By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Sorry vegans and veggie-burger lovers, you’re not going to like this. I believe hamburgers are the perfect food. I mean hamburgers from REAL, red meat from grass-grazed cattle raised sustainably.

Why is hamburger the perfect food? Let’s talk beef first.

Beef gets slammed as the “red meat” that is often considered unhealthy. But much depends on the source of the beef that determines whether it is ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’. We will get into the grass fed vs. conventionally-raised meat in a bit.

Why is beef so perfect?

Beef contains “heme” iron which is much more easily assimilated in the body, than iron that comes from plants. Heme iron is a form of iron that humans can absorb very efficiently, and it also helps the body absorb non-heme iron from plant-based foods. One study even found meat as being more effective than iron tablets at maintaining iron levels in women during exercise.

Beef also contains zinc, selenium, choline (vital for liver health), vitamin B12 (only available from animal sources), and vitamin B6, along with vitamins A and E.

Meat is not just high in protein. It is also a source of many nutrients that are simply not available in plants. Meat provides vitamin B12 (only available from animal sources), a highly absorbable type of iron, essential amino acids, zinc, selenium, omega 3 fatty acids, EPA, DHA, vitamin D, and vitamin K2–none of which are found in plant foods.

Now, let’s discuss grass fed beef vs conventional beef. Conventionally raised cattle are finished on a diet of corn, kept in crowded, filthy pens and are generally in poor health. Their diet of grain makes them high in inflammatory omega 6 fats and low in healthier omega 3 fats. Conventional cattle are often pumped full of antibiotics and steroid hormones which are known to help them pack on the weight quickly. Overall, conventional beef is a far different animal than grass fed beef and can hardly be compared.

Grass fed and grass finished beef are raised in their natural environment, eating their natural diet. This means they have far fewer health problems and do not need hormones or antibiotics to fight disease or make them gain weight. They are raised in sunlight and natural pastures making their environment far healthier and far less stressful.

Grass fed beef has a different fat profile than conventional beef. Grass fed beef can have up to 5X the amount of omega 3 fatty acids as conventionally-raised beef. Omega 3 fatty acids lower inflammation, and have been found to help prevent heart disease, strokes, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis. Omega 3 fats also help prevent Alzheimer’s, depression and anxiety, as well as ADHD.

Grass fed meat has lower levels of saturated fat compared to grain fed beef and it contains a very important type of fat called “conjugated linoleic acid”. CLA is a potent cancer fighting compound. CLA has slowed the growth of an unusually wide variety of tumors, including cancers of the skin, breast, prostate, and colon.

Grass fed cattle contain three to five times more CLA than conventionally-raised meat. In a Finnish study, women who had higher levels of CLA in their diets had a 60% lower risk of breast cancer than women who had low levels of CLA.

Grass fed beef contains more antioxidants, pound for pound than conventionally-raised meat.

Beef contains all the amino acids your body needs to synthesize protein. It’s a very high quality source of protein. Body builders and weekend warriors alike eating plenty of beef find they easily build muscle and lower their risk of injury. Beef also contains beta-alanine, an amino acid that helps create carnosine. Carnosine is vital to the muscle power and increases your ability to perform high intensity exercise.

Eating more protein—not less—is essential not only to good health, but also in keeping blood sugar low and preventing diabetes and obesity. Meat is one of the highest quality sources of protein.

So that brings us to burgers. The ubiquitous burger. They are certainly not all the same.

And that leads me to my controversial statement: “Burgers are the most perfect food.”

Let’s discuss…

We all know burgers can be delicious. They are incredibly adaptable. And ground beef can be one of the most economical cuts of meat—even grass fed ground beef.

Burgers are great plain, but they can become a masterpiece of your culinary skills and creativity, depending on what you add—or subtract—from them.

First of all, I’d recommend you ditch the doughy bun. Grains are inflammatory and not Paleo, although you can find grain-free buns. Even better, eat your burger with a lettuce wrap for a bun—or try a collard green wrap for some extra nutrition—just blanch first to make the collards easier and more tender.

You can also drastically boost the nutrition power of your beef by adding in some liver, beef heart or kidney. Chop in the food processor and mix in your ground beef and you won’t even taste it—you’ll just get all the massive health benefits.

