More and more I see bumper stickers saying F**K Cancer.  Whenever I see them, I think “it’s not the cancer you should be mad at , it’s what causes the cancer that should be bumper stickered everywhere”.

Perhaps we should be saying, “f**k ultra processed foods, chemical agriculture, microplastics, glyphosate, sunscreens, toxic personal care products, toxic cleaners, DDT, toxic drugs, toxic injections, toxic relationships, chemtrails, non-native EMF’s and bad habits”, to name a few.

The body is innately intelligent, give it the right ingredients and it will be the healthiest it can be, give it the wrong ingredients and it will adapt the best way it can but eventually it will not have the strength and resilience to keep cancer at bay. This applies to other health issues, too, and not just cancer.

Why does one person who doesn’t give their body the right ingredients have depression, another gut issues, another autoimmune disease and yet another cancer in one or many parts of the body?

Why does one person get cancer of the breast, another cancer of the liver, cancer of the pancreas and so on? 

The body is resilient and adaptable, but it must have the right ingredients in order to be the best it can be. These ingredients include real food grown without chemicals in nutrient rich soils, sunshine, movement, sleep, connection, nature, laughter, fun, rest. This is all part of what the human body needs and has evolved with throughout the ages. 

When we deny the body its needs then cancer or dis-ease is usually the result.

My mum and sister died of cancer. I can possibly pin it down to the chemicals they were both exposed to in Iowa USA. My mother was born in 1937, the following year arsenic and lead were sprayed around her father’s farm and throughout 14 states of the US to combat a moth plague. This was done for two years. Then in 1945, the beginning of DDT spraying on the farms in Iowa began. This persisted until 1972 despite warnings of the dangers of this chemical from the late 1950’s and more importantly by the author of Silent Spring, Rachael Carson. Further, my mother had long hair and nits were treated with DDT. Swimming pools where my mother played were sprayed with DDT, so overall her exposure was accumulative.

DDT is fat soluble which means it can be stored in the fat cells of humans. No doubt my mother would have had DDT stored in her fat cells. When she became pregnant with my sister and had morning sickness where she did not eat much for 3 months, her fat stores would have been released to help in the survival of my mother and the baby (my sister), as the fat stores were released so would the DDT and no doubt my sister would have been bathed in DDT.  

I can’t prove this, but I’m highly suspicious of this chemical in the demise of two important women in my life.  My sister was never well, she was diagnosed with 5 autoimmune diseases in her early 20’s and died from oesophageal cancer at 47. My Mum died 5 months before her at the age of 69, she died from lung cancer though she never smoked.

Although I’ve implicated toxins in the environment as a probable cause for cancer, I also believe there is a role that emotions like grief, and trauma play in cancer. Although it is not conclusive in the science, I look at my family and the grief that was placed on my mother through the death of many brothers, six in total, sister in laws (two) and a nephew as a result of their genetic condition of haemophilia and the tainting of the blood supply during the HIV and AIDS crisis. My mother, though seeming strong, was subjected to these emotional traumas that persisted over two decades. The last straw I believe was the death of her own mother just one month before my sister was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and given 3 months to live. Conditions of the lungs are associated with grief. As well as looking at the build-up of toxicity in the environment since her birth, she also may have been affected emotionally. As for my sister, she gave up a child for adoption as a teenager and I do not believe she ever got over that decision. She also saw our childhood as traumatic whereas my brother and I saw it as a fairy tale. I guess the perspective of things that happen in life all play an important role in overall health outcomes.

The same year my mum and sister died, I had a good friend die from breast/liver cancer. She was in her late 30’s, from a farming town in South Australia. I don’t know her exposure to toxins, but I’m sure there were chemicals sprayed on the farms.

To watch your loved ones die of cancer is not easy, it’s a disease that stopped my sister from eating, so she had a PEG in her stomach to feed herself in her last 12 months of life, and I watched my mother waste away to a skeleton with skin. I don’t like to remember what she looked like when she died, I’d much rather remember her when she was vital and energetic. My friend did not want me to come and see her before her death: she wanted me to remember her as a strong vibrant young mother and that’s what I have done.

I could easily say f**k cancer, but I don’t.  Instead, I fight like anything to educate people about the power of giving the body the right ingredients and educate people about the corruption in the very industries that should be protecting us.

Each country has a regulatory body for agriculture and food. The USA has the EPA, the USDA and The Food and Drug Administration to protect the American people from an industry that is fraught with dangerous chemicals. Obviously, they got it wrong with Arsenate of Lead and DDT and many more chemicals that have been part of the knock-on effect explored in Silent Spring.

