Healing Guides for Common Cancers- Skin Cancer
There are three main categories of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Rarer types are Merkel cell tumors and dermato brosarcoma protuberans.
Best Foods to Eat
Registered dietician and skin cancer survivor Anne Cundiff rec- ommends increasing your consumption of lycopene-rich foods. She explains: “This powerful antioxidant found in reddish-col- ored fruits tends to act as a natural sunscreen, providing an SPF of 3 or 4 from the inside out. In addition, lycopene helps your skin act as a natural lter, allowing enough sunlight through for your body to produce vitamin D.”2
To prevent or heal skin cancer, try preparing meals that contain:
To prevent or heal skin cancer, try preparing meals that contain:
- Beta-carotene (carrots, kale, mango, spinach, squash, and sweet potato)
- Curcumin (turmeric and curry)
- Epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC) and polyphenols (cacao, garlic, green and black tea, oregano, rosemary, and thyme)
- Lutein (collard greens, kale, and spinach)
- Lycopene (apricot, guava, ruby red grapefruit, tomato, and watermelon)
- Selenium (Brazil nuts and some meats)
- Sulforaphane and a variety of other phytochemicals, minerals, and ber (cruciferous veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauli ower, and kale)
- Vitamin A (sweet potatoes and eggs)
Quick tips
- For diagnostic purposes, get regular skin checks by your doctor or a dermatologist.
- Stay out of tanning beds, and always wear sunblock with an SPF of at least 30, even when it’s not sunny. Buy natural skincare products or make your own. Stay away from any sunscreen or lip product that has these ingredients: avobenzone, homosalate, oxybenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, octinoxate, retinol, retinyl palmitate, or vitamin A.
- Oxybenzone alone is a synthetic estrogen that penetrates the skin and can disrupt your endocrine system. More than half the of beach and sport sunscreens in the marketplace contain oxybenzone.
Its primary function is to absorb ultraviolet light, but some research shows it can be absorbed through the skin. Staff at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and other toxicology experts believe that oxybenzone is linked to hormone disruption and potentially to cell damage that could lead to skin cancer.
Healing guides
According to the EWG, we should look for mineral products that include zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, 3 percent avobenzone, or Mexoryl SX. These ingredients protect skin from harmful UVA and UVB light rays.
