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7 tips for cancer prevention

By Jaime Morilla De La Rosa | Published: 09/08/2011

In the conventional medical arena, there is an alarming use of highly toxic agents and damaging procedures to treat cancer. In the dietary supplement arena, there is an alarming history of unscrupulous claims to cures for cancer. Even among highly schooled experts, there is little consensus on how best to treat most forms of the disease. But most can agree on this: Prevention is best. A healthy diet complemented with a handful of plant-based supplements may be your strongest defense.

You’ve probably heard conflicting reports about cancer prevention. Sometimes the specific cancer-prevention tip recommended in one study or news report is advised against in another. If you’re concerned about cancer prevention, take comfort in the fact that small changes in your daily life can make a big difference. Consider seven real-life cancer prevention tips.

1. Don’t use tobacco

Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer. Smoking has been linked to various types of cancer — including cancer of the lung, bladder, cervix and kidney — and chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Even if you don’t use tobacco, exposure to secondhand smoke may increase your risk of lung cancer.

Avoiding tobacco — or deciding to stop using it — is one of the most important health decisions you can make. It’s also an important part of cancer prevention. If you need help quitting tobacco, ask your doctor about stop-smoking products and other strategies for quitting.

2. Maintain a healthy weight and include physical activity in your daily routine

Maintaining a healthy weight may lower the risk of various types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney. Physical activity counts, too. In addition to helping you control your weight, physical activity on its own may lower the risk of breast cancer and colon cancer.

As a general goal, include at least 30 minutes of physical activity in your daily routine — and if you can do more, even better. Try a fitness class, rediscover a favorite sport or meet a friend for daily brisk walks.

3. Protect yourself from the sun

Skin cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer — and one of the most preventable. Try these tips:

  • Avoid midday sun. Stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun’s rays are strongest.
  • Stay in the shade. When you’re outdoors, stay in the shade as much as possible. Sunglasses and a broad-rimmed hat help, too.
  • Cover exposed areas. Wear tightly woven, loosefitting clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible. Opt for bright or dark colors, which reflect more ultraviolet radiation than pastels or bleached cotton.
  • Don’t skimp on sunscreen. Use generous amounts of sunscreen when you’re outdoors, and reapply often.
  • Avoid tanning beds and sunlamps. These are just as damaging as natural sunlight.

4. Get immunized

Cancer prevention includes protection from certain viral infections. Talk to your doctor about immunization against:

  • Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B can increase the risk of developing liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is routinely given to infants. It’s also recommended for certain high-risk adults — such as adults who are sexually active but not in a mutually monogamous relationship, men who have sex with men, and health care or public safety workers who might be exposed to infected blood or body fluids.
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is available to both men and women age 26 or younger who didn’t have the vaccine as an adolescent.

5. Avoid risky behaviors

Another effective cancer prevention tactic is to avoid risky behaviors that can lead to infections that, in turn, may increase the risk of cancer. For example:

  • Practice safe sex. Limit your number of sexual partners, and use a condom when you do have sex. The more sexual partners you have in your lifetime, the more likely you are to contract a sexually transmitted infection — such as HIV or HPV. People who have HIV or AIDS have a higher risk of cancer of the anus, cervix, lung and immune system. HPV is most often associated with cervical cancer, but it may also increase the risk of cancer of the anus, penis, throat, vulva and vagina.
  • Don’t share needles. Sharing needles with an infected drug user can lead to HIV, as well as hepatitis B and hepatitis C — which can increase the risk of liver cancer. If you’re concerned about drug abuse or addiction, seek professional help.

6. Take early detection seriously

Regular self-exams and professional screening for various types of cancers — such as cancer of the skin, colon, prostate, cervix and breast — can increase your chances of discovering cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be successful. Ask your doctor about the best cancer screening schedule for you.

7. Eat a healthy diet

Although making healthy selections at the grocery store and at mealtime can’t guarantee cancer prevention, it may help reduce your risk. Consider these guidelines:

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Base your diet on fruits, vegetables and other foods from plant sources — such as whole grains and beans. Medical research from hundreds of studies is clear: A diet full of raw, fresh fruits and vegetables may help reduce the risk of all types of cancers. Why? Plants contain produce phytochemicals to protect themselves and these phytochemicals may support the body’s immune system and many have antioxidant properties that help prevent certain types of cancer.

