Hormones
Hormones are very definitely linked to an increase in cancer, especially of the breast.^{40, 41, 42} As stated earlier, high fat-diets increase the amount of estrogen that the body secretes, which in turn promotes growth of tumor tissue especially in the breast. Hormones are entering our bodies at alarmingly high rates. Now beef and chicken and all dairy products contain BGH — or synthetic bovine growth hormone. This is given to increase the weight and milk production of these animals. But, once again, when we ingest these hormones through our food supply, our risk of getting cancer increases. Growth hormones make cells grow faster and this includes cancer cells which all people have in their bodies.
Have you ever noticed how the size of an average professional football player in the last 50 years has increased by at least 50 pounds? When we eat food containing growth hormones, we are going to grow, but this is endangering the normal hormonal balance of the body. If a man consistently takes testosterone to become more muscular or stronger, eventually his own body stops producing the hormone. The same is true with thyroid hormone and most others. God made our bodies to function perfectly in homeostasis, with nothing added. Why eat foods or consume drinks that increase your cancer risk and throw your body out of balance?
Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant drug and is found in tea, coffee, and cocoa. It increases stomach acid secretion and can raise blood pressure. It also can cause nervousness, sleep problems, nausea, and restlessness. Caffeine completely throws off the blood sugar balance and keeps the body from healing because it is kept in a constant state of stress and tension similarly to always running away from a lion. You cannot rest and heal if you are always running.
Caffeine can interfere with reproduction and cause birth defects. In animals, such defects as cleft palate, missing fingers and toes, skull malformation, and delayed bone growth increase when they consumed amounts of caffeine equaling that found in three cans of pop per day. Caffeine also can aggravate fibrocystic disease of the breast in women. There has been some correlation to the link between bladder cancer and caffeine intake.⁴³ Caffeine also acts as a diruetic, robbing the body of its needed water supply.
Alcohol
Alcohol has long been known for its damaging affects on the liver. All natural therapists agree that if the liver is not functioning properly, you will get very sick. Toxic load buildup is a great irritation on the system as a whole, as well as on the cellular level. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or actual death and scarring of the liver tissue. This irreversible damage leads to a premature death. It was the ninth leading cause of death in the United States in 1990.⁴⁴
You will be surprised to know how much alcohol is too much. According to Nan Kathryn Fuchs, Ph.D., a healthy liver can handle only two to three teaspoons of alcohol per hour; it takes as long as 24 hours to eliminate the alcohol and the byproducts from just one drink.⁴⁵ One-third of all Americans drink, and 10 million are alcoholics.
Some of the effects of alcohol, besides liver problems, are as follows:
•  Alcohol decreases the heart’s work capacity. According to Nathan Pritikin, “Just two cocktails will cut it about 20% for about 24 hours. If you are a two-drink-a-day person, you have already deprived yourself of 1⁄5 of your heart.”⁴⁶
•  Dr. Patrick Quillin reported in a study that the rate of strokes in drinkers is double that of non-drinkers. Heavy drinkers have more than five times the stroke risk of non-drinkers.⁴⁷
•  Excessive alcohol consumption raises blood pressure.⁴⁸
•  Excessive alcohol consumption has been shown to increase the likelihood of developing a variety of cancers, including cancers of the throat, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, breast, lung, rectum, pancreas, head, neck, and liver.⁴⁹
•  Excessive alcohol consumption results in loss of white blood cells (which fight bacteria , viruses, fungi, and cancerous cells).⁵⁰
•  Excessive alcohol consumption depletes our bodies of Vitamins C and A, folic acid, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.⁵¹
•  Excessive alcohol consumption causes decreased absorption of calcium and causes calcium to be leached from our bones. Heavy drinkers are likely candidates to develop osteoporosis.⁵²