USF is in the news again. GO BULLS!! 🤙
This time it’s a study linking the Standard American Diet (SAD) and the rise in colorectal cancer in young people. The two main problems being ultra-processed foods and unhealthy oils, which cause chronic inflammation, which drives tumor growth.
Take a look:
https://www.usf.edu/news/2024/how-ultra-processed-foods-may-drive-colorectal-cancer-risk.aspx
I haven’t been writing much lately. There’s a slow and painful thing happening, and it feels wrong to write about it.
My sister-in-law is in hospice. She’s been fighting cancer for more than a dozen years. She’s done it all — surgeries, chemo, radiation, experimental drugs. She’s fought hard, dealt with debilitating side effects, and finally, her body is giving out.
It’s terrible.
What I want to say to you…
Ladies, pick up the phone and make an appointment for a mammogram and pap test.
Gentlemen, pick up the phone and get an appointment for a prostate exam. Do it.
Everyone over 45, get that colonoscopy booked. Put it on your calendar.
Everyone, no matter your age, book an appointment with a dermatologist. Get checked scalp to toes. Your skin is your largest organ! Don’t overlook it!
No matter your age, get a full blood workup. See if anything is out of normal ranges. Check your fasting glucose (and plan to actually fast before getting the test). Ask for the hemoglobin A1C test and check that level — it’s so important to get a feel for your metabolic health. See my blog Are You Metabolically Healthy? to help understand the findings.
If you smoke or did in the past, talk to your provider about the low-dose CT scan for lung cancer. More info in my blog Stamp Out Lung Cancer.
Many cancers are treatable if caught early. If you have medical insurance, these screenings will be fully or mostly covered.
Finally, check yourself. Are there any lumps? Check your neck, throat, etc. Are there any spots on your skin? A weird mole, perhaps? Are you feeling easily winded or tired after light exercise? Does your sweat smell different? Are you shaky when you miss a meal? Unexplained headaches? Notice these little signals and discuss with your doctor.
Please don’t delay. ❤️ Your health and life are precious.
Hope you guess my name.
We’ve all heard that Rolling Stones song a million times: Sympathy for the Devil.
Today’s post is about sugar — and all the names that particular devil hides behind. Take a look … then go look at the ingredients panel on a few items in your kitchen.
● Agave juice
● Agave nectar
● Agave syrup
● Beet sugar
● Blackstrap molasses
● Brown rice syrup
● Brown sugar
● Buttered syrup
● Cane juice
● Cane juice crystals
● Cane sugar
● Cane syrup
● Caramel
● Carob syrup
● Castor sugar
● Coconut sugar
● Confectioners’ sugar
● Corn glucose syrup
● Corn syrup
● Corn syrup solids
● Crystalline fructose
● Date sugar/syrup
● Demerara sugar
● Dextrose
● Drimol
● Ethyl maltol
● Evaporated cane juice
● Flo malt
● Florida crystals
● Fructose
● Fructose corn syrup
● Fructose syrup
● Fructose sweetener
● Fruit fructose
● Fruit juice
● Fruit juice concentrates
● Glucose
● Glucose solids
● Glucose syrup
● Golden sugar
● Golden syrup
● Granular sweetener
● Granulated sugar
● Grape sugar
● High fructose corn syrup
● Honey
● Honibake
● Icing sugar
● Inverted sugar
● Isoglucose
● Isomaltulose
● Kona-ame
● Maize syrup
● Malt syrup
● Maltodextrin
● Maltose
● Maple
● Maple sugar
● Maple syrup
● Mizu-ame
● Molasses
● Muscovado sugar
● Nulomoline
● Panela sugar
● Powdered sugar
● Raw sugar
● Refiner’s syrup
● Rice syrup
● Sorghum syrup
● Starch sweetener
● Sucanat
● Sucrovert
● Sugar beet
● Treacle or treacle sugar
● Turbinado sugar
● Unrefined sugar
● Yellow sugar
Sugar Alcohols:
● Erythritol
● Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
● Isomalt
● Lactitol
● Maltitol
● Mannitol
● Sorbitol
● Xylitol
Puzzlin’ you is the nature of my game!