Increase fiber. High-fiber foods are believed to help move potential carcinogens through the intestines faster, lessening the amount of time the intestinal wall is exposed to them. Fiber is also thought to help absorb bile acids, thus preventing decaying food from encouraging harmful changes in cells.

Try to eat at least 25 grams of fiber today from a variety of sources, with an emphasis on whole grains, legumes and fresh vegetables. If 25 grams sounds like a lot, start by trading your favorite breakfast for bran cereal or slow-cooked oatmeal, adding beans to soups and salads and transitioning from “white foods” like bread and pasta to their whole-grain counterparts. Be sure to read food labels so you can track your fiber intake.

Limit fat. Eat lighter and leaner by choosing fewer high-fat foods, particularly those from animal sources. High-fat diets tend to be higher in calories and may increase the risk of overweight or obesity — which can, in turn, increase cancer risk.

According to the American Cancer Society, the exact relationship between fat and cancer isn’t known however, there is evidence that suggests that saturated fats may increase the risk of developing cancer. Further, diets high in fat have been linked to obesity which in turn has been linked with increased risk of some cancers.

Eating a diet low in fat and very low in saturated fats, may help fight cancer in two ways: reducing the body’s levels of low-density lipoproteins which feed tumor growth and decreasing your body’s production of bile which, if allowed to stagnate in the large intestine, converts to a carcinogen called apcholic acid.

Reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet by limiting your consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy products and avoid foods that trans fats. Aim to keep your overall fat intake to less 20% of your total calories each day (for a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s less than 45 grams) and choose foods that are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids like salmon, flaxseed and canola oil.

Eliminate or limit red meat. Several medical studies, including The China Study indicate a relationship between consuming animal proteins and increased risk for cancer. The exact correlation is still being studied, but it’s been suggested that diets high in animal fat may increase the body’s levels of bile, which can feed tumors. In cultures where meat is minimally consumed or not consumed at all, the incidences of certain cancers are markedly lower than in the US.

Consider eliminating or limiting your consumption of red meat and other animal proteins and choosing vegetarian proteins like tofu or tempeh. Soy is believes to contain anti-cancer substances that, in particular, seem to reduce the risk of developing breast and prostate cancer. Consider using soy milk in your cereal instead of your regular milk or adding tofu to a stir-fry for dinner.

Change your oil. Avoid vegetables oils that are high in saturated fats. Choose cold, expeller-pressed olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil or walnut oils for cooking, each of which contains good amounts of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and offers a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 essential fatty acids.

On the occasions when you do cook with oil, be sure to cook at medium to medium-low heats. Heat changes oil’s molecular structure and heating to the point of smoke may create carcinogenic compounds in the oil. For high-heat cooking needs look for specially formulated high-heat canola oils or choose grapeseed oil which retains its molecular structure at higher temperatures.

Drink More Tea. Green tea and black tea contain the antioxidant-rich polyphenols, which appear to prevent cancer cells from dividing. Dry green tea leaves also contains catechins, which may inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Consider transitioning from coffee to tea or making hot and cold teas your beverage of choice throughout the day.

If you choose to drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. The risk of various types of cancer — including cancer of the breast, colon, lung, kidney and liver — increases with the amount of alcohol you drink and the length of time you’ve been drinking regularly.

Although among the drinks we can find red grapes and the wine made from contain polyphenols, antioxidants that may protect against several types of cancer, as well as resveratrol which blocks a key protein that cancer cells need to survive. Although several cancer studies find in favor of drinking red wine, drinking large amounts is discouraged. Drink red wine in moderation by having one 4 to 6oz glass daily at mealtime.

Take cancer prevention into your own hands, starting today. The rewards will last a lifetime.

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where does food come from?

By Jaime Morilla De La Rosa | Published: 09/08/2011

One of the mayor requirements for a healthy life style is to have access to and eat healthy food.

