THE EPIGENETICS OF CANCER

Cancer is primarily an environmental disease with a smaller perhaps 20% being determined by genetic aberrations or mutations. If cancer is mostly environmental, then how does this happen? As it turns out there are very important genes in our cells that prevent them from becoming malignant. They are called suppressor genes. They can be turned on and off. When your body comes in contact with or ingests cancer causing agents such as IGF-1 and large amounts of estrogens in dairy, these protective genes are turned off by a mechanism known as methylation. The very scary part of this process is that the turned off genes can be passed on to the next generation in a turned off position. This would increase the next generation's risk of cancer by behavior in the previous generation. This is exactly what we see with breast and prostate cancer with ages dropping in each generation in which cancer occurs. This process of gene turn off and turn on is known as epigenetics. You are what you eat and you are passing on to your children an increased risk of cancer by consuming dairy before they are even born.