Understanding is the Essence of Intelligence

Le plus étonnant c'est l'agriculteur qui dit (2'15 dans la bande annonce) qu'il ne consomme pas ce qu'il produit.

Les décès dus aux cancers sont en augmentation dans toutes les tranches d'age et surtout chez les enfants ou les cancers étaient très rares autrefois. Cette augmentation ne peut pas s'expliquer par des facteurs génétiques, les seules explications possibles sont environnementales: nutrition, stress, autres pollutions (atmosphérique, électromagnétiques, sonores). Chacun de ces impacts environnementaux influent sur plus sur certains cancers que d'autres comme il est bien connu que la cigarette favorise certains cancers. Ainsi les cancers particulièrement favorisés par une mauvaise alimentation sont: estomac, colon, sein, foie, prostate, pancréas, leucémies, etc. Le seul cancer en baisse est celui de l'estomac grâce au réfrigérateur qui a permis la diminution de la salaison pour conserver les aliments.

N'oublions pas non plus que pour lutter contre le cancer, il faut ajouter, en plus du bio, une alimentation équilibrée et cuisine saine. Il faut proscrire toutes les substances cancérigènes ou favorisant le développement du cancer: viandes et légumes grillés, huiles cuites, .... Enfin il est nécessaire d'adopter une alimentation anticancer favorisant les défenses naturelles contre le cancer (comme les cellules NK - Natural Killers - de notre système immunitaire), pour cela les aliments essentiels sont: ail, oignon, curcuma, acides gras oméga-3 (que l'on trouve dans les poissons, l'huile de colza, la graine de lin, les noix).

Pour en savoir plus lire le livre de David Servan Schreiber: Anticancer qui décrit très bien cette épidémie, ses causes nutritionnelles, et surtout les solutions qui sont non seulement préventives, mais aussi (cela est moins connu) curatives.

Pour ceux qui comprennent l'anglais, voir mon billet sur le sujet, qui contient un régime anti-maladies dont le cancer:
Become Healthier, and Stay Healthy.

ANTICANCER, by David Servan-Schreiber empowers us to fight cancer:

The fight against cancer starts in the kitchen.
Give your body a fighting chance.
Even a little bit of exercise can help fight cancer.
Don't give up hope.
Find someone to care about, starting with yourself.

In his book, David really helps us understand how we can help our bodies fight cancer efficiently in addition to following standard cancer treatments.

I wish Henia and I had read this book three years ago. ANTICANCER came out two months after Henia died from breast cancer following nine years of fight including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonotherapy, and finally anti-angiogenesis. Henia was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35!

Although I can't do anything for Henia anymore, I wish to help everyone I can to learn what I wish we had known during this fight. If you know anyone fighting cancer, feel free to contact me.

See Also:
Become Healthier, and Stay Healthy
Acne, the Diet Connection

Tags: Cancer, Nutrition, Health

For decades, dermatologists have told, and continue to tell, patients that the link between acne and diet is a myth based on the result of two flawed studies and despite numerous other studies linking acne to dairy and high glycemic index food consumption:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2007/12/16/a_clear_connection/

This adds to the growing list of conditions that can be cured or greatly relieved by staying clear of dairy products including asthma and many allergies. Some studies also point at a possible link between dairy products consumption and breast cancer.

My simple test for sufferers of these conditions is to suppress all dairy products consumption for 15 days.

High glycemic index food should always be avoided or at least reduced as these are already well connected with many serious conditions from diabetes to heart diseases.

Acne may also be aggravated by insufficient sleep and excessive stress as showed by many other studies.

Related posts:
Become Healthier, and Stay Healthy
The Fight Against Cancer Starts in the Kitchen

Tags: Acne, Nutrition, Health, Cancer.

I dedicate this contribution to Hénia and René.

Disclaimers, license to use, purpose, and feedback.

I am not a doctor, nor a nutritionist, and this article is not medical advice.

I do not sell, and generally discourage the use of supplements. I do not sell books and do not seek to make revenues, even indirectly, from books I may recommend or cite. I do not intend to make any money on this contribution, today or in the future, and I do not have any financial interest in any product or service related to this contribution to humanity that I license under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

This contribution is first and foremost intended to anyone who wants to genuinely understand how we can take our heath into our own hands to live healthier, and happier.

