Thoughts on Colon Cancer & Chadwick Boseman
I heard the news about Chadwick Boseman’s untimely and sad death at the young age of 43 from colon cancer.
He’s known for acting in many excellent movies, including the Marvel movie, the Black Panther.
My teenage daughters saw the Black Panther, I did not, and frankly, I did not know of Boseman.
One of my daughters, a huge fan of his movie, wept when she learned about Boseman’s death at about 10:30 pm this weekend to the point that it disturbed her sleep.
To me, I just looked at it as a young man who died too soon from this f&$%ing disease.
Though colon cancer is not my expertise, prostate cancer is, my holistic perspective is that cancer is a systemic problem, not a local one.
In other words, it’s not that there’s cancer in the colon or the prostate; it’s a body that’s “cancering.”
If there’s cancer in one part of the body, why would there not be cancer percolating in another?
Of course, I did what I do – look at the scientific data to see how lifestyle and nutrition affect colon cancer.
And this is what I found:
- Vitamin D deficiency increases colon cancer incidence, and low levels of this critical vitamin are worse for survival after a colon cancer diagnosis.
Note: Chadwick Boseman was African American (AA), and people with darker complexion are notoriously low in vitamin D unless they supplement. Melanin, which makes one’s skin darker, blocks vitamin D production from wavelengths from the sun compared to people with lighter skin.
Takeaway: Take some form of vitamin D3 supplementation: many rewards, minimal risk.
- Exercise can reduce the risk of colon cancer by up to 24%. Physical activity also improves patients’ prognosis with all stages of colon cancer, including the advanced stage.
Takeaway: Exercise like your life depends on it, because it may. Go for at least four hours a week.
- Diet: A diet higher in fiber reduces the risk of colon cancer.
Takeaway: Eat more fiber, especially from low glycemic fruits and vegetables. High glycemic foods like refined carbs increase the risk of colon cancer.
There are many other studies to support the use of nutritional, lifestyle, and other natural modalities to support its use against colon cancer, but that’s beyond this post’s goal.
Lastly, I don’t know if Mr. Boseman practiced any of the above nutritional or lifestyle habits. It’s hard to think that a known actor like him did not have access to the best integrative oncologists. I don’t know for sure.
What I do know is that lifestyle and nutritional approaches are too medicine, and such methods should be integrated into every medical system.
RIP Chadwick Boseman.