DNA Does NOT Repair in Cancer Cells

As I finalize my presenation for cancer prevention night, coming up Thursday, Oct. 30 at the local coffeehouse in Cross Plains at 6:30 (open to the public) - my son and I had a discussion on food choices, and cancer cells.

You see, they are learning about DNA in biology class ...and he tells me that broken strands of DNA repair itself...it is how the body is programmed.  He would argue that it is okay to eat toxic food now and then because the body will "heal thyself".  In a healthy individual, that eats primarily an 80% vegetable and fruit diet...yes, this is likely a true statement.

However, in searching for an illustration comparing healthy vs cancerous cells for my slide show - I came across a link that describes cancer. You can find the entire list here, but I have cut and pasted the article leading up to the point of disucssion above.
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What is cancer?
- cancer comes from cells in a part in the body that begin to grow out of control
- normal body cells grow, divide, and die in a set system and pattern
- as humans grow older the cell division slow down... cells in adults only divide to replace old or dying cells or to repair injuries
- cancer cells continue to grow and divide- instead of dying they outlive the normal cells and form new abnormal cells
- the damage in the cancer cells that make them abnormal comes from damage in their DNA
- most normal cells with damaged DNA are easily repaired by the body
- cancer cells the DNA is not repaired by the body
- damage can come from genetics... or exposure to something... in the environment or an action (like smoking)
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I also left the last line in - because EXPOSURE to SOMETHING, as in processed foods, acidic foods, chemically laden hygiene products...  factors that WE HAVE CONTROL OVER will be the topic of discussion this coming Wednesday evening at Crossroads Coffeehouse.
Make no mistake...we ALL have cancer cells in our body...the question is...are you going to FUEL them with your choices, or give your body the FUEL it needs to go to "battle" on your behalf and kill off the cancer cells?


To your health,
Rita S.

Are Your Genes Controlling Your Health

Nutrigenomics can overcome your genetic predisposition. Diseased cellls are FUELED by the choices you make, and unfortunately, sometimes those choices are made for us. (As an example, a lawn or city park that is sprayed by chemicals that drift into your "intake zone".  

Genetic tendencies, a family tree laden with cancer, does not mean you are assured of getting the disease - unless you continually think about it and as in many areas of our life, including our health "what you think about, you bring about". Fact is, a very small percentage of cancers are actually from genetic make-up - less than 5%. The majority of cancer is caused by environmental exposures.  This is a topic I have written about in great lengths - if any of you have beared with me on those particular posts.

For those concerned about genetic make up and disease - there is GREAT NEWS!  The field of Nutrigenomics has made great strides in recent years.  Holsitc wellness is CURING cancer whereas traditional treatment continues to poison the human body so that it often manifests as another disease, or different cancer, years later - per the holistic and alternative medicine books and newsletters that  I read.  A book I highly recommend is "Cancer is Not a Disease, It's A Survival Mechanism"..

Our genetic mapping begins in the womb, obviously, and it comes in part from the hormones of both parents...a lack thereof of one hormone or another will affect offspring. Some babies already have predispositions to certain traits, such as brain triggers, type 1 diabetes, from birth and early on in their lives.  This is one reason why, as an adult, having hormones tested is a good place to start if you have a concern of family health history.   DNA chains become genes and many many thousands of genes become cells.  

CELLS DIE. CELLS POPULATE.   100 billion red cells, 400 million white cells are produced every hour.

Back to cell death...apoptosis.  This is healthy...we WANT cells to die.  The trouble starts when cells do not die after they do their job.  This happens 94% of the time, because of environmental factors.  Genetics, as I mentioned, accounts for a scant percentage of cancer. In addition to the chemicals in our foods and hygiene products, X-rays, radiation and medication also play a role in contributing to cancer.  It stands to reason that if new cells are generating and "old" cells are dying and excreting from the body - that we can become a new being over and over again, and healthier every day if we cease exposure to environmental toxins and foods.

This article is three years old, and from all that I have read the science of nutrigenomics has advanced. There are nutrients that can flip the switch on a gene "just like that". 

Hormones also play a role - with estrogen producing the Bcl-2 cancer-causing gene, whearas progesterone produces p-53, the cancer-protective gene (1990 Formby and Wiley research published Annals of Clinical Laboratory Science)

Progesterone, a natural hormone made by both men and women, is the only hormone that can counter excess estrogen. Most people are out of balance, with the body containing more estrogen than progesterone.  Women are usually imbalanced by age 35. For one, we tend to use more hygiene products than  men, most of which have endocrine disruptors. 

Men's progesterone levels decrease by age 50 - allowing estrogen to get out of hand. Testosterone alone does not cause prostrate cancer...a common sense statement by Dr. Michael Platt in his book "The Miracle of BioIdentical Hormones", states that if prostrate cancer were caused by too much testosterone we would have an epidemic amongst 17 yr old boys. The first time I read that it was an AHA moment - makes a lot of sense, don't you agree?  I do believe that traditional medicine is finally catching one a little bit, as they give drugs that prohibit estrogen.  It's too bad, in my opinion, that more oncologists and men don't know that bio identical progesterone can do JUST THAT - keep the estrogen levels in check.    One study referenced in a book shows that enlarged prostrate reduces and prostrate cancer cells die when progesterone is added and brought back into balance.

