EARTHFUTURE.COM by Guy Dauncey

There are many ways to describe how the world came to be so affected by cancer. Describing the widespread pollution of the world by toxic chemicals is one way. Here is another way, which is equally as important.
It starts with farming 200 years ago and the German chemist Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), who wondered what soil was made from. So he burnt some. Because the ashes contained nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, farmers began feeding their soil with fertilizer instead of organic matter. This has led to a dramatic loss of minerals. From 1940 to 2002, plants grown on modern farms have lost 47 percent of their iron, 21 percent of their magnesium and 100 percent of their copper. (Except when they are grown organically.) Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 1
The plants are now more susceptible to insects and pests, so farmers treat them with pesticides and fungicides. This seems to make the problem go away, but plants have evolved over millions of years and are extraordinarily successful at fighting off disease. When they sense an attack coming, they generate phytonutrients to defend themselves. When we eat them, we acquire their disease-fighting qualities. When the plants are no longer attacked, they don’t generate the phytonutrients, so even if we eat our five servings of fruit and veggies a day, they won’t contain the disease-fighting properties we need. (Unless they have been grown organically.) Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 2
Our bodies need selenium too; it’s a natural cancer-fighting agent. But the fertilizers bind to the selenium, inhibiting its uptake by plants. Mercury pollution and acid rain from burning fossil fuels also inhibit its uptake. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 3
The food is harvested, but since the phytonutrients, known as salvestrols, give fruit juice a bitter taste, and we prefer a sweet, smooth taste, they are removed by the bottlers. We also ship much of our fruit and vegetables in from Florida and California, where they are picked before they are ripe, and before they have had a chance to develop salvestrols. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 4
Meanwhile, people are eating more meat. This is good news for the cancer cells, because meat gives nowhere near the protection that plant foods do. Wherever people eat a vegetarian diet, they have less cancer. Humans: 0 – Cancer cells: 5
What else do we eat? Sugar, of course! The average North American consumes 150 pounds of sugar, sucrose and fructose a year. This requires the pancreas to produce more insulin, raising our level of blood sugar, which the body stores as fat. The fat sends weird messages to our hormones (another cause of cancer) and sucks up toxic chemicals such as PCBs and chemical flame-retardants. This is great news for the cancer cells. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 6
Because many people don’t like to get fat, however, the food industry uses sweeteners made from aspartame, which has “Warning: Cancer!” written all over it. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 7
By now, we’re getting busy, so we sit our kiddies by the TV where the average child watches a junk food commercial every five minutes. By two years of age, 20 percent of our babies are eating candy every day. The lack of exercise, combined with the sugar intake, makes them overweight. Then we feed them hot dogs, containing nitrite additives that form carcinogens. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 8
Meanwhile, we are cooking our meat at high temperatures, eating baked goods and using microwaves. All this generates acrylamides, which are known to cause cancer in animals. Our fruits and veggies often have pesticide residues (unless they have been grown organically), and our soft drinks contain ingredients that form benzene, another potent carcinogen. To make the junk food taste better, industry adds chemical colourants, flavourings and preservatives. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 9
And finally, many mothers do all this during pregnancy, feeding their growing babies the worst possible diet. And still too many mothers fail to breastfeed, depriving their children of their full immune system development. Humans: 0 – cancer cells: 10
The way to turn the game around? Stop all the nonsense. Eat fresh, home-prepared, locally grown, organic, vegetarian food – raw where possible – with all its minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, antioxidants and salvestrols intact. Humans: 10 – cancer cells: 0
Guy Dauncey is co-chair of Prevent Cancer Now (www.preventcancernow.ca) and editor of EcoNews (www.earthfuture.com/econews). He lives in Victoria, BC. For information on salvestrols, visit www.salvestrols.ca/.