Monday, October 18, 2010

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Many of you may remember the study, done some time ago, comparing the incidence of breast cancer among Japanese and American women.

The study made the link between the amount of dietary fat in the two cultures, concluding that fat in the diet was the cause of the greater percentage of breast cancer in American women.

FAT IS NOT BAD FOR YOU. BAD FAT IS BAD FOR YOU!

Fat plays many vital roles in keeping people lean and fit. The truth is that most people, especially women, don't get enough of the right kind of dietary fat. Dietary fat is needed in amounts adequate for the manufacture of hormones, normal cellular oxidation and energy production. Without enough fat, the body's metabolism is slowed down as is the development of lean body mass. Fat doesn't trigger an insulin response the way carbohydrate does. Fat actually helps slow down the conversion of carbs into blood sugar. Fat is a crucial part of human cell membranes and the precursor (a substance from which another substance is formed, especially by a metabolic reaction) used to make steroid hormones, one of which is vitamin D.

Having too little cholesterol can increase the risk of depression, the risk of suicide, lead to violent behavior and aggression and may increase the risk of cancer and Parkinson's disease.

So, not to be too repetitious, here are some of the purposes for cholesterol in the body:
gives cells stability
needed to produce steroid hormones and vitamin D
acts as an antioxidant
needed for healthy function of serotonin receptors in the brain
helps maintain the health of the intestinal wall
required where there is an inflammatory process in the body
helps protect the body from high levels of altered free-radicals containing fats, aka,
the bad kind of fats

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposures to toxic chemicals, including pesticides, in the environment are contributing to high breast cancer rates. Even though some pesticides have been banned, they remain in the body and the environment for decades.

If you eat plant or animal food that has been commercially grown, you are eating what has been sprayed on or injected into that plant or animal...pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-biotics, growth hormones, to name a few. The fat in an animal and a human is where toxins are stored. Eating protein from an animal not raised and fed on their natural free-range diet means that you are eating and storing their toxins in your fat as well as all the other environmental toxins that you are in contact with on a daily basis.

Because pesticides may disrupt the endocrine system of children during critical stages of development, there is a concern that exposure to these toxins may contribute to later life cancer or early onset puberty.

How can a woman eliminate some risk of getting breast cancer? Eat grass-fed, grass-finished animal protein whenever possible. Support the liver so that the detoxification process is helped along and can deal with toxins when it is not possible to eat cleanly. Don't eat a low-fat diet.

CLEAN FOOD...CLEAN FAT...CLEAN LIVER.