Did you know around 95% of cancer and chronic disease is preventable?
Only a very small percentage can be blamed solely on genetics! Even if you have a genetic susceptibility to certain disease or cancer, it's your daily habits that 'turns these genes on' or keep them at bay - this is known as epigenetics. Cancer and most other disease develops over years - you don't just 'get' cancer overnight. Just like a plant needs the right environment to thrive, so do we!
Your body is amazing at putting up with small daily assaults but eventually symptoms and disease will appear. These assaults affect your body at a cellular level first and then progress to tissue and organ damage. It's this accumulative effect of small daily factors that can be empowering to understand and can be used to promote health and reduce your disease risk.
Here's a summary of the top 5 areas that can significantly reduce your risk of disease and cancer - there's a printable summary at the end.
CHEMICALS
We are now exposed to thousands of chemicals everyday and while it's hard to avoid them completely there's lots you can do to reduce your exposure. Many chemicals are classified as 'safe' in small doses, but the accumulative effect and the exposure to many chemicals together have not been proved as safe. We are exposed to chemicals through the air we breathe, the products we put on our skin and the food or drink we ingest.
Women in particular are exposed to more of these toxic chemicals through personal/skin/body care products, fragrances, makeup, cleaning products and plastics. Many of these chemicals have been shown to increase cancer risk and disrupt hormone balance - another factor in cancer risk such as breast and ovarian cancers.
Another type of chemical exposure is EMF's (electromagnetic fields) from Wi-Fi devices and cell towers. These have been shown to disrupt normal cell functioning, hormone levels and increase the risk of certain cancers such as brain tumours. Keeping phones in your pocket or down your sports bra is putting that EMF in close proximity to your vital organs.
STRESS AND SEDENTARY LIFESTYLES
While cortisol and stress in small amounts are beneficial, prolonged and ongoing stress is super damaging to your body and is a huge factor in disease risk. Stress has negative impacts on hormone balance, increases blood sugar, oxidative stress and inflammation - all underlying factors that can increase disease and cancer risk. Your digestive and immune systems are integral to your overall health and disease risk, and these are significantly impaired by any type of physical or emotional stress. One of your immune systems most important roles is to destroy damaged or potential cancer cells, before they become a problem.
Having a sedentary lifestyle is now being recognised as the new 'smoking' due to its huge health implications. Our bodies are designed to move and require this for optimal health - it enhances blood circulation to carry nutrients and oxygen to your cells, helps your body eliminate wastes, slows ageing, boosts cognition and energy. It has been shown to reduce disease risk and is a major determinant in physical and mental health. Gentle exercise is recommended if you are stressed as intense exercise can be another type of stress on an already stressed body! Take notice of how different activities make you feel - exercise and movement should energise you, not exhaust you!
HORMONAL IMBALANCES AND WEIGHT
Keeping our hormones in a happy balance is essential for health. Excess estrogen in relation to progesterone levels is a risk factor for certain cancers such as breast and ovarian. Like cancer, hormonal imbalances develop over time and many of the suggestions here can also be used to support hormone balance. Using the OCP (oral contraceptive pill) or Mirena may also contribute to hormonal imbalances as they inhibit ovulation and therefore you ability to produce progesterone.
An increase in weight and increased insulin levels are also associated with an increased risk of disease. An increased number of fat cells can also contribute to increased estrogen levels. These areas can also be improved by following the suggestions in this article - particularly reducing stress, sugars ad refined flour products.
Ensuring adequate quality sleep is vital for your body to rest, recover and recharge. Poor sleep and insomnia have been associated with an increased risk of disease. It's so important for your nervous system and hormones to have this rest each night, so work on improving your sleep and getting to bed before 10pm!
VITAMIN D AND CHOLESTEROL
Vitamin D is a hormone that plays a huge role in our immune system and low levels have been associated with an increased risk of disease and cancer, especially skin cancer, melanoma and colon cancer. Unfortunately many of us have low levels of vitamin D due to our avoidance of the sun, which is needed for our body to make vitamin D. This is one blood test I do with every client as it's so important for disease risk but also calcium absorption, mental and hormonal health. While the test range suggest having a level of 50nmol/L is enough, ideally you want to aim for at least 100-120nmol/L for optimal health.
Cholesterol has been given lots of bad press but it's actually an antioxidant and has protective effects! Studies show that those with the lowest levels have the greater risk of disease. If you're concerned about your cholesterol levels it can be more accurate to look at the total:HDL ratio (ideal <3.5) and triglycerides (ideal <1mmol/L) to assess your cardiovascular disease risk.
WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH
Your daily food choices have a huge influence on your current and future health. Your diet provides your body with the essential nutrients it needs to function optimally, or to encourage disease to develop. Again this effect is cumulative - it really is about the small things you do most of the time that will determine your level of health or disease. The more whole unprocessed spray-free foods you can consume the better - including a variety of vegetables, quality protein and unprocessed fats.
Adding herbs and spices liberally is also a great way to boost the health promoting effects of your food, as these contain many disease fighting phytochemicals. Turmeric is one of the most researched and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-tumour and anti-proliferative effects.
Your digestive system is the basis of optimal health as are the bacteria that live there, and all over your body. We are actually more bacteria than human cells, and we're learning more everyday about just how big an influence this balance of bacteria has on our health and disease risk. Many things can disrupt these bacteria over time such as antibiotics, anti-bacterial products, stress, pesticides, chlorine in tap water, alcohol and sugar. Alcohol has also been linked to an increased risk of cancers such as colon, breast and liver.
I've tried to keep this article simple and not too long, but there's much more information out there if you're interested in finding out more! You can download my health promoting checklist here.
If you'd like to find out where your health is at I'd love to help you.
Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women with stress, hormone imbalances, anxiety and fatigue. The clinic is located in New Farm Brisbane, and consultations are also available via Skype. You can contact Marion here.
