Cancer Prevention with Inspire Health

On April 11^th 2012 Bentall Kennedy’s Fitness month hosted Dr. Janice Wright to tell us about evidence based cancer care and prevention. Dr. Wright is a physician with Inspire Health which is a non-profit society established in 1997 which is recognized as a national leader in Cancer care. Here is a summary of the principles at Inspire Health which they use as a platform for wellness promotion and cancer prevention & treatment.

•         Person empowerment and the right to choose

•         Whole-person approach – Not just the sum of the parts

•         Self-efficacy and engagement vs. passive and dependent

•         Belief in our body’s ability to heal

•         Focus on prevention

•         Healthy role modeling by health care professionals

•         Transforming fear associated with a cancer diagnosis into inspired action

•         The optimal time-frame to engage and be inspired is during the ‘window of opportunity’ soon after diagnosis

•         Ripple effect to family, friends and community

•         Group work provides support for this shift

•         Evidence based, wisdom-informed: 7,000+ research abstracts

For more information regarding Inspire Health’s unique life-changing cancer care and recovery programs they can be reached online at www.inspirehealth.ca or by calling 604 734 7125. There office is located at 200-1330 West 8^th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6H 4A6.

So, here’s a summary of 5 interesting points regarding cancer care that Dr. Wright addressed in her talk. *** This (of course) is in conjunction to participation in regular vigorous physical activity and stretching!!

1) Don’t eat Peanuts or Peanut butter. Period.

Aflatoxins clearly linked to liver cancer

Recommendations: avoid peanuts or peanut butter.

*Safe, healthy tree nut butter options: almond butter, cashew butter

2) Broccoli and Green tea

Not necessarily to be eaten together, but they have been shown to be cancer reducing for both men and women by regularly including them in your diet. 

3) Sleep

Lack of sleep and stress are some of the leading causes of immune- suppression. Try to get as much undisturbed, high quality sleep, with uninterrupted darkness... It is an unappreciated endogenous mechanism of cancer prevention. ( That means if your body is adequately rested your immune system can fight illness better)

4) Laughter
Sing, Dance, Laugh. Basically have some fun.

5) Minimize Toxin Exposure

This is a no brainer: Don’t Smoke Tobacco.

Another underappreciated way to minimize toxin exposure is to watch what you put on your skin. The average person uses 12 products a day on their skin from hand soap, body soap to shampoo & conditioner, shaving cream and cosmetics. In this stuff is a cesspool of mineral oil and nasty chemicals that end up directly in your bloodstream through contact with your skin and can directly affect your body’s health. To find out more about the worlds healthiest skin care products from Arbonne click: http://welcomeyourwellness.myarbonne.ca/ or contact johanna@myarbonne.ca (ID:115531483) 

                                    

Dirty Dozen:

Here is a list of the common fruits containing the most pesticides and harmful residues. Y’know… the ones at the supermarket that don’t have the organic label! Additionally,  Dr. Wright mentioned imported grapes are some of the worst culprits for holding chemicals with in due to the thinness of the skin. Wash them all before you eat them, and avoid the ones listed below if you are unsure of its origins or farming practice.

1.  Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (Imported)
11. Carrot
12. Pear

That’s about it for now. Thanks to Inspire Health and Dr. Janice Wright for speaking to us about how we can stay healthy and live longer.

CH

Fitness Month

Every April, for the past 18 years BentallKennedy ( the owners of the Bentall Centre Athletic Club) has put on a heath and wellness fare for their 250 employees in the Vancouver business district. "Fitness Month" as we call it, consists of 36 fitness classes, outdoor recreation, and wellness seminars in 30 days. It has been my pleasure to be the coordinator of Fitness Month for the past 5 years, which has brought a great deal of fun, wellness and healthy living to each of the participants, as well as myself.

Here's some details about what's happened this month so far.

Snowday at Mt. Seymour on April 1st wasn’t anyone’s fool. The thick fog lifted to present a perfect afternoon of fresh soft snow and unlimited sunshine!! For the first time in 5 years the clouds lifted to make for a perfect Bentall Snowday. Yaahoooo.

After we assembled approximately 60 of us in The Three Peaks Lodge at 9am, everyone grabbed their tickets and rental passes and ventured off in roughly 5 directions. First, the Tubers and Tobagganers hit the park, next the snowshoers headed out with their guided tour, while the skiers and snow grabbed their equipment and headed for lessons, and the young parents (me & Johanna) held down the fort in the lodge. Everyone had a blast!! As usual, the lunch Mt. Seymour lunches from the Grillworks were below average, but everyone happily munched back French fries, dogs, soda, or cardboard pizza. No one seemed to mind.

On Tuesday April 3^rd the regular season of Wallyball kicked off with some serious ricochets and great team enthusiasm. Denial of Service took the early lead winning both games and only allowing 41 points against. The Outcasts also winning 2 games, but allowed 44 points against which placed them in second position. Daily Special: SERVED hot and SPIKED took third with the strongest effort in the one win and one loss category. I’m very interested to see how things play out next week.

Have a great Easter Break, and we’ll see you week for the Cancer Prevention seminar and next Sunday for the Vancouver 10km Sun Run!

Best

CH