Cancer in Kerala - you can fight it and prevent it
Cancer –
cancer –cancer. Everyday somebody dies of cancer. If it is a lady, she may be a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a friend or someone dear and special to us. In fact she wanted to live longer, but she has become prey to an illness unknowingly. We also wanted her to live longer. Can we do something to avoid this untimely death? When we hear the word
“cancer“ it is shocking. Some of us consider this as a terminal illness. Don’t get scared. There is a lot of hope now.
There is a lot we can do. We can reverse it by changing our diet and lifestyle.
"Is Kerala cancer's own country" This was one of the heading on "Times of India" dated May 15, 2013. We are
trying to bring awareness through this blog. A recent research has shown that
last year ( 2012) Kerala has registered 35,000 new cancer patients. The number
is increasing at an alarming stage. Kerala had one of the lowest cancer and
diabetes rates fifty years back. Now it is skyrocketing. The number of hospitals, schools, colleges, churches, temples have increased. Technology advanced. Knowledge is available on the finger tip. Religion is supposed to give spiritual energy and mental discipline. In fact, knowledge, technology, spiritual power, mental discipline and food should reduce cancer , but cancer rate is increasing. Why? Why cancer rate is increasing year
after year now? Most of us know how to treat. But only a few of us know how to prevent. Among them a small lot know how to live and prevent
cancer. It is time to change our diet, change our life style.
Look at this
typical Kerala family history.
#
|
Generation
|
Education
|
Died at
the age of
|
Onset of
any dietary illness like Diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol.
|
Remarks
|
1st
|
Mathachen and wife ( 1st generation)
|
6th std, and 7 th std
|
90 &95
|
At the age of 75 and 70. No cancer
|
Farmers in Kerala.
Lived in village
|
2nd
|
4 children (2nd generation)
|
All graduated
|
Average age 80
|
At the age of 60
No cancer
|
Office Jobs. Lived in cities
|
3rd
|
10 grand children
(3rd generation present retired generation)
|
All post graduated
|
Living now
|
At the age of 50
No cancer
|
Office Jobs. Lived in cities
and foreign countries
|
4th
|
20 grand grand children ) (4th generation, the present young generation)
|
All post graduated, Some are having Ph ds too
|
Now living in Kerala. One died of
cardiac arrest at 37. One survived cancer.
|
At the age of around 40.
One among the twenty grand children survived cancer
|
Office jobs. Lives in cities or foreign countries.
|
This is a
typical of the Kerala family history. Whether
it is Mathachen, Mohammed or Krishnan
the story remains the same. The 1st generation which lived around 50 years back was the most healthy. They used very less medicines. The next generation got dietary disease much earlier than the 1st generation. The worst affected people are the present generation. The new generation got degrees. We got all materials. Why do we get illness frequently. Why do we use more medicines than our ancestors and die faster than our
old generation despite all the scientific advancement and superhighway of
knowledge. Do we have the wisdom to live a healthy life? Or are we prey to the
system that makes the slow killing. Are we the silent partners in this
scenario?
Our mission
is to provide an awareness and scientific research based education, how to
prevent through diet, lifestyle and other immune-boosting approaches.
Human body is made up of trillions of cells. It is nourished by bloodstream of nutrients from our daily food. If we eat food without enough nutrients, the cells cannot maintain and it break down over a period of time, and we become prey to cancer or other diseases. The cells have receptacles that crave for nutrients. When cells won't get enough nutrients it cannot sustain.
How to prevent cancer:
1. Diet.
We are overfed but undernourished
In Kerala food is in abundance. Nobody is starving. Why cancer is increasing. We are overfed, but the food we eat contains less nutrients, less fiber, more toxins and more carcinogens.
Researches has
shown that lack of nutrition is a major cause for cancer especially breast
cancer. Researches done by Dr. Dean Ornish, one of America’s pioneer of self- help disease prevention has
shown that food is the best way to prevent diseases. We are overfed but undernourished.
Our current
food contains:
1. More trans fats, like chips and
bakery items. We got approximately 25, 000
bakeries through out Kerala which is one of the highest density in India.
2. More salt: eg pickles.
3. More refined flour, like parotta and white bread. In fact there is no whole wheat bread is available in Kerala?
3. More white sugar and glucose.
4. More pesticides.
5. And less of fiber, calcium and other nutrients. We get less fiber in our food because we replaced legumes with chicken and meat. Tapioca and yams are replaced by parotta and white bread. Kanji payaru, puttu Kadala combination is replaced by puttu, banana and sugar.
6. More milk
We want everything sweet. We teach and encourage our children to eat more sweet and crunchy things. We eat vegetables that contain
pesticides more than the allowable range. We don’t grow any food at home. We
depend on other states for food. They grow with maximum pesticides, and add
chemicals while transporting to keep the shelf life.
We eat very
less green vegetables and fruits. Very rarely we eat salad. So naturally our food won't contains the
vitamins and minerals required for the cells to survive.
The cancer promoting foods or carcinogens:
 |
| The junk foods- easily available, cooked in reused oil |
 |
| Banana fritters- cooked in reused oil |
 |
| Parotta- made with refined flour- no fiber |
 |
| Chips- cooked in reused oil (carcinogen) |
 |
This is an advt. by New York City, against sugary
drinks that kills 180,000 people in a year |
Avoid or
reduce
1.
