Cancer is the Answer

Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke. These have been the top three killers in this country, in that order, for some time now.

Yesterday the World Health Organization came out saying that cancer would be moving to number 1 next year.

In a separate article, the immediate cost of cancer was at $232 BILLION in 200 and projected to top $300 BILLION in 2020.

If you factor in loss of work productivity, those numbers go over $960 BILLION and $1.4 TRILLION respectively.

That's a lot of money. Even by our government's standards.

So we are investing a QUARTER OF A TRILLION dollars a year, are we getting a good return on that investment?

I don't mean to be callous, I have had people in my family die from cancer just like you have and have people in my family who have cancer right now. Cancer is a big deal and I do not take it lightly.

Which is exactly why I am writing this post.

Did you know that before he left office, President Nixon declared "war" on cancer in the early 70's pledging millions to erradicate it?

Did you know that cancer was the #14 killer in the country at that time?

Are we winning the war? I think not.

Not that Livestrong, Race for the Cure, the Jimmy V Foundation and the like don't have value and are not trying their best, but frankly, they are putting their money in the wrong place if they are just supporting medical research.

There is obviously a broader problem than something medicine can simply fix if after pouring TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS into the problem, it continues to get worse.

I don't pretend I know the cure for cancer, but I do know one area we should look real close at and that is our lifestyle.

The physical, nutritional and mental health of this country and declined sharply in the last 35 years and we need to look real hard at that to find the answer to the cancer problem rather than raising more money for another treatment that just puts a band-aid on a TRILLION DOLLAR problem.

Nap Better than Starbucks

I am a big fan of naps. Take them often myself and you should to.

A new study that just appeared in the New York Times looked at the value of a nap over a caffeine pill.

The nappers had better motor skills, perception and verbal skills above and beyond the caffeine group.

What does this mean?

SLOW DOWN!

Quit rushing from one thing to another, guzzling down Red Bull's to get you through. Cut back on your to-do list, take a break and you will perform much better at the things you want to accomplish.

Randy Stonehill has a song and the chorus goes, "I'm in a hurry to get things done. I rush and rush until life's no fun. All I've really gotta do is live and die. I'm in a hurry and don't know why."

A pretty profound statement and not so bad advice.

No sugar, No flu

Parenting magazine just came out with a good article on 5 ways to fight the flu naturally. It is focused on children, but as the articlet admits, these rules are for adults too.

The first one is one of those rules that falls into the category of, "you don't know what you don't know."

Did you know that sugar weakens your immune system?

If you answered yes, then why do you eat and drink sugary things when you are sick? You are only slowing down the healing process.

If you answered know, than consider this quote:

There exists a direct link between the amount of these foods (sugary foods) that your child consumes and his/her health.

A direct link. Not an indirect one. A direct one.

Knowing this. Is candy and soda a good idea when you are sick?

What about cereal, yogurt, orange juice? These are all typically high sugar foods and should be avoided as well.

You might say, "vitamin C is good for me." Yes it is, but it is better to eat an orange than have processed orange juice. If you want the benefit of vitamin C without the sugar, get a good whole-food vitamin C supplement.

Read the labels. If it is high in sugar, avoid it when you are under the weather, let alone all together.

Scroll down to see my article on the flu season for some more facts.