Thanksgiving was last week, and in that spirit, I’ve been making a list.
I’m thankful that my eyes are open now to the world of personal health, and personal responsibility for our health. The sheer amount of information and research is overwhelming and full of promise for the future of healthcare and cancer treatment.
I’m thankful to have a slow-moving condition. I really understand how lucky I am to NOT be in the shoes so many others are — finding out they have a disease and immediately needing to make decisions while they are in shock and have had no time to think, read, plan.
I’m so thankful to be able to make these changes and then see results in my weight, fitness, and bloodwork.
I’m so thankful to be able to influence and reinforce healthy habits within my family.
I’m so thankful for the brilliant doctors and researchers I’m learning about.
I’m thankful for my library card, YouTube, and the wonderful world of podcasts.
Thankful for my husband as we spend our 33rd Thanksgiving together.🦃🍁🧡
The blessings are overwhelming sometimes.
What are you thankful for?
In college, I had a Grateful Dead t-shirt that said “Let Phil Sing” on the front.
On the back, it said, “Believe it if you need it. If you don’t, just pass it on.”
What an interesting sentiment.
I hadn’t thought about it in years, but it’s kinda what I’m trying to do here. Often, when I speak to someone about cancer, glyphosate/Roundup, new research, etc., I see signs that they don’t really believe or accept these things. I see their eyes begin to glaze over.
Honestly, if I didn’t have CLL, I wouldn’t want to think about any of these things. I would probably be hesitant to accept these ideas or to make any substantial changes in what I eat, how often I exercise, and all that.
I do hope that, because of my attempt to talk to them, or through this blog, that these folks will remember and sort of circle back to me when and if they need it. Or, if they know someone who is facing similar problems, that they (or you) will pass it on.
✌️❤️🧸
RIP Phil Lesh
1940 – 2024
As more and more physicians begin to understand the correlation between mitochondrial dysfunction and diseases such as cancer (and diabetes and dementia, and possibly others), I’m positive that some good things will happen.
One exciting thing is that, with the use of continuous glucose monitors, more and more people are able to see how their food choices impact this process, and then make better food choices.
Another exciting thing is that people are becoming aware of the issue and switching to ketogenic diets, which could reverse diabetes or manage (slow) the progression of cancer.
A new theory of cancer origin was recently introduced. It’s called the mitochondrial-stem cell connection (MSCC) (Martinez, et al., 2024). It builds on two other theories: Dr. Seyfried’s metabolic theory and the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory. I’ll put a link at the bottom if you want to learn more about that. I should mention that Dominic D’Augustino is one of the “et al.”
The exciting thing about this paper recently published on MSCC is that it proposes FIXING the underlying issue rather than focusing on killing cancerous cells.
In the past, most cancer therapies were built on the notion that cancer was genetic… it happened to those who were genetically predisposed to it… and the assumption was that to fight it meant to kill the cells, cut them out, radiate them, etc.
You could say that current cancer treatments are like playing whack-a-mole in an arcade. This new paper suggests we stop wracking the moles and simply unplug the machine from the wall.
Here are some excerpts. I will link the full paper below.
● This connection between CSCs and mitochondria appears to be crucial at all stages of cancer (Martinez, et al., 2024).
● These (standard) therapies do not restore OxPhos and sometimes even alter it (Averbeck & Rodriguez-Lafrasse, 2021; Gorini, et al., 2018). Furthermore, standard therapies only target bulk cells but cannot target cancer stem cells (Lytle, et al., 2018), whereas it is cancer stem cells that have the strongest tumorigenic potential (Adams & Strasser, 2008) and are involved in metastasis.
● Thus, after reviewing the literature on various therapies capable of targeting the MSCC, we selected, based on in vitro and in vivo studies, several orthomolecules, drugs, and additional therapies that have demonstrated an ability to enhance OxPhos, reduce fermentable fuels, and target CSCs and metastasis. Furthermore, when supported by scientific literature, we included case studies of cures using monotherapy in humans. From this combination, we developed a hybrid orthomolecular protocol, which is proposed as a new therapeutic strategy for cancer.
