Thursday, June 23, 2011

Changing the Controllable Factors

I saw this article recently and thought it was a great illustration of something recently discussed on Health-Actualization.  Two-time breast cancer survivor Allen Wilson had this to say when discussing how cancer changed his lifestyle:

When people have cancer the first time, they think it'll heal up. But after it came back, I thought that there's something else at work.

That thought process is priceless.  After getting breast cancer the second time, Wilson could have had given himself pity, blamed genetics, etc., but he decided to examine the controllable factors.  As far as what changes were made, here's what he came up with:

One, the trainer I had introduced me to a dietitian. Then I read a couple of books, including Anticancer: A New Way of Life by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber and Art Devaney's  The New Evolution Diet. In addition to saying to avoid processed food, the books explain that only in the last 10,000 years have humans had agriculture. The human being developed as a hunter-gatherer, so the food in the middle of the grocery store is toxic. Now, I eat very little diary, because nothing in nature over three years old eats dairy. Also, we weren't designed for bread and grains. 

And then there's no sweets. In 1800, the average American had less than five pounds of sugar per year. Today, that number is in excess of 150 pounds. The combination of the amounts of grain and sugar creates petri dishes for cancer.


While I agree with the advice of Dr. Servan-Schreiber and Art Devaney, only time will tell if Wilson's new diet is the answer.  For now, I applaud Allen Wilson's ability to be self-reflective and assertive in the face of major health concerns.  I hope that anyone reading this blog will follow the same route if ever faced with such circumstances. As for Wilson, he has been cancer-free since 2006 and I hope his name will never need to be attached to the description "three-time breast cancer survivor."

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