ory Essays Research PapersThe Link Between Heart Disease and Cancer
Recently, on a visit to my mothers’ house, I pulled out my parents’ wedding album. As I flipped through the pages of the wedding album, it was exciting to see pictures of my parents and our family members. Everyone seemed to be joyous except my grandmothers. They both had sad and angry expressions on their faces as their children made their vows to each other. I, too, was saddened as I noticed my paternal grandmother’s figure because one of her breasts was wider, flatter and higher than her other breast. It appears that she had attempted to fill her bra cup with some type of soft cloth. I did not know that she had succumbed to breast cancer and had a radical mastectomy so early in her life.
Although my maternal grandmother is still alive today, she has had advanced heart disease most of her life. We called my grandmother “GM” (grandmother). Although GM is a kind and gentle woman, she is quite temperamental. I believe these emotions and worry spike her towering blood pressure.
As I continued to go through my parents’ wedding album, I noticed that mostly everyone in my family has died of heart disease or cancer. Although my father had diabetes, he died of a massive heart attack. My great uncle died of prostate cancer and his wife died after having a massive heart attack.
According to the 1995 Monthly Vital Statistics Report, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States; in fact, heart disease and cancer have been linked to diet and exercise. “I believe that 80 and 90 percent of cancers can be prevented because they are caused by environmental, dietary or nutritional factors,” according to Dan Colbert, M.D. and author of Walking in Divine Health. The most common cancers in the United States– colorectal cancer and breast cancer and prostate cancer–are linked to consumption of red meat, fats, and toxins in diet.
In Leviticus 3:17, it is written, “This shall be a perpetual statue through out your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood” (The New King James Bible). As a minister, I believe that the Bible is referring to fat and blood derived from animal meat which increases the total and LDL cholesterol.
Ironically, many people are unfamiliar with this severe perpetual warning not to consume fat or blood, and traditional and denominational Christians tend reject this statute. They foolishly rationalize that Christians are under grace; therefore, they simply ignore the statute. “Today, millions of American die of heart and blood vessel diseases. These diseases are responsible for one out of two deaths. Think of it-more people die of heart disease than are killed by cancer, infectious disease, AIDS, homicide and accidents combined. “I’m convinced we are dying of coronary disease because of the fat we eat,” Dr. Colbert expressed. Still, the RDA recommends 30 percent of the total diet should come from fat. Fat must be present in the diet to maintain good health. The body stores energy in the form of fat, and it provides the energy needed to perform muscular work. Fat provides similar benefits for animals, i.e., cows, pigs, and lambs, etc. “Animals store very large amounts of toxins, pesticides and industrial wastes in their fatty tissues. The Fattier the piece of meat, the greater the potential for the storage of pesticides. Many thousands of pesticides are being sprayed on our land each year, and the cattle that graze on the land are ingesting them. These harmful substances are not only ingested by these animals, but are immediately stored in their fat. So, if you are fond of fatty pieces of meat, such as T-bone steaks or ribs, you’re eating more than protein. You are transferring loads of pesticides into your body. The fattier the cut of meat, the more carcinogens it can contain,” Dr. Cobert stated.
Fats — saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated–provide the same number of calories–9 grams. The 1993 Journal of the American Medical Association recommends eating no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. One should eat no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats (all animal meats, beef tallow, butter, cheese, chocolate, cocoa butter, coconut oil, cream, hydrogenated oils, lard, palm oil, stick margarine, shortening, whole milk). One should eat no more than10 percent of calories as polyunsaturated fats (almonds, corn oil, cashews, cottonseed oil, filberts, fish, liquid/soft margarine, mayonnaise, pecans, safflower oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and walnuts). And, one should eat 10-15 percent of calories from monounsaturated fats (avocados, canola oil, cashews, olive oil, olives, peanut butter, peanut oil, peanuts, and poultry).
Moreover, one should replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fats. At one time, polyunsaturated fats were recommended to replace saturated fats until evidence suggested that polyunsaturated fats help in the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol, according to 1994 article in The Lancet.
Unfortunately, cancers attack the fattiest portions of the human body because toxins are stored in fat. For example, in men cancer attacks the prostate, and in women it attacks the breasts. Breast cancer and prostate cancer has been linked to elevated consumption animal fats and whole milk products. Not only do animals graze on toxic soil but also they are subjected to be injected with DES, which is a form of estrogen. Thus, small amounts of estrogen can be found in the body and women’s breast. Additionally, whole milk contains fat and cholesterol, which provides the building block for manufacturing more estrogen. A women’s body makes more estrogen using the fat which contains pesticides and other carcinogens. Additionally, when too much fat is consumed, it affects one’s entire blood volume, and can trigger a blockage resulting in a heart attack or stroke. For example, after consuming a fatty meal, the blood-all of it-gets thicker than usual. It has been described as “being thick as toothpaste or resembling sludge.” “Fat and oils in the blood increase its density . . .I’ve checked the blood of patients after they have eaten lunch and it is amazing how much fat is present. It rises to the top of the venipuncture tube, and you can actually see it. It is yellow and thick. Just imagine what that fat is doing to your blood vessels when the heart is attempting to pump it through your system,” Dr. Colbert described. No wonder God, in His divine guidance, commanded that we do not consume animal fat.
Further, cancer of the colon is caused by consumption of toxins that stay too long in the gastrointestinal tracts. According to the 1999 Edition of the PDR Family Guide to Nutrition Health, “Food takes three days or more to pass through the bowel. Eating even fewer fibers allows food to remain in the body even longer. With a high fiber diets, food is eliminated in a day or two.” Although fruits and vegetables are sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, low fat is key. “The higher the fiber content of the foods, the more toxins they will bind, which are then eliminated from your system,” Colbert said.
Additionally, exercise reduces the risk of colon cancer. “Increasing physical activity levels may be an effective approach for reducing the burden of colon in our society, ” a Harvard research wrote in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Ironically, simply walking at a normal or brisk pace for an hour a day reduces the risk of this type of cancer. Researchers are not certain how exercise reduces the risk, but one theory is that it increases the speed at which materials move through the bowel.
Today, I can still look through my parents’ wedding album and see photographs of our family; I thank God that we now have the knowledge to prevent most cancers and heart disease through prayer, diet, and exercise.
