The Top Reasons Why Women Get Cancer

Cancer is one of the scariest illnesses of our modern times. Sometimes cancer cannot be avoided, but certain lifestyle choices can increase our risk of getting cancer.

The top cancers which strike women today are:

#1.  Breast Cancer – 26% of all cancers.  

#2.  Lung Cancer – 14% of all cancers.

#3.  Colon Cancer – 10% of all cancers.

#4.  Uterine Cancer – 6% of all cancers.

#5.  Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – 4% of all cancers.

#6.  Ovarian Cancer – rare but deadly.

70% to 80% of cancers are caused by environmental factors. Only 20% to 30% of cancers are caused by genetics.

Top Environmental Factors which Increase the Risk of Cancer

Certain environmental factors directly impact the integrity of the immune system.  If the immune system becomes weakened over a long period of time, cancer cells accumulate and eventually cause cancer. The top environmental factors tied to causing cancer are:

• Diet

• Tobacco use or secondhand exposure to smoke, radon gas, arsenic, soot, or tar

• Alcohol use

• Stress levels

• Sleep quality

• Physical activity level

• Radiation exposure (i.e., chest x-rays and mammograms)

Diet is one of the biggest contributors to the integrity of the immune system since more than 85% of the immune system is in the digestive system. The digestive system is directly impacted by the foods we eat.  

Top Foods which Hurt the Immune System

1. There is a theory that genetically modified food (i.e., corn, wheat, and soy) have become so extremely hybridized that the gut can no longer properly digest them. They unfortunately cause a high level of inflammation. Corn, wheat, and soy seeds are also heavily sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. These sprays are dangerous for plants, animals, and humans.

2. Animal products (i.e., fish, beef, dairy products, eggs, and poultry) that are fed GMO foods. All farm fed animals and fish in the U.S. are only fed GMO food unless the farm is certified organic. Since these animals and fish cannot properly digest GMO food, they become extremely ill fairly quickly. In order to deal with the high level of illness, farmers give animals and fish high doses of antibiotics, steroids, hormones, antidepressants, and other dangerous drugs to fatten them up before they are slaughtered. These animals and fish are also raised in inhumane environments which cause them to also become extremely ill. When people eat these animal products, they are directly exposed to everything the animals and fish have been exposed to and the diseases they carried.

3. Regular intake of fish (i.e., more than 4 oz per week).  All the waterways in the U.S. are now contaminated by farm-fed animal waste and high level of heavy metals (i.e., mercury).  Our bodies cannot adequately process the high level of heavy metals from eating seafood.

4. Sugar.  Regular consumption of refined sugar, corn syrup, sweet drinks, artificial sweeteners, and sweets is dangerous.  Sugar has been discovered to be more toxic than cocaine in relation to the havoc created on every organ in the body.

5. Non-organic food.  These foods are heavily sprayed with herbicides and pesticides that are dangerous to plant, animal, and human life.   

6. Processed and pre-packaged ready-made food. Regular consumption of these nutritional void food strips the body of essential vitamins and minerals. The immune system becomes weakened and allows chronic disease like cancer to set in.    

7. Animal protein.  Regular consumption of animal protein (i.e., dairy products, beef, eggs, poultry, and fish) exceeding 40% of the daily diet is directly tied to overloading the kidneys and liver.  When these essential organs become compromised, illness quickly sets in.    

8. Alcohol.  Regular alcohol consumption (i.e., 1 drink per day or 5 + drinks per week) weakens the liver and immune system.

Dietary factors directly cause abnormal hormonal changes, insulin resistance, and being overweight.  It can lead to early menarche (before age 12), dense breasts, polycystic ovaries, or uterine fibroids which are direct risk factors for breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.  Lifestyle choices like prolonging the first pregnancy until after age 30, no pregnancy, not breastfeeding, or taking medications like birth control pills/hormonal therapy, or Tamoxifen also increase the risk of developing breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.  

Any one of these risk factors linked with environmental factors, like chronic stress, sleep deprivation, radiation exposure, and/or tobacco use, can tip the immune system to becoming fairly weak. Cancer cells eventually to exponentially grow over decades and eventually cause full-blown cancer.

Most cancers can be avoided successfully.  If you would like to learn more about your cancer risk and how to prevent cancer, please contact Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. If you are being treated for cancer, Dr. Bhandari can help you strengthen your immune system and fight the cancer more effectively.

AUTHOR

Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.