those parts of your body won’t receive important messages from neurons, or if they do, they will receive them later. This raises the risk of cancer as the cancer cells don’t respond to these messages, affecting other cells.
Always choose organic, and cold-pressed oils like avocado oil, olive oil, and coconut oil, as they have anti-inflammatory properties and help the communication of neurons within the neuron system.
7. Change Your Drinking Habits
Water should be your first option when it comes to beverages. Make sure you avoid beer, soda, and store-bought juices as they contain preservatives, sugar, and color additives. Besides water, you can drink homemade prepared herbal tea, vegetable juice, and green tea. You should also limit the amounts of caffeine, or swap them with detox shots.
8. Avoid Salt (Sodium) Intake
Salt intake increases the risk of cancer, especially stomach cancer. According to statistics, 12 grams of salt a day is enough to double your chances of stomach cancer. As most of the salt we consume comes from packaged and processed foods like processed meats, sauces, soups, and stock cubes, you should try to limit or completely avoid them. Breads and cereals also contain significant levels of salt.
9. Increase your Fiber Intake
Roughage, or dietary fiber has proven to be a powerful cancer fighter. You can obtain it only through consuming plant foods. According to studies, high levels of fiber reduce the chances of colorectal cancer. This might be because of its ability to add bulk to the digestive system, which shortens the time of waste traveling through the colon. Quick elimination of waste is recommended as it often contains carcinogens.
10. Lower the Use of Antibiotics
Stephen H. Taplin, M.D. of the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences conducted a study, investigating the link between antibiotic overuse and risk of cancer in women. The results showed that taking 1 to 25 antibiotics in a period of 17 years increase the chances of breast cancer by 1.5 times, in contrast with women who didn’t take antibiotics. Therefore, be careful when taking these drugs, and take them only when necessary.
Via MD Anderson | Healthy Food House | MD Anderson | Daily Mail