Just look at this gorgeous plate. Doesn't it look amazing? One of our lovely readers, Tena, sent me this picture of her delicious fish with avocado salsa, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I asked her if she would come live in my house and spend the rest of her life cooking for me, but for some reason, my offer didn't sound so appealing to her. If you'd like her recipe, email me at racheli@breslev.co.il and I'll forward it to you.
Today, I'd like to talk about the cause of cancer a little bit further. Since we've been told for so many years that cancer is a disease caused by genetic mutations, I'm aware that it's not going to be easy for many of you to accept that this is not true. Genetic mutations are one of the effects of the actual mechanism that causes cancer cells to grow.
In fact, cancer is usually not a genetic disease at all. It's a metabolic disease.
I'll explain this to the best of my ability, but know that this is just a Cliff's notes version. The best way to understand this is to read up on it as much as you can. Here is a great start.
Cancer cells, just like all cells, run on energy made by mitochondria. Mitochondria are the cell's energy production centers, and are a key component of cellular respiration, which basically means the cell uses the mitochondria to generate ATP, which is energy, and waste products. When the mitochondria don't function properly, this leads to the cell functioning on fermentation metabolism instead of oxidative metabolism, leading to carcinogenic effects and the development of mutated genes called oncogenes (cancer genes.)
Here's an excellent video by Thomas Seyfreid, Ph.D., with the full explanation of how cancer is a metabolic disease. You don't want to miss this, believe me!
After reading about all of these chemical reactions that I totally don't understand and thanking God that I didn't end up going to medical school, I'm left with the clear realization that in most cases, diet really is the number one contributing factor to the growth and remission of cancer!
It is well-known that cancer cells love sugar. Unfortunately for us, sugar is the primary fuel that we live on. As I wrote in Bye, Bye, Diabetes, intermittent fasting and a ketogenic diet are the keys to switching from sugar-burning mode to fat-burning mode. When the body runs on fat-burning mode, it is in ketosis, and this is one of the ways that it is able to revert its damaged mitochondrial respiration from fermentation to oxidation.
Dr. Seyfried explains: "I think that's an important point. One of the things that trigger cancer is inflammation. We have inflammation. Chronic high levels of blood sugar create inflammation. This you see in a lot of situations. Glucose itself is not carcinogenic, but elevated dysregulated glucose metabolism can lead to inflammation, and can cause a number of other disturbances in the overall metabolism of the body. If you fast, if you stop eating, your blood sugar goes down. Your insulin levels go down. The body starts to metabolize fat for energy."
When you change your fuel source from sugar to fat, you're in ketosis, and you're producing less ROS (reactive oxygen species,) which are the things that cause mutations in the DNA.
Dr. Seyfried also warns against consuming high amounts of animal protein. Besides glucose, cancer cells also use glutamine as a fuel. Glutamine is the most common amino acid in protein. Therefore, if you want to lower your glutamine levels and not feed the cancer cells, you've got to lower your animal protein intake. Dr. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, recommends that animal protein intake be no higher than 10% of your diet. He says that the typical Western diet is made up of 30% animal protein.
In order to achieve ketosis, you need to drop your net carb intake down to below 100 grams a day, and preferably below 50 grams a day. Net carbs = total carbs - fiber. And remember, to get into fat-burning mode, you need to go 12 hours minimum without eating. That's why intermittent fasting is so crucial. It allows your body to access its fat stores and use those as fuel, while at the same time keeping insulin levels low and allowing the liver to get rid of all of that sugar and toxin mixture that's been plugging it up for so long.
Mitochondrial dysfunction doesn't just cause cancer. It also causes Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, ALS, seizures, hypertension, high cholesterol, etc.
This brings us back to what I wrote yesterday's post: proper diet and exercise are the keys to preventing and curing cancer!
And one more thing... in my article, Medical Vampires, I wrote that Hashem doesn't want us to be sick. The problem is that we've become so complacent and stuck in victim mentality, that we rationalize that Hashem caused us to get sick for reasons unbeknownst to us. While that may be the case for a small minority, (of which I'm assuming is made up of mostly young children,) I don't believe this to be the case for adults. We've had enough years to mess up our bodies with toxic diets and lazy lifestyles, and it's not fair to blame Hashem when we suffer the unfortunate circumstances.
Dr. Seyfried seems to agree with me: "Once you realize what cancer is, that it's a metabolic disease, you can take charge of those kinds of things. In other words, getting cancer is not God's will. It's not bad luck."
Let's finally take control of our health with the blessings of good information, healthy diets, and lots of exercise!
~Racheli