Obesity referred to as a 'trigger' or 'risk factor' in disease

I recently saw a study that claimed to present evidence that obesity is a risk factor or trigger in the development of cancer.

Over the last year, I have come to understand better than ever the relationship between nutrition and disease. Motivated mainly by the changes I saw following making the ethical decision to become a Vegan, and seeing the subsequent and unexpected improving my own chronic pain and disease, I have researched interdependently and objectively and dredged out and tested facts and evidence of the impact of nutrition on our physical health.  Subsequent to all of this research, I feel I am qualified now to express my opinion on this topic.

I can firmly say that I strongly believe that obesity is not a trigger for cancer and other chronic diseases, but rather a coinciding symptom that appears in conjunction with diet related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and so on.  To say that obesity leads to a higher risk of cancer is to miss the wider view - the bigger picture. Both cancer and obesity are symptoms of the same wider problem.  Just as obesity is a symptom of a distressed body, so too is Cancer. Specifically, in order for cancer to grow, it required a low oxygen environment.  A low oxygen environment is created by consumption of high fat, especially high quantities of saturated animal fat and protein, creating an environment that is acidic and under-oxygenated - the perfect conditions for cancers to flourish and also the perfect conditions to hamper our immune systems in their defense.
 
I am so sick to death of seeing seeing obesity referred to as a risk factor or 'trigger' in diseases like cancer and diabetes!

I remember one day sitting in my Doctor's clinic and really seeing for the first time a poster that they had up in the waiting room.   The caption along side a picture of a typical large wasted man said something along the lines of  'Is your weight putting you at risk?  This particular poster was specifically referring to the risk of diabetes.

I sat there in silent disbelief. I was so angry that I wanted to tear down that poster right then and there. Here was just another example of the misinformation that is being pushed onto people. And I was there for a condition that I would later find out, could itself have been prevented and even massively improved if not cured, and largely has been by correcting my diet (Rheumatoid arthritis + chronic pain and fatigue that the doctors like to label Fibromyalgia).  But none of my doctors ever mentioned diet as a treatment, and so I spent years on damaging chemotherapy drugs, prescription pain killers and anti inflammatory drugs - and why ?  Because I didn't know any better.  But now I know better!  I know that diabetes type 2 is caused by consumption of fat, not sugar like a lot of people believe. The animal fats you consume linger in your bloodstream, hampering the ability of insulin to cope with and process the sugar in your blood.  This results in high blood sugar.  Did you know that?  Too few people do - even, in my experience, type 2 diabetics!

What that poster should have said was 'Is your diet putting you at risk of serious illness?' or 'what is your body weight telling you about your future risk of developing more serious illness'

The thing is, people want to blame their problems on something - They reach for the most convenient excuse.  'I have high blood pressure because I'm over weight, and that's just my genetics'. No you have high blood pressure because you eat what you eat, too much animal fat, animal protein and sodium from processed foods, and that same diet and sedentary lifestyle has also made you overweight! But rather than change what they eat, you go and see the doctor about your symptoms and the doctor gives you drugs.   This is how people end up on so many medications.
The average doctor isn't treating the root cause of the problem - the diet - but rather applying a band aid! Then another sore opens up - high cholesterol - another band aid - cholesterol lowering drugs.   Oh you have angina?  Here take these tablets.  You have inflammation?  Here take these prescription pain meds and anti-inflammatory tablets. And here take this chemotherapy drug to dampen your immune system that is attacking foreign bodies in your blood that are there because you ate tho wrong foods (especially way too much Omega 6 fatty acids - but that's a whole other topic!) ... So just take this tablet and let's just shut up your immune response - just another band aid. 

