Nutrition & Colon Cancer

Transcript:

MELANIE: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I'm Melanie Beasley, and I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with many years of helping clients in a variety of settings. I've worked with clients with diabetes, osteoporosis, PMS, perimenopause, menopause, depression, heart disease, anxiety, cancer, and autoimmune disease. So the list is, is pretty long what we do at Nutritional Weight and Wellness, which I love the variety.

And today we want to help you understand the role nutrition plays in prevention of colon cancer. We want to open your eyes to some everyday foods that could be putting you at risk for cancer, especially colon cancer. I've asked Monica Hoss to join me in studio today. Monica is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. She has two beautiful children at home in addition to practicing her first love, nutrition. Monica, tell me a little bit about you. Tell our listeners about you. This is so fun to see each other.

MONICA: Yes. Good morning listeners. It's great to be here in the studio with you today, Melanie, and back on the show. It's been a while. But as you mentioned, I have two kiddos: Luca and Lila. They are nine and seven. And so, you know, I work part-time and it's a great balance for our family because I can be doing what I love: seeing clients, but also home with them and present. And I also see a variety of clients like you.

MELANIE: Yeah. Yeah.

MONICA: And one of my favorite things I'm sure for you too, but usually by the second or third visit, they're already feeling so much better from changing their diet. And I think it's so cool to see the power of real food.

MELANIE: It's the best job in the world.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: To help people feel better.

MONICA: Yeah. And people can't believe, they can't believe how quickly it makes a difference. So I love, I love seeing that. So one thing that listeners might not know about me is I'm actually bilingual. So my parents…

MELANIE: We needed you so badly.

MONICA: Yes. So Spanish speakers, I'm here for you. So my parents are from Mexico City and they moved to Texas before I was born. So born in Texas, raised bilingual. I'm fluent in Spanish. But I also understand the Hispanic, Latin culture. I'm familiar with a lot of the traditional foods. So I can also help people maybe tweak those traditional recipes to a little bit healthier, you know, less processed foods that can be more healing. So…

MELANIE: Yes. Navigation.

MONICA: Yes, absolutely. So listeners, if you are more comfortable speaking Spanish or you know of someone, I'd love to help you with a healing diet.

MELANIE: Monica's your girl.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah. And just great talented dietitian you are.

MONICA: Oh, thank you Melanie.

MELANIE: I know you are. I hear from other clients. So yeah, she's, she's a great win for Nutritional Weight and Wellness.

MONICA: Thank you.

Statistics on colon cancer

MELANIE: So let's look at some interesting information about colon cancer. It is the most common type of gastrointestinal cancer. You may not realize that colorectal cancer rates in young adults, 50 and younger continue to rise. In fact, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America reported that from 1995 to 2019, colorectal cancer nearly doubled from 11% to 20% in people younger than 55. You have to ask what's going on here? What is causing this increase in colon cancer? It's, it's frightening. I'm seeing more in clinic. Aren't you?

MONICA: Yes. Yes. And like you said a lot earlier too, or young people.

MELANIE: Younger people. And if we exclude skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the U.S., and is the third leading cause of death. Monica, what are your thoughts on that?

Possible contributors for rapid increase in colon cancer

MONICA: Well, it's just crazy. And we really have to ask the question, what are some possible reasons for this rapid increase in colon cancer? So some of the risk factors we know are being overweight or obese, smoking, heavy alcohol use, low fiber diets, diets high in processed meats, and also a sedentary lifestyle. So sitting rather than moving. And if we look at the lifestyle of most people during the pandemic, over 50% of the population gained weight; something we know and see from a lot of our clients.

MELANIE: Yeah.

MONICA: Alcohol sales skyrocketed and, you know, it was a really stress…

MELANIE: Which maybe why we gained weight.

MONICA: Yes. Absolutely. And the stress of the pandemic.

MELANIE: Yes.

MONICA: Sometimes people went back to those not so healthy habits like smoking.

MELANIE: Comforting themselves; self comfort.

