Can We Cure Cancer?

According to a book I've got in my library on 10,000 years of human genetics, cancer came about once we began farming and consuming grains in large quantities and using them as a large staple of our diet. Before then we ate a diverse variety of foods such as high antioxident berries and high protein foods such as nuts and mushrooms.

Although our diet might have been paleo we tended to eat small portions of meat. Meat was definitely NOT processed (bacon, sausages, patties etc) and the animals were not grain fed or stuffed with chemicals, antibiotics and such. Grain feeding came about when we began to also farm animals. Living along side live stock made us sick as we began to come into contact with unknown diseases (think of things like swine flu, bird flu, rabies, bubonic plague).

Now I can't say for sure that there was no such thing as cancer prior to 10,000 years ago (and I'm guessing nor can anyone else confirm this since there are no written records from this time), yet many of us are vastly aware that cancer is spreading and becoming more and more common place as the years go by (this is also due to increased population - more people, more cancer rates.). Add to that the fact that we're also using more and more synthetic chemicals in our day to day lives and these substances have the power to alter our genetics causing families to become prone to certain cancers (i.e. people who were present when nuclear testing first began).

The irony is that the advent of farming and living aside live stock gave those who lived this way stronger immune systems (think of the effects on indigenous people coming into contact with people from the Western world, illness that Westerners survived all but wiped out indigenous populations).

Where do we turn to from here? 

What can we do to reduce our chances of cancer? 

Can genetics be altered so that families are no longer prone to cancers?

I cannot answer the last question because if it could be done I've no idea how many generations it would take to have an effect. However, doing the following is a GREAT place to start reducing the potential of getting cancer:

• Eat diets high in antioxidants (brightly coloured fruits and vegetables) and mix your diet up with a variety of many different fruits, vegetables and nuts
• Reduce the amount of grains you eat
• Eat organically
• If you eat meat, eat less meat (I believe The Truth About Meat said a good ratio is around 40-100gm a day - 3 days a week)
• Eat less red meat
• Avoid eating meats that are processed and have chemical additives
• Grow your own organic vegetables (if possible) & DON'T use pesticides!
• Go green as much as possible and find ways to reduce consumption of plastic packaging and wastage
• Use clean skin care and cleaning products or make your own 
• Get educated by experts who can teach you ways to live clean
• Avoid petroleum / mineral oil based products
• Avoid germ killing products
• Get more sunlight (vitamin D has it's own cancer fighting properties)
• Limit your alcohol and sugar intake and quit smoking

In this blog I've written numerous articles on how to be more green, what concerns there are related to man made chemicals in mainstream products, what to avoid, how to avoid them... All in the HOPES of reducing the amount of harmful substances people come into contact with. The main aim with JOLI is to reduce the worlds' chemical foot print because regardless of how often we're told 'it's safe', there is lots of evidence out there saying otherwise. With cancer on the rise (even in our pets!) it is important to me, and many others, that we try and reduce those statistics.

Please join me in my crusade and help change the world for the better.