Research from UCSD published in early 2013 found that women that have a vitamin D blood concentration of 50ng/ml is associated with a 50% reduced risk in breast cancer before menopause. This is an astronomical decrease in breast cancer incidence, but keep in mind, that it is extremely difficult to maintain blood levels of 50 ng/ml. I recently had my vitamin D levels tested, it was 40 ng/ml, and that is with daily supplementation with 4,000-6,000 IU. Obviously, vitamin D supplementation should be handled with caution as it is fat-soluble so it is stored in fat. However, the upper tolerable daily intake is 10,000 IU per day and some individuals that are severely deficient are recommended mega doses by their physician. Ask your physician for a vitamin D test, they are routinely done and will be extremely informative as to whether or not your daily vitamin D intake is too low.
The meta-analysis compared frozen pre-diagnostic blood samples from a repository of 600 women that later got breast cancer with 600 healthy women. All 1,200 blood samples were collected at the same time and the samples were analyzed three months prior to the initial breast cancer diagnosis. Vitamin D has anti-angiogenesis properties and may be partly why high vitamin D levels can stave off pre-menopausal breast cancer. Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels from the initial tumor site to new sites and is vital for cancer growth and metastasis.
The obesogenic diet consists of processed foods (foods that are in boxes, cans, and jars) and is lacking in fruits and vegetables. The obesogenic diet caters to the busy, go-go-go American lifestyle where food-to-go allows us to get a few more work hours in. While we can get by on this caloric rich diet for several years, we are starving our cells of micronutrients (essential vitamins and minerals) that are required for cellular processes like DNA repair. The end result: our cells acquire more cancer-causing mutations that don’t show their ugly face until several decades later. Just the right combination of mutations, in the right cluster of (mutated) cells, confer both immortality of the cell, and rapid proliferation: what we call cancer.
Fruits and vegetables are the primary source of micronutrients; so why should you drink them? The answer is simple: it is an efficient and effective way to deliver a broad spectrum of micronutrients to your cells in one meal — rapidly. It isn’t about enjoyment of the meal, it’s about consuming health-promoting minerals and vitamins in as efficient a manner as possible.
That’s where products like the Vitamix excel. Unlike juicers they leave the pulp in and extract nothing. However, despite leaving the pulp in, the Vitamix is also powerful enough to blend things so that they have a very consistent texture… when the right combination of ingredients are put in they can be both palatable and healthy. (Hint/pro tip: don’t go with a lot of raw garlic on your first round)
Vitamix offers a 30 day in-home trial with paid return shipping and a crazy 7 year warranty.
