| Cancer cells love to thrive in an anaerobic environment – that means “without oxygen”. They love conditions where tissues are acidic and oxygen levels are low. That’s one of the first things I learned about cancer – something called The Warburg Effect. The Warburg Effect and Why You Should Care In 1931 Otto Heinrich Warburg was awarded the Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine, mainly for his investigation of the metabolism of tumors and the respiration of cells, and more particularly, for his discovery of respiratory enzymes. He edited and has much of his original work published in “The Metabolism of Tumours” (1931) and wrote “New Methods of Cell Physiology” (1962). Otto Warburg observed that the metabolism of cancer cells is different than for normal adult cells. Normal adult cells use a small energy plant located inside them to produce most of their energy needs from oxygen, termed an “aerobic” process. In contrast, cancer cells rely mainly on glucose (sugar) for the first part of their energy production, termed an “anaerobic” process. The anaerobic process is called glycolysis. Remember that one of my first few newsletters talked about how sugar is a problem for cancer patients? The paradox is that cancer cells rely on glucose even if oxygen is available. This phenomenon is called aerobic glycolysis or the Warburg effect. The other thing that cancer cells love is an acidic environment – they clump together in this environment and steal sugar from the body of their host. It stands to reason that if cells are all stacked up and sticking together, their ability to behave normally is impaired and trouble ensues! So How Do We Combat The Warburg Effect? When someone is first diagnosed with breast cancer, what becomes more important than anything is to find out what could interrupt this process of a lack of oxygen and acidity in the body’s tissues. This is a crucial part of the puzzle to help establish the Root Cause: 1. Get sugar out of your diet. Because we, as normal human beings, tend to love sugar so much, and because it seems to be in so many things we eat, it can be very hard to avoid. Educate yourself around food and hidden sugars. My best recommendation about sugar is this. If you believe that you could have some cancer cells racing around inside your body still, avoid sugar like the plague, especially refined sugar. Sugar from fruit (fructose) should be limited, but it is important to understand that fruit is very beneficial for fighting breast cancer. On the other hand, if your doctor has said you are cancer-free (or if you never had it and just want to keep it that way), limit your sugar intake severely. It has been said that sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine and it is so hard on all of the systems of your body. 2. Juicing. Juicing organic vegetables (especially beets and greens) and fruit offers the best form of nutrition for your body, most easily and quickly bio-available and helps to get your system alkaline very quickly. It also helps to bring more oxygen to your cells. Use a masticating juicer, it’s the very best kind for healthy juicing. 3. Eat lots of organic raw foods to help your body be as alkaline as it can be, and to provide your cells with the building blocks they need, and the anti-cancer phytochemicals that are in raw food. I don’t mean that you have to eat raw food all of the time, but at least once per day is a good thing to aim for. 4. Start on a fitness regimen to keep your cells oxygenated – swimming, walking, yoga, tai chi, cycling, gym workouts, yoga – they all help immensely. Studies show that at least 30 minutes of exercise per day goes a long way toward helping breast cancer survivors stay fit and well. 5. Essential oils bring more oxygen into the body. You can diffuse them, breathe them in from the bottle or your hands, spread them on your body via a carrier oil or your own organic lotion. Use them daily! 6. Know which supplements make a huge difference for healing from breast cancer. Start by getting a HTMA and the recommended Blood Panel, we can establish what minerals are deficient in your body due to the stress you have endured. Also we will be able to assess from these tests how your body is responding to blood sugar, and take a look at thyroid and adrenal health, liver & gut function etc….. Contact the clinic for more information or to make an appointment. |
