Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease. A third of all cancer deaths in the U.S. are linked to diet and lack of physical activity including obesity. It is reported that 1 out of 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
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The prevalence of processed foods, exposure to radiation, pollution in the water and in the air increases the toxicities we are exposed to. You’ve heard me say this before toxins in our body plays a major role in the onset of disease. When abnormal cells develop in our body, our immune system can quickly kill these cells. A healthy immune system has Natural Killer cells that recognize and kills tumor cells and viruses before they wreak havoc and cause major health problems. We have Natural Killer Cells in us! We want these and need to keep them around.
Keeping your immune system as healthy as possible will help keep toxin levels low. Feeding our body with good nutrients is the power to make this system work. When good nutrition is low our defense cells become weak and we are more susceptible to a suppressed immune system and a lesser response from our innate Natural Killer Cells and cancer cells can then grow.
There are many causes of cancer but nutrition plays an extremely important part in keeping us healthy. Good nutrition requires eating a more plant based diet. Some experts recommend eating more raw foods than not; 80% raw and 20% cooked. That’s a lot of salad! Lightly steamed vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals that processed foods are deficient in. Juicing is an excellent way to get a lot of raw vegetables in our diet.
Avoiding processed foods like canned foods, foods in plastic containers and microwave popcorn is a good habit. Heating plastic containers that releases BPA’S (bisphenol-A) a chemical that ultimately interrupts the immune system is a bad habit.