• The degree of malignancy could be directly correlated with significantly lower mitochondria and lower total respiratory capacity in tumor cells (Elliott, et al., 2012; Pedersen, 1978; Seyfried, et al. 2020).
• In order to grow and survive, cancer cells require the primary fuels glucose and glutamine to compensate for OxPhos insufficiency. The respiratory impairment induces overexpression of oncogenes and inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes, which contribute to abnormal energy metabolism in cancer. To date, no evidence has demonstrated the growth of any tumor cells, including CSCs, occurs with the deprivation of fermentable fuels (glucose, pyruvate, or glutamine) (Lee, et al., 2024; Liao, et al., 2017; Holm, et al., 1995; Mathews, et al., 2014; Pastò, et al., 2014).
📖
Read the full paper on MSCC:
Read more about cancer stem cell theory:
And what does it have to do with cancer, or the risk of cancer?
There have been many theories about how cancer originates in the body.
Dr. Thomas Seyfried of Boston College published the theory that cancer begins with chronic metabolic dysfunction — that is, mitochondria within a cell not being able to create good energy for a prolonged period of time — which causes them to begin creating energy through a fermentation process rather than through oxidative phosphorylation, often called OxPhos (Seyfried & Chinopoulos, 2021).
This is the key difference between healthy cells and cancerous cells: healthy cells use oxygen to create energy, while cancerous cells have reverted to an easier, ancient way to create energy (possibly from before Earth had a proper atmosphere) through fermentation of glucose (sugar) and an amino acid called glutamine.
This difference in mitochondrial function links all cancers together, regardless of which organ it appears within.
We have known this for a while. Did you know that PET scans, widely used to seek out and image cancerous activity in the body, are taken after a person ingests a sugary dye? The sugar (glucose) goes straight to the hungry cancer cells, carrying the dye that is visible to the scanner.
Why does mitochondrial dysfunction happen?
One reason why mitochondrial dysfunction happens is simply the presence of too much sugar and simple carbohydrates in a person’s diet.
These need very little digestive breakdown and go straight to the mitochondria as glucose molecules.
The mitochondria become overwhelmed with the amount of glucose they are being asked to process. They bog down and ask for help from the pancreas and insulin. They push the remaining glucose out into the blood as a sticky residue.
Have you ever felt tired, sluggish, and slow after a big meal or too many carbs? Food coma?? That is an indication that your cells are overwhelmed. You’re in a glucose storm, and your body is suffering.
This leftover glucose in the blood sticks to your hemoglobin, or red blood cells. This is the residue measured by a Hemoglobin A1C test.
I’m having lots of Eye of Sauron moments as I learn more about glucose, metabolic disease, and metabolic dysfunction. It’s not pretty, and at times, I’m in tears, thinking about signs of bad health I missed over the years.
Recently, I saw my general practitioner (Dr. Laura). I knew there would be some bloodwork involved.
For the first time in my life, I deliberately fasted, even skipping my regular black coffee that morning so that I could get a true fasting glucose level.
What’s considered normal? The normal range for fasting glucose is from 60 to 100 mg/dL.
For the last few years, I’ve tested on the higher side of normal (between 93 and 99), but as I said, its the “fasting glucose” they are measuring, and I’ve never done bloodwork when fasting.
It’s never been articulated to me that I really should fast before bloodwork. No one has ever said, “When was the last time you ate or drank anything other than water?” Neither a doctor nor the phlebotomist, as they get ready to take my blood sample.
It wasn’t until 2023 that ANY doctor looked at my glucose level and said, “That’s high. You should pay attention to your sugar intake.”
(And that’s when I quit Cheerios, months before getting diagnosed with CLL.)
But of course, our health is in our own hands. It was probably right there in 6 point light gray type on the back of the form.