MONICA: Yep. And, you know, maybe for a lot of people that occasional pizza run turned into several nights of pizza. And, you know, let's think about pizza. What's on there? It's usually a combination of processed meat toppings, excess sugar and carbs, you know, coming from the bread, low fiber, many food preservatives and bad fats, because a lot of times they use refined soybean oil. So these are all things that we know contribute to the risk of colon cancer. And, you know, pizza may be an inexpensive way to feed a family, but the food quality isn't great.

MELANIE: Yeah. The sooner or later the way we eat comes home to roost.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: And so many times on Dishing Up Nutrition, we've said that cancer loves sugar or glucose. So if you want to practice a cancer prevention diet, you guessed it. Your first look at your diet is just to mark down maybe how often you eat sugar or processed carbs that turn into sugar. You can even just take a picture with your phone and revisit it after a week and say, how'd I do? Right?

MONICA: Yeah. That's a great easy idea.

High sugar foods feed cancer cells

MELANIE: So let's say you eat cereal for breakfast. This is a sugar food, even if it's not sugar coated because it converts rapidly into sugar into your bloodstream, and you have a fancy coffee drink on the way to work. And that is sugar. And then maybe a bag of M&Ms in the afternoon, even if they're peanut M&Ms. This is sugar and a bag of chips after dinner. That's sugar. Popcorn, a favorite food is a sugar food, again, because it rapidly turns to sugar in the bloodstream.

So if you eat popcorn before bed, that's your habit, your blood sugar is too high all night long. You gain weight and you're feeding cancer cells. So maybe a small sliced apple with one or two tablespoons of peanut butter, that's a better, that's a better option because that peanut butter's going to anchor your blood sugar.

So ask yourself, which one of these sugar treats can I cut out this week? You don't have to do a deep dive into everything, but maybe pick one. What can you cut out next week? Maybe it's the process to learn how to eat and to have better health. You know, take a little at a time.

MONICA: Yeah. And you know, Nutritional Weight and Wellness was not the first one to connect that cancer cells love and grow on sugar. Actually, back in the 1920s, Otto Warburg, who was a medical doctor and Nobel laureate, described the metabolism theory of cancer cells. And now this is known as the Warburg effect, which is that cancer cells are fed by sugar.

In recent years, several additional researchers found that cancer cells use glucose or sugar to create the energy, the energy they need to sustain their youth. Cancer cells use glucose to grow faster. Let me repeat that for listeners.

MELANIE: Yes, that's good.

MONICA: Cancer cells use glucose, sugar, to grow faster. I, I don't know about you Melanie, but that has to be a reason to cut back on how much sugar you're consuming.

MELANIE: Yes. Especially if you feel like there are risk factors.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Especially if you've already had an episode of cancer. You know, I, we've got to, we've got to be aware of what's happening inside.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah.

MONICA: And you know, now you have the research that supports the reason to cut back or eliminate sugar and processed carbs. And I tell clients all the time, it's, it's not just to lose weight. Right? We want to get healthy for so many other reasons. And you know, for the topic of this show, to really prevent that cancer cell growth. And knowledge is powerful.

MELANIE: Knowledge is really powerful. Once you know you can do.

MONICA: Yeah. And so think about this way: what is giving up a sugar treat when you have the possibility to prevent colon cancer? A treat once or twice a month is probably okay for your health. But if you're having a daily treat or several times a day, that is a cancer risk. Just like one alcoholic drink a week is okay for men, but one alcoholic drink for women is also a strong risk factor.

Alcohol affects women some differently than men

MELANIE: It is. So I just want to read really quick: the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in December, 1999 wrote an interesting article stating women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men. In general, women have less body water than men of similar body weight, so that women achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood after drinking equivalent amount of alcohol. And the research suggests that women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol related organ damage. And the study suggests that women may be more vulnerable to brain damage and cancer. So we have to be aware of that.

So we'll talk some more about this interesting topic when we come back from break. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. In today's show I mentioned cancer prevention starts in your kitchen. Cooking healing foods for yourself is the ultimate self-care. Next month, July 12th, Marianne will teach us how to make healthy bowls with quality vegetables, grass-fed meat, and natural fats like olive oil dressing. The class is only $25 and it's presented on Zoom. So you can sign up online or call 651-699-3438. We'll be right back.

