Contributing Factors to Cancer: Part 2 (Acidity)

Cancer thrives in acidic environments. In fact, -- did you know this? -- cancer almost always starts in an area where there's inflammation. (Inflammation is the immune system's way of dealing with acidity.) Where there is inflammation, normal cells can more easily be damaged, or there's a greater possibility of a mistake being made during cell division -- or both things can happen -- and a tumor is born. 

So how does one eliminate acidity -- how does one become more alkaline? Well, there are the "foods" component,  the "stress" component, and the "toxins" component.

Let's start with Foods:
Sugar is the biggest single food culprit because it packs a triple whammy. Not only does cancer feast on sugar (see the post about that here), but sugar itself is acidic and it causes the pancreas to secrete insulin which is very acidic (pH of 4; neutral is 7). So it  makes sense that the less sugar you eat, the more even your blood sugar level, and the less insulin your body has to deal with.

All sugars (white, brown, powdered, honey, maple, molasses, fructose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup -- did I miss any?) appear to have this affect. Medical doctors and nutritionists will tell you, "Research shows that all sweeteners are identical in the body." But that's poppycock because there is also research that shows that natural sweeteners such as raw (not heated) honey and maple syrup have nutrients not found in refined sweeteners, and that our bodies do, in fact, know the difference. 

(Artificial sweeteners are not included in this post because they are so horrible they should be ingested only by mosquitos and wasps.) 

So I have chosen to include raw honey (straight from the bees, only filtered to remove bee parts and wax) because of its nutritive value. For instance, raw honey actually decreases fatty deposits in the vascular system. Does this mean that a person with heart disease should eat a lot of raw honey? Of course not. There's still the insulin factor to consider. But should a person include a bit of raw honey as part of their nutritious diet? Absolutely.  

Here's an interesting side note: We now know that heart disease is caused by inflammation, not cholesterol, as has been previously preached. And preached. And preached. But cholesterol actually acts as a fireman, putting out the fire that is inflammation. So the presence of abnormal levels of cholesterol in the blood merely indicates that there's a problem -- sort of like a dead canary in a deep mine. Poor misunderstood cholesterol . . .

Okay, where was I?

Oh. Acidic foods. Okay. Coffee is another substance that promotes acidity. But you knew that already, right? (I still treat myself to it once in awhile because it makes a horrible day not nearly so sucky.  A person's mental health is important too, right?) 

Chemical residues (e.g. pesticides, preservatives) cause acidity and therefore inflammation. If the label doesn't say "organic," or if you don't know the grower's methods personally, you'll likely be ingesting tiny amounts of poison. It may not seem like much each time, but ponder how it accumulates over the course of a day. Then ponder how your body has to run every bit of it thru your liver -- twice -- in order to break it down into a form that won't hurt your kidneys. Poor, hard-working liver. When it can't handle the load, it shuttles the half-processed toxins off to be stored in other areas -- joints, fat, other organs -- until it has time and energy to finish the process. But then tomorrow comes and you eat some more, and then some more, and it never gets back to it. Sort of like the piles of stuff in my laundry room. And my bedroom. And the garage. Sigh.

Moving on.

The Stress Component:
All stress is not bad. Some of us thrive on it -- to a point. Each person's threshold is a little (or a lot) different. Also, it depends on how you feel about your stress level. If you think you're stressed out, then you are. If you're having fun keeping nine balls in the air at once, you're probably fine. But watch out for your breaking point. That tenth ball can sneak in under your radar.

There are quite a few forms of stress. Of course, there are the negative ones like Anger and Dread and Frustration and Deadlines. But there are also "positive" stressors like Elation and Excitement.

Turns out, we are affected physically by our emotions. True fact. If we're happy, our bodies are secreting hormones like seratonin and dopamine which actually change the chemistry in our whole body in a good way. If we're stressed out or angry, our bodies secrete other chemicals like cortisol and norepinephrine (formerly known as adrenaline). These do things like increase the heart rate and blood pressure (making the heart work harder), and decrease digestion. So yes, our emotions affect us physically. 

What does that have to do with acidity?  Well, the "negative" hormones become acidic if they hang around too long.  Here's an analogy for you:  If you're sitting in front of a computer trying to beat a deadline because there's an ax hanging over your head, the cortisol and nor-epi (which would normally be used up by your muscles in running away from the scary thing) are stranded in your body's tissues, becoming acidic, causing inflammation, making your body expend energy to fix it . . . So the moral of the story is:  Think happy thoughts.

The Toxin Component:
I pretty much covered this in this post, so in the interest of brevity (or at least not-too- long-ity), I'll skip over it here. Just know that toxins are acidic.

As an interesting side note, viruses such as those that cause the common cold or the flu love acidic conditions. You probably knew that. But did you know that acidity also contributes to osteoporosis and gum disease because minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) are drawn out of the bones and teeth to buffer acid (sort of like Tums buffer stomach acid)? While you're at it, consider other inflammatory conditions like gout, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, all forms of arthritis, diabetes . . .

The list is long and the reasons are many to alkalize your system.