If you use this, please provide some feedback as a comment to let everyone know about your experience and progress. If you have any suggestion, or believe there are mistakes, please comment. I will make updates based on verified and useful information.

Introduction.

I always urge everyone to consult a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment. But between doctor visits, and before a serious illness occurs, it does not hurt to have a healthy lifestyle promoting, among other things, a proper immune system balance.

Our bodies are the most complex organisms living on earth today and our health depends on both genetic and environmental factors. We do not have any say with our genes but we can tune the environment of our bodies. Everyone knows by now that smoking, asbestos, obesity-promoting lifestyles, and many other environmental factors kill. What is little known is that the vast majority of known diseases, including many cancers, auto-immune disorders, allergies, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, depression, stress-related back-pain, Alzheimer disease, and many other more or less severe conditions can be prevented, relieved, and sometimes cured, with a healthy lifestyle. Once we have been diagnosed with a chronic disease, even degenerative, even cancer, it is not too late to take our health into our own hands, with the help of doctors but not solely.

Hénia and René.

Over the last few years I have changed my lifestyle and especially my diet to become healthier. I was not particularly overweight although I was starting to put on a few unwanted pounds after turning forty.

I really started to realize how nutrition was important in august 2005 after my wife, Hénia, who was treated for metastatic breast cancer was no longer responding to chemotherapy. She had several large metastatic liver tumors which had barely reduced after the heavy treatment. After undergoing four months of chemotherapy using a combination of three powerful drugs she was very tired and the doctors decided to let her rest for a month before undergoing new chemotherapy. What this meant in fact is that doctors had no more hope and that instead of indulging her additional pain they wanted her to be with her family.

Hénia, who was then very tired met René who had prostate cancer for many years, had refused conventional treatments, and was on a diet with herb supplements. René designed a diet for Hénia, gave her a few books, and herb supplements all for free because he was passionate about helping other people. When Hénia came back, I was very skeptical, but seeing her worsening condition, I considered that a diet could not be a bad thing.

So for the following five weeks Hénia followed the diet. In late September 2005, she went back to see her doctors, and undergo new chemotherapy. They went on with the traditional tests, and her liver scanner showed no tumor anymore. To everyone's surprise the cancer was in a very significant remission. The CA15-3 (a tumor marker used to monitor certain cancers, especially breast cancer) confirmed that tumor activity had much decreased and consequently the doctors decided that Hénia did not need to undergo any other treatment.

Of course we were all very relived because Hénia had been following many treatments for about two years since the metastatic recurrence of her breast cancer. Considering that Hénia had stopped all treatments for two months and the significant remission, I believe that Hénia's improvement at the time was due to some environmental factor and because the only change was René's diet, I must conclude that it is very likely that the diet was the primary reason for her improvement.

Unfortunately, Hénia stopped the diet at the end of September because she was having an allergic reaction to some of herb associated with René's diet and considered herself curred, in part because her doctors were not proposing any additional treatment.

This is in fact after a treatment that we should take our health into our own hands to prevent the return of a disease. During chemotherapy our organisms are weakened as much as tumor cells and our immune system is weak and cannot contribute to any improvement. But after the end of a treatment, our immune system can be reinforced and rebalanced to fight against most disease.

By the end of December 2005, the CA15-3 had increased again. Many times I asked Hénia to go back on a healthy diet between the treatments that followed but she was convinced that the only thing that could save her were conventional medical treatments. In June 2007, after more than a year under chemotherapies and partial remissions, she was diagnosed with metastatic brain tumor.

It is only when doctors told Hénia that there was no more hope, in early August 2007, exactly a year ago, that Hénia accepted to start again a diet to promote a fighting immune system against the cancer which had then spread all over her liver. For about a week she did feel better under the diet, needing significantly less pain killers. But the disease was then so aggressive that her condition worsened again and on August 25th 2007, Hénia passed away. We will never know if Hénia could have survived any longer if she had continued the diet but I am convinced that the diet she took for just a month in 2005 extended her life for about one year and a half.

René also passed away last week after his prostate cancer had become metastatic and after undergoing medical treatments. We will never know if René could have lived longer if he had chosen to undergo standard treatments many years ago but he did very well for a long time and possibly lived as long as if he had followed these treatments.

