Toxins can lead to Pancreatic Cancer. We live in a toxic world from the air we breathe, to the water we drink and bathe in, to the industrial production of our food which can contain inflammatory ingredients. Toxins are in, on and around us causing disruption in our endocrine and metabolic health.
We shop for groceries on an average of 2.8 times a week. We’ve gone from food in it’s whole food form from Mother Nature, to food that contains toxic pesticides. Toxins trigger inflammation in our brain and impact the delicate balance of our complex digestive system, along with our heart health and hormonal balance.
Chronic degenerative diseases don’t just happen. Decades of ingesting processed foods and chemicals, toxic work environments along with toxic household goods, eventually overburdens our biochemistry and bioelectrical balance of some 60 trillion cells. Diseases take years to develop long before any symptoms show up in diagnosis tests. Our biology slowly begins to become unbalanced from poor health habits resulting from a lack of awareness, a lack of self care and lack of nutrients leading to the inflammatory processes from foods and toxin exposure. Most are focused on their job, paying their rent, with little focus on their personal health. Yet we find many doctors that say they don’t know what habits may cause the pancreas to become inflamed.
12 “Toxic Habits”
1-I lost my good friend (Carol) and a great athlete to pancreatic cancer. Her vice was sugar of any kind. There can be hidden sugar that can lurk inside many healthy and unhealthy foods. Having a soda habit can be linked to pancreatic cancer. (1) “Hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia may be implicated in the development of pancreatic cancer.”(1.5)
“Pancreatic stressors can be linked to high sugar intake, diabetes, medications, lactose and gluten intolerance.” (2) Our pancreas was never built to consume process sugar. A habit of bread and pasta at every meal can also add to blood sugar imbalances. “Gluten sensitivity can be linked to inflammatory cytokines which can induce pancreatic cell injury.”(3)
2-Weight gain and obesity causes inflammation in our body, as does sugar. The consumption of highly acidic substances such as alcohol, and vegetable oils are linked to autoimmune disorders. Today we know that cancer cells can have 15 times more insulin receptors than regular cells. If we are obese and continue to have a poor diet, this can set the stage for disease such as cancer. (4)
3- Diabetes isn’t a new disease, however it may be considered a well accepted disease, since we see it run in families. One that seems to be managed with medication instead of diet. Medications may increase inflammation. Januvia which is prescribed for diabetes, is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. (5)
4-Cigarettes and alcohol are still accepted habits in many countries, even though these toxins play a causative roll in pancreatic cancer and several other diseases. Celebrities Michael Landon (1991) (6) and Patrick Swayze (2009) brought this to our attention with their untimely death. These habits can lead us toward inflammation and dis-ease. In a quest to relax from a stressful day at the office, we may want to rethink habits that are proven to be counterproductive.
5- Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory medications that may be used for autoimmune disorders. These drugs reduce the body’s ability to activate vitamin D, resulting in decreased calcium absorption and increased calcium excretion in the urine. Vitamin D from sun exposure and diet has a protective effect against pancreatic cancer. (7) “Vitamin D and its analogues exhibit potent anti tumor effects in many tissues, including the pancreas.” (8)
6- From cereals, corn and wheat to eggs, dairy and meat we are exposed to and consume pesticides by way of Genetically Modified Organisms. These have been shown to have damaging effects on our good gut bacteria. “Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth, is defined as an increase in the number and/or alteration in the type of bacteria in the upper gastrointestinal tract which can be associated with disorders of protective antibacterial mechanisms.” (e.g. pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, immunodeficiency syndromes) (9)
7-Whole foods from Mother Nature provides our bodies with energy. Eating lifeless/dead foods places a burden on the pancreas which may eventually cause exhaustion with imbalances in blood glucose levels. Many impair their pancreas and interrupt the ability to digest their food properly after a lifetime of cooked, boxed, frozen and processed foods. (10) “Cancer may be considered the lack of eating nutritious foods.” (11)
8-If we look at our body as an optimally running engine, would we take out parts of that engine to run more effortlessly? Cholecystectomy is the most common type of surgery used today. Preventative measures may include detoxing the gallbladder, because the gallbladder is an important part of the working mechanics to the pancreas. (12)
9-Fluoride can be in toothpaste and water supply and sprayed on our vegetables. Fluoride is a toxin and endocrine disruptor. It is linked to changes in exocrine pancreas cells. (13) “In chronic toxicity studies, fluoride targets the pancreas and other organs.” (14)
10- There may be an abundance of calcium in our system. Dr. Garry Gordon wrote, “If you have compromised cell membranes or low ATP production for any reason, then the cell has trouble maintaining the normal gradient. This is because the usual gradient is 10,000 times more calcium outside of cells than inside; when this is compromised you will have increased intracellular calcium.” “Calcification in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors may form within amyloid deposits, as in insulinomas.”(15) Inflammation along with an overabundance of stress can lead to excessive uptake of calcium by our cells, and is know known to contribute to aging and degenerative diseases.