Why wont doctors address the underlying problem? Do they even recognize what it is? If they do, I've never seen one admit it - with the exception of course of those rare but outstanding doctors like Dr John McDougal, Dr Douglas Graham,  Dr Neal Barnard (see image below) and Dr Michael Gregor who all prescribe a whole foods plant based Vegan diet to treat and reverse the top killer diseases of our time.  Would it be terribly skeptical of me to suggest that the reason that your everyday GP doesn't prescribe a 'eat real food' solution to these illnesses, is because there is no money in recommending people go out and buy bananas, broccoli, potatoes and rice, no profit to be gained from kick backs ... erm .... 'incentives' from the fruit and vegetable wholesalers? But there sure as hell is a lot of money to be made in prescribing medications.  Skeptical or truthful?  Dig deep enough and you will find he answer for yourself.

Look deep enough and you too will find truth like this - when big profits are at steak, big influence is wielded.  Watch this video on how the big meat and dairy industries in America basically silenced the nutritional council and forced them to 'amend' i.e. completely change their recommendation of 'no animal products'

Many studies are showing time and again that a whole foods plant based diet, containing no animal products (Vegan) and especially high in raw foods actually creates an environment in the body that does not allow cancer to grow! Guess what the other side effect of a Vegan diet is?  Yes, a lean, healthy, energized body.

So there you have two polar opposites - the SAD (which stands for Standard American Diet but could just as easily also translate to the Standard Australian Diet) that derives a large percentage of calories from large quantities of animal fats and proteins and likely processed and/or 'Junk' foods, with the side effects being, amongst others : obesity and higher risk of both cancer and heart disease.

In stark contrast, at the other end of the scale is the Vegan and HCLFRV (High Carb Low Fat Raw Vegan) diet containing zero animal products, just whole plant based foods where most calories come from unrefined natural carbohydrates such as glycogen and fructose in fruit or from starches and grains for those who eat a cooked vegan diet, where the symptoms are: a lean body and healthy BMI, a fraction of the risk of cancer and an almost zero chance of heart disease.

Our doctors should be educating us to see that obesity is not a trigger or a risk factor - its a warning sign! It's a symptom in itself and should be seen as a prequel to other problems, conditions and disease just waiting to take hold.  The cause or trigger however of those problems and diseases, is not the girth of the person, its the environment within the body that caused the obesity.  And its not just a matter of 'go away and loose weight'!  Its got to be done by changing what you are doing wrong i.e. stop putting the poisons into your body! You need to recognize that you and only you put food in your mouth.  You choose what food to buy, cook and then put into your body.  You are responsible for your health and no one else. And you have the power to take back control of your health through making informed decisions about what you eat.

Stop being a victim and blaming everyone and everything but yourself.   Empower yourself, learn what you need to know and take control.  You too can become a vital, energized, happy and healthy human through feeding your body what it wants and what it needs to thrive.  But you have to really want to thrive - once you make the decision to do what it takes, it's easy sailing :)

So, in summary, how do you reduce your risk of cancer ?  It's the same way you reduce your waistline - feed your body what it needs.  Real natural whole food & physical activity - make it a priority every day to nourish both your body, mind and soul through eating and living the right way, the way nature nourished our human bodies for thousands of years, and the way nature intended our bodies to be fueled.

Finally, my personal message to you all is this - Don't wait until you begin to suffer yourself and then find the motivation to act.  Act now - Act preemptively and positively, and turn your health around, once and for all, permanently and the right way. Cut out the animal products that are making you sick, whether you feel it or not ... yet.  Start enjoying vital health before you get sick!  You just have to look to the examples of others who have been there, recognize that an attitude of denial of 'it wont happen to me' is just counter productive, and instead follow the example of those living the life you aspire to! It really is withing everyone's reach - within reach of the nearest banana. :)

Emotional eating issues "....OMG! They put animals in our meat!!'

The recent so called 'horse meat scandal' brought to light the extent of hypocrisy and speciesism that exist in a population that has in recent generations, become conditioned to differentiate and discriminate between animals; to view some animals as intended to be our beloved companions, while we view others as intended exclusively for our use, exploitation and consumption.  We have been conditioned to experience emotional reactions that differ greatly in empathy towards different species of animals.