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BREAK

MONICA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. You know, I'm a busy mom. Both of my kids are in competitive sports this year and our weeknights are crazy and I've never known the temptation of drive-throughs or takeout as strongly as I have this year.

MELANIE: Don't you go there, Monica.

MONICA: I know. And well, and then you see the crazy lines through all the drive-throughs. But you know, as a dietitian and a mom, it is really important for me to feed my family homemade meals as much as I can. So I love having easy meals that I can throw together really quickly. So I want to share one of the recipes that my family loves because again, it's quick and easy. And that's really sheet pan meals. So we love salmon and I'll do our sheet pan vegetables and salmon recipe really often and I love to have a lot of leftovers. I just kind of throw whatever vegetables, you know, and…

MELANIE: You need to use up, right?

MONICA: Yeah, exactly. You don't like salmon, there's a chicken version. And honestly, I'll do that too. Just whatever meat I have on hand, whatever vegetables, maybe some sweet potatoes. Season it up, add some olive oil.

MELANIE: We have, I think it's an autumn chicken sheet pan meal.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: Oh my gosh. It's one of my favorites. So I'll use pork chops on that.

MONICA: Mm-Hmm. Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah.

MONICA: Yeah. Really you can, you can do whatever.

MELANIE: Yeah, our recipes are pretty forgivable.

MONICA: Yeah. For those people that like to follow recipes, you can find those recipes and the other ones on our website at weightandwellness.com. And then go to the recipe tab and you can find all of our wonderful recipes.

The importance of creating positive habits

MELANIE: Yeah. I love it. And when we were, we went from break, we were talking about sort of some risky behavior. So I want to talk a little bit about how do you turn high risk eating behaviors into good positive habits? Last week Leah and Teresa shared some positive habits to incorporate into your lifestyle. It's a great listen if you want to go back and listen to that. They had great ideas.

Positive habit: eat a balanced breakfast

The first one was to eat breakfast with about four ounces of protein. That's cooked protein. It could be two eggs, two ounces of chicken sausage. So it's not as daunting as you would think once you see it on a plate.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: They also recommend some vegetables. Yes, vegetables for breakfast. Maybe a little spinach and a half cup of blueberries.

Positive habit: drink sufficient water

Another habit to get you back on track is to drink at least eight glasses of filtered water a day and even more in the summer months.

MONICA: Oh yeah.

MELANIE: Or if you're, you're chatty caffeine, you talk all day, you need more water.

MONICA: That must be why I'm always thirsty.

MELANIE: That's why we're both always thirsty all the time.

MONICA: But just carrying a water bottle around all day can make such a difference too. Cause then you have access to it.

MELANIE: Yeah. And I love a straw.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: I feel, I feel like I drink more if I'm drinking through a straw.

Get support to give up bad habits

MONICA: Yeah. Yeah, that's true. So we know diet changes can be really hard implementing new habits. And to be honest, most people need support to give up these bad habits and start doing the better for us habits. And also it helps to be consistent. I see many clients once or twice a month for that support and accountability. You know, I think that's what a lot of people say. I just, I know what to do, but I need the accountability to actually do it.

MELANIE: And the other thing I'd like is I tell my clients, when you're not doing well is when you come see me.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: It, you know, a lot of times they'll say, well, I canceled my appointment because I was wasn't doing really well. I'm like, that's when you need someone to shoulder to shoulder hip to hip with you and help you get through those rugged times.

MONICA: Yes. Or you'll get an email like, I need to see you as soon as possible because I need help.

MELANIE: Yeah.

MONICA: But you know, something else that we started this past year is our Ongoing Support classes that meet once a week. And I've heard great things about them. People are really enjoying being part of an ongoing support group of like-minded people. It's an inexpensive way to again, get that support and accountability, and also learn new ideas that keep moving your health forward, you know, and not just from the educators, but also…

MELANIE: It's great to have that group dynamic. I love teaching this because you have that group dynamic of everybody is supporting each other and it's not just a teaching venue. It's a supportive group.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: You kind of become family at the end of eight weeks.

