#17: Chapter 11: Protocol Principles: Principle One: Avoiding Toxins (part A)
By: Kaiulani Facciani
Tags: Cancer, Avoiding Toxins, Detoxification, Breast Cancer, Naturopathic Medicine

This post starts a new section of my naturopathic protocol book, What I Did and Do and Why. My protocol has 6 principles… the 6 principles can be seen here.

Stop putting toxins in

eat organic and evaluate your cosmetics and cookware avoid foods that create inflammation, avoid processed foods reduce stress

What do I mean by ‘avoiding toxins’? Many man-made chemicals have a strong, causal link to cancer. And for those who choose chemotherapy and/or radiation, this is an obvious challenge since the treatments themselves are extremely toxic. All the more reason to give our organs of detoxification a break by limiting as much toxic overload as we can. Toxins stress a healing body.

It’s not enough to ‘eat right’ unless you have a deep commitment to what that means. I eat only organic if possible, eat whole foods, avoid processed foods (especially sugar and bleached flour), and limit consumption of beef and dairy. Any animal products I do consume are organic or at least free of anti-biotics and hormones. I consume lots of fruits and vegetables. I don’t smoke and I limit alcohol. I’m not saying anything you haven’t heard. This is just a loving, gentle reminder that you are your best healer. You need to treat yourself and that body that is fighting for you with love and support.

I chose to have chemo and radiation… a LOT! It was a hard choice for me. I suffered… but not as much as everyone else and I credit my naturopathic regimen for sustaining me. Withstanding horrendous amounts of chemo and radiation gave me an edge to beat the bastard back so that my natural therapies could work as well. Peace and love be with those who are struggling with this now.

This post is the first of three posts that will cover the 1st principle… Stop Putting Toxins In, and contains the following subjects:

Better living through chemistry?

Methylation, MTHFR, and cancer

Organic vs. non-organic

Better living through chemistry?

Many factors contribute to the unprecedented epidemic of cancer but many man-made chemicals are proven carcinogens and/or they throw our physiological systems out of balance, contributing to our perfect storm. Levels of contamination from industrial chemicals and pollutants is alarming, as is the recent decrease in regulation and monitoring. The rise in disease conditions is not unrelated.1 https://www.ewg.org and www.tedx.org are great science-based chemical toxin watchdog agencies/resources.

I find it hard to trust safety research for many reasons. Research solely conducted by product producers is ‘the fox guarding the hen house.’ Another issue… the food given to lab rat ‘controls’ has been found to be full of GMOs and toxins. So, if one is testing the toxicity of something an experimental population is given against controls, the results may show that something is ‘safe’ in that the experimental population isn’t suffering more side effects than controls. Since controls are eating toxic food, this is not good science. Also, in research studying the carcinogenic effects of multiple chemicals, they have found that many chemicals previously determined to not be carcinogenic on their own can be carcinogenic when combined.2 The implications of how many permutations of combinations that would have to be tested, and yet aren’t, are staggering!

It’s enough to make me throw my hands up in the air and say, “Why bother?!” But then I gather myself to fight, in my way. All we can do is educate ourselves and decrease the toxic load, right? I support the Cornucopia Institute and Organic Consumers Association because they are watchdogs dedicated to enforcing organic standards and holding corporations accountable. I follow The Endocrine Exchange (TEDX) because they do valuable research on endocrine disruption caused by chemicals in our environment… disruption linked to a wide variety of growing chronic health problems our society is experiencing.

One concern I have is effluent from pharmaceuticals, especially, chemo. Studies have found high levels in deformed fish in the Great Lakes. Fish that you’re eating? When I pee, will someone downstream be ingesting my chemo? Will my caregivers be exposed to harmful poisons? Google “chemotherapy residue in drinking water.” You will find research with disturbing implications. We should be aware, be careful with our waste at home, and press for water treatment solutions that truly remove all these chemicals before returning the water to the supply. Large quantities of antidepressants, cocaine, etc. have been found in fish in the Puget Sound and shrimp worldwide. Think about this… what happens when a patient treated with radioactive drugs is cremated?3 What we put into our body and surround ourselves with matters. Whatever your treatment regimen, please take loving care of your body.

The liver, methylation, MTHFR, and cancer

Liver function is very important when fighting or preventing cancer. Its effectiveness may make the difference in survival. The liver detoxifies our blood, synthesizes proteins, produces digestive biochemicals, stores vitamins and minerals, balances glucose levels, and performs methylation. Methylation is the addition of methyl groups to biochemicals, such as hormones, DNA, and proteins. It is an essential process for the proper function of nearly all our bodies’ systems, including detoxification. Basically, the more toxic load you put on your liver, the less methylation, and the less able the liver is to detoxify. It’s a spiral downwards. Studies have found that cancer is characterized by methylation imbalance. Methylation converts aggressive estrogens into milder versions, playing a role in female cancers. Factors influencing methylation are toxic exposures, poor diet, malabsorption, hypothyroidism, and genetics.