Use healthy condiments. Some delicious avocado mayo, sugar free catsup, whole ground mustard, jalapenos, avocado, sliced sweet onion, sautéed mushrooms, and a fresh, ripe, juicy sliced tomato are great ways to up your burger game. Pile on those fun toppings. Don’t forget fun toppings like sauerkraut, kimchi, coleslaw or baby greens.

The sky’s the limit! High quality burger toppings make for a higher quality burger.

And last but not least, don’t forget the bacon, a good quality grass fed cheese, or even an egg for some extra protein.

You can create a different burger theme every night of the week! Enjoy that delicious, perfect, juicy grass fed burger!

References
https://www.webmd.com/diet/grass-fed-beef-good-for-you#3
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthier-burger/
https://www.leanandtenderbeef.com/Blog/10-Surprising-Health-Benefits-of-Grass-Fed-Beef/
https://sustainabledish.com/meat-is-magnificent/
https://grasslandbeef.com/?placement=&network=g&loc_physical_ms=9028818&store_code=&device_model=&loc_interest_ms=&albert_targetid=kwd-17111085630&albert_campaignid=2037231091&product_country=&feeditemid=&device=c&albert_keyword=us%20wellness%20meats&merchant_id=&product_id=&albert_category=&matchtype=e&product_partition_id=&product_channel=&albert_creativeid=414874517196&product_language=&albert_agid=70065469337&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5auGBhDEARIsAFyNm9HCaAPzk-RAkIfOp1OJOJCcA3AtYXzuU47izQPDXV3b8hkQ1tsSArYaAnn5EALw_wcB

The post Why Hamburgers are the Perfect Food appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, BSN,co-author of the best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen,The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging&The Diabetes Fix

Fake meat sales are soaring, thanks to a couple of new product offerings out there that look and supposedly taste like real meat. Are they better for the planet? Are they better for our health?

Once upon a time there was only Tofurky and Gardenburgers to eat instead of meat. Now ‘fake meat’ is the new trendy food at restaurants that even include TGI Fridays and White Castle.

Fake meat sales have grown because of the growing interest in lessening the environmental impact of climate change, due in part, say the ardent vegans, by the concentrated animal factory operations (CAFO’s) that plague the countryside of the United States and other industrialized countries.

With big celebrities like Leonard di Caprio promoting companies that make fake meat like Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger, droves of people are now purchasing these meat alternatives in hopes of improving both their own health and the planet’s health. And, besides plant-derived meat alternatives, veggie burgers are now facing competition from the real thing—sort of—lab-grown meat. Yes, ‘real’ meat that does not come from an animal. Grown in a lab instead.

But really, are these ‘meats’ good for you—or the planet?

Remember tofu? Every vegan’s favorite meat-substitute. While generally tasteless on its own, tofu absorbed flavors and seasoning to adapt to most any recipe. (Soy products have been shown to not be healthy for you).

Attempts to make meat substitutes have been around forever, but growing increase in demand has increased the products that are now available. Fast forward to today, when plant-based meat is far more sophisticated—looking more and tasting more like the real thing.

Companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger have utilized new research to make their products even more meat-like. Other meatless ‘meat’ companies include Gardein, Tofurky (yes, it’s still around), Fieldroast, Lightlife, Morningstar, Trader Joe’s, and Target’s own brand, Simply Balanced.

Beyond Meat worked with scientists at the University of Missouri to develop pea proteins and other plant-based proteins, along with things like beet juice to create that ‘bloody’ look like a real juicy burger.

Impossible Foods was actually founded by a biologist who has attempted to copy the juice that a real burger contains. Impossible Foods does this by using a type of plant-based ‘blood’ from soy, which has drawn some criticism. More on that later.

Aside from these plant-based meats that are emerging, a new technology has been brewing in a lab. Lab-grown meats are a complex scientific technology to re-create real meat, in a lab. Lab meat is actually grown from cell tissues harvested from real meat. However, growing a group of cells in a laboratory is far different that raising an animal with meat, so the lab meat products are still a work in progress.