MONICA: Yeah. And I just want to mention, we, they are in person, but we also have a Zoom option for people that aren't local.

Sign Up for Ongoing Support and Education

More on link between sugar and increased cancer risk

MELANIE: Great. So circling back: colon cancer rate and people 55 and younger has almost doubled in the past 25 years. Also, sugar consumption is simply off the charts and more people don't think twice about it. We have it in our coffee drinks, in our yogurt, in our special cereal, our protein bars. These all seem like healthy options, but they're loaded with sugar. And of course those special desserts. Well there's now even a special donut day.

MONICA: Yes, there is.

MELANIE: Ice cream day, donut day; sugar just seems so innocent. So why worry about sugar? Well, we need to worry about sugar because as Monica mentioned, it feeds cancer cells. They use, cancer cells use sugar at a faster rate than healthy cells. Sugar is the main fuel for cancer cells and sugar helps cancer cells grow and spread more rapidly.

I remember I had a client who had colorectal cancer and before she went in, they were going to give her chemo. They gave her a huge glass of orange juice prior to the chemo. And the reason was the cancer cells would be excited, open consuming the sugar, and then the chemotherapy was more effective. So I thought that was so interesting.

MONICA: Yeah. When you share that story, it's always like just that emoji.

MELANIE: That emoji. Yes. And that you know, orange juice seems so healthy but it converts rapidly to sugar. So researchers from Harvard Medical School reported that 80% of all human cancers are driven by the effects of insulin and glucose. 80% of all human cancers are driven by the effects of glucose and insulin. So I want to read a quote from Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Diet, who reviewed a book by a naturopathic doctor, Nasha Winter's titled “The Metabolic Approach to Cancer”.

In his review, he said, and I'm quoting; “This book explains how cancer is an environmentally metabolic disease with many small cases, causes, I'm sorry, with many small causes that stack up and what you can do to prevent it and even reverse it.”

Quality food is important for cancer prevention or during treatment

Of course, at Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we believe that your nutrition, what you put in your mouth, is the most important component here. We also believe the quality of food is very important, which means your healing starts in your kitchen. A healing diet, whether you have cancer or want to prevent getting cancer is really necessary by eating quality foods to nourish and support your body. We recommend grass-fed, hormone-free meat, wild caught fish, avoid those processed meats. I mean, there is no spam animal, right?

MONICA: No, definitely not.

MELANIE: Which are void of nutrients and have MSG, preservatives, hydrogenated oils and many chemicals. Choose organic vegetables, avoid sugar and processed foods, and only use natural fats like olive oil, butter, and coconut oil. Now Monica, you said you went to a wedding and of course you have no control over the food, but if you're nourishing your body, that's the way to support your body going forward.

MONICA: Yep.

MELANIE: You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Melanie Beasley. I'm a dietitian. I'm with Monica Hoss, also a dietitian. And we're discussing nutritional habits that help prevent cancer. We'll be right back.

BREAK

Some healthy meal preparation ideas

MONICA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. As we mentioned earlier, processed meats are considered a risk factor for colon cancer. And I find an easy way to cook meats without any preservatives is using my slow cooker or instant pot.

MELANIE: Love.

MONICA: So going back to the kitchen, right?

MELANIE: Yes.

MONICA: Nutrition starts in the kitchen. And I'll buy free range boneless chicken thighs. Usually they're less expensive than the chicken breast and I'll toss them in the slow cooker, season them, add about half a cup of organic bone broth and then cook on low for four to five hours. They come out perfectly tender, shredded, and then I can use that all week, you know, for salads or just heating up with some vegetables; really easy.

MELANIE: I love that. I, I take frozen, this week a frozen pork loin. Someone's gone before me, so I Googled it, put it in my instant pot and cooked it from frozen. You know, and I had a whole pork roast shredded for the rest of the, you know, the rest of the week I freeze it.

MONICA: That's what I try to tell clients, like batch cook, don't just, you know, do things that you can use the leftovers throughout the week. Because nobody wants to be in the kitchen for very long.

MELANIE: Maybe Marianne.

MONICA: Yeah. Before kids, right? Yeah. Before kids I would do that, but now I'm like nope, don't have time.

