Eat to
starve cancer it’s a simple as that. Just changing your diet could actually
help stop, reduce, and prevent cancer from ever forming. Some of the foods are
in our daily lives already; strawberries, pineapples, artichokes, even dark chocolate.
All these foods have a single thing in common that helps prevent cancer. That thing
is called antiangiogenesis.
In the TED talk that we watched William Li explained the root cause of
many diseases that inflict our body. From arthritis to obesity to cancer; they
are all caused by too much angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is the process of
building blood vessels. Most angiogenesis happens when are children and only
happens in a few cases when we are adults. When cancer first forms it is
microscopic and cannot grow any larger because it is not getting any type of
blood supply. The danger is when the cancer mutates and sends out signals for
the angiogenic process to begin there by recruiting its own blood supply
allowing it to grow. A new cancer has been on the rise. Antiangiogenic therapy
which is in a way better than chemo therapy because it selectively targets the weaker
blood vessels of the tumor. By destroying the weaker blood vessels of cancer we
can effectively starve cancer of its required nutrients. After William Li
explained the idea of using angiogenesis to treat cancer he went further and
explained that it might be possible to prevent cancer from ever forming blood
vessels. Our diets account for 30-35% of the environmental factors that cause
cancer. Usually this means that food are taken out of our daily diets to
prevent cancer but William Li took a different idea. He wondered what could
actually be added into our diets. Antiangiogenic components are naturally found
in a variety of food at different levels of potency. To think just eating
everyday foods can help prevent cancer.
This was really interesting to learn. I really enjoy the idea of being
able to just eat foods that will help prevent cancer, I already enjoy quite a
few of the foods on the list. In my opinion it would be a great idea to spread
this information around the world as fast as possible. It may not be an
absolute way to prevent cancer but it is taking a step closer. Not only we need
to cure cancer we also need to find a way to prevent cancer and with each
scientific advancement we are getting a step closer.
