Conscious Living

Eat to Starve Cancer

Most of us underestimate the impact of lifestyle choices on our ability to live vigorous and disease free lives. For example,  epigenetics (the study of gene activation) teaches that simple lifestyle choices can determine whether a “disease gene” such as heart disease or cancer (it runs in the family) is activated or ignored.

Physician and researcher Dr. William Li is founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to fighting disease globally. Angiogenesis is the process that our bodies use to grow blood vessels. According to Dr. Li, over 70 major diseases, including every kind of cancer, have as their common denominator unchecked blood vessel growth.

Concerning cancer, he says it’s not uncommon for us to grow microscopic tumors. At this point the tumor isn’t dangerous. The problem arises when the tumor develops a supporting network of blood vessels allowing it to grow.

Dr. Li asked an interesting question, since answered through years of research. Can we use diet to inhibit the unchecked blood vessel growth which accompanies these diseases? In other words, can we eat to starve cancer? Turns out that the answer is a resounding YES. By lacing our diet with foods rich in anti-angiogenic properties, we can dramatically decrease the chances of falling prey to cancer and many other dreaded diseases.

To find out what these foods are, watch his riveting TED video above. You’ll find his bio here.

“Imagine that one medical advancement held the promise to conquer cancer, perhaps within your lifetime … the potential to also end more than 70 of life’s most threatening conditions, affecting one billion people worldwide. This is the promise of angiogenesis, the first medical revolution of the 21st century.”

-William Li

Google Search as a Success Metaphor

Over the past couple of years  my ability to quickly find what I want on the internet  has improved dramatically.

I’d previously chalked that up to progress on Google’s part. They’re constantly refining the complex equations that create search results.

But I wasn’t giving myself enough credit. I’ve also become a better Googler. Through trial and error I’ve learned that clarity, being specific, and eliminating unnecessary words yield superior results when formulating a search request.

Of course, this is also one of the oldest and most elemental of all success principles. Giving our brains clear, specific instructions about what we want is fundamental to actually getting what we want. Clarity really is power.

Google Search as a success metaphor. Who’d a thought?

April is Earth Month

In the early nineties I attended a talk by John Robbins, author of the pioneering Diet for a New America. I was already passionate about food and its potential as a healing and transformative agent. However, my focus to this point had been mostly on the relationship between food and human health.

John Robbins opened my eyes to the planetary devastion caused by reliance on a meat based diet, not to mention the cruelty and unhealthy conditions to which animals bred for human consumption are often subjected.

Here are a few statistics which reflect the relative inefficiency of a meat based diet and it’s ecological consequences to our planet. I know this information is old hat to a lot of you. The question isn’t whether you’ve heard it before but what you’re doing with it.

• There are currently about 17 billion livestock in the world; that’s 3 times more livestock than people.
• The Water Education Foundation estimates that it takes about 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. Contrast that with the 25 gallons of water required to produce a pound of wheat.
• Our rainforests are being devestated to make room for the raising of cattle for human consumption. As they are destroyed, various plant and animal species disappear along with the forests. (Up to 50% of the earth’s animal and plant and animal species live inthe rain forests). This deforestation also reaps havoc on the world’s oxygen supply.
• Reliance on a meat based diet contributes to global warming and various forms of environmental pollution.

A vegetarian diet – or, ideally, a diet centered around raw and sprouted foods certainly has the potential to heal a majority of the degenerative diseases that plague Western society. However, on a deeper level, this style of eating can help heal our consciousness. Feeling more connected to everything, we are less likely to engage in behaviors that threaten our long – term health and survival.

During the coming month, be aware of the foods you eat and ask yourself if they are consistent with the level of health and vitality that you want for both yourself  and your planet.

As within, so without.

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