MELANIE: I don't want to. Like I've raised my kids and cooked from scratch and I want to get her done and nourish and move on.

MONICA: Yep. So before break we were talking about the wedding I attended last night, which was beautiful. But you know, you can't, when you go into situations like that, social gatherings, you can't always control the food that's served. But here's the thing, if you're used to nourishing your body and fueling your body with these really high quality foods most of the time, then your body can handle a hit here or there.

MELANIE: Yeah, that's a really good point.

MELANIE: Yeah. Because, you know, a lot of times I think people struggle with the idea of perfection and having to be a hundred percent on their plan.

MELANIE: Which is that, none of us can do that.

MONICA: Right. So then it's that all or nothing mentality that, and that really trips people up because if they're like, oh, if I can't be a hundred percent then I'm just going to go back to my old ways.

MELANIE: Right. Or, or they have a meal and some wedding cake and then they're in it to win it for the week. Right?

MONICA: Right.

MELANIE: They're just like, well, I fell off “the wagon”. So I'm going to just, I, I failed. No, you just swing right back in next meal nourishing yourself, and your body can manage some of these toxins that maybe you're taking in. Like you said, if you're nourishing, that's a, that's a great point.

MONICA: Yeah. So to follow a healing diet or even to get started, it really is going to take education and support and time. It doesn't happen overnight. A lot of health conditions like cancer don't happen overnight either.

MELANIE: That's a good point.

What is the best nutrition advice to follow?

MONICA: So how do you learn about nutrition? Who do you trust? Is it TikTok or social media? I always talk to my clients about all the nutrition noise that's out there. That's what I call it.

MELANIE: I love that.

MONICA: Because it's all these competing thoughts about nutrition and theories and it really confuses people.

MELANIE: And eventually you're overwhelmed and give up.

MONICA: Yeah. And it's also distracting from just really the simple message of real food.

MELANIE: Trust us.

MONICA: Yes, exactly. So trust us. You know, at Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we have had the same nutrition message: real protein, you know, high quality, hormone free, a variety of veggies, several cups a day, and those good natural fats. But even with this simple message, because again, it's simple, it can be hard to put that into action.

And as one of my clients said, we just talked about this too, you know, there can be several, people feel like there's always, especially this time of year, right? There's always birthday parties, graduation parties, Mother's Day, Father's Day. So this means there's always a lot of sugar: cookies, cakes and alcohol.

MELANIE: And if you go in hungry.

MONICA: Oh yeah.

MELANIE: Go in with a full belly of good, nutritious food, and then you’re not going to lose your mind when you start smelling all these great things.

MONICA: Yes. That is one of the most important things to do. And so that's, we recognize that it can be really hard to manage your, your healing diet when you're faced with these obstacles. So again, people need that ongoing support to do their own self care. And you know, we've had many clients for over 25 years and we've helped them do this. We, we know how to help people do this, have success and together we can create an action plan and brainstorm ways to be prepared. Like you said, sometimes it's as simple as just making sure you eat before you go so you're not starving and have those cravings.

MELANIE: Yeah. Just to have a coach, someone who's coaching you through and because if you're, if you're social, if you're out there, it's everywhere.

MONICA: Oh yeah.

MELANIE: And so I always ask my clients to ask themselves when they take a bite of food, is this harming me or healing me? Because there's no in between. Harming or healing? Every bite matters.

MONICA: Absolutely.

Possible symptoms of colon cancer

MELANIE: So let's revisit our discussion about colon cancer. What are some symptoms that you have that may be, you might be concerned about? Rectal bleeding, ongoing diarrhea or constipation, cravings, gas pain, or just a general discomfort? We would suggest making an appointment with a colon specialist. And as I was preparing for this show today, I went to my file cabinet to look at notes and I have taken over the years about cancer and the cancer industry. And when you hear the word cancer, it can set up a, a very strong fear reaction in your body and brain.

