Saturday, February 8, 2014

Reducing Environmental Toxins for Cancer Prevention

Cancer is all around us. I HATE cancer and the loss & devastation it has caused in so many lives.

My dad had prostate cancer in college and thankfully they caught it early and were able to treat it (praise the Lord). My mom and I have both had a scare with lymph nodes, and so many friends and family members we love have battled cancer. When raising money for Relay for Life in the past, it has always been disturbing to see how many families have been impacted by cancer. It’s heartbreaking. And while I’m so thankful they are working on cures, I feel as if we need to be proactive and work more on the preventative side.

Of course I know we live in a time when it’s common to hear that “everything causes cancer.” But the truth is, there are small changes we can make in our daily lives to help prevent it.  The American Cancer Society says more than half of all cancers are preventable, & 95% of all cancers are caused from toxins. That means we can make huge strides in preventing cancer simply by reducing our toxic exposure. It’s sad we live in such a toxic world where cancer is becoming so much more prevalent.

I am almost thirty, so have been doing a lot of the wrong things for years. (True story: I used afro sheen as tanning oil. And I wish tanning was the extent of my poor lifestyle choices, but it’s not. Way too much sugar, lack of sleep, stress, the list goes on.) And while I know it is not healthy to obsess over all the preventative measures and attempt to live in a bubble, I am working on small transitions to live a more natural, holistic lifestyle that will benefit our family.

I do not know my family’s medical history because I am adopted, and this is what spurred my “healthy lifestyle journey” that has since grown into a great passion of mine. I know many people are simply never educated on HOW to live healthy, so I LOVE teaching & sharing that knowledge with others. The other day I went to an awesome seminar (total nerd alert! I took notes like a mad woman & LOVED learning more about this topic. I always loved school!) and wanted to share what I learned with you guys. Of course you can’t make all of these changes overnight, and this is not to scare or overwhelm anyone, but here are some things we are working on in the Butler house:

  • Let food be your medicine. Eat real, whole, organic foods whenever possible, & supplement where necessary (this is where AdvoCare comes into play for us). JUICE!!Juicing helps reverse damage we have done to our systems & gives us incredible antioxidants to ward off cancer.

  • Cancer loves an acidic environment. You can take a pH taste to check yours & work to reduce the acidity.
  • Sugar FEEDS cancer. Avoid it. (Peace out, sweet tooth.)
  • Avoid tap or bottled water. Make the investment for a good water filter. (We splurged and bought this one from Amazon Prime.) I thought the filtered pitcher we have or the filtered water from the frig was enough, but did more research. Of course there are going to be times when you are away from home and drink water elsewhere, but because the majority of water we drink IS at home, might as well make sure it’s the best. We are also avoiding soft plastic water bottles at all costs.
  • Aim for 80% of your diet raw & alkaline. That means we fill up on the rainbow of veggies, some fruits (we avoid the particularly sugary ones & stick with citrus, apples,  and some berries).
  • Heal emotional wounds. May sound crazy, but bitterness, forgiveness, past hurts, stress, etc. all wreak havoc on the body’s ability to fight off disease. Prayer is POWERFUL. Exercise helps me and Jonathan manage our stress, but definitely find something. A counselor. A trusted friend. A Bible study. Journaling.
  • Take care of your teeth and see a biological dentist and get the silver out of your mouth. (Yikes! I have a few silver fillings.) They have mercury, and every time you eat, brush, floss, etc., a little is released in your mouth. A study was done a while back, and 98% of people with all cancer have had a root canal at some point.
  • Get some sunshine & take vitamin D (this is why I love Calcium Plus). Some studies show vitamin D can decrease your chances of cancer by up to 67%.

Calcium Plus

  • Use thermography as an early detection to show “heat” and potential cancer risks. I may try to do this in place of mammograms.
  • Don’t use chemical lawn fertilizer.
  • NEVER microwave. Ever. (I want to get rid of ours.) If microwaves can change the molecular structure of water, what do you think it is doing to our food?
  • Eat organic. (At LEAST the dirty dozen, and if not, peel the fruit/veggies when possible.)
  • Do NOT let children play with your cell phone or electronics at an early age. (Wake up call for me big time! I use my cell phone as a distraction tool when I am changing Jase’s diaper.) Their skulls are not thick enough to ward off the EMF.
  • Speaking of EMF, keep electronics 6 ft away from you in your bedroom. (Ex: cell phone) Unplug the t.v. while you sleep. (I lost that battle- didn’t want a t.v.in our bed room period.) This is a big one for me because I spend way too much time on my laptop and cell phone.
  • Do not store your cell phone ON your body. (In your bra or for guys, in your front pocket near prostate. Some researchers think this may lead to infertility.)
  • Use “fluoride-free” toothpaste. (I have some Tom’s right now that does not have fluoride, but think we might just switch to baking soda.)