One clean meat startup created a single cultured meatball at a cost of around $18,000 a pound. It’s unlikely it will make it to your grocery store shelves for a while yet, although the cost of production is rapidly decreasing as more and more “clean meat” companies appear. A couple companies in the race now predict they may have ‘real’ affordable lab meat by 2020.

So what exactly are we eating when we eat these meat substitutes?

When I eat grass-fed/grass-finished burger raised on an organic farm, I know exactly what I am getting. But eating plant-based manufactured ‘meat’ is a whole different story, and these foods don’t seem exactly like health foods either.

While I cannot list every single ingredient in all the plant-based substitute meats, the (new improved) ingredients of one of the most popular meat-substitutes include: water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, natural flavors, potato protein, methylcellulose, yeast extract, cultured dextrose, food starch modified, soy leghemoglobin, salt, soy protein isolate, vitamins and minerals. How ‘natural’ is that?

Soy has been controversial for our health for a number of years. Why? Well for one, if it is not organic, it has been doused with glyphosate just days before harvest, and no doubt you are getting a load of that toxic substance as soon as you bite into that meatless burger.

Soy also contains goitrogens which block thyroid function, phytates which prevent mineral absorption, and phytoestrogens which can cause natural estrogen to go awry in the body.

Now let’s address the other controversial ingredient in fake meat—leghemoglobulin, which also comes from soy. This is the stuff they put in the Impossible Burger to look and taste like blood.

The key ingredient, designed to look like real blood, actually does not meet the basic FDA, Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status. This soy ‘heme’ is a bio-engineered protein additive that adds the meat-like taste and color. This GMO product is something that we as humans have never eaten before. Impossible Foods recognizes that SLH has never been widespread in the human diet in a natural or genetically engineered form.

According to this article in Huffpost (Aug, 2017) and several other news articles, Impossible Foods admitted that up to a quarter of the ‘heme’ ingredient in the burgers was also composed of 46 “unexpected” animal proteins, some of which have been identified and none that have been assessed for safety as of yet.

Impossible Foods put this genetically engineered product on the market even though the company has admitted to the FDA that it had not conducted safety tests. Despite the FDA’s warnings, Impossible Foods went ahead and started selling the Impossible Burger in 2016.

Uhh, please pass the REAL grass-fed beef burger…

What about some of the other meat substitutes? While they may not have the controversial GMO soy ingredient in them, most of them are highly processed foods, with lots of filler ingredients like wheat protein (gluten), starches and fillers, pea protein, isolated soy protein, natural and artificial flavors (no one knows WHAT these are), salt, sugars, and MSG. Honestly, those are not healthy ingredients, they are processed food ingredients, and many of those have their own health risks.

While Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods meats have similar amounts of protein, they are full of other UN-natural ingredients. I honestly don’t understand the thought process of wanting to eat a processed fake meat instead of real meat from a grass-fed cow or pasture-raised chicken.

Granted, I understand some of the reasoning to avoid the conventionally-raised, drug-filled, cruelly treated, polluting, CAFO meat from cattle or poultry. And to some extent, eating fake meat gets around some of the methane, CO2 emissions, and toxic runoff issues that surround CAFO meat.

However, synthetic biology has its own issues. What about this new lab-grown meat, otherwise known as “clean meat”. This is ‘Frankenburger’ for sure!

Lab-grown meat comes from stem cells from an animal’s muscle tissue, combined with a serum (usually from the fetuses of dead cows). After the cells are fed sugar and salts, they begin to grow into actual muscle fibers. Sometimes fat tissue is added to the meat to make it seem more ‘real’.

Yes, this so-called ‘clean meat’ is possibly better for the environment and uses less land and water, and the lab-grown meat producers say it will help to provide a solution to the need for meat for a growing population. Little is known about lab-grown meat at this point however; it thus far is extremely expensive to produce.

And what about nutrition? Certainly, meat grown in a petri dish cannot offer the natural health benefits that grass-fed meat does.

While large-scale industrial meat production takes its toll on our health, and the health of the earth, sustainable alternative do exist. Cattle that graze on land that is unusable for crops actually improve the soil quality of the earth by fertilizing it as they graze.