Management techniques to stay calm & improve immune function

So I thought today I would like to share really some management techniques. First of all, you stay calm, but why is calmness beneficial? Why am I saying that? When you are calm, your immune system actually works better. A positive attitude allows your natural immune system and your immune cells to work at their best. So you can use meditation or prayer are good calming practices. When I was diagnosed with cancer, it was a long two weeks to get in to see an oncologist. During those two weeks, I didn't have this skillset. So you're just running on adrenaline every moment of your life. You're thinking I have cancer, I have cancer, I have cancer.

MONICA: Oh, I can't imagine.

MELANIE: What I know now using that meditation or calming practice, and so what was interesting is there was a counselor that told me to use, it was a, a meditative tape and to use that several times a day. And it was shown to have better outcome, patients who use that showed to have a better outcome. So I thought that was really fascinating. I still have that CD.

MONICA: Well, and I was just, there's so much that you can't control when it comes to that cancer diagnosis or waiting, but your attitude and your mindset is something that you can control or work on controlling. So that can empower, give you some power back.

MELANIE: And giving your body some power back. Cause you're triggering good immune cells. When you're calmer, they work at peak.

Sleep is another good calming practice

Another technique is to try to sleep seven and a half to nine hours is another good calming practice, overall good for your immune system. So how can you sleep eight hours a night? We are often asked, is melatonin safe to use? The Maryland Cancer Center said that melatonin is safe to use during cancer treatment. In fact, melatonin exhibits its anti-cancer effects by modulating the immune system toward cancer cells.

So yes, melatonin is a very safe and supportive supplement. Often even 10 to 20 milligrams before bed is recommended. I personally take six to 10 milligrams every night. I have for years and years and years. Getting quality sleep also supports the immune system. So we want to get into that deep sleep.

Another calling supplement I find very effective; wish I would've known about this, and it's non-addictive. It's easy to use is L-Theanine; love L-Theanine. If you're someone struggling with anxiety, I suggest taking one to two L-Theanine. You can do it three times a day. It's made from green tea. It's non-addictive, but can be powerful and it calms the nervous system. It's fantastic.

MONICA: Yeah. I like L-Theanine.

MELANIE: I use it for clients that say, I always use wine to calm myself. Add L-Theanine and maybe a bubbly drink instead, like LaCroix.

MONICA: Yeah. And while, while we're on that topic, you know, because I know a lot of people have been cutting back on alcohol, there's a lot of different drinks out there these days that are meant to take the place of your your nightly wine. And I find that a lot of them have L-Theanine or these different adaptogens to calm the body and give you that relaxing effect that…

MEALNIE: What are these magical drinks?

MONICA: I know,

MELANIE: You know, stuff, Monica.

MONICA: Yeah. There, there's a lot of different ones out there. Which I think it's cool to see a lot of companies, you know, offering alternatives because it's really hard. It's, it's a habit, so it's really hard for people to just go, you know, quit cold turkey sometimes. So it can be really helpful to have a product to take the place of it.

MELANIE: Yeah. You just want to check for clean ingredients, right?

MONICA: Yes, absolutely.

MELANIE: No artificial sweeteners or sugar.

MONICA: Because that is one thing that a lot of times…

MELANIE: Oh, they put the sugar in there.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah. That's a bummer.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Nevermind.

Foods & supplements to consider for colon cancer

MONICA: So in prevention of colon cancer, many foods and supplements may, may be necessary. And one of the supplements that we certainly recommend supplementing with is a good quality probiotic.

MELANIE: Yes.

MONICA: Now I do want to mention if you are currently receiving cancer treatment, wait until you're done and check with your oncologist before you add in any probiotics or supplements for that matter. But a good source of probiotics from food is fermented vegetables like sauerkraut. There's a great brand that I find at the stores and there's a flavor called roasted garlic. It's Cleveland Kitchen; really good; adds great flavor.

MELANIE: I love Bubbie’s pickles.

MONICA: Mm-Hmm. Yes. So lots of great products out there. However, sometimes it can be easier to take a good quality probiotic. I often have clients take two to three capsules of our Bifido Balance before breakfast, and then three to four capsules of our Acidophilus before lunch, dinner and bedtime.

MELANIE: Yeah, I do that too.

MONICA: Especially with colon cancer.

