Acupuncture New York Medicine: Can Avoiding Dietary Sugar Help Prevent Cancer?

By steven | Published October 25, 2011

Inflammation and Dietary Sugar

One of the major causes of inflammation in the human body is the over consumption of processed, white sugar. When I was an intern in a Taoist school of acupuncture and a red halo developed on the skin around an inserted needle, the Master would say; “too much sugar causing heat.” What the Master meant (in Western terms) was that consumption of sugary foods would create inflammation in the blood. This would manifest as a red circle on the skin around the acupuncture needle. Whenever I see that in the clinic today, invariably the patient will respond “yes” when asked if they had recently consumed a sugary food.

The Sweet Taste of Acupuncture Medicine: The Spleen and the Pancreas

In the view of acupuncture medicine, the organ called the Spleen shares many of the functions with the Western anatomical organ, the pancreas. According to the Five Element theory of acupuncture medicine, the sweet taste goes to the Spleen. A little sugar is will nourish the organ, but an excess will weaken the Spleen’s functioning. The same holds true for the pancreas. Too much sugar triggers too much insulin production. Too much insulin production will weaken the pancreatic function and hasten the inflammatory process.

The Role of Insulin in the Inflammatory Process

  • increased risk of heart disease
  • insulin resistance
  • obesity
  • metabolic syndrome (a precursor to diabetes)
  • a decrease in immune system response
  • increase in stress hormones such as cortisol and most importantly,
  • INCREASED INFLAMMATION.

The Role of Inflammation in Cancer

The topic of inflammation is the subject of many books, both in Western biomedicine and in Acupuncture medicine. In Acupuncture medicine, inflammation is known both alternatively and progressively, as heat, fire, and toxic heat. This inflammatory process is involved in many, if not most, acute and chronic diseases.

Hepatitis, arthritis, sinusitis, colitis; think of all the diseases you know that end in “itis”. This is the suffix for inflammation in modern medical terms. The inflammatory process is a disease mechanism that is directly involved in heart disease, digestive disease, bowel disease, neurological disease, etc. and especially cancer. Inflammation causes cellular mutation and sets off the growth of cancer cells. Cancer not only thrives on inflammation, cancer cells actually produce and secrete inflammatory molecules to catalyze their own growth. So any diet that decreases inflammation is inherently an anti-cancer diet.

How You Can Prevent Cancer

One of the ways that oncologists determine the presence of cancer is to test for the cellular uptake of sugar. Cancer cells uptake and utilize sugar at an accelerated pace compared to normal cells. That’s because cancer cells cannot utilize oxygen for metabolism and therefore depend on sugar in order to survive.

Therefore you can prevent cancer by cutting down on the consumption of sugar and all simple carbohydrates. They enter the bloodstream much too quickly and spike blood sugar levels. This leads to an increase in blood insulin and an increase in the inflammatory process. By cutting sugar out of your diet you are preventing cancer two ways: by lowering inflammation and by not providing the fuel for cancer’s growth. If you are serious about cancer prevention, this is the most important dietary change you can make.

 

Steven Gordon, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac., Dipl. CH., is an expert in the field of TCM gynecology and integrative cancer care with over 15 years of clinical experience. He is a NYS Licensed acupuncturist and a Board Certified Herbalist. For more information and to download his free e-book on acupuncture medicine, go to: http://www.flatironacupuncture.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Acupuncture and the Prevention of Breast Cancer

By steven | Published August 17, 2011

By Steven Gordon, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac., Dipl. CH, Integrative Cancer Specialist

The Causes of Breast Cancer

Each year in the United States almost 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. While there is an abundance of information on Western biomedical treatments, treatments for the prevention of breast cancer are relatively unknown. While many women have a genetic predisposition to this disease, many others do not. In both cases there are steps they can take to prevent breast cancer from occurring. And while this article is addressed to women, breast cancer can and does occur in men although they number less than 2% of all recorded cases.