As an agricultural engineer I want to talk today about the means in which our society controls and checks our food supplies.

Today we hear a lot about “traceability”, consumer protection, the return of bad products and other examples that show us the necessity to control the “pedigree” of consumer products in daily life.

After the health crises that occurred in Europe and the discovery and impact of the Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in different countries it became clear to the consumer that it was very important to know where his food came from. It was vital to be able to trace it back to its source. This “traceability” as a term appeared for the first time in 1996.

Traceability is of great importance for the protection of consumer health. This is achieved by improving the transparent monitoring of the movements of animals and their products, the processing of their carcasses and finally the meat products available on the market. The same applies of course to all other food.�
Traceability is defined as all those self-set procedures which let you know the history, location and journey of a product or product batch along the supply chain at an exact moment, through specific tools.

Now, do we really know the origin of the products we consume? Who analyzes the traceability of the product bought in a market/grocery store? Do you know with what kind of harmful chemicals the food that is in our fridge has been treated? Are there product residues that can accumulate in our bodies?

The first and most important point is the consumer misinformation. It is true that today all food products that we can buy have passed strict quality controls and are traceable, but also that the information demanded by the consumer is not available in a straightforward manner. I imagine that if someone would know the whole production chain, he or she perhaps wouldn’t eat some foods sold in the supermarket as “natural”.

At the beginning of the entire chain of production and distribution we find for example the farms. But can we trust their working methods and practices?
Almost everyone knows that for several decades there was a real use of chemicals in agriculture and the raising of livestock and that many products that were legal before were banned after a couple of years. How is it possible that something that affects our health (we eat food which has been treated with these products) was appropriate at first and then after some time not anymore?

For example, in the first half of the twentieth century one of the first agrochemicals used was nicotine, a product widely used to combat insects because of the effects it had on their nerve center. It was used for many years until its negative effect on human health was discovered.

This story happens over and over again and for lots of other products.
Why were there a lot of food crises in the last few years with poisoned products? If the traceability is working properly we should not be afraid. Or maybe the quality controls are not as tight as we were led to believe?

One year ago, I was doing an internship as an agricultural consultant in a firm that was dedicated to manage an “agricultural integrated production”. For your information, integrated production is somewhere in the middle between traditional and ecological agriculture. They allow the use of several plant protection products, PPP’s, but in smaller amounts than in traditional agriculture. Obviously using fewer chemicals on the farm, there is less production, and so the farmer needs to receive a subsidy from the government and the European Union. Based on my experience there, I realized that it is all a lie. The farmer used the products and quantities as he saw fit and my company turned a blind eye and delivered the certifications which accredited the right use of the techniques anyway. It was then that I realized I really could not rust what I was eating.

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Tell me what you eat and i will tell you who you are

By Jaime Morilla De La Rosa | Published: 24/05/2011

Nowadays, Changes in eating habits of the population, because of very fast and stressful life, have caused that many people are forced to eat fast food very often, incorporating that in their diet.

Fast food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value (i.e. containing “empty calories”); to products with nutritional value, but also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly are eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all.

Junk foods are typically ready-to-eat convenience foods containing high levels of saturated fats, salt, or sugar, and little or no fruit, vegetables, or dietary fiber; and are considered to have little or no health benefits. Common junk foods include salted snack foods like chips, candy, gum, most sweet desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages as well as alcoholic beverages. High-sugar cereals, particularly those targeted at children, such as Froot Loops, are also classified as junk food

The way our food is processed has a great effect on our health. It is thought that harmful diets are responsible for the highest number of premature deaths, and is only surpassed by the number of deaths caused by smoking.

In these days, and because of this convenience, consumed a higher amount of junk food and processed foods than at any time. It is estimated that one in five people suffers obesity.

Obesity is responsible for a long series of illnesses such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. Recently, this syndrome has been found in children. The level of obesity in adolescents has been doubled in the last 20 years.

Young people who maintain an overweight are acquiring diseases that only affected the adult population, and most worrying is that young people are becoming adults possessing many chronic diseases.

It is a fact that in many cases, families are very busy and often used for their feeding low-cost food, which at the same time can be taken home already prepared. The problem is that the portions served by the main companies dedicated to fast food are bigger than the recommended portions for maintaining a healthy diet.