Conventional medicine versus healthy lifestyle.

I believe that we should not choose between conventional medicine or a healthy lifestyle but that we should combine both. Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy for example are very efficient at removing very large quantities of cancerous cells and preventing or at least decreasing the statistical possibility of mutations that eventually transform a slow-growth cancer into an aggressive killer.

But to eradicate a cancer we also need to change the environment that let the cancer grow in the first place. Without a change in the environment, the cancer will grow again, eventually mutating into a more aggressive and drug-resistant cancer.

The increasing incidence of most cancers.

Hénia had been diagnosed with breast cancer in June 1998, when she was then 35. This is very young, and in fact statistics show that the incidence of breast cancer has increased over the last 100 years and continues to increase and that this increase is not due solely to the aging population.

In fact the incidence of most cancers increases in all age groups refuting the simplistic theory that cancer is only due to aging. These increases must be due to environmental factors and I believe that in the case of many cancers this is due primarily to inappropriate nutrition.

My path toward understanding the power of nutrition.

As Hénia was following her treatments I spent a lot of time searching for a cure. I read the books René had given Hénia and was convinced that we could do something about her cancer. What I soon discovered was that a single healthy diet could cure most conditions simultaneously. The idea is that when feed properly, our bodies are naturally capable of fighting most conditions. This of course greatly eases the design of a healthy diet because it does not need to be targeted at a specific disease.

As of August 2007, our son of 15, had been asthmatic for about 13 years, and was on daily medication to prevent asthma crisis. Even under constant medication, we could hear his lung wheezing and he had to take an extra dose of medication before significant physical activity.

After reading many things on the Internet and the books I had, I found that asthma could be triggered by dairy products consumption. My son was not allergic to milk, but to many other substances so I did not understand how milk could be the cause. One book I have claimed that 98% of all asthma conditions could be either cured or much relieved by suppressing dairy products.

I was very skeptical but I decided to propose my son a simple experiment. He would stop the intake of all dairy products for 15 days before we make an assessment. To my big surprise, the day following the end of dairy product consumption, the wheezing of my son's lungs stopped. I was still not convinced because one day could not be enough to reach a conclusion and this could have been due solely to a placebo effect. I therefore urged my son to continue his medication but he did not want to listen to me and decided to stop the medication.

Over the following days, we monitored him and the wheezing did not come back. After the 15 days I was still not completely convinced because my son had been so sick for 13 years, he had seen so many doctors that this could not be so easy. None of the doctors we had met over 3 continents had ever suggested that dairy products could be connected to our son's asthma.

I was very happy that Hénia could see our son's being freed from asthma, indirectly thanks to her disease and just a week before her departure.

A year later, I must admit that my son is cured from asthma and that his asthma was triggered by dairy products consumption. Each time he went at a friend house and consumed milk, this was followed by wheezing in the next 24 hours but after stopping dairy product consumption, the wheezing has always disappeared in the following 24 hours.

I don't exactly know what is going on with dairy products and allergies but since then I have met many people who confirmed that the suppression of dairy products has at least relieved their allergy symptoms and in many cases cured them.

I will always remember and be grateful to René for indirectly opening my mind to nutrition and eventually to cure my son's asthma and to extend Hénia's life for one year and a half.

Dairy products and allergies.

The theory is that milk contains proteins that our organs such as the liver can't process. This would be due to the fact that our ancestors did not have access to much dairy products, maybe only occasionally, and because these proteins in low quantities would never kill us before the age of reproduction, evolution never gave us the genetic capability to process these proteins.

What changed in the last 60 years is that nutritionists started to recommend the over-consumption of dairy products because these are rich in many valuable substances and especially calcium in the hope of promoting better nutritional health. But the law of unintended consequences is here to remind us that to everything we do there may be side-effects.

These bad proteins, now in high concentration because of the high intake of dairy products, roam our bodies until they find some exit. They can't exit through the normal urine path because our liver and kidneys cannot break or process these proteins. Therefore these proteins have to find some other path and eventually exit through the lungs or skin.

In the meantime our immune system is highly disturbed. While trying to suppress these not-welcomed foreigners, our immune system abnormally attacks our bodies or so-called allergens, triggering inflammation and consequently the destruction of healthy tissue.