MELANIE: Yes. And it's yeah, that's really good advice, Monica.

MONICA: However, you know, just make sure you're working individually with one of us so that we can find the right dose and probiotic for you and your needs.

MELANIE: And you know, once you start a probiotic, you, you want to start slowly.

MONICA: Yes.

MELANIE: Yeah. Always a good idea. So in doing research for this show, I came across an article that showed Bifido Balance, bifido bacteria led to the suppression of cancer cell growth and had anti-tumor effects. So interesting. It has antitumor effects. It helps with the, the progression even. So it's, we want to have a healthy microbiome. We really do. And I so I want to talk about this show a little bit longer because I think there's more information we want to share.

But you, let's go to break. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. I want to alert you to a special sale starting June 19th on the six hour, it's a six hour Menopause Solutions video presentation. If you were one of the lucky ones who took the Menopause Seminar in person, you know, it's an uplifting day. It's fun. You're with like-minded women looking for answers.

Well we tried to recreate that type of day on video so more women will not, will be able to learn how to control those darn hot flashes and get a good night's sleep and feel less irritable and depressed. The nice feature with the video is you can watch it when it is convenient for you. Wait for the sale on June 19th because you will save a hundred dollars (clarification: the Menopause Solutions series + initial 90-minute consultation is $100 off and the Menopause Solutions series only is $50 off). Call us if you have questions: 651-699-3438 or email in your questions. We'll be right back.

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BREAK

MONICA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We realize the stress and questions anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer has, and we believe most people need specialized nutrition education in addition to having a shoulder to lean on. We can provide that service. We always recommend checking with your insurance company for coverage to help ease the burden of cost. Because if your insurance covers it, why not?

Most of us have either faced cancer ourselves or have certainly had a family member with cancer. So we understand the emotions and how scary it can be. And I know people really, they want to do anything they can to help themselves through the treatment of cancer and prevent it from coming back. But remember, even if you take one step and reduce the amount of glucose or sugar you're eating, that's going to be on a winning nutrition plan.

Schedule Nutrition Counseling

MELANIE: Yes. For both prevention and during treatment.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah. That's a good point.

The importance of eating sufficient amounts of vegetables

MONICA: Speaking of prevention, you know, one of the most important nutrients is fiber.

MELANIE: Yeah. Yeah. We've got to talk about fiber.

MONICA: Yes. So fiber is important for so many reasons, but really when it comes to cancer prevention, we want to be eating a lot of those veggies. And we recommend clients eat at least five, six cups of veggies a day. And so if you're doing that, that can be a great way to get really close to that recommended amount. So we were just talking and you know, the, the general recommended amount of fiber is 25 grams, but that really needs to be a minimum. Right?

MELANIE: That is such a minimum.

MONICA: Yeah. Ideally we want to see people closer to 30 grams.

MELANIE: Yeah. We need that fiber because it acts like a toothbrush to our colon to help, you know, scrub out and that's what we want. We want, you know, we want that a daily bowel movement, and if you're not having a daily bowel movement, it puts you at risk because you're reabsorbing toxins that the body was trying to get rid of.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: So that fiber piece is so important. And of course if you're taking in a lot of fiber, you've got to take in a lot of water to bulk the fiber.

MONICA: Yes. And how flush it out too.

MELANIE: And you know, and the big win-win here is when you're taking in all those fruits and vegetables, you're getting bioflavonoids, antioxidants, microminerals. You know, you're getting vitamin C. You're getting all of these preventive antioxidants to help prevent your cancer. So it's a win-win.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: And I remember reading a book years ago on cancer and one of the biggest preventions was how much vegetables you are consuming. So those vegetables, look, if you're just having, you know, a little handful of spinach here, maybe a few florets at dinner there, it's just not enough.

MONICA: No, it's not.

MELANIE: You feel like you had vegetables

MONICA: Mm-Hmm. Well, and one of the things when I talk to clients about fiber, you know, I tell them, why don't you track it for a couple days? Because it can be really eye opening.

MELANIE: Oh yeah. That's great.

MONICA: Because even, you know, someone like myself, I feel like I like veggies. I eat a good amount, but you kind of really have to be intentional, intentional to get enough fiber in your diet.