Some of the causative factors include poor diet, lack of exercise, accumulated physical and mental stress, environment toxins such as food additives, contaminated water, and pesticides, and prolonged hormonal (estrogen) exposure of the breast tissue due to endogenous and external factors.

The Chinese Medical View of Breast Cancer

According to the principles of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), many diseases of the breast are related and have the same underlying disease mechanisms. Because Chinese medicine can diagnose these mechanisms before symptoms appear, we can catch these diseases in their early stages. And, in fact, if we catch these diseases in their early stages, we can prevent them from progressing to more serious disease stages such as cancer.

From a Chinese medical prospective, all breast diseases have stagnation as the root cause. In the Chinese medical view, the body is traversed by the channels of acupuncture. The life force, called Qi (pronounced chee), circulates through these channels on a continuous basis. Any interruption or blockage of this flow will result in an imbalance either in the local area or in the entire system.

In Chinese medicine there is a saying,” If there is free flow, there is no pain. If there is pain, there is no free flow.” So, if there is pain, what is it that is not flowing? In TCM, there are three things that are flowing. It is the Qi, the Blood and the Body fluids. Since Qi is the force that moves the Blood and Body Fluids, a blockage of Qi will also result in a disruption to the flow of the blood and lymph fluids.

If the Qi is obstructed, this is called Qi stagnation and there might be distention, pain or lumps. If the Blood is not flowing, this is called Blood stasis, and there can be intense, stabbing pain or clots in the menstrual blood. And finally, if the fluids are not flowing, this is called damp accumulation or phlegm nodulation, and there can be a feeling of swollenness, heaviness or cysts.

These imbalances might not necessarily lead to cancer but they are the underlying disease mechanisms that we find in almost all breast diseases, including cancer. An experienced practitioner can detect these imbalances with a thorough exam even before any symptoms occur.

In the acupuncture clinic, our women patients come to see us because they have one or more of these symptoms that are disrupting their everyday life. Some of the most common breast complaints seen in the clinic are:

  • Premenstrual breast pain and soreness
  • Fibroadenomas (benign masses)
  • Cysts (fluid filled sacs)
  • Breast abscesses (mastitis)

The Acupuncture Treatment for Breast Disease

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are the two main treatment methods of professional Chinese medicine. In general, the more there are physical changes in the breast tissue, the more the emphasis should be placed on herbal medicine versus acupuncture. Having said that, acupuncture is an extremely important part of the process because of its almost immediate effects in the relief of swelling, pain, and anxiety.

When the appropriate acupuncture points are needled, blockages to the flow of Qi are removed and stagnant Qi and fluids will begin to disperse. This is one of the mechanisms of acupuncture and one of the reasons for the quick reduction of pain and swelling.

By far the most common ailment among women is breast soreness and pain during the week leading up to menstruation. And although it is not considered dangerous, it is important to correct this problem to prevent its progression into something more serious.

As soon as PMS breast symptoms appear, treatment with acupuncture should start and be repeated as frequently as possible until the first day of menstruation. This protocol is repeated again the next month and if the patient has been following her practitioner’s advice about diet and lifestyle, the symptoms should be less severe and less prolonged. This process should be continued until the symptoms have disappeared. Most cases of premenstrual breast distention can be resolved in 3 – 6 menstrual cycles.

By keeping the Qi of the breast unobstructed and free flowing, not only are we preventing PMS breast soreness, we are dealing with the same exact disease mechanisms that create masses, cysts, and breast cancer.

 

Steven Gordon, L.Ac. Dipl. Ac., Dipl. CH., is an expert in the field of TCM gynecology and integrative cancer care with over 15 years of clinical experience. He is a NYS Licensed acupuncturist and is Nationally Board Certified in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine (NCCAOM). Since 2007 he has treated hundreds of breast cancer patients at the Integrative Cancer Care Clinic at the Flatiron Acupuncture Center in New York City. Visit his website: http://www.flatironacupuncture.com for more information.

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