We then use drugs to relieve symptoms especially drugs that prevent inflammation by lowering the aggressiveness of our immune system. These drugs not only have long-term and dangerous side effects but by decreasing our immune system activity provoke an immediate weakness of our bodies to fight viruses and bacteria. In some case this weakness of the immune system could prevent the early destruction of precancerous and cancer cells.

Our immune system ability to fight cancer.

For a long time, modern medicine believed that the immune system played no role in the genesis and control of cancer cells. The discovery of the ability of NK (natural killer ) cells (a type of lymphocyte) to kill tumor cells was initially discarded when first discovered in the early 1970s because this was opposed with the medical beliefs of the time.

These NK cells are able to kill abnormal cells that have been either modified by a virus or mutations. When our immune system destroys these cancer or precancerous cells early, we never know that we had cancer because there are no detectable symptoms associated with early cancer activity.  This normal cleanup of cancer cells in our bodies happens until our immune system is weakened either by inappropriate heath style, a persistent virus or bacteria, or immunosuppressive drugs.

Immune system balance.

To be healthy our immune system needs the right balance between two extremes which cause either auto-immune diseases and allergies or poor response to bacterial infections, viral infection, and precancerous and cancerous cells.

Most drugs are designed to target symptoms to relieve pain, help a weak immune system, or silence an over-aggressive immune system but no drug will be able to rebalance an immune system that is weakened by inappropriate environment including the side effects of certain drugs.

Drug intake should be limited as much as possible to short periods of time and we should always try to understand the root cause of any disorder even small. Chronic headaches for example are an early sign of an imbalance and if not corrected, a more serious disease will appear over time. A new allergy should also be a concern because it indicates an imbalance in our immune system.

The Placebo Effect.

The changes I propose hereafter will not necessarily improve your health overnight as this happened for my son or others, but you will quickly feel better, maybe in part thanks to the feeling that you are back in the power seat and that you are taking your health into your own hands.

The placebo effect works for a reason. When we believe we have the solution to our health problem we immediately feel better. This is not just temporary, this can have long lasting effects on our health. It does not mean we are stupid, it means that our brain plays a very significant role in our health and as such is part of the environment of our health.

It has been scientifically found that our brain is well connected with our immune system and has the ability to generate a number of hormones and drugs that will trigger a response or the absence of response.

We usually feel a bit better as soon as we reach the doctor's office, when the doctor tells us what we have we feel even better, when we hold our drugs we are relieved, and finally when we take our medicine we are almost cured. So the placebo effect is your friend and will participate in all recoveries.

This does not mean we should not go see a doctor because a proper diagnosis still needs to be assessed. But the placebo effect will work all along the process to help us get better.

The three pillars of health.

Before we go onto the diet, we need to understand that it is only one part of the environment of our health.  The three pillars of our health environment are: In, Out, and Within.

"In" is what we eat, breathe, "Out" is what we do with our bodies (physical and mental exercise), and "Within" is our mental health.

We technically have some control over most of these but sometimes the most difficult part is within because of beliefs, the lack of training, habits, or culture. Our brain will resist change which is why we have a hard time getting our of addictions such as cigarette smoking or taking the car to drive three blocks away. Once again it does not mean we are stupid, but we need to learn the tricks our brain will try on us. Our brain will nonetheless quickly readjust to change and will then help us keep our new healthier lifestyle.

(In) The Diet.

This diet is not designed to loose weight over a short period of time, such as a few weeks or even months. In fact I would discard any diet that would do just that as unhealthy and dangerous. If it took twenty years to become overweight, it is not reasonable to go on a surgical-like diet. The diet presented here will stabilize weight over a long period of time, usually a few years but in a long-lasting fashion and you will feel a bit better every week.

For those who are underweight, the diet should help them get back to a normal weight also over time.

In no case should anyone reduce the quantities or variety of food proposed due to the risk of deficiencies. This is a lifelong diet and as such it must remain balanced at all time. The change should also be gradual for some parts of the diet or you may experience some discomfort especially with the recommended higher intake of fiber-rich food.

The diet can of also evolve over time and as you understand how this works and what is better and tastes better for you.

Finally remember the law of unintended consequences applies to everything that we do even with the best intentions and that therefore we should remain vigilant at any sign our body sends us. By making gradual changes we are much less likely to experience adverse effects and will be able to adjust.

