Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching, Food & Nutrition, Lifestyle Posted on 0 Comments

Living a Cancer Prevention Lifestyle

It is a staggering statistic that estimates 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be confronted with a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.  What may be even harder to comprehend is that only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects. The remaining 90–95% have their genesis in environmental and lifestyle factors.  Consider this:

“The evidence indicates that of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25-30% are due to tobacco, as many as 30-35% are linked to diet, about 15-20% are due to infections, and the remaining percentage are due to other factors like radiation, stress, physical activity, environmental pollutants etc.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18626751

The long and short of this is that there are lifestyle choices that we can make to tilt the odds more favourably in our direction.

Quit Smoking  

quit smokingGo back to the quote above, “The evidence indicates that of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25-30% are due to tobacco”

Eat Whole Foods

Whole, unprocessed foods give our bodies the nutrients that are needed to repair our tissues and fight off disease.  Our bodies cannot synthesize all of the nutrients that are needed to function optimally.  Proper nutrition fills in those missing pieces.wholefoods

 

 

 

 

Keep Moving

movingMove every day!  Walk, run, yoga. Whatever your fancy just keep moving. Movement and exercise helps you to maintain a good weight, helps bust stress, helps to manage insulin levels and helps you to get a good night’s sleep.

Manage Your Stress Level

laugh

Ongoing stress leads to inflammation.  Ongoing inflammation can lead to disease.  (You can take a look at my blog post to get a better understanding of inflammation.)  Surround yourself with positive people.  Forgive quickly. Laugh more.

Drink Less Hydrate More

Keep alcohol consumption to a minimum and water consumption to a maximum. Alcohol can be dehydrating and a stressor to your liver and kidneys.  Drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day helps to maintain your fluid balance and detoxify your body.drinkwater

Small changes daily can lead to big payoffs in the long run.  Start today to build your cancer prevention lifestyle.

Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching, Food & Nutrition Posted on 0 Comments

Spotlight on Golden Berries

Golden berries (the scientific name is Physalis peruviana) are native to South America.  They are the size of a cherry tomato and have a sweet and tart taste.  They are delicious on their own and can be incorporated in to many types of dishes ranging from salads to baked goods.

On the health front Golden Berries are:

  • Anti inflammatory
  • High in antioxidants
  • Contain linoleic and oleic acid, two essential fatty acids that aid in insulin sensitivity
  • Help normalize blood sugar level
  • Contain hydroxywithanolide E, a compound research has shown to be very effective at preventing genetic mutations in the DNA of the cells in our lungs. Also it has been shown to have anti cancer effect in oral cancers
Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching, Food & Nutrition Posted on 0 Comments

Supporting Gut Health with Diet is Important For Fighting and Preventing Cancer

The importance of a proper functional diet within a cancer protocol that takes aim at cultivating your beneficial gut bacteria is imperative for fighting and preventing cancer.  Conventional cancer treatments, not to mention the stress of diagnosis, upset the balance of good and bad bacteria within your gut inhibiting vital functions that your good bacteria perform.  Your beneficial gut bacteria are involved in many critical functions including synthesizing vitamins, aiding in detoxification and elimination, digestion and absorption of nutrients and strengthening immune function.  Thus supporting your gut health should be a key element of your overall cancer program.

So the question becomes then, how do we cultivate our beneficial bacteria? The answer lies within the scope of a nutritional cancer plan that lays the ground work with functional foods.  Two key food groupings are high fibre foods, generally classified as prebiotic foods and fermented foods which are probiotic foods.

In a nutshell fibre’s importance lies in the fact that it feeds our gut bacteria. I encourage those that I work with to aim for 30-40 grams of fibre each day. Foods high in fibre include:

  • Cauliflower
  • Cabbage
  • Broccoli
  • Celery
  • Berries
  • Leafy Greens
  • Beans
  • Whole Grains
  • Quinoa
  • Rice
  • Nuts
  • Prunes
  • Flax seed
  • Hemp seed
  • Chia seeds

Fermented foods provide our bodies with beneficial bacteria that aid our own bacteria in performing their vital functions.  A list of the most common fermented foods include:

  • kefir
  • yogurt
  • miso
  • tempeh
  • sauerkraut
  • kimchi
  • kombucha

Of all these fermented foods, the one that I recommend most highly is kefir. Kefir is fermented milk althouhg some do prefer to cultivate with non dairy milk.  It has incredible health benefits.  Kefir has a large number of colonies good of bacteria that helps to suppress the harmful bacteria within our gut. And kefir contains vitamin B12, folate, magnesium, calcium, vitamin K2 and biotin.

Dr. Mercola has written a comprehensive article entitled “Fermented Foods May Be a Key Component of an Anti-Cancer Diet”.  I encourage you to read it as it dives deep in to this topic.

You can read the article by clicking HERE.

 

 

 

Berry Bliss
Author avisha Categories Cancer Coaching, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

A Bowl of Berry Bliss to Brighten Your Day

How about a bowl of berry bliss today?  This is so easy to put together and so nutritious.

Here are just a few of the health benefits of the main players in this berry bowl.

Chia Seeds

  • Fiber
  • Omegas
  • Protein
  • Calcium
  • Minerals

Blueberries

  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin K
  • Fiber
  • Antioxidants
  • Manganese
  • Phytonutrients

Raspberries

  • Vitamin C
  • Manganese
  • Fiber
  • Antioxidants
  • Phytonutrients

The other 2 key ingredients are organic milk (but you can certainly use non dairy milk such as almond or hemp) and Strawberry Protein powder.

Here is the simple put together.

  1. Add 1 cup of the milk of your choice to 1/4 cup of chia seeds.
  2. Mix in a scoop of Strawberry Protein Powder and let this sit for 5 minutes or so until the chia begins to soften.
  3. Add your berries.

That’s it!

This is great any time of day and especially after a work out.

Eating well doesn’t have to be hard.

Enjoy!

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