Sugar or
sugary drinks and sugary food
2.
Fried food- chips, cutlets, samosas, vadai, jilebi, banana fritters etc , all bakery products made of white flour, parotta etc.
3.
Pesticide
infested vegetables.
1.Dietary
sugar and cancer- A sweet relationship.
Many
researches have been done on relationship between sugar and cancer. “When we
lower blood glucose, we can slow cancer growth” explains nutritionist, cancer
specialist and author Patric Quillin.
Weight
(obesity) and breast Cancer- has a well-established association according
to research done in US ( Petrelli et al 2002.
2.Fried food and cancer
The Trans fats in fried
food, and reused oil can damage cells. Reused oil contain substance that may cause cancer. Reused oil is carcinogen. When food is cooked in overheated oil its nutrients are getting lost.
3.Pesticide
and cancer
According to
studies done by cancer research, Vynad has a higher density of cancer patients in Kerala. The higher number of cancer patients in Kasargod
due to endo-sulphan shows the relationship between pesticide and cancer. The vegetables
Kerala imports from other states have
more than the allowable range of pesticides. The curry leaves from Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu exported
through Kochi Airport, had been banned in Gulf countries few years back due to
higher percentage of pesticides.
Other carcinogenic substances.
Tobacco smoking, radiation, fumes, asbestos, certain pesticides, arsenic, reused cooking oil etc are known substances that contain carcinogens. Carcinogen is any substance that produces cancer. When oil is reheated it makes molecular changes and the properties are changed.
Click the following: Heal all cancer with diet.
2. Maintain
strong immune system by:
1.
Feed your cells
with nutritional superstars, that contain less pesticides. Eat daily something
fresh and green. Eat salads. Eat local fruits. Add something green into your salad or chutney. Grow some herbs at home like holy basil (
Krishna Thulasi), curry leaves, aloe vera, mint, mustard, fenugreek, coriander, pani koorka etc . All over India and world people eat fresh leaves, herbs, lettuce etc. In Kerala, only very few eat leaves. Eat a few leaves a day . Make it a habit. Eat food with all colors. Eat food with all tastes. Don't ignore bitter taste. Read Blog on super-foods. Read blog on Replace junk foods with nutrient foods. Avoid or reduce refined sugar refined flour, and salt. These three white angels are slow killers. Stop eating parotta start eating tapioca, and yams.
2. Exercise. Exercise enhances immune
functioning. Move your body or lose it.
3. Reduce stress. Stress depletes energy and
nutrients from the body.
4. Get sufficient sleep.
5. Be positive minded.
6. Control negative emotions like hatred, anger, worry, fear etc . Search for the real spiritual power and mind relaxation.
7. Reduce alcohol.
3. Change Lifestyle.
Change the life style to have nutritional
food, daily exercise, positive mind, and less stress. Stress is one of the main reason for more Do something which gives you happiness.
Reduce TV watching more than 2 hours.
4. Learn to reduce stress.
Stress is one of the main reason for more diseases these days. Read blog on stress.
Here is our lifestyle shift. Earlier we were getting food from the farm. Now we get food from the market. The market forces determines what we have to eat. From physical work we moved to sedentary life. Instead of outdoor sports we watch the TV sports inside the room. Now we run after money. We approach religion for getting our things done rather than disciplining our mind and mental relaxation.
What we
don’t learn in the Universities?
University prepares to get a job for 8 hours out of our daily 24 hours. What matters most is not the degree we got, but what we know about life. University degree is not a complete whole education. We have to learn the art of living from other sources. Our old generation desired knowledge from the universe. They gained wisdom from nature. They experienced the link between man- nature- God. That is why they lived a happy long life than the present generation. There was wisdom in their living. Most of us think that having a paper degree means we got everything. When we study 7 books (7 subjects) in three years time we get a degree, 14 books (usually 5 to 7 subjects) in two years we get a post graduate degree. The whole mental state changes after the college degree. We don't like to do any physical work (no exercise) afterwards. We don't want to learn anymore. Moreover, we don’t learn the importance of daily
exercise, daily food , and stress free life etc. We don’t learn the importance of an organic
garden in every home to grow at least
some vegetables or herbs. We don’t learn how breath
controls the mind? We think we are educated, having degrees, but lacks the
basic knowledge of living. Are we a
community with super ego? There is a reason or reasons for increasing illness. We should realize that the more we learn, the more we should
realize that we know little. That is true wisdom.
“ The only
true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing”
Socrates
It is time
to learn areas where we are ignorant or under-educated. It is time to think logically.
It is a real paradox that the land of Ayurveda and Yoga has become the citadel of cancer and diabetes. If we look back to our heritage, we can find the solution to our problem.
Why we are prone to more diseases than our fore-fathers.
Is there a way out? Shall we change our
lifestyle to save our lives? Which is important: our life or present lifestyle? We are the designers of our destiny. Today is the day to change.
Read other blogs on: super foods, tastes of healthy food, sugar, diabetes,
References. Cancer related books, medical journals, Newspapers and Media.
Related
links.
