Does lifestyle affect cancer?

New evidence is showing that it does. Not only does what you eat and what you drink matter, but if you are around cigarette smoke or other air pollutants. The wonderful thing is that with a little knowledge we may be able to prevent, postpone, or limit the harmful effects of cancer.

Even those breast cancers that seem to have a genetic link seem to be effected by the amount of vitamin D in the body. Those with enough vitamin D seem to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, while those with low levels seem to encourage its growth. For the healthy person keeping their vitamin D levels between 50 and 70ng/ml seems to be optimum. Once you find disease higher levels seem to encourage self-healing of the body. Sensible sun exposure is the best way to get this vitamin, but there are some good natural supplements. Sensible means different things to different people. The more sensitive you are to the sun, and the stronger the sun where you are, may make a sensible dose mean a much smaller time than you think. You don’t want to stay out long enough to get a sunburn, so start slow and work your way up.

Vitamin E is another nutrient that seems another key in preventing and getting rid of cancer. The important thing is to make sure you are getting a pure and natural form of vitamin E, not a synthetic version. It can even be found in foods such as sunflower seeds, almonds, pine nuts and spinach.

Another way to fight the onset or the effects of breast cancer seems to be living foods. Too many of us eat mostly cooked or processed foods. Statistics show that having at least half your food is the raw variety, more if you are really sick, seems to shrink the tumors and give your body a chance to heal. This seems to be the case for colon cancer as well.

Many people will complain that they just can’t eat a large quantity of raw foods. That gives merit to another method of reducing the cancer and increasing your chances of surviving it. This doesn’t have to be a long term fast. Either severe calorie reduction or a short period of fasting seems to do the trick. Combining this with the above idea of raw food for what you do eat makes it even better. Restricting the carbohydrates in the diet also seems to make a huge difference, for those times you do eat.

What you eat can make a real difference. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables have shown high promise in fighting cancer. Walnuts have been shown to be effective in prostate cancer. Some studies are pointing all tree nuts as being beneficial, especially with pancreatic cancer.

All of these things are going to automatically help you maintain a healthier weight. Studies show being overweight increases your risk factors for cancer.

One thing people think they need to avoid is caffeine, but this is the opposite of the truth. Drinking 2-5 cups of coffee or green tea every day has been shown to reduce your risk of developing cancer.

The bottom line is that the healthier our lifestyle the healthier our bodies will be. This rings true before and after you are diagnosed with cancer.