11-Xenoestrogens are toxins we may use everyday, without being aware. Environmental risk factors with xenoestrogens are linked to pancreatic cancer. We can find these in our water supply, plastic containers and plastic wrap, teflon and non stick cookware, dryer sheets and fabric softeners, cosmetics and perfumes that contain toxic chemicals, air fresheners, canned foods, red food dye and the list goes on. (16)
12- Chronic inflammation disrupts cortisol levels. Caffeine elevates cortisol levels, contributes to inflammation and endocrine disruption. As a nation we have an emotional attachment to caffeine. We stand in long lines just to order it. We sip it while walking or driving to work. We appear to be addicted, with common thinking -we can’t possibly have energy without our 2 cups a day. Unfortunately, coffee consumption may be associated with pancreatic cancer with inconsistent results. (17)
So we may ASK– With cancer, why doesn’t the immune system just attack an overabundance of mutated cancer cells? Cancer cells have a protein coating with a negative electrical charge. In our body, immune cells also have a negative charge. Normal cells stop growing when there are enough cells. Cancer cells don’t stop growing with enough cells present. “In cancer, there is a loss of balance between cell division and cell death and cells that should have died did not receive the signals to do so.” (18)
Diseases that can cut our life short don’t care who we are, how much money we have or how famous we might be. If we truly love life, and have no desire to be taken down by a debilitating dis-ease, we need to move from desire to decision and put all of our focus on eliminating unhealthy destructive habits while developing new, positive healthy daily habits.
What are some simple “bite size steps” you can do today?
The first thing to do is to get the support you need, to enable you to understand the causative elements involved. This gives you your power back to cure the cause. Preventing cancer can be the most important decision you ever make. Join my “toxic free you” program today. Go Here:
Eat Organic and Wild – Choose organic foods and wild fish.
Use Reverseage Wellness Lemon essential oil for a vegetable wash.
Learn How to Garden Organically – avoid DDT and Roundup Ready weed-killer. These can contribute to the “Toxic Load” of pancreatic health problems.
Learn How to read labels – GMO Foods contain pesticides and have been linked to Hormone Disruption.
Go Dairy Free– Hormones in cows milk products may disrupt the endocrine system.
Eat Cruciferous Vegetables – They are hailed for their anti- cancer benefits.
Work through Stress- Stress is wearing on the body, disruptive to digestion and our hormones and increases susceptibility to disease.
Spreading this information is likely to be the single most important thing you can do to help slow the spread of toxins and their accompanying health problems such as pancreatic cancer.
Connie Rogers AKA Coach Educator, is a Certified Integrative Holistic Health Coach founder and owner of www.Bitesizepieces.net and www.weightlossforlifechange.com She coaches and supports men and women with Cancer Prevention, Weight Loss, Hormone Balance, Digestive & Skin Health. Her Expertise lies in toxins that can disrupt our skin, metabolic and endocrine health.
Footnotes:
1-Soda- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16172216
1.5- Hyperglycemia-http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/84/5/1171.full
2- Pancreatic Stressors-http://www.jbc.org/content/279/41/42351.full
3-Cytokines, pancreatic cell injury-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22913724 see also http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/imm.12007/asset/imm12007.pdf;jsessionid=06E4501C0E6525C5F3810B411E40819E.f04t02?v=1&t=i1vc3z7f&s=e1cb5b2cdf1504acebbdd9ee4e4a58aa0193b582
4-Obesity–http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24746917 see also http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19628082
5-Januvia-http://www.drugwatch.com/januvia/ see also http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25057164
6-Michael Landon-http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20115519,00.html
7-Vitamin D sun-http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2010/721365/
8-Anti-tumor-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16985031
9-SIBO-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2890937/
10- Diet, digestion-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23368926
11- Nutritious foods- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1764568
12-Gallbladder-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2362428/ See also http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22008981
13-Fluoride-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10741471
14-Toxicity Studies-http://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content/pesticides/effects.pancrea.f-pesticide.htm
15-Calcification in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21071369
16-Xenoestrogens-http://www.ehjournal.net/content/11/S1/S8 see also http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3388472/#B102
17-Coffee-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3063915/
18-Cancer, cell division, cell death-http://www.jeccr.com/content/30/1/87