Comments on The Green Phone Booth: Cancer, the new "C word"

Like you I didn't feel I had something compell...

2010-03-08T18:34:28.724-08:00

Like you I didn't feel I had something compelling to contribute to this topic but when you pool together all of our thoughts this is one powerful and informative carnival!

I agree wholeheartedly - we can only spend so much...

2010-03-08T16:17:59.986-08:00

I agree wholeheartedly - we can only spend so much time focusing on all of the things that we are doing wrong. It's often much better to concentrate on what we can do that's right. And even small changes add up quickly, in my experience. Little things become second nature and then we can do more little things and along the way we've taken a big step in the right direction.

Thanks for the excellent advice. We all need to h...

2010-03-08T09:08:34.253-08:00

Thanks for the excellent advice. We all need to heed it. In addition, it helps to lead a low stress life with lots of laughter.

Linda A

Great post and I love your point about moderation....

2010-03-08T08:05:15.166-08:00

Great post and I love your point about moderation. I try and tell people that all the time. No point in not getting sick if you aren't enjoying life because you are to busying giving up everything.

Thanks for the many suggestions on what we can do ...

2010-03-07T06:23:56.597-08:00

Thanks for the many suggestions on what we can do to protect ourselves. Science is so focused on the cure, and not nearly focused enough on prevention. As individuals, we can protect ourselves in many ways by making the right choices about what we eat and what we buy. Your post is a good reminder of that!

A great post with some really good tips! Thanks fo...

2010-03-06T06:37:40.126-08:00

A great post with some really good tips! Thanks for contributing to the carnival!

I would only add this: I remember the "everything in moderation" and the feeling that "everything causes cancer" as I rolled my eyes at the latest news reports. That was before I knew about how many known carcinogens are allowed in products used everyday in our homes and on our bodies. Before I knew that exterminators still come out and spray in the homes where babies crawl...And before I knew that many of the same companies that are awash in pink ribbons during breast cancer awareness month are also under fire from leading environmental health groups.

Great reminder that we can seize control by watchi...

2010-03-05T18:47:17.799-08:00

Great reminder that we can seize control by watching what we eat, exericing, sleeping, etc. Good reminders of the steps to lead a healthy life.

Wonderful post. I am glad you talked about sleep a...

2010-03-05T16:25:42.241-08:00

Wonderful post. I am glad you talked about sleep and exercise. Most people don't get enough sleep and surely don't exercise.

I find when I exercise I sleep better so everyone get off the couch and go for a walk!

Great post, BUT... I'm not sure the "eve...

2010-03-04T13:15:12.753-08:00

Great post, BUT...

I'm not sure the "everything in moderation" attitude is a useful one these days. Maybe a couple of generations ago, but not now.

Nowadays there are so many foods, for example, that are not healthy in any amount, that I really think that to rule them out entirely is the best alternative (for example, processed meats and McDonald's fries - that never decompose - fall into this category IMO).

I really think diet is the key to everything. Keep yourself healthy with a sensible diet, and everything else follows.

And as far as healthy diet goes, it's also pretty obvious: lots of whole plants, very little (if any) in the way of animal foods.

And anything that comes from a factory - no matter what the health claims on the label - is NOT going to be good for you!

Packeted, processed food - even from the "health" section - is just junk. Belongs in the bin, not in your kitchen.

I think the reductionist attitude created by government desire to avoid pointing the finger at actual *foods* and instead point at components of foods makes everything seem more complicated than it really is.

If you eat lots of fresh fruit and veggies, a fair amount of nuts, seeds and whole grains, and go easy on the (whole) meat and dairy, you're probably going to be ok.

Just my opinion - and that of my great-great aunt, who died last year aged 102! :-)

I think sugar gets a bad rap. It's not that b...

2010-03-04T12:46:11.809-08:00

I think sugar gets a bad rap. It's not that bad for you in smallish doses; it's just not specifically good for you. (But do avoid HFCS at all costs.)

I'd also add avoid plastic in general if you can. There's scads of alternatives that we all used until about 60 years ago.

Many counter the environmental argument with the f...

2010-03-04T12:22:05.064-08:00

Many counter the environmental argument with the fact that we are living much longer than ever before, and that historically, cancer was misdiagnosed and/or the epidemiology to identify its spread was unavailable.

Even though that may be convincing for some, I still find it more convincing that today, there are measurable quantities of hundreds of chemicals in our bodies... chemicals that did not exist fifty exists.

I really like your last point about moderation. So...

2010-03-04T12:15:31.791-08:00

I really like your last point about moderation. So many things have been linked to cancer that if we try to avoid it all, our lives would be crazy. I do my best to avoid what I can, and that's all I can do.

This is a great post and a great reminder of what ...

2010-03-04T11:44:12.677-08:00

This is a great post and a great reminder of what we can control and what we can't. As a four-time survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, with no family history of cancer, environmental causes are the only thing I could find to explain it when I was diagnosed almost ten years ago. Pesticides are one of the only things that were linked to NHL back then, I've stopped keeping up with the research though.

As my aunt often reminded me in my times of great fear with my cancer, I can walk around so worried about relapsing or what caused it in the first place that I might get hit by a bus. Now I try to be balanced and moderate about as much as possible.

I know I should have contributed to this carnival but it's hard for me to be concise or eloquent on this very near-to-me subject. Thank you for tackling it.