Cancer Study Reveals Importance of Good Nutrition

How important is good nutrition to you? Knowing what I know about holistic healing in naturopathy, nutrition is very important to me and my family. We are what we eat. Therefore, we strive to eat well by maintaining a balanced diet that is nutritionally sound. Now, a new cancer study seems to indicate that my family’s desire for good nutrition may go to the very core of cellular function.

We talk about good nutrition from the standpoint of fueling our bodies with the right kinds of fuel. But just what does that mean? When you look at in terms of cellular biology, it means that every cell in the body needs specific kind of nutrients to function properly. This is true for both good and bad cells, as evidenced by ongoing cancer research being conducted by Australia National University.

Researchers involved in the study have been looking at ways to combat cancer by depriving cancer cells of vital nutrients. One particular nutrient they are focusing on is glutamine. Cancer cells use glutamine as energy in generating the building blocks they need to multiply and spread. By depriving those cancer cells of glutamine, researchers were able to drastically reduce the rate of growth by an astonishing 96%.

There is still quite a bit more work to be done in this arena. But figuring out a way to target cancer cells by denying them the nutrition they need to grow is a major breakthrough. It shows us just how important nutrition is to overall health.

Nutrition Is Important for All Cells

Step back and think about the implications of the Australian cancer research. If cancer cells require a certain level of glutamine in order to grow, does it not make sense that other cells need the same kind of thing – whether it is glutamine or another nutrient? Of course it does. This indicates that the food we eat affects us to the extent that it very well may be the most important factor in determining the health of individual cells.

The human body is made up of trillions of cells. If the majority of those cells lacks the kind of nutrition they need to function properly, the cumulative effect would be poor overall health for the individual. But the opposite is also true. The cumulative effect of good cellular nutrition is good overall health.

Cells Have Different Nutritional Needs

Another important thing the Australian cancer research demonstrates is the fact that different kinds of cells have different nutritional needs. That makes perfect sense. Different functions among tissue types would require different kinds of nutritional influence. This is why the practice of good nutrition involves so many different kinds of foods and preparation methods.

For example, you have probably heard the idea of choosing vegetables according to color. The greater the variety of colors, the more complete the nutritional balance. This is because the color of vegetables tells us what kinds of nutrients they possess. Striking a good balance ensures that your body is getting all of what it needs rather than just a few designated nutrients from your favorite vegetables.

It is both remarkable and exciting to know that there may be a way to treat cancer more successfully by focusing on nutrition at the cellular level. What the Australian researchers learn as they continue to study this phenomenon will undoubtedly have a significant impact on future cancer treatments. In the meantime, the lessons learned could be used in a broader sense to improve the daily nutritional habits of every global citizen.