Compare that to all the industrial processing and packaging that goes into a fake meat like Impossible Burger. Mono-cropped grains, pesticides and fertilizers that destroy the natural, living soil, and fossil fuels that are used for large-scale farming and processing, along with factories to produce it, trucks and trains to transport it, and packaging of cardboard, ink and plastic.

If you can get away from CAFO meats, you will find that grass-fed, pastured-raised meats and poultry offer you far more NATURAL nutrition in a one-ingredient product. Naturally-raised meats contain far more healthy omega 3 fats, cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), real bioavailable heme iron, vitamin A, and health-promoting antioxidants than grain-fed, unhealthy CAFO meat and poultry.

While some think the primary goal of avoiding meat is to stop the suffering of animals, compare a diet of grass-fed meat, dairy and pasture-raised chickens that eat a natural diet based on naturally-growing grass from un-tilled, naturally fertilized soil, that allows other animals to thrive as well.

Animals like gophers, snakes, toads, mice, rabbits, birds, insects, worms, grubs, and fish still live on this land that is alive. Cattle and chickens graze on the grass, leaving behind manure that goes back into the soil and nourishes it.

Compare this to mono-cropped fields, cleared of all natural plants, grasses, weeds, trees and animals, covered in artificial fertilizers, herbicides with genetically modified grains and watered with irrigated soil from a depleted river. Is this natural? Is this humane?

There is much that goes into this equation, and livestock get much of the blame, as do meat-eaters. Eating high-tech, manufactured, processed fake meat will not save us, our health, or the planet.

Here is a great quote from Dana Perls in an article published the The Medium, criticizing food tech:

“Instead of investing in risky new food technologies that are potential problems masquerading as solutions, shouldn’t we be investing in proven, beneficial, regenerative agriculture and transparent, organic food that consumers are actually demanding?”

A big part of the issue here is that we, as a whole, seem to have a total disconnect from nature. We humans are part of nature, and learning to eat NATURALLY, in a more sustainable way, is the answer. Not technologically-created food.

References
https://draxe.com/grass-fed-beef-nutrition/
https://draxe.com/lab-grown-meat-food-technology/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beef-of-the-future-is-here-and-its-not-made-of-meat_n_5b158064e4b010565aaeb066
https://sustainabledish.com/fake-burgers-make-no-sense/
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/clean-lab-grown-meat-plant-based-burger

The post Fake Meat vs Real Meat appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

Cancer. It’s one word that strikes fear into the hearts of most people. It can cause you to totally re-think your whole life. Empowering yourself with a plan of action will go a long way towards your health, wellness and mindset. If your lifestyle and diet need an overhaul, now is the time to make some drastic changes.

Foods have the power to strengthen our immune system to fight cancer, increase antioxidants in our body to protect our cells’ DNA and prevent cancer—all the while adding to our overall health. Our bodies have a natural tendency to want to heal, but we must help our bodies return to a point where they are able to fight off disease. We can do this by eliminating cancer-causing foods and toxins, and creating a diet of healthful, cancer-fighting, immune-strengthening foods.

Whether you choose to undergo conventional cancer treatments or decide to follow a more natural route, these tips on cancer fighting foods will help you fight cancer and get back on the road to health.

While conventional medicine downplays the importance of diet and lifestyle changes, it is necessary for you to realize that both your diet and lifestyle are of utmost importance!

The best start is by removing and detoxifying the body from those foods and toxins that are feeding and encouraging cancer, oxidation, and a weakened immune system, and then begin rebuilding the body’s cells—from the ground up—so to speak with super healthy foods that fight cancer.

Starve the Cancer

Adopt a ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diets have been scientifically proven to improve cancer recovery and to have a proven ‘anti-tumor’ effect on cancer cells. A ketogenic diet is a very low carb, lower protein and higher fat diet. Keto diets help to turn the body’s ‘fat burning’ mechanism on, while keeping blood sugar and insulin very low. When the body is able to efficiently break down fat, or ketones as they are called, in the body to use as fuel, the body is ‘fat-adapted’. Cancer cells primarily use glucose as their fuel, and cannot utilize ketone bodies, so they essentially starve and die on this type of diet.