On the other hand consumers are being used to what the advertising of food companies call “super parts”, which are saturated with sugar, fat and high number of calories.

Having a healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to maintain good health in general. It is not easy to have a healthy diet. Eat less healthy food is tempting because it can be easier to get or prepare, or satisfy a craving. Between family and work, you are probably dealing with a hundred things at the same time. Sometimes taking the time to buy the ingredients and cook a healthy meal is relegated to the bottom of the list, but knows that it is not difficult to make simple changes to improve your diet, and there is much information available about nutrition that you can understand. If you learn a little and planning, you can find a diet that suits your lifestyle, and perhaps have fun doing it!

How I can start planning a healthy diet?

It is not what we eat, but what we digest and assimilate is what produces health and power in our body. The conditions that disrupt and damage the digestion create the food to spoilage and poison the body instead of providing nutrients. The digestive system has, like other systems, limitations, and therefore imposing a correct combination of foods. The nutritional needs of an individual will depend on age, sex, height, body mass index and physical activity. The digestive system has, like other systems, limitations, and therefore imposing a correct combination of foods.

It is basic to know the nutritional pyramid in order to combine foods properly. Everyone has heard about the pyramid, so it is not a new concept. The pyramid is structured horizontally according to the classification of foods into the following groups:

  • Cereals and cereal products (at the base of the pyramid).
  • Vegetables.
  • Fresh fruit.
  • Milk and its derivatives.
  • Meat, fish, eggs and pulses.
  • Sugars and fats (at the top of the pyramid).

 

Obviously the closer you are to the base of the pyramid usually have to eat those foods.

There are other pyramids as the Mediterranean diet or vegetarian. So depend of your nutritional habits can chose which is better for your health.

There is no magic guide for a healthy life, everyone knows his own body and know how to react. The most important thing is to have a right diet and practice sport, the sedentary lifestyle does not help you stay active.

People think that cooking healthy food is a difficult task when it is not. There are many types of salads, soups, dressings, quick and easy to do. I come from a Mediterranean country and have seen my mother and grandmother cooking with few ingredients (always vegetables, legumes…) a plate cheap, delicious and healthy.
The most important is to have imagination and not be afraid to mix food. You can always arrange with olive oil and spices :-)

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Let’s talk about sex! Let’s talk about health!

By Laura | Published: 09/08/2010

   Twenty years ago talking about sex or sexual health on a public forum would have been difficult and quite embarrassing.

   Nowadays we’ve all heard a lot about safe sex, and what we should do for a healthy sexual life. Maybe that’s the problem! We have heard so much that sometimes we don’t have the time to integrate all that information or we don’t get the kind of information we could need.

   Have you ever taken more than two seconds to think about what you consider sexual health could mean? Probably if you try, the first words that come to you are those such as: HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) or unwanted pregnancy.

   All of that sounds very scary, doesn’t it? And I think, having those words in mind won’t help you to enjoy sex. That’s one of the reasons why people don’t like to think about the information they’ve gotten about sex, because it talks mainly about diseases and negative events. So let’s look for a new affirmative concept of sexual health!

Understanding sexual health

   Even though sex is not one of our vital needs, it is true that it is quite important in most human beings’ lives, and it has a lot to do with our health. A good sexual life can help you to be healthier, but the wrong sexual practices can cause you a lot of problems, mentally as well as physically.

   Maybe a new concept is to understand sexual health as a state of well-being, and not merely as the absence of those qualities that are undesired (Peter Aggleton & Cathy Campbell, 2000).

   Most of the programs that are trying to arise youth’s sexual health are just talking about preventing negative aspects of sex, but…Why don’t we try to find a balance and a way to help people to increase their sexual enjoyment, while they avoid the undesired aspects?

   A healthy sexual life should mean being able to talk about sex, to ask about what you don’t know or to say how you feel about it, and to use all of that as a tool to avoid what you don’t want while you enjoy what’s good for you.

