25. The Stop Cancer effects of Coconut Oil

                                          Photo credit: Bigstock

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers, affecting both men and women.  There have been a good number of natural remedies and foods that have been linked to prevention of this cancer, but there have not been many studies, which show that these remedies kill cancer cells.

However a recent study published in the Journal Cancer Research has found an active anti-cancer component in coconut oil. Lauric acid, a major ingredient of this oil, has been shown in a University of Adelaide study to kill over 90% of the colon cancer cells after just two days of treatment.

This study was conducted in vitro, but the researchers believe that lauric acid could also induce cancer cell death in clinical studies as well.                

Why is it that many in vitro studies never get past this stage and move onto clinical trials? This is because clinical trials are very expensive, making it difficult for those who are not involved in mainstream pharmaceutical research, to find funding.

Pharmaceutical companies have little interest in funding these types of studies, as they cannot patent the oil, so there is no money in it for them.

Clinical studies by the American Society for Nutrition have shown that the fats in coconut oil can help to prevent and treat diabetes, herpes, hepatitis, gallbladder disease, cancer, and Crohn’s disease.

Coconut oil has also be shown to decrease the toxic and often devastating side effects of chemotherapy.

Further Reading

Naturelon Coconut Oil and Colon Cancer

Biomed Central  Cocont Oil and Breast Cancer

24. The Hidden Danger in your Diet Soda

   

     A look at your local supermarket shelves stocked with row upon row of diet sodas and special offers will show you that you are invited to believe that a diet soda with artificial sweeteners is a ‘healthier’ option for you and your children than one packed with sugar.

     Far too many recent research studies have shown that artificial sweeteners are very, very dangerous for your health. This doesn’t make sugary sodas better, it only means you are choosing from two evils, neither of which are good.

     Non-caloric artificial sweeteners are one of the most commonly used food additives.  Although numerous studies have given rise to concern about these, many people still steadfastly believe that artificial sweeteners are safe to consume.  Recent studies in 2015 have found however that their consumption can lead to multiple health ailments, including, surprisingly, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, gout, diabetes, and cancer, (particularly lymphomas and leukaemia).

     Almost all diet sodas today use aspartame, which is sold under brand names such as Equal or Nutrasweet. Aspartame is made up of not one, but three chemicals: methanol, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine. Cancer cells love an acidic environment where the cells are not getting sufficient oxygen or nutrients. Aspartame does all this and more.  As well as being a possible cancer conduit, it has been shown to cause birth defects, brain damage and mood disorders. It can lead to serious changes in your serotonin levels, which leads to depression, behavioural and other emotional problems.

    Speaking of brain damage, methanol, one of the main ingredients in aspartame, turns into formaldehyde, which is used to embalm deceased persons and preserve organs and species for clinical studies. This collects in certain parts of the brain, causing degenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimers.

     Adult Studies have shown that drinking three or more diet sodas a day is potentially more dangerous than smoking one pack of cigarettes per day. There appear to be no similar child studies. But it is surely reasonable to conclude that a smaller daily intake of diet ‘fizzies’ by a child will be equally as dangerous.

     Diet sodas have far fewer chemicals than cigarettes, but over indulgence in aspartame-filled diet sodas will literally choke your cells, mutate your DNA, and possibly cause cancerous tumours in you and your child.

     So when you buy a diet soda check the small print and find one that doesn’t contain aspartame. And while you are about it, check the ingredients listing of packaged deserts, ice cream and frozen fruit pops, hard candy and chewing gum, ketchup and jellies for aspartame used by the manufacturer as a sugar substitute. With governmental pressure on soda manufacturers to reduce sugar content by taxing it, the list of products containing aspartame as an alternative sweetener will grow - until it is outlawed as a food additive.

Further Reading
Natural Health News    The danger of aspartame
Livestrong  A list of foods containing aspartame
Health   10 reasons why you should give up Diet Soda

20. Obesity and Cancer: New Moves in UK

 

     Bad diet has recently overtaken smoking as the biggest single cause of the 40% of lifestyle-linked avoidable illness the service treats. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England has said.  He added: “Smoking still kills 80,000-plus people a year, smoking is still a huge problem. But it turns out that diet has edged ahead.”                              

     His comment came as he announced the introduction of a sugar tax on high sugar drinks and snacks sold in hospital cafes and vending machines to help tackle the “national sugar high”. Sugar addiction is increasingly ruining children's and adults'  health through obesity, itself a station on the direct line to a number of cancers.

     Simon Stevens also upped the stakes in TV Chef Jamie Oliver’s campaign to bring in a sugar tax by urging ministers to take radical action against obesity, including forcing food firms to strip sugar out of their products, as part of an unprecedented assault on bad diet.Obesity is known to be associated with increased risks of the following cancer types, and possibly others as well:

• Esophagus (throat)
• Pancreas
• Colon and rectum
• Breast (after menopause)
• Endometrium (lining of the uterus)
• Kidney
• Thyroid
• Gallbladder

     Studies in USA have shown a direct link between obesity and cancer. The percentage of cases attributed to obesity varied widely for different cancer types but was as high as 40 % for some cancers, particularly uterine cancer and esophageal adenocarcinoma, (throat cancer to you and me).

     A projection of the future health and economic burden of obesity in 2030 estimated that continuation of existing trends in obesity will lead to about 500,000 additional cases of cancer in the United States by 2030. This analysis also found that if every adult reduced their weight by roughly 1 kg (or 2.2 lbs) for an adult of average weight, this would prevent the increase in the number of cancer cases and actually result in the avoidance of about 100,000 new cases of cancer.

     While these figures relate to US studies, a similar pattern has emerged in the UK. Cancer prevention through appropriate lifestyle and diet choices is always a better, and safer, option than contracting life-threatening cancer, lengthy 'slash, burn and poison'  (invasive surgery, radiography and chemotherapy) treatment and possible cure.

Further Reading
Examiner    Sugar,  Obesity and Cancer Risk
Medical News Today  How quitting sugar impacts onbody weight
Guardian NHS and need for sugar tax