A genetic mutation on the MTHFR gene inhibits methylation and detoxification and can be a precursor to breast cancer. It is thought that 30–50% of people have this mutation. But epigenetics shows us that lifestyle factors influence whether a gene mutation expresses or not. If you are concerned, start with a blood test for homocystine. For more info, see www.mthfrliving.com.

Ways to improve methylation, even if you have the genetic mutation, are:

eat fruits and vegetables rich in anti-oxidants, folate, and B6 and B12

avoid inflammatory foods such as sugar, dairy, gluten, meat, processed

avoid tobacco and limit caffeine and alcohol

supplement with folate, Vitamins B2, B6, B12, C, D3, E, glutathione, N-acetyl-cysteine, Omega 3s, and betaine

avoid environmental pollutants

detoxify organs and body regularly

reduce stress and get enough sleep

Hmm, sounds suspiciously like Gramma’s advice and my protocol, doesn’t it? Support your body and let it do its job and you can avoid disease. I provide liver cleansing and support information in Principle Two: Getting Toxins Out.

Organic vs. non-organic

I refuse to refer to non-organically grown produce as ‘conventionally grown’ as the signs in stores proclaim. For millennia, crops were grown without chemicals and it is only in the last hundred years that we have chosen to soil our nest. I refuse to make poison a ‘convention.’ Non-organically grown crops contain a variety of substances our bodies have not evolved (or were designed) to ingest… genetic modification, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Many are known carcinogens. In over 260 worldwide studies, all kinds of cancer have been linked to agrochemicals. Globular fruits and vegetables such as apples, tomatoes, berries, coffee beans and leaves such as herbs and tea, are covered in pesticides… and then you boil it and drink it? Yechhh. A recently published study shows a higher frequency of eating organic food was associated with a reduced risk for cancer.1

Factory-farmed meat and dairy is tainted, not only with pesticides from feed, antibiotics, hormones, and preservatives, but scores of pathogens. Any meat or dairy consumed should at least be raised without antibiotics or hormones. US dairy cattle are treated with rBGH to boost production. It increases udder infections and pus in the milk. Ewwww! It also leads to higher levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), which contributes to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. rBGH is banned in most industrialized countries (not the US).

Organic products can be more expensive. EWG publishes annual lists of produce to avoid as well as those that contain less pesticide residue:

The Dirty Dozen: The Clean Fifteen:

strawberries, spinach, corn, avocados, pineapples, cabbage,

nectarines, apples, onions, frozen sweet peas, papayas,

peaches, celery, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant,

grapes, pears, honeydew melon, kiwis, cantaloupe,

cherries, tomatoes, cauliflower, grapefruit

bell peppers, potatoes

Genetic modification of our food supply is a very controversial. I urge you to conduct your own research. There have been no studies published that show it is safe and there have been many studies showing detrimental effects of consuming GMOs. Most, if not all, research showing that GMOs are ‘not so bad’ was funded by companies who gain financially from GMOs. Whether or not GMOs themselves are harmful, the increased use of glyphosate (Round-up) with GMO crops has been linked to many health problems, including cancer. If something is labeled ‘organic,’ it cannot contain GMOs or glyphosate.

In addition to not containing all the bad things that ‘gum up the works’ in our bodies and present an obstacle to healing, organically grown and raised food is designed to increase nutritional content. Two large meta-analyses of over 200 and 300 studies were published in the British Journal of Nutrition, and concluded that organic farming resulted in increases in key nutrients.2

I have access to a store that sells only organic and the prices are the same as or lower than the closest chain grocery store. Even if you pay a little more for organic, in my opinion, the eventual savings on health care is likely to justify it. The more we increase demand for organic, the less expensive it will be when it takes it’s deserved place as the ‘conventional’ way our food is raised.

How To Remove Pesticides From Your Produce

I wash produce, even though organic, because of potential air-borne and parasitic contamination. I fill the sink with water, add baking soda, let the vegetables soak for about 15 minutes, and scrub them with a brush. Sometimes vinegar instead of the soda.

This post, Avoiding Toxins, is from Book 2 of my Thrive Tribe Series, What I Did and Do and Why, a naturopathic protocol that helps me to survive and thrive, available from the bookstore, starting at $7. I am posting the entire book sequentially, in its entirety, on this blog once a week. Subscriptions are free.

Nothing contained on this website nor in my blogs or books should be construed as medical advice. I am not a doctor. I am a Stage IV metastatic breast cancer thriver who is currently NEAD and simply sharing my journey in the hopes it helps you to find your power and path. Please research anything I share to determine if it is a good choice for you. I believe in you! Bless you all on the path you choose.

All original content contained on this blog, What I did and do and why, is copyrighted 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Kaiulani Facciani, Snarling Wolf, Inc.