  • Avoid deodorant with parabans & aluminum.
  • Use natural cleaning agents. Baking soda & vinegar are both the BOMB, & we are about to clean out the rest of our cleaning products and donate them to the church. If you don’t like the smell of vinegar and water (we have it in a spray bottle), add a few drops of lemon or peppermint essential oil. (Jonathan really prefers to BLEACH everything to get it “really clean,” so we are taking baby steps.)
  • Use natural beauty products. We are putting so much JUNK into our skin- from make-up, to skin care, to lotion/perfume, and even shampoo. Not trying to be totally tree-hugger here. Heck, I get highlights every 3-4 months, and I know putting those chemicals onto my scalp cannot be good, but like I said….baby steps.

Natural Shampooing/Conditioning Method

Natural Beauty Products

  • Moms: breastfeed if possible. Helps reduce risk of breast cancer.
  • Get adequate sleep.
  • Breathe deeply. Oxygen does wonders!!
  • Laugh!! Healthy relationships are so important. Don’t be too cool to let loose and have a good time. It’s GOOD for you.

One of the ladies that spoke said she did everything right. She ate organic before organic was cool, had regular chiropractic care and massages, breastfed her babies, and still managed to develop breast cancer, which is why she has made it her passion to educate others on some of the changes she has made to live a more toxic-free lifestyle. I know as hard as I work to take care of my health, there is still potential for me and my family as well. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” –2 Timothy 1:7

Ya never know and obviously God is ultimately in control. I know you definitely cannot obsess over this list and there is no way to completely eliminate all risks. However, if there are some small changes we can make in our daily lifestyle- like swapping out out toothpaste, for example- then why not??

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." -1 Corinthians 16:19-20

11 comments:

Always Learning said...

Great article, Danielle, and very informative! I hope many women who read this will take it very seriously since we live in a very toxic environment and cancer is becoming more and more common.

Anna G said...

Hi Danielle, I think it is awesome that you are inspiring people to live a healthier life. While I was reading this post, some of the things listed to cause/be associated with cancer struck me as odd. I'm not sure which sources you use for this kind of stuff, but I highly encourage people to use peer-reviewed reputable sources (I'm big on this for the anti-vaccine crowd and THANK YOU for vaccinating your son!) Here is a link so the Mayo Clinic debunking some of the cancer myths http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-causes/art-20044714?pg=2

Keep being awesome!!! I love your blog!

Bekki said...

You are so awesome girl!!! Love it! In addition to all my Advocare vitamins I use Ava Anderson products- http://www.avaandersonnontoxic.com/default.aspx
They are awesome and chemical free!!

Unknown said...

great post! do you think you could do a post one day with showing the different sizes of advocare vitamins/supplements? I have a problem with bigger pills and don't want to fork up money for pills I cant' swallow. I cant seem to find pictures anywhere

Christina McGuire said...

FINALLY !!! SOMEONE THAT SPEAKS MY LANGUAGE!!!! I loved this post and encourage you to keep these posts up! The more we get the word out, the more people can start embracing holistic health and natural prevention. Let food be thy medicine!

XO
Christina

I'll be doing a post tomorrow about epsom salt detox baths to remove the heavy metals from our bodies. I periodically do a "healthy habits" post. Hope you like it. :)

#mommylife said...

So helpful! Learned a ton! And never knew you were adopted! :)

Loren Nicole said...

I was so glad to see this post! I find a lot of your blog posts to be inspiring, but I've been called a modern day "hippie" because of my whole foods eating and insistence on natural and organic products. Not only for cancer prevention, but overall health. Dairy is high in a protein called casein which is a carcinogen. Red meat is also a known carcinogen, plus all meat is high in saturated fat and raises your LDL cholesterol levels. Not to mention meat is mass-produced using growth hormones and antibiotics, that we in turn end up eating. I've found a local farm here the sells only grass fed meat and eggs. We eat meat in small portions, but always get it from there. And we have a local food buying club where we have access to all kinds of local products, as well as ordering anything you could ever want organic from www.azurestandard.com, and it's delivered to our central pickup location in town. As for Tom's toothpaste, it's decent, but it has sodium laurel sulfate (SLS). SLS, PEG's, and parabens are the big ones to stay away from in personal care products. I've been using Coral White toothpaste, and it's been great. I'll have to stop at that, because I could flood your comment section with information! Haha! Thanks for the post!

Brooke said...

Hey girl,
This is great advise! My Mother is really interested in learning about preventative nutrition and limiting exposures that may lead to Cancer as well. She recently told me about this guy
http://www.wallachonline.com
He has some interesting ideas from a Christian view point, you may want to check out his website too!

=) Brooke

The Regal Pup said...

Great post; but, what are your thoughts on Advocare's Spark having sucralose in it? I was very disappointed when I found this out.

Anonymous said...

Hello!!! I have been looking into the same water filter system. Are you able to put it in the fridge or do you leave it on the counter? How do you get it cold?
Thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

I have wondered the same thong about the spark and sucralose? How do you feel about that? I know you are a clean eater, so I figured you would not be a fan of that. My husband is very much into advocare and drinks 2 a day.