‘Many of us regularly ingest with gusto two major cancer-producing substances: tobacco and alcohol, two culprit-agents that account for most of the diseases, disabilities and deaths in the world today.’
MOST cancers, in general, are caused by the body’s repeated exposure to harmful chemicals in our environment. These include tobacco, alcohol, and all dangerous ingredients in common household cleansing agents, such as laundry, kitchen, wall, window, floor, and toilet detergents. Added to these are the various chemicals, solutions, or sprays we have in the garage for cleaning cars and the floor underneath them. Our home is a major source of exposure to these toxic agents. And the pollution of our rivers and lakes and oceans from industrial toxic wastes, and air pollution from these same companies and from our car exhaust system, destroy the protective ozone layer above us and are major sources of carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). Many of us regularly ingest with gusto two major cancer-producing substances: tobacco and alcohol, two culprit-agents that account for most of the diseases, disabilities and deaths in the world today. The diseases include cancer, lung illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, heart attack and stroke. Many forms of cancer are literally “self-inflicted” and preventable.
Damage to our DNA
Whether we realize it or not, our bad habits and our closets and shelves at home are two of the most substantial sources of cancer-causing chemicals that we come in contact with, or inhale the fumes of, daily, which adversely impact our body, health, and longevity. The other carcinogens are from the environmental poisons forced upon us by irresponsible industrial corporations and pollutant-emitting vehicles. All these toxic agents damage our DNA, which leads to many forms of illnesses of various severities.
Major culprits
Statistics show that most of the illnesses that affect, maim, and kill human beings today are brought on by one/or a combination of these two substances: alcohol and tobacco (including secondhand smoke). These diseases include lung ailments (bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer), cardiovascular diseases (high blood pressure, heart attack, cardiomyopathy, rhythm problems and sudden death), metabolic diseases, like diabetes mellitus, and many forms of cancer. The other factors are likewise due to similar bad choices on our part: eating processed foods, or, a high-cholesterol, high-fat, high-carbohydrate, high salt, low-fiber diet; and, dangerously living a sedentary life (as a couch potato, doing only finger exercises with the TV remote, and munching on all the junk foods around), simply getting fat. This scenario reminds us of the strategy to get the most weight on cattle and hogs, before an early slaughter: keeping them in a tight “cage” where they practically cannot move, and feeding them frequently to maximize their weight and fat. And it works. Much like our couches at home.
The Philippines “is a country of diabetics,” a lecturer once said, accounting for diabesity (diabetes-obesity) to our staple food, rice. If we stayed away from rice, bread, and minimized our desserts, there would be fewer diabetics amongst us, he continued. While it is hard to imagine how an Asian, especially a Filipino, could stay away from rice, it is surprising to find out that many Filipinos, including the more health-conscious younger ones, have been able to abstain from eating rice. They opt for protein and vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Not eating rice at all also helps in weight and waistline control.
And one toxic agent frequently found in our homes is soft drinks. All kinds of pop beverages are unhealthy, increasing the risk for the development of metabolic syndrome, both in adults and in children.
Guide our children
The best is to start among pre-school children, and guide them about a healthy lifestyle early on. This is to protect the integrity of their DNA, and should start as early as possible. Once damaged, the DNA is scarred and pathology ensues, showing up as diseases as they grow older. When I suggested in my book, Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children, that a healthy lifestyle should start in the womb and dieting must begin in the crib to be proactive and preemptive in disease prevention at the cellular level, the goal is to protect their DNA. This is the way to maximize good health and longevity and prevent them from having the so-called “natural and expected diseases of old age” like arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid problems, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. These major ailments are not natural and expected. They are largely preventable. We, humans, were not born doomed to have those illnesses. The majority of our diseases are self-induced, self-inflicted. Teaching and guiding our children from age one is vital to their future.
Home-made cleansers
Given the toxic nature of all cleaning chemicals today, it is safer to use the old-fashioned scrubbing and cleaning methods used by our great-grandparents and their ancestors for centuries.
DIY cleaning liquid: ½ cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of baking soda, 10 drops of essential oil (lavender, lemon, tea trees) in 12 oz spray bottle, or 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup water, a teaspoon of dishwashing soap, for general surface cleaning. For cleaning glass: ½ cup of white vinegar, ½ cup rubbing alcohol, and 14 cup water, mixed in a spray bottle.
Healthy lifestyle
Living a healthy lifestyle will prevent or eliminate most of these diseases and provide us with a healthier, happier, and more productive life. And this singular, wonderful benefit in itself is worth all the sacrifices and hard work one needs to invest to achieve it. Components of lifestyle are our philosophy, attitude, behavior, habits, diet, exercise, and psychological and mental state. The so-called elusive Fountain of Youth Spanish Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was searching for navigating the world is actually here: It is called Healthy lifestyle.