Besides the keto diet’s ability to lower blood sugar and insulin and to burn fat for fuel, this diet is also known in health circles as having some very health-protective benefits. For one, it starves cancer cells, and as we know, this is super important, so it is well worth it to make some major dietary changes. This diet also helps reduce inflammation, another health issue tied to cancer.

The best way to prepare the body for a keto diet is to adopt an intermittent fasting routine. This allows the body to fast for periods of 12-16 hours or more, and helps to begin the fat adaption process.

Contrary to what many of us believe, our bodies do not just fight cancer when we actually have a cancer diagnosis. Cancer takes years to grow in our bodies, and we are actually fighting and killing off cancer cells on a daily basis! So, eating foods that fight cancer is extremely important on a daily basis as well—whether you have been diagnosed with cancer or not.

Says Ty Bollinger, from TheTruthAboutCancer.com website,

“New studies focused on the benefits of using food as medicine have made fascinating discoveries in the last decade. The results from prestigious labs all over the world show us that not only can you improve your general health to prevent disease… you can actively fight disease… with food.”

Yes, in fact, there are foods that specifically target cancer cells, all the while benefiting and strengthening the healthy cells in your body. There are foods available right at your local health food store or farmer’s market that will help you fight and destroy these invading cells.

This article will help you uncover those foods that will help you to:

• Detoxify your body
• Strengthen the immune system and repair cells’ DNA
• Actually kill cancer cells and stop its spread

Top Ten Cancer Fighting Foods

1. Garlic

The #1 most powerful anti-cancer food is garlic. Garlic, especially raw garlic, along with its other close relatives in the allium family including onions, leeks and shallots are some of the most powerful cancer-fighting foods. Garlic and the rest of the allium family contain very powerful antioxidants like allicin that remove free radicals from the body. Garlic is also valuable as an immune booster, is anti-inflammatory, lowers blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and detoxifies.

There are several studies that show an increased intake of garlic with a reduced risk of certain cancers, especially cancers of the stomach, colon, esophagus, pancreas, and breast. Other cancers that garlic and onions fight include oral, ovarian, endometrial, kidney, and laryngeal cancers.

The cancer-fighting effects of garlic may be related to its antibacterial properties, or its ability to fight cancer-causing substances, help repair DNA, reduce cell reproduction or induce cell death.

2. Broccoli, Broccoli Sprouts and other Cruciferous Vegetables

Broccoli is related to the whole cruciferous cancer-fighting vegetable family that includes cabbage, cauliflower, arugula, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts. Broccoli and its cruciferous cousins have proven effective against many cancers, especially breast, cervical, gastric, prostate and liver cancers.

Broccoli is also super high in powerful phytochemicals and the antioxidants glucoraphanin and indole-3-carbinol, which are proven cancer-fighting weapons, which have selective toxicity against cancerous cells, while strengthening the body’s healthy cells.

Cruciferous vegetables are known to be powerful cancer killers and many are rich in glutathione, known as the “master antioxidant” because of its powerful free-radical-scavenging abilities. Most all of the cruciferous vegetables are nutrient-dense sources of a family of phytochemicals called isothiocyanates that are linked to cancer prevention.

Broccoli sprouts actually contain some of the highest levels of cancer fighting compounds. Numerous studies have shown the highest cancer protective properties tend to be concentrated in the sprouts about 3 days after sprouted. Broccoli is also naturally anti-inflammatory, good for the bones and the heart, and nutrient dense, so it benefits overall health as well.

3. Green Tea

Green tea contains some uniquely powerful antioxidants called ‘catechins’ that are strong free-radical fighters and have been shown in lab studies to actually kill or inhibit the growth of existing cancers and shrink tumors. Green tea’s two main anticancer compounds, EGCG and quercetin are powerful weapons in a fight against many types of cancers.

Additionally, green tea helps to promote the production of the antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase (SOD) which drastically lower inflammation in the body. As an added benefit, green tea also reduces the risk of heart disease, lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol while raising HDL (good) cholesterol, and lowers blood pressure.

4. Leafy Green Veggies

Leafy greens are one of the most important parts of any healthy diet since they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other necessary phytochemicals. Leafy greens, especially bitter greens, like arugula, watercress, kale, collards, mustard greens, and more, are badass fighters in the war against cancer.

