Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Which Of These Woud You Be?
I am at a conference about cancer. The people can, for the most part, be put into one of the following groups: speakers, health care professionals, cancer patients, or exhibitors. Many belong to more than one group, but they belong more to one group than the others. The tone is mostly up-beat, sometimes down, and at times just uncomfortable. It’s somewhat easy to determine who belongs to which group.
The speakers are the most well dressed and have an entourage. Everyone gathers around them and asks questions including permission to have their picture taken with them as if they are famous because they belong to some well known cancer organization or cancer treatment center.
The doctors are busy and move from one place to another asking a few questions, getting their answers, and moving on. They seem to know the answer before they ask the question, but they ask anyway, as if to find ut if their answer is the same as that of the person they question. If it is not, it doesn’t seem to matter, because they feel they already have the best answer.
The exhibitors are over zealous while educating and/or spewing out their scripted pitches. And then there’s the patients. Some are “survivors”, some are just surviving, and some are confused and without a hope other than the hope to find something to put their hope in. The are looking for something to add to their regimen of cancer arsenal.
The exhibitors are the most entertaining. It seems most of them have “the cure” for cancer. They tell of there testimonies with a sincere belief that all everybody must have to beat this awful illness is a subscription to their super juice. I like the fact that most of these “cure all” vendors are selling phytonutrient based supplements; that is, that they come from fruits and vegetables. There is really no dispute that phytonutrients protect against cancer and can be tremendously beneficial in beating cancer. Every reputable doctor treating cancer will at the least tell his patients to eat less sugar and more servings of fruits and vegetables. But to proclaim that theirs is the best and that everyone with cancer should take the magic bullets they sell is just over the top and probably at the least breaks a few laws that are there to protect consumers. I also found it interesting that most “cancer cures” were multi-level marketed and most of the people selling them did not having any form of health care professional licenses.
Don’t get me wrong, this does not mean that I believe their products are without merit. It’s hard to find a phytonutrient formula without merit. But there are certainly quality differences in the hundreds of various formulas. Things I like to consider are when evaluating a phytonutrient supplement are:
1. Ingredients
2. Spectrum of Nutrients represented
3. Concentration of the Serving
4. Potency Based on Independent Lab Tests
There are other factors that I consider that may play a role in the evaluation of a product but are less important to me. They include taste, texture, ease of use (does it mix easily), and cost. But from a health perspective, the bullet points above influences my evaluations of phytonutrient formulas the most. I’ll explore each of these points in greater detail another time. Check back to see when they are linked to greater details.
The cancer patients could also be separated into groups. They had either beaten the disease and are maintaining their health, they are winning the battle, or they are losing the battle. Those who won or are winning had healthy complexions and a certain peace about them. They were excited about the organic meals being served and regularly enjoyed diets that included lots of servings of fruits and vegetables and natural organic foods. As they went around taste testing many of the vendors phytoutrient formulas, they enjoyed their natural sugar free flavors with a smile and appreciation. By the look on their faces, you would think they were eating healthy ice cream. They seemed to be enjoying their lives with a perspective that most would be jealous of.
But those losing their battles did not have peace. They were usually over weight and had sickly complexions. And oddly, it seemed they did not enjoy the smorgasbord of fruit and vegetable flavors. As they tasted the phytonutrient formulas, they often frowned resembling an infant biting into a lemon for the first time. They then say something like “ewwww, I could never eat this” They would sometimes justify their position saying something like “besides, I already have enough things to take” as they shake their pill bottles latching on to them as if they held the keys to the kingdom. I discussed this with some of the vendors. They immediately agreed saying “I knowwwwwwwww… makes you wonder why they still have cancer”. The thought being that maybe their diets are largely responsible for their conditions and that they aren’t consuming the healthy foods they need because of flavor.
If you are a cancer patient reading this and are offended reading this, you are probably in the last group! (and I just offended you more) I am not suggesting you throw out your pill bottles and only eat vegetables, drink barley juice, and consume fruit and vegetable juice concentrations and powders the rest of your life. But I do suggest you truly evaluate your motivations and consider whether your taste preferences are sending bad signals and leading you to a premature end. I do not believe that eating right is a guarantee to winning the battle or even to just prevent cancer. However, all the people with cancer that I know got there while eating lousy diets. And all the people I know that beat the illness did it while simultaneously increasing their phytonutrient consumption tremendously. Some did it with their chemotherapies and some did it without. But I don’t know any to have done it apart from significant dietary changes.
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