It is more critical now,
than at any other moment in Human History, to take positive action to
improve your lifestyle and the lifestyle of those you love. If you fail
to do so, you and those you love will become prey to the ravages of one
of the three devastating epidemics now afflicting the Human Race: the
Obesity Epidemic, the Diabetes Epidemic and the Cancer Epidemic. Decide
today to begin an Action Plan to prevent you and yours from becoming a
statistic. The following information is provided for you to incorporate
into your own Personal Action Plan for Healthier Lifestyle:
The Center for Disease
Control (CDC) defines an epidemic as a disease that afflicts 25% of the
population or more. By the CDC’s own definition, the United States of
America is now in the midst of a Cancer Epidemic. By the same
definition, the USA is also in the midst of an Obesity Epidemic. Recent
research has indicated that the Obesity Epidemic has lead to numerous
Metabolic Syndromes that have created a Diabetes Epidemic as well as a
horrific increase in other diseases, including several varieties of
cancer.
Cancer, Obesity, Adult
Onset Diabetes, all at epidemic proportions! What can you do for
yourself and your loved ones to prevent the devastating ravages of these
malignant maladies?
First and foremost you
must take personal responsibility for your own health and welfare. It is
inexcusable and emotionally immature, to continue through life “fat,
dumb and ignorant” of the actions everyone can take to protect
themselves. Numerous studies indicate that over 80% of all the diseases
that afflict us could be prevented with simple, healthy lifestyle
choices. The following lifestyles changes can and will dramatically
reduce your chance of dying an early and horrific death from cancer (and
other diseases). Learn as much as you can about nutrition. The typical
American Diet is a major cause of cancer and disease. Americans eat too
much and eat too much of the wrong things. The “Ideal-Healthy-Diet”
would eliminate ALL PROCESSED FOODS! Impossible you
say! NO! Difficult… but not impossible. Difficult because throwing away
all the canned, packaged, “meals frozen in card board” make life very
convenient, but cancer is guaranteed to make your life very, very
inconvenient. Your Mom cooked for you, she did not have the convenience
of fast food. Is convenience going to be your excuse for your cancer…
for your spouse’s cancer… for your child’s cancer?
Nutrition and healthy
diet go far beyond preventing cancer and disease. Nutrition and healthy
diet are all about maximizing your human potential: mentally,
emotionally, professionally, physically, artistically, financially and
spiritually. To achieve your potential and assist those you care about
achieve their potential, you will need to decrease the intake of all
processed foods and food additives, red meats (beef, lamb and pork),
high fat foods, high sugar foods, dairy products, saturated animal fats
and cholesterol, whole milk, high-fat cheeses and butter. If you elect
to grill your meats, do not grill over charcoal. Fats dripping over the
meats onto charcoal create a carcinogenic gas that permeates the meat
while it is grilling; and purchase “drug-free / free range” meats from
your local health food store.
Eating healthy requires
you to eat a low-fat, high carbohydrate, relatively low to moderate
protein diet. You should consume 4-6 servings of fruits and vegetables a
day and 5-11 servings of whole grains a day. Strive for 25-35 grams of
fiber a day that is easily obtained from fruits, vegetable, whole
grains, beans and legumes. Include soluble fiber in your diet, which is
easily obtained by good-old-fashioned oatmeal. Eliminate hydrogenated or
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that contain trans-fatty acids
that are highly carcinogenic. No level of trans-fat is safe for human
consumption.
If you do consume meats,
try to purchase the leanest cuts possible (filet, flank steak, etc.) and
cut away the visible fat before cooking. Avoid frying to reduce fat
content. If you follow the vegetarian lifestyle, learn all you can about
food combining to acquire complete proteins, such as combining grains
with beans and legumes.
You must also make a
concerted effort to drink a minimum of 64 ounces of pure water a day.
Depending on where you live the quality of water varies. You can protect
yourself by purchasing a good quality carbon-filtration unit for home,
but please make sure you install it correctly and change the filter
regularly or by purchasing a reverse osmosis unit.
If you smoke, stop
immediately! If you smoke while you are pregnant … well… based on the
latest research you should be arrested for child abuse!
If you don’t smoke, do
not hang out around smokers or work in an establishment that allows
smoking around you.
If you drink alcoholic
beverages, please do so in moderation. Heavy drinking increases the risk
of developing cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx and liver, as well
as other health complications.
Become very judicious in
your use of drugs. Many health experts agree that the majority of
headaches in the USA are caused by dehydration or the “low carbohydrate
diet craze”. To monitor your hydration state, keep watch over the color
and quantity of your urine. If it is dark in color, you are dehydrated,
drinking 64 ounces of water a day should keep it clear and keep you away
from the unnecessary use of many drugs.
