Intervention B: Support the body’s ability to eliminate (or detoxify) carcinogens

Have adequate protein throughout the day.  It will support the liver’s job of processing things that need to be eliminated through the bile and stool (a process called liver detoxification).
Increase fiber.  Fiber (both soluble and insoluble) in adequate levels was shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer and hormonally related cancers such as breast and prostate.  I think an intake close to 50 grams per day from a combination of soluble and insoluble fiber may offer significant protection.  I like Designs for Health Paleo Fiber because it is unique in its composition of twelve different fibers and it is gluten and soy free.
Sweat.  Stimulate sweating (sauna, clothing during exercise) because when sweat is excreted, it carries a lot of toxins that have been accumulating in the body, particularly in fat cells.
Drink clean water.  Drink plenty of clean water (have it filtered with reliable systems) and not from plastic bottles as much as possible.
Exercise.  It will stimulate blood and lymph circulation, as well as sweat production.

SS:  In your diagram, the first step in the cancer pathway is described as the process in which some of our normal cells have been changed, due to DNA damage (or DNA mutation) or improper genetic expression.  What do you mean by “improper genetic expression,” and is there anything we can do to prevent it?
CP:  This is another aspect of cell behavior that is influenced by our vitamin status.  Each cell has a set of programs with all the instructions it needs in order to function optimally for the specific place it has in the body.  Each cell needs to read only certain instructions while other nonrelevant instructions need to be inactivated or “covered up” so they do not confuse the cell about what it needs to do.  It’s as if you round up a choir and give all the choir members the same book to sing songs from, but you have to specify which songs you want them to sing so that everybody in the choir is on the same page.  This makes for harmonious functioning of cells that belong to certain organs with specific tasks.  This is implemented in the body with methylating factors provided by vitamins like folate, B12, and B6 and substances such as choline and SAM-e.  This is another way we can ensure that our cells operate properly.  When we are deficient in some of these vitamins, however, there is confusion among cells as far as what instructions to follow, and the choir gets out of synch.

SS:  How do we know if we have adequate methylating factors?
CP:  One way is by checking homocysteine levels, and you may also need to check other measures of adequate folate status such as RBC folate and serum B12, performed by common labs, or urinary markers of folate and B12 sufficiency such as urinary organic acids, performed by labs like Metametrix labs (www.Metametrix.com), which specializes in metabolic tests that evaluate nutritional status and needs.

SS:  OK, so what happens after the first step in the cancer pathway, with the cells that are now considered precancerous? What are the chances that they will turn into a dangerous cancer?
CP:  From this point on, there are factors that may stimulate or reduce the chance of them becoming a tumor, which may or may not spread throughout the body.  That is where sugar, insulin, other growth factors, the immune system competence, and other natural compounds can influence their fate. I can explain in more detail later over them one at a time, but you see this m,arked as Interventions E, F and G in Figure 1 posted at the end of this chapter.

SS:  So these cells with bad programming due to mutations do not develop into an unstoppable cancer right away?
CP:  Luckily, not always.  Here are some good and some bad scenarios that can happen.  The body has a system where it checks for errors, and it can do so because we fortunately have two copies of our cell program, kind of like a backup copy of the cell DNA.  Believe it or not, the body does a periodic checkup for DNA errors.  So sometimes it catches these mutations and it can correct them.  However, if a cell divides before the checker comes by for repair, the mutation is passed on to the new cells and is forever unrepairable.  Now it has brothers and sisters.

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