Monthly Archives: April 2015

Seven Novel Strategies for Spring or Anytime Cleaning to Prevent Cancer

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Spring flowers-fly-garden_PexelsFlowers are blooming and birds are singing as spring arrives after a long winter. Spring cleaning is a buzzword now. Some people are excited about cleaning for fresh and renewed homes; in contrast, others see spring cleaning as a daunting task and feel overwhelmed even just running down a long checklist. Either way is understandable.

Here is the point: spring cleaning doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all, and you can gain cancer prevention benefits out of different kinds of spring cleaning. You will know why after reading the novel yet actionable ideas and strategies I outline here.

1.     Manage spring cleaning with a workable goal.

It’s desirable all rooms and corners of your house spotless, but it’s not a must. So, setting a priority (e.g., the kitchen or bedroom) can be very workable, especially when time is not on your side. Furthermore, your goal is more achievable when you make spring cleaning a family function. A bonus is that working together as a family helps foster responsibility for kids. It’s of course important to do chemical-free cleaning (e.g., e-cloths, baking soda, and vinegar) if you can.

2.     Clean out junk foods to optimize your heart health and for cancer prevention.

Go to your refrigerator and your pantry and you will likely find foods or drinks containing some cancer-causing ingredients such as:

  • Trans fat: it increases your bad cholesterol (LDL) and at the same time lowers your good cholesterol (HDL). Therefore, it is not only a double whammy on your heart, but also a fireball for inflammatory diseases such as cancer.
  • Sweeteners: commonly used aspartame causes various illnesses from birth defects to cancer.
  • High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or refined sugar: cancer cells have sweet teeth!
  • Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs): both GMOs and the chemicals used to grow them have been shown to promote tumor growth.
  • Processed meats: they contain cancer-promoting agents like sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate.
  • Canned food containing BPA.

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3.     Clean mental clutter to lower stress and enhance immunity.

  • Get rid of stress.
  • Get rid of negative thoughts, worries, and self-doubts.
  • Take a yoga class, a bath, or a walk; treat yourself to a massage or go out for lunch or dinner with a friend; whatever works best as a stress reliever for you, just do it.

4.     Clean your mouth to reduce oral cancer risk.

  •  Quit smoking.
  •  Avoid alcohol.
  •  Make a daily habit of brushing and flossing your teeth.
  •  Schedule a dental cleaning and oral cancer screening.

5.     Clean the fat in your body to gain long-term health.

Obesity is a risk factor for certain cancers, in addition to increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. So, by promoting fat breakdown, you may compensate certain aspects of obesity that cause diabetes. Certainly, you cannot gain a healthy weight overnight, but you do have options to modify your diet and lifestyle starting with cleaning out junk foods and taking actions such as:

  • Stay away from high-fat and high-sugar foods.
  • Start or continue a balanced diet rich in fresh veggies, fruits, proteins, and fiber.
  • Burn some fat by exercising and being more physically active.
  • Drink more water or tea instead of sugar- or sweetener-rich drinks.

6.     Clean the air to remove pollutants that cause cancer and allergies.

  • Check for and remove asbestos, a lung cancer-causing agent.
  • Test for radon level while increasing ventilation in your house. Radon is a radioactive but colorless, odorless gas.
  • Install an air freshener, which is a great aid to cleaning indoor pollutants.

7.     How about “digital cleaning”?

In this digital age, our lives are influenced by digital devices in many ways. “Digital hazards” can affect your health more than you may realize. You can help detox yourself from them simply by doing the following:

  • Clean your inbox. This can be a jump start of a “digital detox.” Eliminate all junk mail, and if possible stop those pesky unwanted emails from arriving in the first place. Delete old and useless email, and organize your inbox in more efficient ways.
  • Clean out all electronic wastes, such as old cell phones or other electronic devices, and take them to a safe disposal location designated by your local government. Donate your old computer to a cause if it’s still functional.
  • Clean viruses, spyware, and malware that may be in your computer. Backup your files and organize your passwords – whatever you do to make your computer run faster and less vulnerable to cyber threats, it will make your stress level lower and your life easier.
  • Keep your bedroom free of iPads, iPhones, and other digital devices as much as you can, because they are hazards to your snoozing, and consequently your health.

Of course, you can do more beyond these lists, but you get the idea.

I hope these strategies provide valuable insight into some small, easy, and quick steps you can take towards lowering your cancer risk. Spring or anytime cleaning of the areas outlined here can be a great strategy for cancer prevention and other health benefits.

 

Image credit: by Pexels

Make the Most of Your Sleep: For All Your Health, Including Cancer Prevention

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

alarm-bell-clock-338-524x350Here’s a troubling statistic: An estimated 60 million US adults have sleep disorder, making insufficient sleep an increasing public health issue.

How about you? Do you sleep too little or too much? Do you toss and turn at night?

Even if your answer to one of these questions is Yes, you may, like many people, consider trouble sleeping at night to be No Big Deal.

But that’s far from true. And that’s why today, we focus on how sleep can have a significant impact on keeping cancer at bay.

Let’s look at some facts:

  1. Both too little sleep and too much sleep are associated with higher mortality from all-cause illnesses.
  2. Working night shifts with long exposure to light at night disrupts circadian rhythms and has been found to contribute to an increased breast cancer risk.
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  4. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA, often indicated by heavy snoring) is a condition in which the human body is temporarily deprived of an adequate oxygen supply to the blood.  Recent studies show that patients with OSA have a higher prevalence of cancer and cancer-related death than those without OSA, suggesting that OSA promotes cancer development and progression.
  5. One publication (by Matthews’ group, 2014) reported that people living a sedentary lifestyle (sleeping less than 7 hours/day, with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity less than 1 hour/week, viewing television more than 3 hours/day, and with a BMI greater than 25) had significantly higher all-cause cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.
  6. Individuals with a sleeping disorder are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as depression, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
  7. Sleep disturbance is among the top 10 key health issues in menopausal women.
  8. Sleep disturbance and/or sleep deprivation can critically harm your health based on a reciprocal link between sleep and inflammatory biology. Sleep disorders can negatively affect your immune functioning, including antiviral responses and proinflammatory responses.

In sum, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that getting adequate sleep has a significant positive influence on your health, including preventing development of certain cancers.

If you have trouble sleeping, it’s best to seek professional advice to help determine whether it is due to a psychological or a pathophysiological issue. Adequate duration and good quality of sleep absolutely go a long way toward securing your optimal health, a lowered cancer risk, and an increase in your quality of life and productivity.

In brief, sleep is very important and valuable for your health; so, make the most of it!

Image credit: by Pexels