Most drugs only mask
symptoms, very few actually cure anything and many drugs have been shown
to be carcinogenic. For this reason you need to ask your doctor many
questions about the drugs being prescribed including: What it is? What
does it do? What are the side effects? Does it actually cure the ailment
or simply mask the symptoms to make you feel better? Is there something
else you can do to cure the ailment? What can you do to prevent a
reoccurrence?
If your doctor is not
willing to answer your questions fully and honestly, you need a doctor
who will.
You will happily discover
that changing your eating habits will dramatically decrease your chance
of getting sick from all diseases, including cancer. If you incorporate
a healthy exercise program into your new and improved healthy lifestyle
you may never get sick. You think that’s a bold statement –TRY IT AND
SEE FOR YOURSELF! Health is a natural state – sickness is not! Every
time you abuse your body by eating poorly, not exercising properly and
frequently, smoking, drinking, drugs, dehydration, etc… You depress your
immune system and make your body susceptible to disease and cancer. Keep
your immune system strong and you may soon find you never get sick!
Keeping your immune
system strong means avoiding any cosmetics that carry the warning label
“Warning: the safety of this product has not been determined”, or any
product containing a known carcinogen.
Avoid unnecessary X-rays
because they are highly carcinogenic. Make sure your doctor gives you a
very good reason before you submit to X-rays. Unfortunately, doctors may
be more concerned with protecting themselves from possible mal-practice
suits than the amount of potentially dangerous X-rays you receive each
year. Yes, many people consider malpractice attorneys to be highly
carcinogenic!
You should be extremely
cautious in your sexual relationships. The Human Papillimavirus (HPV)
has been shown to be a major cause of cervical cancer. The Food and Drug
Administration Advisory Committee unanimously voted to recommend use of
a vaccine against HPV for young girls as young as 9 years old (before
the girls become sexually active). Despite the previous critical
comments concerning drugs, the drug industry has had success with
vaccination therapy and hopefully this vaccination will eliminate the
290,000 cases of cervical cancer that occur world-wide each year.
Avoid over exposure to
sunlight, particularly during the summer months and the closer to the
equator you get. You should use a sunscreen of at least SPF of 15 when
you are participating in outdoor activities. The exception to this may
be 10-15 minutes of sun exposure on unprotected arms and legs each day
to allow your body to manufacture vitamin D.
Avoid living or working
near industrial sites, particularly chemical plants, refineries,
asbestos plants, metal mining processing or smelting plants, major
highways or hazardous waste disposal sites. If you live near nuclear
power plants and your house glows-in-the-dark, you should probably
consider moving.
Avoid purchasing and
using aerosol spray cans, perticides, “tris” and/or cleaning
agents/solvents that contain carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene,
perchloroelthylene or benzene. Likewise, do not buy or consume
artificial sweeteners. Some of them are carcinogenic and all of them may
be a large reason for the Obesity Epidemic. Recent research from Purdue
University on animals shows “no-calorie sweeteners” may corrupt your
body’s natural calorie counter and lead to overeating, confirming
long-time held suspicions of many fitness and nutrition experts.
Develop an action
plan to make sure you get thorough and periodic cancer tests, check-ups
and screenings and if something does pop-up, begin immediate and
aggressive treatment. Catching cancer early gives you an excellent
chance for survival; waiting to long can mean certain death.
Once you have your own
house in order, you should consider what you could do to help your
community combat the Cancer Epidemic. You need to become part of the
solution and virtually every major action designed to protect our
communities from the Cancer Epidemic has been initiated by public
interest groups or labor. Until recently, very few other organizations
have existed to combat this issue.
You should research
the public interest groups in your area to find an organization that you
can donate your, time, effort, energy and money to, in order to create
effective solutions to the epidemic. You may find an organization near
by that is working to develop a National Anti-Cancer Constituency that
can put pressure on our politicians to effective positive changes. You
can work through organized labor to work through OSHA to eliminate
carcinogens in the work place. You can become a public advocate and
serve on state and local initiatives that can act to both educate the
public and direct political pressure on our politicians from citizens
and citizen groups. You can use your newfound knowledge to educate the
media to aggressively report on the Cancer Epidemic and causes.
What can one person do? One person can do much! Remember: “The journey
of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.”
James
T. Bell, PhD.c. is the
founder and president of the International Fitness
Professionals Association, IFPA.
More
Books from Jim Bell, PhD.c.
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Additional Resources:
“Eat
to Beat Cancer” by Hatherill
“Spontaneous Healing” by Weil
“The
Way of Herbs” by Tierra
“The
New Age Herbalist” by Mabey
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