Many of these greens—mustard, collards, kale, arugula and more are actually part of the cruciferous veggie family, so they contain the same cancer-fighting compounds as their cousins. Leafy greens are high in vitamin C, methylfolate (an absorbable type of folic acid), and betacarotene—all powerful antioxidants.

Leafy greens are also sources of glucosinolates, which gives them effective antibacterial and antiviral properties, detox the body of carcinogenic substances, reprogram cancer cells to die, and prevent tumor formation and metastasis. These natural chemicals are activated during chewing and digestion into biologically active cancer-killing compounds such as indoles, thiocyanates and isothiocyanates.

5. Ginger

Ginger is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory cancer-fighting foods you can find! Ginger is known to actually shrink tumors and destroy cancer stem cells, as effectively as some chemotherapy medications. However, ginger has the ability to protect healthy cells while killing cancer stem cells.

Ginger contains a powerful compound, 6-shogaol, that is highly effective in killing cancer stem cells in breast cancer, according to a study done in 2015. Shogaol was compared to the chemotherapy drug, Taxol, and curcumin from turmeric. The compound found in ginger was found to be the most effective, especially against cancer stem cells. Taxol could not match the activity of the shogaol in ginger even at a 10,000X increase!

Ginger extracts have been shown in scientific studies to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor effects on human cells and cancer cells. Because ginger has such a powerful anti-inflammatory effect on cells, reducing key inflammatory indicators also reduced chances of cancer development, in addition to ginger’s tumor-shrinking capabilities.

Ginger’s anti-nausea action is also very valuable to prevent nausea and vomiting as a result of chemotherapy from standard cancer treatments.

6. Turmeric

The super-food turmeric has been valued as far back as 3,000 BC and is one of the most important anti-cancer nutrients studied today. Curcumin is the yellow pigment that comes from turmeric and is one of three known active ingredients in turmeric. Curcumin has demonstrated incredible anti-cancer benefits. In countries where people eat turmeric daily as a part of their diet, research shows lower rates of many types of cancers.

Over 2,000 researched studies have been published that show curcumin combats cancers of the breast, prostate, liver, colon, lung, pancreas and more. Many of these studies have shown curcumin actually stops cancer cells from multiplying and brings about cancer cell death. Curcumin’s ability to fight cancer is superior to many chemotherapy drugs because it selectively kills cancer stem cells, leaving healthy cells intact.

Curcumin is currently being tested in several clinical trials to treat cancer, including prostate, breast, colon and osteosarcoma. Curcumin can kill a wide variety of tumor cell types through several totally different mechanisms. Because of the varied way curcumin can cause cancer cell death, cancer cells are not likely to develop resistance to curcumin, unlike many chemotherapy drugs.

7. Mushrooms

Medicinal mushrooms have been used for centuries all over the world to fight cancer and enhance or modulate immune response. These mushrooms include shitake, reishi, maitake, mannentake, and cordyceps. Research has indicated these varieties of mushrooms have unique anti-cancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and liver protective activities.

Reishi mushrooms have been used in Chinese medicine for cancer treatments for many years. Reishi is also said to improve well being, strength and enhance health. Reishi mushrooms stimulate the immune system, diminish the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy, and protect the cells’ DNA.

Turkey Tail is another well-known medicinal mushroom in alternative medicine. Studies show it improves survival rates, modulates (balances out) the immune system and has anti-tumor properties. It also enhances the beneficial effects of chemotherapy and reduces side effects.

Cordyceps acts an immune stimulator by increasing cancer-fighting T cells and ‘Natural Killer’ cells, while prolonging the life and power of white blood cells. This increases the body’s ability to fight pathogens, infections and cancer. It has demonstrated anti-tumor properties and also protects the kidneys from chemotherapy.

Maitake mushroom works on the immune system. Studies have shown that it can enhance two different immune system pathways, helping it fight infection and protecting the body from invaders like cancer. Maitake also protects cells with its antioxidant properties and decreases the inflammatory factor COX2 enzyme so common in cancer physiology. Maitake also fights metastases and prevents the the proliferation and spread of cancer.

