Trying to save a drowning victim can be very dangerous to the rescuer. The drowning person is frantic for any way to rise above the water, and will literally climb the rescuer if given the opportunity — this pushes the rescuer under the water. Lifeguards are trained to take a buoyant object and give that to the victim first, then pull the victim to shore.
In any panic situation, any living thing will do what it can to survive, and it is not long term thinking. Survival is its only concern at the time. This goes all the way down to single cells: they too will react in a short-sighted manner when in panic. Panic is extreme stress, but even less extreme levels of stress cause a similar, though milder, reaction in cells. Stress is pressure to find a solution now, and ongoing stress keeps the pressure on.
If you are stressed, you may envision long-term solutions, but your cells can’t think that far ahead. They simply are under pressure to fix the immediate problem, but their fix may not be good for your whole body. Stress is pressure to move away from the status quo and try something else to relieve that pressure. Chronic, long-term stress tells the body that efforts to fix the problem so far have failed — so let’s try something different.
While any stress is signaling a need for change in the body, it plays out in many mechanisms. The “fight or flight” syndrome is just one manifestation of stress, but any problems in the cellular environment invoke a stress reaction. High toxin levels urge the body to increase its detoxification efforts. Lack of adequate nutrition can alarm the body and tell it to dig deeper to get what it needs. Inflammation is a huge stress reaction, where the body senses cellular damage and attempts to repair it, or an invader which it attempts to overcome. Here’s the good news: we can exert a lot of control over our own cellular environment!
Chronic stress leads to disease
Since much of our cellular stress is environmental, getting the best nutrients, good rest, exercise, and hydration can negate a lot of disease development. We know, for example, that even someone who is experiencing mental stress can negate some of its effects with exercise. Nutrition clearly staves off or reduces many diseases. And the reverse is true: lack of these opens the door to a host of diseases.
Cancer happens when stressed cells go too far in attempting to fix the problem and act like the drowning person: they take emergency measures which damage their rescuer. Many studies have been done on the effects of stress and environment on cancer development. In one study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), researchers at the Institute of Cancer Stem Cell, Dalian Medical University in Dalian, China conducted animal studies to verify links between stress, cancer development, and nutrition. First, they implanted cancer cells into control and stressed groups, and from 15 days up through the end of the experiment at 30 days they could see significant differences in the tumor sizes between the groups, while they determined that tumor formation efficiency had increased up to 100% in the stressed group over the control group. Second, the researchers traced out the pathways involved in the tumor enhancement: “transcription factors”, which are proteins that copy DNA codes into RNA, caused a reverse-differentiation of cells into a “stem-like state”, then the metabolism of these cancer stem cells (CSC’s) was reprogrammed to a highly acidic, low oxygen state by epinephrine (also known as adrenaline, a major stress hormone). This caused a positive feedback loop where the tumor progression was encouraged and enhanced by its own development. Third, they studied the effect of vitamin C on this feedback loop and determined that it directly inhibited the metabolic reprogramming that encouraged the tumor development.
Here we have the whole story in one study: the stress factors caused the epigenetic reading of the DNA to change, causing the development of cancer stem cells which liked the high acid, low oxygen tumor environment — but the simple addition of one nutrient, vitamin C, to the environment resisted this cycle of tumor formation. This is how we can combat cancer and many other diseases: providing a nutrient-dense environment that favors healthy cells and puts disease development at a disadvantage.
Not a gene problem
Even with cancer, most of the genetics that are being expressed are normal. Cancer depends on a largely normal body with normal gene expression to support it. What cancer does is use the metabolic pathways for its own purposes. It will drive some pathways harder than normal and attempt to signal surrounding healthy cells to do its bidding, but it is not viable on its own. In a stressed, less healthy body, it can get away with commandeering normal metabolic activities more easily because the body does not have the resources to fight it, and in fact may “agree” with the need for cancer to handle the body’s toxic environment.
Published in Cell Reports, researchers at the Wilmot Cancer Institute – University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY turned to big data analysis to determine which normal genetic expressions can be used by cancer to develop. They determined that in 80% of gene interaction models that they studied, 24 normal gene interactions were particularly needed to support cancer development. Very little of the total gene expressions involved in cancer they studied were from mutated genes. Most of the process to develop cancer came from non-mutated cells.
An unhealthy environment puts the pieces in place that promote cancer. The cells in that environment are looking for change. Higher stress just prods them harder. They review the available genetic code for answers. If they land upon a mutated gene and decide to try out that genetic expression to help, cancer may begin. Then the cancer starts giving orders. Stressed but still normal cells may cooperate with those orders, rather than ignoring them as out of touch with the current environment. Cancer is given a free rein to develop.
In a healthy body, this sequence is much less likely. Yes, mutations occur — we can’t stop them. But those mutations may never be expressed. Why should they if the current genetic expression is doing the job of maintaining a healthy body? But if they are expressed, then the healthy body recognizes the renegade signals and sends the immune system to attack those cells, instead of letting them have their way. And finally, the cells expressing the mutation may be coaxed into switching to other genetic expressions in a healthy environment where the cancerous expressions are not particularly helpful. It’s a matter of tipping the scales towards health or towards disease. Unfortunately in this modern era, tipping the scales toward disease is easy, convenient, and socially expected.
Don’t turn your body into the equivalent of a panicked drowning victim, ready to take the rest of the body down with it. Stress leads your body into survival decisions that it has to make. It would be one thing if you had no control, and were simply open prey to disease that could hit if you were unlucky. You can’t control all the factors of your environment, but you can exert a lot of influence — much more than you likely believe. You have the power to not be a victim, and avoid most diseases before they ever get started.
Dr. Nemec’s Review
The JCI article restated: Cancer tumor cells increased by 100% in the group that had high adrenaline stress. When oxygen goes low (anaerobic), acid goes high (cooked animal protein and fat and cooked carb diets) then normal healthy cells dedifferentiate into cancer stem cells in order to survive in this toxic environment. But proper antioxidants from living and raw plant foods reverse the whole process because they change the environment, not only with biophotons and enzymes but also with phytochemicals, hence this changes the outcome. In the Cell Reports study the results were that most of cancer does not develop from mutated genes but NORMAL genes that are trying to keep up with an inflammatory and toxic environment. This is very important. You do not get cancer from inherited genes or from mutated genes, but instead from normal genes that just cannot keep up with the load of inflammation, toxicity, acidity and low oxygen level that you produce when your cells are in a physical stress (from diet and lifestyle choices) or mental stress patterns (from subconscious and conscious stress programs). So remember the number one cause of disease is chronic stress of an inflammatory and toxic physical and mental/emotional environment. You have the choice to control your environment at a very high percentage. You have the choice so your cells never get panicked to the point of cancer stem cell formation. Choose life, not death, for your cells.
Here are the ways we can help you in your health journey:
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