In Australia we have APVMA (Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority and FSANZ (Food Standards Australia and New Zealand).

Despite the fact that non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma has been connected to glyphosate and has been patented as a chelating agent, herbicide and antibiotic the APVMA still have 596 registered products available in shops around Australia containing the active ingredient glyphosate.  This chemical is sprayed on our food, national parks, verges, parks, playgrounds, council lands, roadsides and wherever a plant (weed) is not wanted. The APVMA has a measuring system for all chemicals, it is called the MRL (maximum residue limit) which is measured in parts per million and parts per billion.

Why is Glysophate a Problem?

Because glyphosate is a water-soluble compound, it does not accumulate in the plant, but while consuming glyphosate can cause dysbiosis of the microbiome and has hormone disrupting qualities, it’s not the amount of glyphosate in the product that is the problem. The problem is what it does to the plant through enzymatic disruption of the shikimate pathway. Plants that are sprayed with glyphosate have less of the aromatic amino acids, important precursors for our neurotransmitters. There are less minerals, there are less B vitamins and other important nutrients. While the residue may only be 5 parts per million in the wheat grain, the real damage is in the nutrition that the plant should be delivering to the human body. Glyphosate also destroys the ecology of the soil the plant grows in, the microbes in the soil make all the antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other important factors that the plant takes to be a healthy plant and therefore create healthy humans and animals. When the soil has a dysbiosis then these compounds are not made and the plant is lacking in them, therefore it’s not the amount in the plant but rather the action on the plant that is the problem with the case of glyphosate.

I’ve discussed but one chemical, there are 1000’s more registered by this government authority who incidentally are funded by the industry itself, not by the government. APVMA are funded through registration, annual fees and percentage of sales of the chemicals they approve and register. If glyphosate is making multi billions of dollars in sales in Australia, which it does, then you can be assured that the APVMA are raking in billions of dollars in royalties. That’s how they survive.

What about FSANZ? They are the body that decides what is allowed in the food supply and what isn’t. They are the ones who have approved dubious additives put into our food supply, and they are the ones who have approved the spraying of our vegetables and fruits with Apeel (see article here for more information on this preservative now being sprayed unlabelled on fruits and vegetables sold throughout Australia and the rest of the world.  Although in other parts of the world such as the US it must be labelled, whereas Europe Apeel is only allowed on fruits and vegetables that have to be peeled, so the Apeel is taken off with the skin, for example foods like avocado, banana, mango. This must also be labelled in Europe. But Australia allows this product to be on the fruits and vegetables without any warning label).

Sunscreens are now being shown to have cancer forming chemicals within them that can be absorbed by the skin and enter the body.  It’s interesting that the new field of quantum biology shows the importance of all the wavelengths of the sun including UV A and UV B as well as infra-red (near and far) being important for our health, circadian health and mitochondrial health to name a few.  But we have been taught to fear the sun therefore we smother ourselves in dangerous chemicals to protect ourselves from the sun which is a source of energy and health for the human body. It’s also interesting to note that the less we go in the sun and the more sunscreen we use the greater the incidence of melanomas.

The government is not going to protect you, so it’s important that you take the initiative to educate yourself on what ingredients your body needs for health.

I know the people reading this may already know this, but there are a group of people that don’t know where to find this information but know there is a better way to be healthy, to eat better, to not be lied to by advertising and marketing. These people want to seek the truth about how they can improve their health and that of their family. These are the people you need to be sharing this article with, having these conversations with. 

The internet is swayed by the narrative of ultra-processed foods, no sunshine, when sick take medication and that chemicals sprayed on our food supply are safe. Therefore, it is even harder to find what you are looking for as the algorithms don’t seem to show the other side. We must spread this information by sending it to family and friends and giving them information that can help them break out of the mentality of “f**k cancer” and start saying that they will take steps to be part of the grassroots movement that not only improves their health, but that of the planet. If we purchase wisely, we can make a tremendous difference as to supporting people who do care rather than the companies that seem to be more interested in profit than true health for all.

When we know better, we do better. Then we can start to change things from a grassroots level, so rather than from the top down, we work from the common person who wants a better health outcome and a better life. If you want to know more join The Nutrition Academy email list, start with the introduction to Nutrition Course and then head on to the exciting life changing year-long program that takes you to the understanding of what helps the human body be the best and healthiest it can be.  Be part of the movement that is influencing the world. I’m here to help.

Cyndi O’Meara

Nutritionist