Diet Highlights.

Here are the highlights of the diet:

• Eat as many vegetables (except potatoes) as you can and with the widest possible variety.
• Eat the largest variety of fruits you can find.
• Suppress all sugars and other high-glycemic index food.
• Suppress salt completely and replace with healthy and tastier spices.
• Reduce very significantly or suppress all dairy products.
• Use plenty of omega-3 rich oils in salad dressings.
• Eat omega-3 rich fish 4 to 5 days a week.
• Complete with poultry and eggs 2 to 3 days a week.
• Stay away from red meat as much as you can.
• Avoid alcohol as much as possible.
• Cook at or under boiling water temperature 100°C (212°F).
• Never cook oil, always add oil after cooking possibly just before serving.
• Do not fry or barbecue anything.
• When at the restaurant try to make the best choices according to the above but don't starve.
• When invited, enjoy your friends, and honor what they have prepared for you without excess.
• When you invite friends, help them discover that they can live a healthier life.

Essential nutrients.

Essential nutrients are the nutrients which are necessary for our organisms to function properly and that cannot be synthesized  from other nutrients. These essential nutrients must therefore come directly from our diet. In some cases these essential nutrients, such as calcium follow a complex absorption path requiring the simultaneous presence of other essential nutrients.

Most of us know that vitamins and minerals are required in a balanced diet but fewer of  us know that some fats, known as essential fatty acids and some amino acids, know as essential amino acids are also essential and required in a balanced diet.

A low fat diet will certainly lack these essential nutrients and some vegetarian diets may be poor in some essential amino acids. Also a vegetarian diet may be lacking B12 vitamins that over a long period of time (3 to 20 years) may result in vitamin B12 deficiency that in the most extreme cases can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system.

Organic or not?

Organic food is always better when available and affordable because organic food are grown without the use of pesticides which contain known cancer-causing agents.

Organic food will usually be reacher in essential nutrients and organic (from grass-fed animals) meat and eggs should be richer in omega-3 essential fatty acids.

But remember that even non-organic healthy food is still healthier. Wash thoroughly vegetables and fruits and especially salad and grapes before consumption to remove as much pesticides as possible.

Vegetables.

Vegetables are the most important part of any healthy diet because they contain most the essential nutrients that our body need to function properly. Vegetables contain few undesirable elements if diversified. The absorption of essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are more efficient when coming from vegetables rather than supplements.

Ideally we should start every meal with a generous salad along with omega-3 rich dressing home-made using: rapeseed oil, olive oil, garlic (lots of), onion, vinegar, lemon juice, ground flaxseed, ground ginger.

The highest possible intake of vegetables, except potatoes, is desirable including as many varieties as possible (edge your bets). Lots of greens but not only, all vegetables (diversify by colors) contribute in some almost unique way to better health.

Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale are an excellent sources of vitamin C and other essential nutrients.

You will get plenty calcium from high intake of mostly vegetables and the calcium from these vegetables will be much better absorbed than the calcium coming from supplements or milk - highest to lowest concentrations of calcium:

• spinach
• turnip greens
• mustard greens
• collard greens
• kale
• basil
• thyme
• cinnamon
• peppermint leaves
• romaine lettuce
• celery
• broccoli
• sesame seeds
• fennel
• cabbage
• green beans
• garlic
• tofu
• Brussels sprouts
• oranges
• asparagus
• crimini mushrooms

Spices.

Most spices (but not salt which is not a spice but a mineral) are desirable, not only for taste but to help with better health especially garlic, onions, ginger, curcuma, mustard greens, pepper, thyme, oregano, basil.

Fruits.

Fruits, in addition to vitamins contain lower-glycemic index sugars that you need for energy or just a treat, at least 3 fruits a day (kiwi, orange, pineapple, ...), kiwi has the highest content in vitamin C and a single kiwi will provide you with 100% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. When you need sugar, think fruit (whole or in pure juice with no sugar or water added).

Fiber-rich food.

Most modern diets are severely lacking appropriate fiber content resulting in a number of digestive disorders from constipation to much elevated rate of colon cancer. Fiber is required to properly balance the colonies of bacterias in our intestines. In turn these bacteria will help regulate the nutrients we absorb and will helps digest fats and sugars.