 Most of us have 'emotional eating issues'. A prime example is experiencing repulsion at the thought of having unintentionally consumed horse meat ... but in contrast feeling totally at peace with intentionally consuming cow, pig and baby sheep on a daily basis. The 'issue' is not the repulsion, but rather the lack thereof!

I admit to having my own emotional eating issues too.  For example, I wont eat anyone that I recognize an emotional connection to, and by virtue of that connection, feel love and empathy for. That rules out any and all species of animals. I recognize my emotional eating issues, embrace them and allow them to guide my food choices and so far I have seen not only incredible inner peace, but health benefits that I had not and could not have imagined.

 There is a place in all of our hearts that longs to be embraced, and a compunction that we feel when we ignore that niggling feeling telling us that despite all the self talk of justification, food chain, entitlement, dominion etc etc, its just plain wrong to selfishly, if indirectly cause the death of another living being purely for a moment of pleasurable taste that soon vanishes.

Amazing things happens when you surrender your egoic attachment to attitudes of superiority or supremacy over other species, and allow yourself to be guided by love, compassion and empathy. A whole new world view opens up and embraces you, welcoming you back as you rediscover your humanity, and begin to rediscover the truths hidden by those who seek to profit from ignorance and complacency.

It's also true that once you choose put on the 'truth glasses' there's no taking them off, and you start to see the truth behind lies in some very unexpected places.  Deciding to face the truth, no matter how painful, head on and embracing it, instead of turning away is a very enlightening experience from that point on!


Putting aside all of the emotions and feeling and looking at the cold hard science and you will see an undeniable link between the main killer diseases suffered by people today and the consumption of animal products. Consumption of saturated fats contained in animal flesh and proteins contained in dairy products are linked in study after study to our top causes of death - and all are preventable by consuming a whole foods plant based diet, and even when diagnosed, are reversible by embarking on a plant based whole food diet.

I and the growing number of others like me believe that how we each look at food needs to evolve in line with the science and truth that we know today. We all know that the purpose of our drive to eat, our hunger, is to nourish and fuel the body. If you enjoy what you eat, bonus! If you primarily seek out enjoyment when making food choices, paying little or no attention to nutrition, consideration to the damage done to the environment, or the suffering endured by other sentient living beings in the process of producing that food, you are likely to suffer yourself, on physical and spiritual levels. Whether you choose to be aware of it, or choose to deny it, the damage is still done, and what's more, its cumulative.

Yes! How you eat and what you choose to eat is your 'personal choice'! You can choose to look at food as an opportunity to fuel and nourish your body and soul, or you may choose instead to look at it in a purely hedonistic light, in pursuit of enjoyment only, regardless of the costs, heedless of the carnage done to both others and yourself.  That choice is yours - but I maintain that a selfish choice is detrimental not only to you, but has far reaching consequences that go far beyond your own health and well being - and when your choice impacts on me, I reserve the right to object to your choice! When your choice impacts on the animals I love and cherish, I reserve the right to object to your choice.  I reserve the right to my own emotions, brought about by your choice, and I ask that you respect that, if you want me to respect your choice.
 

There's a vegan in you! All of us are born Vegan.  A close look at our anatomy proves this to be true.  Your inner Vegan is just waiting for you to put aside preconceived ideas or stereotypes associated with the word, and instead just live the life, walk the path of peace and compassion, to start experiencing the emotional and physical windfalls of finally living the right way, eating the right foods, acting with the righteous compassion, walking the right path, with conscious awareness, mindfulness, compassion and joy in embracing life as it was intended to be embraced, discovering and aligning your true values with your actions, and banishing the socially condoned hypocrisy forever.

I believe that we all have an 'inner Vegan'.  Some of us choose to embrace it, while others choose to repress it.  It all comes down to emotions. Embrace or repress - the choice is yours, but I urge you to reconsider your choices, and reassess the kind of life you want to live and the kind of impact you want to have on our world.

Embracing your inner Vegan values may not be the sole meaning of life, but it certainly gives life new meaning and value!