Why Cancer Happens

One of the initial reactions to such news is to ask, "How did this happen?" While this question may not have a clear answer, exploring the reasons behind cancer can provide valuable insights into why it develops.

This perspective comes from a great conversation between Steven Bartlett and Dr. William Li on Steven's podcast, Diary of a CEO: Watch it here.  

Dr. Li makes the point that while microscopic cancers are constantly forming due to natural processes, clinical cancer develops when our body's natural defenses are either compromised or overwhelmed, allowing these microscopic cancers to grow unchecked.

According to Dr. Li:

• A key concept is that we are all forming cancer in our bodies all the time. This happens because the human body is made up of trillions of cells, and these cells must divide and copy their genetic material (DNA).
• Copying DNA is a complex process, and mistakes can occur. About 10,000 mistakes (mutations) are made in your body every 24 hours that aren't caught and fixed, and each of these is the beginning of a microscopic cancer.
• The reason we don't become sick from these microscopic cancers all the time is because our body is hardwired with its own health defense systems. These defense systems patrol the body, spot the microscopic cancers, and eliminate them. They include systems like the immune system and the angiogenesis system (which controls blood vessel growth).
• Cancer becomes a serious disease when the body's health defense systems fail to detect and eliminate these microscopic cancers, allowing them to grow large enough to become a threat.
• Factors that can contribute to taking these health defenses down include:
  • Unhealthy diet and lifestyle choices.
  • Eating certain processed foods, such as processed meats, which are considered carcinogens and are highly linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Eating these habitually exposes the gut to a lot of carcinogens.
  • Eating ultra-processed foods regularly at the expense of healthier foods, which contributes to taking health defenses down and can expose you to toxins.
  • Excessive added sugar, leading to persistently high blood sugar which wears down the metabolic system.
  • Excessive sodium (salt), which speeds up cellular aging and significantly wears down health defenses, particularly circulation and angiogenesis.
  • Stress, which lowers the immune system and can also damage DNA, adding to copying errors.
  • Chronic inflammation, particularly from excess visceral fat accumulated from overconsumption of calories from unhealthy foods, which is linked to an increased risk of 14 different cancers and helps existing cancers grow rapidly.
  • Exposure to harmful environmental factors, such as microplastics, which have been found to be associated with inflammation and are ingested.

Reading this list, the world we live in exposes us to all of these in various amounts.  It is no wonder that cancer is as common as it is.  

Future blog posts will explore these risk factors in more depth.