Prefer whole cereals and grains as much a possible, for their high fiber content, e.g. whole wheat bread, and barley which is always considered whole and has a high concentration of fiber. Oat is perfect as breakfast cereal along with soy milk.

You may experience temporary digestive tract discomfort for a few days or weeks when shifting to a high-fiber diet because the colonies of bacteria in our intestine need time to rebalance. You may therefore consider introducing fiber little by little to avoid or limit discomfort.

Other Carbohydrates.

If you eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole wheat bread and whole cereals for breakfast you should not need any additional carbohydrates.

Remember that bread, pasta and sugars are used to provide energy and that unconsumed energy will be stored as fat for later use. Any excess will lead to weight gain if taken in amounts exceeding corresponding physical and mental activity needs.

Omega-3 rich food.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for better heath in general preventing a wide range of disorders including cardiovascular disease, depression, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis. Statistics indicate that nearly 99% of people in the United States do not eat enough omega 3 fatty acids. The symptoms of long-term omega 3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, dry and/or itchy skin, brittle hair and nails, constipation, frequent colds, depression, poor concentration, lack of physical endurance, and/or joint pain.

You will get omega-3 fatty acids from fish (preferably small, from cold waters to avoid high mercury concentrations - e.g. sardines, shrimp and shell fish). These will also provide you with a good source of iodine and vitamin B12 which are both difficult to find in other types of food.

Flaxseed has the highest omega-3 concentration, walnuts have high omega-3 concentration, rapeseed oil is also an excellent source, and olive oil contains lower levels.

Meat.

Eat white meat (poultry) or eggs the days you don't eat fish.

Your daily meat intake should not exceed one to two thousands or your body weight. Two much proteins promotes the loss of calcium through urine and has been linked with higher incidence of heart disease.

Kelp.

Consider adding kelp which is unusual in a western diet but which is rich in calcium, iodine and vitamin B12, the later two are difficult to find in vegetables or fruits.

Things to suppress or avoid.

Avoid as much as possible in the order of the most dangerous to the least (unless you are allergic in which case dairy probably comes first):

• Sugar (promotes cancer metastasis, is the primary responsible for type II diabetes, acne), and in general high glycemic index foods,
• Hydrogenated fats present in many pastries, cakes, cookies, sweets, bars. These increase bad cholesterol while at the same time decrease the good cholesterol (1-2 punch). This is the straight opposite of omega-3 fatty acids and competes against them.
• Salt, there is enough sodium in vegetables, you will get the necessary iodine from fish or kelp.
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurts, butter) which directly promotes all sorts of allergies and may be implicated indirectly into many other disorders including some cancers, and arthritis.
• Red meat, which is too rich in omega-6 and saturated fatty acids, promotes heart disease, arthritis, calcium loss. Prefer fish, white meat (poultry). If you eat red meat, consider sometimes calf's liver which is an excellent source of Vitamin B12.

Cooking.

Prefer boiled, steamed, low temperature cooking.

Stay away from anything fried or carbonized (especially barbecue), the later containing carcinogens.

Do not (never if possible) cook (extra virgin) oils or ground flaxseeds and in general omega-3 sources, add these after cooking.

Consider eating as many vegetables raw as possible as salads with a dietetic salad dressing (see little secrets below).

Soups are excellent because vitamins and minerals are better conserved than with other preparations. Also helps with better digestion and can be easily spiced with heath promoting spices such as garlic, onion, ginger, ground flaxseed, curcuma. Also it is easier for kids to accept a wider variety of vegetables.

Storage.

Store oils and omega-3 sources in the refrigerator if possible to avoid both heat and light prolonged exposure.

My little secrets.

Prepare your own dietetic salad dressing with: rapeseed oil, olive oil, garlic (lots of), onion, vinegar, ground flaxseed, ground ginger.

Prepare dietetic tomato sauce with garlic (lots of), ground ginger, curcuma, ground flaxseed plus rapeseed and olive oil (added at the end to avoid heating as much as possible).

(Out) Exercise and sleep.

In addition to the reinforcement of our muscles, exercise helps with better digestion, toxins elimination, mental health, and self-image.

Half an hour a day is enough and better than most of us do. Fast walking, running or swimming is adequate but other sports will also be beneficial as long as you do not cause undue stress on your body. More may be better but not necessarily. Intensive sport should always be avoided as it promotes excessive oxidative stress and will shorten life in addition to the increased possibility of creating irreversible physical trauma.