So how do you know if you're acidic or not?
You can find pH test strips in drugs stores -- probably even Walmart. I got mine online, here. (No compensation for this link, but you're welcome.) The directions come with the strips, so I won't go into that here. Just know that whether you're testing either your saliva or your urine, the testing should be done first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth or eating/drinking anything. And saliva will test a little more acidic (6.0-7.5) than urine (6.5-7.5). (The lower the number, the more acidic.)

And now the million-dollar question:
How do you help your body to become more alkaline (i.e. less acidic)?

• Cut out all forms of sugar. I figure if I shoot for 100% clean (from refined sugars), then I can afford to have some fruit or raw honey without upsetting the chemistry too much.
• Eat lots of vegetables and supplement with one of the "greens" powders on the market. I like Primal Force's UltraGreen mixed in some applesauce, but here's another link with interesting information, especially with regard to diabetes. (Links are for informational purposes only. Alas, I am not getting paid to drop names.)
• Animal proteins (meat, eggs and dairy) are quite acidic, probably because they take longer to digest. That doesn't mean you should cut them out, though. Their nutrients are important to your body's health. I read somewhere that 60% alkaline was a good goal to aim for, which means you need 40% acidic foods. It's all about balance.
• When you eat grains, rice and legumes, eat the unprocessed whole kind, and soak them overnight to break down the phytic acid and aromatase inhibitors (never mind what those are; this post is long enough). Then rinse well and add fresh water to cook.
• Exercise (provided it isn't too intense) burns the toxins that are causing your body to be acidic, so go for a 30-minute walk every day.
• Shop for organic foods -- even canned goods. And stay away from refined, processed, instant, pre-made, or boxed things.
• Use water that hasn't been chemical-ized with fluoride, chlorine, etc. (This is probably a subject for another post, it's so complex.)
• Here's the hardest thing to change -- If you're a person who tends to fret, stew, seethe, criticize, and judge, then teach yourself to think on more virtuous matters because you're making your body acidic. If there's something that can be done about a situation, do it. If not, set it aside. Better yet, give it to God whose hands are big enough to handle ANYthing. 

Lastly, here's another side note that I found immensely interesting:
It takes eight hours after eating for the body to finish digestion duties and decide it's okay to direct its energy toward cleaning house. The detox process then takes at least four hours (for just that day's worth of toxins). Thus, there needs to be at least 12 hours between the last food/drink of the evening and the first food/drink the following morning.  Do you see where this is leading?  Yup, all those late-evening snacks when you get the munchies are keeping your body from ever being able to clean house. 

There's a pretty easy fix, though. Just don't eat too late in the evening. Or if you must, then wait at least 12 hours to have breakfast. For example, if you have supper at 6:00 p.m., then you can have breakfast anytime after 6:00 a.m. the next morning. If it's your company Christmas party and you don't finish eating until 9:30 p.m., just figure you'll have brunch about 9:30 or 10:00 the next morning. It's pretty do-able, and your body will thank you.

Okay, that's it for this time. Odds are good that I've forgotten something -- left a gaping hole in the information -- so leave me a comment and I'll address it later.

Cancer is Wily

I learned something old last week. Does that ever happen to you? Do you ever read something, or someone tells you something, and a lightbulb goes on . . . and about a second later you realize you already knew that but it was buried under who-knows-what-kind-of-minutiae that apparently mattered more? Happens to me all the time. Sigh.

Anyway, cancer begins with a single cell (or maybe a few cells) that was damaged by toxins (stress chemicals, pesticides, etc.) and then when it divided (which is how cells multiply), it made two damaged cells. Which then divided to make four damaged cells, etc. etc. After a few months or years or decades (depending on the type of cancer and how fast it divides), there are enough abnormal cells to be seen as a tumor. With me so far?

Most normal cells are programmed to stop dividing at a certain point, but cancer cells have mutated in such a way that they don't have a shut-off switch. They will keep dividing -- and at a faster rate than normal cells -- until they kill the host by robbing it of the nutrition it needs. It becomes a parasite in the truest sense of the word.

So cancer cells are not programmed to die as normal cells are. But here's the really interesting thing. They mutate to the point that they provide their own food source. In essence, they eat their own (recycled) poop. Is that not ingenious?  Here's how it works:

Cancer loves sugar, right? (also known as glucose). When a normal cell processes glucose, the by-products are carbon dioxide and water. We get rid of the carbon dioxide by exhaling, and the water by urinating. So far so good? Well, when a cancer cell processes glucose, the by-product is lactate (the same stuff that makes your muscles hurt when you've over-exerted). Lactate isn't just urinated or exhaled out. No, it has to go to the liver where it's broken down into . . . wait for it . . . glucose! . . . which goes back into circulation and feeds the cancer. It's an endless, ingenious cycle!

That's the old thing I learned last week. Cool, huh?

The kicker is that no matter how carefully I cut out ingested sugars, theoretically, the cancer will still survive. Thrive, even.

So I may as well go have that fried ice cream I've been hankering for, right?

Nah. Because sugar (and homogenized pasteurized dairy) still creates an acidic environment, and that's exactly the way cancer likes it. I think my cancer's pretty much gone, but I don't want it to come back, so I'm all about maintaining an unfriendly environment for it.

Interesting thought though, yes?