Nutrient Sufficiencies and Efficiencies

Nutrient Sufficiencies and Efficiencies (for breast cancer survivors)

Scientists and medical professionals have known for quite some time that breast
cancer and other cancers occur as a result of uncontrolled cell proliferation. But
exactly what causes this out-of-control growth still remains a bit of a mystery that is
being pieced together, study by study. What we do know is that many carcinogens do
their dirty work by damaging our DNA. The greater our exposure to carcinogens,
the greater the potential for DNA damage that can lead to cancer.

The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but
rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.
—Thomas Edison

Goal: Understand what your own nutritional deficiencies are
and correct them, using whole foods and high-quality nutritional
supplements

When our DNA becomes damaged, our genes begin to mutate, or change form.
For example, when a gene that helps control cell division is damaged, the cell can
no longer control the process effectively. When carcinogens silence the genes that
are designed to protect us from cancer (for example, the p53, or “tumor
suppressor,” gene), we will stop benefiting from their protection. When the genes
that regulate the normal life cycle of a cell malfunction, the normal process of cell
death, or apoptosis, can be impeded.

So it would be fair to say that one of a cell’s top priorities is to protect its DNA.
Our cells accomplish this aim by maintaining a good stockpile of repair enzymes to
reverse damage and by having an ample supply of antioxidants to reduce oxidative
stress. To satisfy these needs, cells must have the right nutrients at the right time.
The cell membrane has the job of making sure that these nutrients gain entry into the
cell as required and that toxins are eliminated as necessary.

In this chapter we’ll discuss those nutrients that seem to be most intimately
related to protecting cellular DNA and performing other functions essential to
preventing cancer. We’ll also discuss a few nutrients that, in excess, can raise the
risk of recurrence, and we’ll share information on the safest and most effective
forms of these nutrients.

We like to think of nutrition as you might think of a bank account. A sedentary
lifestyle, poor sleep, and poor eating habits are the withdrawals that rob nutritional
reserves. Deposits come from eating whole, nutrient-dense foods that replenish
reserves. The interest is the strength and vitality that come from smart investing. At
the end of the chapter we’ll give you some specific ways to discover the status of
your own nutritional “bank account.”