If you are very overweight, to not overexercise and increase gradually as you loose weight. Make sure you always enjoy the benefits more than you suffer or you will stop.

Exercise in the morning is better, before going to work, and even before breakfast. Avoid exercise before going to bed and within one hour after meals.

Wear light clothes. Wearing tight and insulating clothes will never help you loose fat, but will increase body temperature possibly resulting in hyperthermia, a life threatening condition. We do not burn fat by increasing body temperature as the mechanism for fat elimination is not anything like burning. What happens is that when we need energy during exercise (physical and mental), the liver will claim stored fat to transform it into glucose that will be distributed through the blood stream where needed. The glucose will then be used by our muscles and brain to produce the needed energy. Because our body temperatures are regulated, wearing insulating clothes will not increase much our internal body temperature but will increase the surface temperature resulting in sweating, accelerated the loss of water, dehydration and eventually hyperthermia.

Here is what a routine exercise should look like:

• Drink a enough before starting exercise to avoid dehydration especially in the summer.
• Stretch before and after exercise.
• Start slow.
• Slowly increase the rhythm until you reach a sustainable speed.
• Slow down or stop if you suddenly experience joint or muscle pain.
• Drink after to rehydrate your body.

Sleep is an integral part of the "Out" pillar of a healthy environment as sleep contributes to toxins elimination. Sleep enough to not be tired in the morning. If you are tired in the morning, either you do not sleep enough, you are missing something in your diet, have some other medical condition, or you are depressed. If you are still tired after adopting a reasonable sleep routine, consult a doctor.

(Within) Mental Heath.

Without mental health something is missing out of a healthy environment for our bodies. We need to feel good about ourselves and at least limit the bad stress in our lives as much as possible. We therefore need to sort the bad stress from the good. Good stress enables us to perform better and faster while making us feel good about ourselves. Bad stress leaves us tired, depressed and tense and over time will decrease our performances.

If there is too much stress in your job consider finding a new one, even if paid a little less as long as you can adjust without creating additional stress.

Remove as many wants as you can and concentrate on the needs. The wants promote unnecessary bad stress.

See Also

The Fight Against Cancer Starts in the Kitchen

Acne, the Diet Connection

References

Anti Cancer - A New Way of Life - David Servan-Schreiber

The World's Healthiest Foods

Tags: Health, Nutrition, Cancer, Asthma, Placebo

My name is Jean Vincent, I was born in France in 1963 and lived in the countries of France, Morocco and the United States. I am not attached to any country in particular as I am first and foremost a human being and believe that we need to work together rather than against each other to make this earth a better place for all.

I believe that we need to find the ways to abolish frontiers even though I recognize it is difficult to do today for a number of reasons. The first of these reasons being our own fear of the differences that we naturally emphasize in strangers. Abolishing frontiers does not necessarily mean one uniform country, it means freedom of movement as outlined by Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I am agnostic in its broadest meaning as I can't figure out if god exists or not and, if s/he exists, what we should be doing if anything. However I strongly believe that all existing religions today are very far from the truth and were designed by humans to control (the largest number of) other humans. Religions have indeed been very effective at leveraging our natural fears. If god exists we need to seriously question who s/he is and what s/he may want us to do.

I believe that humanity will spend most of the twenty-first century re-inventing development to make it sustainable. After this transition, the world will be able to continue its unstoppable march towards more understanding of ourselves and our environment.

This blog is about science, sustainable development, health, nutrition, open-source, education, and changing the world in general hopefully to make it a better place :)

Making the world a better place is not just desirable, it is possible with the help of everyone of us, citizens of the world by nature. It is up to everyone of us to do something about it, be it only to communicate our desire for a better world around us.

After hesitating for a long time, I finally decided to start this blog using posterous.com, which was recommended to me by my old friend Jean-Hugues Robert, mostly because of the ability to simply backup my posts through my email client sent items.

My posts will be in English and in French.

My public LinkedIn profile is at:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanvincent

I am always keen of making new connections with people who want to positively change the world for the better, so feel free to contact me if you share the same goal, and especially if you disagree with my ideas and the ways to get there.

I hope you'll enjoy.