In some ways we are winning the war on cancer, as the overall death rate has decreased slightly, but in other ways it is still a tremendous threat.

The Magnitude of the Problem

It is estimated that 1,638,910 men and women will be diagnosed with, and 577,190 men and women will die of cancer in 2012. Based on Table 1.1 rates from 2007-2009, 41.24% of men and women born today will be diagnosed with cancer at some time during their lifetime. This number can also be expressed as 1 in 2 men and women will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. WOW! 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer! We need to sit up and take notice of these sobering statistics.

Lifestyle Change Needed

Since the 1960s, tobacco use has declined by a third while obesity rates have doubled, significantly impacting the relative contributions of these factors to the disease burden. Excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis, as well as many cancers.

Smoking related cancers such as lung cancers are down significantly but cancer related to being overweight and obese are up. These include:

  • Endometrial cancer
  • Esophageal adenocarcinoma
  • Kidney cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer

While medical science has made tremendous strides in reducing cancer deaths through early detection and advanced treatment options, such as enhanced immune therapy, and powerful chemical anticancer drugs, the fact is, that much more can be done by the individual paying attention to lifestyle. Not only does a healthy lifestyle help reverse existing cancer but will decrease your risk in promoting cancer within your body. The American Institute of Cancer Research experts estimate that overall, about 1/3 of cancers in the over 1.5 million cancers that occur every year in the US could be prevented by following these guidelines: Eat a plant based diet, maintain a healthy weight, and get plenty of physical exercise.

What LifeStart Retreats can do to Help:

LifeStart Retreats will help you lose weight, train you to use age and condition specific exercises, and to eat healthfully.

Eating healthy the LifeStart way will enhance the immune system. Theoretically, a healthy immune system can destroy aberrant, cancerous cells before they get a chance to multiply and become dangerous. We all have cancer cells circulating in our bodies all the time, and yet not everyone develops cancer. This is partly due to the fact that the immune system destroys these cells before they get a good foothold.

Specific foods enhance the immune system in specific ways: pomegranate juice, pineapple, kale, collards, arugula, broccoli, nuts, pumpkin seeds, garlic, onions, apricots, oranges, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, whole grains, flax seed, carrots, and carrot juice. These foods and others, are chock full of eye-popping colors—pigments that are rich in phytochemicals that enhance certain steps of the immune system’s ability to eliminate and kill cancer cells. These phytochemicals carry fancy names like lycopene, glutathione, elegiac acid, B-carotene, quercetin, genestein and hundreds more. The effect of unnatural toxins in the environment causes damage to cells, and their DNA, whereas these highly antioxidant foods will help prevent and reverse cancer, unlike processed and refined foods.

These foods, along with exercise, fresh air, hydrotherapy, rest, sunlight and trust are the heart of how we strive to teach cancer prevention and reversal of existing disease. Give a LifeStart retreat a call today and come and learn to strengthen your immune system.