Nutrition And Cancer

The best thing about meeting people within the health and wellness industry is that they have such passion for their work. It was no exception when Nutrition, Sports and Biomedical Specialist Kaytee Boyd spoke at a recent ecostore #OnlyGoodStuff event of the benefits nutrition can offer in the protection of, or aid in, the recovery of cancer.

Having studied human nutrition and sports science, Kaytee’s worked within the business for 19 years and now applies her in-depth knowledge to personalised programmes at the Boyd Clinic where she specialises in cancer, adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalance, and gut and food allergies.

She also has an impressive background in fitness. As a professional athlete she’s represented New Zealand in various cycling disciplines, including the Commonwealth Games, and is a World Cup Gold Medallist in Track cycling. In short, she’s a superstar!

And there’s no doubt Kaytee lives and breathes her work. Brimming over with information she shared her healthy lifestyle tips (below) which she believes can make a significant difference to cancer treatment and cancer prevention.

For women –

Weight:
Watching your weight, and losing excess weight, Kaytee says, can dramatically cut your chances of developing breast cancer as well as keeping your estrogen levels down which is also associated with cancer risk increase.

Be a natural beauty:
Kaytee believes the more natural the products we use, the better, saying most cosmetics (including tampons) are made up of hazardous chemicals that may disrupt the body’s delicate hormone system. She refers to the use of parabens, to stop bacteria, as one of the worst offenders. She said 99% of human breast cancer tissue samples have presented with parabens. The average woman consumes between 1.8-4.5 kilograms of lipstick in her lifetime that could contain lead – reason enough to source alternative brands.

Eat organic:
Compared to conventional produce, Kaytee says, organic food contains significantly higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of the toxic metal cadmium (associated with breast cancer). She said that if you did eat meat to eat organic cuts. Eliminating pesticides, which contaminate nearly half the food we consume, is key. She cited non-organic celery and spinach as being amongst the big offenders of pesticide residue!

Exercise:
Kaytee is big on the importance of incorporating movement into your daily life. Vigorous exercise provides the greatest risk protection for cancer, she says, but even just a brisk walk is beneficial. (Without getting shouty about it, just think what goodness yoga brings us. All that beautiful stretching and detoxifying… I feel every time I practice that my body is grateful.)

Ditch the drink:
Although we hear how a few glasses of red wine a week may help prevent heart disease, when it comes to cancer Kaytee says even low levels of alcohol can raise your risk. She referred to The Nurse’s Health Study that found women who drank three to six alcoholic beverages on average per week were 15% more likely than teetotallers to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Green cleaners:
Kaytee recommends cleaning our homes with non-toxic formulas. She says that regular cleaners could be the source of hormone-disrupting chemicals, and a possible cause of breast cancer. Thankfully, there are now more options than ever available in our supermarkets. ecostore always clearly state the make up of their products and stand by their philosophy of always finding the safest alternative formula. And they work too!

Hormones:
Avoid exposing your body to extra hormones like estrogen and progestin from birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Kaytee says evidence suggests that both the pill and HRT may be responsible for a substantial number of breast cancer cases. Instead, she suggests non-hormonal solutions for contraception and menopause symptoms as well as bio-identical hormone replacement therapy with high mineral, vitamin/nutrient support.

Vitamin D:
Here’s a tricky one for me to get my head around. Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, can potentially reduce the incidence of breast cancer. Sunshine is the best source of the vitamin but you need to go without sunscreen to synthesize it… Kaytee suggests exposing as much of your body as possible (not your face) to the sun during the hours not considered high-risk for a small window of time to get your daily dose. You can also get Vitamin D by eating fatty fish, egg yolks and livers or by including supplements.

For men –
Kaytee emphasised how critical it is for men to maintain prostate health and get regularly checked. For men over 40 prostate problems are common so make sure you keep a vigilant eye on any possible symptoms or changes. She says exercise and nutrition, including supplements of the mineral selenium and vitamin E, are important as obesity contributes to prostate irritation. So too is ejaculation every few days, however that should occur, as it keeps the prostate clean.

For everybody, Kaytee says, managing sleep and stress is vital. This includes reducing late nights and getting in enough fun time. She prescribes belly laughs to get your endorphins flowing and at least eight hours sleep a night for adults, while teens need at least 10 hours. With 60% of all clients she sees in her clinic having adrenal fatigue this is advice worth following. Or, at least vigilantly trying!

This is a Big Topic I know, and it seems that we barely touched the surface, but to talk with Kaytee who has such experience is reassuring. That she deals with clients who have been through, or are going through, cancer treatment, simply reinforces how nutrition and an all-round healthy lifestyle is crucial to our wellbeing.

And you know us yogis, anything happening in the food world, we’re on it. I say this with affection, I promise, because hello, raw food I love you. However, we continue to practice our yoga and I’m fairly certain most of us are familiar with real, wholesome food and can even name some of those unnecessary toxins in our cleaning products. We’re perfect ambassadors for spreading the word!

For those of us who are cancer-free, for those who are cancer survivors, for those who are fighting it right this minute, for all the people we know and love who also know and love people with cancer, living well is a proactive life choice. That’s got to be a good thing, right? I don’t know about you but with yoga I became infinitely more aware of my own nutrition and wellbeing. Eating a massive bowl of ice-cream the night before class just didn’t cut it any more. There are changes we can make, small baby steps for some maybe, but tremendously important all the same. As are you.

– Jane

Thank you ecostore for hosting another #OnlyGoodStuff event! You’re amazing, and as we speak I’m wearing your lip balm (no parabens!) and the washing machine is washing away with my favourite lemon laundry powder (no nasties!).

©The Yoga Connection