   All this does not mean that you should forget about the STIs or unwanted pregnancy, indeed those are actual problems in our society. We need to know about them, we need to take them into account and we definitely need to be able to openly talk about them.

Youth Sexual Health Nowadays

   The truth is that “in many places in the world lots of young people get some kind of infection or die because they lack the information to protect and care for themselves when it comes to their sexual lives” (James Bach, Youth Taking Action: sexual and reproductive health education).

   Some of the data you can find among the different researches about youth and health are clear: sexual health is one of the fields that still should be developed! There are still too many barriers to a healthy sexual life for youth and adolescents.

   As a study from the World Health Organization (WHO) about “sexually transmitted infections among adolescents” shows, young people around the world lack the knowledge, the attitudes and the communication skills related to sexual health. Shame, embarrassment, lack of adequate sources of information or unsympathetic service providers are some of the facts we can find among most of the adolescents nowadays.

   If you take some time listening to what young people have to say about their own sexual education, you will find out that issues such as confidence, self-esteem, non-sexual ways of showing affection or the emotional aspects of sexuality are some of the things they wish they could learn more about (Hughes et al., 1999). All this agrees with our positive sexual health concept, so why don’t we try to adjust sexual education programs to the youth’s needs?

Taking action for youth sexual health

   After finding what we should talk about, now it’s time to find how to talk about it. Different tries could prove that fear is not the way to prevent unhealthy practices. So we have to look for the approach in which a healthy sexual life will be meaningful for us.

   Once I have read and heard what youth have to say about safe sex and sexual health, I can say that we need to encourage people to be curious and guide them towards the information they might use.

   Have you ever heard about ‘youth friendly sexual health services’? Well, they are the kind for services where youths can get the information they need without worrying about being judged and where they can find friendly and professional people that will be able to help them.

   Do you know any youth friendly sexual health service around you? Because I do know one in Belgium, Joetz has a sexual health programme in which you can get involved and help the others to keep safe and enjoy life. The Healthies is a youth group that works in schools and young people meeting points (as festivals and parties) to give information about safe sex and make condoms more accessible to everybody.

Where to find more information?

   Knowledge is crucial when it comes to being able to properly enjoy our sexual lives, so we should be curious and open to get information and look for our own good sources.

   While searching for information about health and sex on the internet, you can feel completely lost because there are thousand of sites and not all of them have good and accurate information. So to make it easier, here we give you some links that might help you to learn more about how to have a healthy sexual life (just click on the names to get there).

If you are looking for a clear description of contraceptive methods and you want to prove how much you know about sexual health, this is an interesting website for you. It has good information presented in a fun way, as you can find games and demos. Ready to play???

It is a youth friendly sexual health service, so as we said it looks like it is run by teens for teens. It has comprehensive information about STIs, and there you can find also contact information to set your questions about contraception, STIs and sexuality in general.

They have an interesting point of view of what sexual health means and they present it in a non-formal way so it is easy to read. Check the presentations about Safe Sex, they are pretty good!

The site also has a pretty updated section about sexual health news.

It is an interesting website where you will be able to find specific articles on different fields: men, women, LGBT, disabilities, sexual education…

If you go to the ‘sexual health resources’ tab, you will find a lot more links to other recommended webs.

Another friendly sexual health website! They present good and clear information in a very friendly way. With their ‘Just Say Yes’ campaign they are trying to make youth people reflect on the idea that you are free to choose if you want to have sex or not and how, when and with who you want to do it.

A site with clear and good information about birth control methods and STIs, along with a blog that opens interesting forums to read and comment fresh articles about teens sexual lives.

Check also their ‘Sexual Rights’ tab!

Did you know about the female condom? Well, here you can find a lot of information about it, as it is a site where they are promoting female condoms as a way for women to take the active role when it comes to having safe sex.

They present all the information about HIV/AIDS and its current impact in the world, along with good statistics and a mapping progress all over the world.

They also have a Young People UNAIDS website

If you are looking for accurate and technical information about sexually transmitted infections, this is your site! The WHO makes a great description of all the diseases and the health policies around it.

   I hope you could find useful all the information and I would like to invite you all to open a forum where we can learn from each other’s experience. So let’s talk about sex!

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