Many auto immune diseases are also caused in large part by hormone imbalance and dietary choices.  A family history of disease does NOT DICTATE a future of the same.  Educate yourself on the particular "disease", or as author Moritz describes, a SYMPTOM you may be prone too.  THEN change your DNA by nutrigenomics.  Find a knowledgeable naturopath, and if one is not available to you - the books certainly are.  Many are found in your local library for FREE.

Take an ATTITUDE CHECK.  If it is "woe is me....I come from a line of XYZ disease so I know I will get it" - YOU WILL.  I encourage you to be an OVERCOMER!!   Take control of your CELLS - yes, you can! Fuel them with anti-oxidants that can overcome the free radicals that mutate cells.  Avod the endocrine disruptors.  Make healthy choices 80% of the time. Use pH strips to monitor your body's acidic vs. alkaline status, and if is on the acidic side - consume more anti oxidants n the form of vegetables to tip the scale towards alkaline.  Disease cannot survive an alkaline state. Which is another topic I will not get into...thanks for reading, I hope that this post gives you HOPE if you feel you have been dealt a deck of diseased. genes. It's how you play those cards that will determine if you WIN and enjoy health!

To your health, 
Rita S.

Is Your Baby's Skin Care Toxic?

Babies are amazing, little miracles - they are of a DIVINE design, intricate in all their workings, inside and out. Thier systems are carefully planned out by the Creator - every vessel, strand of DNA and amino acid working together to create a human body. Babies are born in an alkaline state - they smell so good, without the aid of extraneous powders and lotions.
In contrast, nursing homes do not smell so good, because by then - the human bodies have become toxic, highly acidic and typically on the far left side of the pH scale.
How do we go from pure, pH balanced bodies (assuming the baby in the womb had proper nutrition and safety from environmental exposure) to out of balance, toxic bodies as senior citizens? Well, it is a lifetime of environmental and chemical exposures and poor food choices; and it all starts with the products our mothers patted on our soft baby hineys and rubbed on our arms and faces. Products, most likely, recommended by the family doctor or pediatrician.
I remember visiting a friend's nursery, all set up for the baby to come - and being apalled at seeing Johnson and Johnson baby oil on the changing table. This person had already been told about the detrimental effects of mineral oil, but it was a product her doctor recommended.  It is good to trust in your doctor for many reasons, but it is also good to realize that they are human, and BUSY, and don't have time to continue their education outside their clinic life and learn in great part, from the reps of the drug companies that pay them a visit.
Dr. Joe Mercola, who has made time to learn outside his practice and is helping people live healthier lives through awareness (of that mentioned above) and nutrition, makes a statement in his newsletter today about baby care that everyone who is expecting, has a baby, has children, or grandchildren...should be made aware of. Mercola writes:

In my opinion, if you had a hospital birth, you may need to trash some of the sales samples you were given there, and shed your preconceived notions about caring for your new little bundle of joy.
You probably know that there are very few softer surfaces than a newborn's skin.
It is important to remember that most items you apply to this soft skin, just like your skin, will be absorbed into their bloodstream. There are plenty of reasons to be especially concerned with what you allow to go on your baby's skin – for these four reasons.

• Your baby's skin is ten times thinner than yours is
• Their sebaceous glands are not fully developed, making them more sensitive to mother's hormones – and by extrapolation, probably other things
• Like you, their skin is their largest organ
• Your baby's rapidly dividing cells make her even more sensitive to DNA-disrupting toxins than an adult is.
• So it stands to reason that your baby's (or grandbaby's) skin care products may have much more 'damage' potential than even your own skin products do.

Think about the brands that are sent home with your from the hospital. These are BIG NAME companies, companies who want you to keep on using their products once those samples are gone. Do you think the hospital gets some kind of kickback for handing out those product samples? No doubt...and in doing so they lead unwary new parents into thinking they are using safe baby care products on their newborn.
I saw "good" ol' Vasoline Petroleum Jelly on a table while visiting a friend who had a baby a few months ago. These friends are very much aware of the food they eat - organic consumers, whole foods, nothing processed. Yet they were using a petro-chemical, an endocrine disruptor, on the baby for naval care - just as we were instructed to do when our son was born. Had I only known then what I know now.  Food choices and skin care choices are not seperate factions of living a healthy life style - they go hand in hand. Both feed our organs.
Consider what you use on your newborn baby's body, born pH balanced in a hopefully healthy alkaline state. Everything you do...from lotions to food will affect the health and long-term well being of the child. And it all begins in the womb...from what the mother uses and absorbs through her skin and consumes for nutrients. Learn to read your labels, not to trust every product sample given to you, and look for products that are PURE, SAFE and BENEFICIAL for the sake of your precious, little miracle - who depends on you to make smarter choices.

To your health, and that of your family's a well!
Rita S.