So, back to the present. Last week, I was thrilled to see that my fasting glucose was 88! Wow!! I’m fixing my metabolism! I patted myself on the back.
Dr. Laura decided to also do a hemoglobin A1C test, which took a few days longer to show up in my chart. I’ve never had one before. The CDC currently recommends that everyone over 45 should have one, and that anyone who is overweight or showing signs of diabetes should have one, regardless of age.
Well, my results show that I’m just over the top range at 5.8%, which is pre-diabetic.
What’s considered normal? The normal range for hemoglobin A1C is between 4.2% and 5.6%. The diabetic range begins at 6.4%.
So, yeah. That took a few days to digest. I do struggle with this news because I have eliminated ALL processed foods and sugars from my diet for over a year now. Even before that, I rarely drank a soda or any type of alcohol. I would have described my diet as healthy.
I’ve been reading Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means, and I remembered a section on these sorts of metabolic biomarkers.
I found and re-read those pages. She calls for lower averages on almost all of the metabolic markers than the current standards.
Here’s how she starts: “… we have all nodded as doctors quickly glossed over test results, but very few of us have any idea what these numbers mean.”
Boy, howdy!
She defines “fasting” as 8 hours without eating or drinking any calories and sets a range of 70 to 85 mg/dL as the optimal range for fasting glucose.
She also lists 5.0% to 5.4% as the lowest risk range for hemoglobin A1C.
So, beyond sugars and processed foods, the next thing I need to look at is my carb intake. That’s the potatoes, pasta, rice, oats, and other grains that make up so much of our diet.
Good luck to me (and all of us) on Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!
I also found this episode on one of my favorite podcasts, Diary of a CEO.
The Glucose Goddess, Jessie Inchauspé, has so much to teach us!
She told a quick story about a man who read her book. “There was this one guy, he had diabetes his whole life, he’s in his 50s, on lots of medications, and just thought he would lose a leg, or lose his vision… that’s what happens when you have type 2 for a very long time… and his doctors had never explained to him WHY he had diabetes, they had just told him ‘take this pill’ and ‘take this insulin’… and, he read my book, and he understood why he got diabetes in the first place, and he did the hacks. He was able to reverse his type 2 diabetes in one year. All his doctors were like, “How did you do it?” … you know, doctors don’t often have this information…”
Here are a few positive steps or “hacks” shared in the episode:
I’m off to get a copy of her book to add to my nightstand collection. 📖
Well, look what I stumbled upon today.
A bit off topic, but related in terms of a healthy microbiome…
I used to get canker sores frequently, and if you’ve ever had one, you know they’re horrible! Your lip swells, you accidentally bite it when trying to eat, it makes talking complicated, and it’s really painful! There’s nothing good about canker sores.
I talked to my dentist about it a while back, and he recommended a certain mouthwash that didn’t help.
I had noticed in the past that if I used Listerine, I’d end up with another one or two sores. It made the problem much worse. I had also tried salt, saltwater rinses, and campho-phenique, which helped a bit but didn’t solve the problem.
Then I started drinking kombucha, and they’ve disappeared. They are just gone. It’s like magic. Lifelong problem solved!
I did tell my dentist in the hopes that he and his staff would tell others. I’ll have to ask at my next cleaning and see if they are.
When I first got diagnosed and met my hematologist, he mentioned that many people with CLL also have a lot of canker sores. I told him how I fixed mine. Not sure what he’s done with that knowledge. I’ll have to follow up.
Anyway, I was talking to my sister yesterday evening and she had a canker… I told her about kombucha, and she said that she would double up on the probiotics. I told her that probiotics in the pill form had never helped me, but kombucha does.
This morning, she texted to say that she’s using kombucha and already feels better. 🌞
P.S. What if the common canker sore was seen and widely recognized as an early sign of poor gut health, and people knew what to do about it?
What if doctors knew to recommend probiotics and postbiotics (to rebuild a healthy gut) rather than recommending an antiseptic type of mouthwash that actually kills more of the good bacteria?
The Cancer Canary 