MELANIE: You really do. And I love some of the apps out there that track how much protein am I getting? How much, but the fiber is really something we're not really aware of. We think, oh, I had a bunch of spinach or zucchini, which are actually lower fiber vegetables.

MONICA: Yeah. And so we have a handout that I love to use with clients because it talks about the different, the amount of fiber in different fruits and vegetables and some grains. And so it's easy. People can see like, oh, you know, if I have half a cup of raspberries instead of, you know, my banana, I can get a lot more fiber. So people really like that handout.

MELANIE: Yeah. I love that. It really helps people to understand how much are you actually consuming? It, I think it, it will surprise a lot of our listeners. So that's your challenge this week, listeners, is even if you're taking a picture like we mentioned with your phone, and look, how much am I actually getting? Am I actually getting one to two cups at each meal of vegetables? I have my, my clients, I always challenge them to put a little vegetables in their smoothies.

MONICA: Mm-Hmm. Yes.

MELANIE: Because you feel, you feel pretty proud of yourself when you start your day out with two vegetables in a smoothie and there's a lot of them you can put in there that you don't taste.

MONICA: Yes. Frozen riced cauliflower is my favorite.

MELANIE: Yes. and I love frozen kale. I buy kale already washed and chopped. I throw it in the freezer. And you're getting those cruciferous vegetables, which in turn help fight cancer.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: So I love that. And that's, if you start with breakfast with vegetables you're starting the day out already with one or two.

MONICA: Yes. You're getting ahead.

Avoid processed foods to prevent colon cancer

MELANIE: Ahead of the game. Another thing that I challenge my clients to do is look and see how many processed foods are you getting? Because that's your colon cancer prevention. How many processed foods are you getting in a day? You want to take a picture with your phone and even if it's the stuff you're not proud of, take a picture because it's information. Once you have that information, you can effect change.

So I do want to end this show today with a quote from Dr. Otto. Warburg. “Cancer above other diseases has countless secondary causes, but even for cancer, there is only one first cause summarized in a few words. The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of oxygen in the normal body cells by the fermentation of sugar. The metabolism of tumors all goes back to glucose or sugar”, according to Otto Warburg.

If you found this show helpful, we would love for you to let us know because the rate of all cancers is increasing at an alarming rate. And we want to help you understand what you can do for prevention and also nutritionally what you can do during treatment. That's what we're here for is to help you navigate those stressful, stressful waters.

I had a client and she came to me because she had such a strong family history of colorectal cancer, and they were all raised in the same farming community. So her aunts, her uncles, herself, her sister. It was everywhere. And so she feels it was something they were doing with the farming into the water supply. So you can't know. So we are working very strongly, and of course the first thing I said: we’ve got to eliminate sugar.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: You know, 95% of the time no sugar start, you know, reading labels, but more importantly start eating foods without labels.

MONICA: Yeah.

MELANIE: Yeah. If you can name the plant you pluck it from, if you can name the mother it came from, then you know it's a real food that's going to nourish the body. If it comes from a factory, that's where we're working is if it comes with a label, you’ve got to read the label, but you got to ask yourself, you know, is this real food? Is this nourishing my body? And so eliminating the sugar, getting the vegetables in, a good probiotic and adequate protein to support the cells with some good, healthy fat. And she is on her way to feeling like she's got some control.

MONICA: Oh, that's so awesome she has you.

MELANIE: Yeah. Well, us, us at Nutritional and Weight and Wellness. So we both have learned so much just working for this company because it's such a research based company that our owner Dar Kvist started and the message remains the same for years and years and years. It doesn't fluctuate. It's not confusing. Stop looking at social media.

MONICA: Yeah. Ignore the nutrition noise.

MELANIE: Ignore the nutrition noise because it will, it can stagger you and overwhelm you and then you're frozen.

MONICA: Yep. And I, we see that a lot.

MELANIE: We see it a lot. And the other piece I think that is really important is the amount of stress in your life, because we mentioned it can have an impact. So we hope you have a relaxing, relaxing day. And our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thanks for joining Monica and I today.