Food and Health, Part 7
Foods with high glycemic
indexes, such as sugars and white flour, trigger in our bodies a
complex reaction which results in the release of insulin growth factor
(IGF) which stimulates cell growth. Both increased insulin and
IGF from these foods trigger inflammation, making us fatter, more
pimply, and more able to grow tumors into cancer. And diabetic,
by the way. Diabetics have an increased risk factor for cancer.
I was diagnosed as diabetic over ten years ago. I began
medication and at the same time the hard work of changing how I
eat. My last a-1-c hemoglobin test scored below 6. My
doctor said, if I hadn't been diagnosed, he would say, based on this
test, I wasn't diabetic.
We are experiencing a cancer epidemic in America. Between 1940
and 2000, cancer has increased from less than 60 to 140 cases per
100,000, taking in account the aging of the population. Prostrate
cancer raised by 258 percent in the United States between 1978 and
2000. Breast cancer rates have tripled since WW II.
The good news is, we have eaten our way into this mess, and we can eat
our way out of it!
This post is part of our Food and Health lunchtime series.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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