While walking though the Orlando airport last month I saw this poster. I also happened to catch a commercial with Jimmy Tate for colorectal cancer screening, & heard an advertisement for experimental drug research for another type of cancer.  It got me thinking about a post I read a few weeks ago, “Susan G Komen for the Cure isn’t Curing Anything.” Feisty title, huh? But the author made some really great points, that when you think about make a lot of sense. (P.S. I highly recommend checking out that article, too!)

The problem with these cancer associations, organizations, etc. is the way they’re looking for a “cure”. What are they actually researching? Drugs. Surgery. Chemicals. Unfortunately, all of these things work against our bodies. Your body has the ability to heal itself. Let’s say you fall down & scrape up your knee. It will form a scab which will eventually be replaced with new skin, assuming you don’t continually keep falling down & scraping up the same knee. This is a really simple example to illustrate that when we allow it the right conditions, our bodies will heal themselves. Cancer might seem like a lot bigger deal than a scabby knee, but research suggests that 95% of cancers are caused by lifestyle choices. 95%!!!

I truly believe that there is a cure for cancer. The cure is changing our lifestyle & habits that cause cancer; what we eat, drink, the chemicals we allow in our homes, the medications we take, etc. I know it’s tough to change habits. Sometimes its really hard, inconvenient, & no fun at all. But by making these changes in our lives not only are we able to create a better life for ourselves, but we are setting an example that future generations can follow in a little easier after we’ve paved the way. If we could prevent 95% of cancers that would be 541,015 lives saved every year.

$5 billion went into cancer research in 2010 by the National Cancer Institute alone. At some point we’ve got to realize that we’re putting all this time & energy & money into new buckets & mops when there is a hole in the roof. It is time to fix the roof.

I want to clarify that I am not trying to say that the teens who do Relay for Life or the athletes who wear pink cleats or the moms who do breast cancer walks are in any way doing something wrong. I think they’re showing amazing love & support for people battling this serious illness, which is awesome. But we need to redirect our energy. Until we start getting serious about prevention & are ready to change our habits, I’m afraid we won’t be any closer to winning this “war on cancer” than we have been for the past 60 years.

Today one out of two men & one out of three women will get cancer in their lifetime, & almost everyone has someone close to them who’s battled cancer. My grandpa died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006 & my dad was diagnosed with testicular cancer this year. I think it’s time we’ve said enough is enough & move past chemotherapy & radiation & on to new lifestyles that won’t give cancer a chance to start.

(If you or someone you love have cancer, I highly recommend checking out www.chrisbeatcancer.com, a blog by a man who was diagnosed with stage-3 colon cancer & through changing his diet has been completely cured. He shares how he did it & how he’s continuing to live cancer-free.)