8. Pomegranate

Pomegranates have been used for many, many years for a variety of diseases and illnesses like cancer. Pomegranates contain strong antioxidants, and are a rich source of anthocyanins, ellagitannins, and hydrolysable tannins.

Studies show that the pomegranate has a multi-targeted attack against various types of cancers, which is one of the reasons pomegranates are so effective. It does this by protecting against DNA damage, stopping the spread of cancer in the body, decreasing inflammation, protecting healthy cells and causing cancer cell apoptosis (cell death). Pomegranate is effective against a wide variety of cancers.

9. Berries

Berries, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, black raspberries, cherries, elderberries, and bilberries are all loaded with a cancer-fighting substance called anthocyanins. Blackberries, black raspberries and blueberries, in particular, have some of the highest levels of this health-promoting phytochemical. Anthocyanins slow the growth of pre-malignant (cancer) cells and prevent new blood vessels from forming which would feed a cancerous tumor.

10. Orange Colored Vegetables

Bright colored vegetables means that they are loaded with phytochemicals, especially antioxidants called carotenoids which fight cancer. Other carotenoids include alphacarotene, betacarotene, lycopene, lutein, and cryptoxanthin, which are all related to plant-based vitamin A.

Including citrus fruits, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, red peppers, tomatoes and other bright red, orange or yellow vegetables will help to get plenty of these powerful carotenoids in your diet. Betacarotene has been well-studied and is known to be essential for a strong immune system, detoxing the body, and fighting cancers of the skin, eyes and organs. ‘Eating the rainbow’ helps to give your body a full spectrum of these powerful cancer-fighting tools.

This list is by no means complete—there are literally hundreds of foods, herbs and spices that fight cancer, and by eating a variety of fresh, organic, naturally raised foods—along with limiting the toxins in your diet and environment, you can begin the healing process.

In addition to the above cancer-fighting foods, overall nutrition is extremely important. Every bite you put into your mouth should be a nutritious super-food. Strengthening your body, powering up your immune system and optimizing your health as much as possible is key to your health and longevity.

Be sure to include plenty of healthy proteins in your diet. While this is a plant-heavy diet, it by no means is a vegan diet. A healing body needs protein to rebuild itself. Supplement with small amounts of naturally-raised, grass-fed and grass finished meats, organic, pastured raised poultry and eggs, and wild caught fish. Meat, poultry and fish raised in a natural environment without added hormones, antibiotics or grain will nourish and protect your body while it fights cancer.

Add in bone broth to soothe and heal the digestive system while strengthening and fortifying it. Bone broth is valuable to help soothe and remove inflammation in the gut. Often gut issues are a basis for overall inflammation in the body–one of the starting points for cancer growth.

Healthy fats are also key to good nutrition and good health to fight cancer. Avoid toxic, processed vegetable oils and instead consume plenty of natural healthy fats like grass-fed butter, organic, unrefined coconut oil, and high antioxidant extra virgin olive oil. And be sure to add in the cancer fighting healthy fats of unprocessed nuts, avocados, and grass-fed organic dairy products, especially cultured dairy products like organic (unsweetened) yogurt and unprocessed cheeses.

Above all, keep a healthy mindset, meditate, de-stress, and love your body and yourself. Your body needs your attention now to recover and regain health. Give gratitude and appreciation for those supportive people in your life and appreciate living. Every day is a new day. Take care and have faith!

Speaking of cancer…

A top Ivy League doctor has exposed a shocking link between sex and CANCER in people over 60.

If you make love at least once a month, please watch his urgent warning below…

>> See link between sex and cancer here

References
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/garlic-fact-sheet
https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/12-ways-to-prepare-detox-cleanse/
https://draxe.com/detox-diet/
https://draxe.com/cancer-fighting-foods/
https://drjockers.com/plant-based-ketogenic-diet/
https://drjockers.com/10-critical-ketogenic-diet-tips/
https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/cancer-fighting-benefits-of-curcumin/
https://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2016/11/How-Pomegranate–May-Protect–Against-Cancer/Page-01
https://foodrevolution.org/blog/ginger-cancer-treatment/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321410.php
https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/fact-sheets/cancer-reishi-mushroom-fact-sheet/article/647081/2/

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