Cancer is a modern health condition that affects millions of lives all over the world. But did you ever think how our ancestors stayed away from this dangerous disease?
As if our parents and grandparents did not have the advantage of advanced knowledge in medicine and treatments like humans do today, they had their ways to maintain health and probably even prevent cancer. Let us go into some lifestyle choices and practices that might have kept our ancestors healthy and hopefully reduced the risk of cancer.
Emphasis On Natural Diets
Their diet consisted of the kinds of foodstuffs that the natural world provided for them, not, as is the case now, processed foods, artificial preservatives, or genetically modified organisms. So they ate that which nature had made available. They ate fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains of rich diversity and fair hues. These foods are filled with the necessary nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber – all of which aid our body’s natural defense systems.
These foods provided people with life and contained substances that could secure their cells from destruction. Moreover, berries contain antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals in our bodies. The leaves of the grass provide folic acid, a B vitamin crucial for DNA repair and a potential protector against cancer.
The meat was consumed in modest quantities, and animals that lived freely and ate naturally were generally slaughtered for consumption. This practice caused the animals to be leaner and to have a better balance of fats than the animals whose meat we consume today.
Our ancestors also had seasonal diets, meaning the foods they consumed were different following the changing seasons. This diversity guaranteed that they consumed a wide range of nutrients, each of which was important to the health of their bodies and the fight against diseases like cancer.
Active Lifestyles
Unlike many of us today, our ancestors did not need the gym to keep their bodies fit. They were primarily involved in physical activities such as hunting and gathering, farming and building, etc. They moved around so much because of their constant work activities. Those active regimens preserved their health and protected them from cancer.
Exercise has been proven to reduce certain forms of cancer by helping people maintain a healthy weight. It also decreases body inflammation, thus eliminating factors that lead to the development of a cancer cell. Moreover, physical activities enhance the immune system, which is crucial for cancer prevention.
Think of spending a day minding your crops, herding animals, or walking for long hours to collect food and water. Those activities were whole-body workouts that made our ancestors’ bodies more robust and enduring. Moreover, their legs’ activity improves their blood flow to maintain the health of their systems and induce proper digestion, which is among the different factors that signal one’s health and probably can influence cancer development.
Avoid the Use of Tobacco
Their main advantage in cancer prevention, which our ancestors had was that there were no commercial tobacco products at that time. In some cultures, tobacco was used in religious or medicinal practices, but it was limited.
This fact is known to everybody across the globe. Tobacco smoking ranks as the leading cause of cancer, right?
Also, it is linked to different cancers like lung, throat, mouth, and pancreatic cancer. It is by the very chance of not having those products like cigarettes and any other forms of tobacco production that our ancestors cursorily safeguarded themselves from the harms presented by them.
At the time when smoking cigarettes was not discovered, people of our forefathers’ generation instead used some natural herbs for medicinal or ritual purposes. These actions, although not completely free of health risks, hardly presented the frightening effects of cancer the way modern tobacco does.
Drinking Alcohol in Limit
Although alcohol was an essential part of human existence even several centuries ago, people consume it quite differently. In fact, in the old societies, only those who had medically set prescriptions or were present during celebrations and festivals that the people went around got for almost only partaking in the drink. Alcohol did not play as important a role in people’s lives in many different cultures as far as daily consumption is concerned.
The counter limit of alcohol in the diet may have been the factor behind our ancestors’ protection from cancer. We are currently aware that excessive drinking has several links to cancer, including liver, breast, and colorectal cancer. By not using alcohol cautiously, the fathers, who must not have been conscious of it, did a favor to themselves as a result of them being not subject to such risks.
Furthermore, in general, the alcohol consumed by the ancients was relatively weaker than what is popular today. The aged drink traditionally made by fermentation ingredients like mead and beer was generally less alcoholized than today’s distillation. This might have been another reason for the low dangerous impact of alcohol drinking.
Herbal Medicine
Plant or herbal medicine’s therapeutic action was practiced by people in our ancient, pre-medicine history way before literature was written. Due to their knowledge of the various plants and herbs, they could solve a wide range of health problems without a doctor. Although not all of these alternatives are up to the current medical community’s standards, some active ingredients in them now have anti-cancer potential.
For example, turmeric, a spice frequently used in traditional medicines such as Ayurveda, has a compound known as curcumin. This compound has indicated that it can stop the onset and development of cancer through various means in modern research. In addition, in applying traditional Asian medicine for centuries, green tea was a rich source of polyphenols, which can be antioxidative for various cancer cells.
Other shrubs, divided into garlic, ginger, and other medicinal mushrooms, were always in the first aid financial stage under the traditional medicine regime. These herbs offered a selection of healing properties, although they were not a complete cure that soothed pain without adverse effects. These substances may have been related to their chosen lifestyle.
It’s worth mentioning that these herbal cures for cancer, although they showed some potential, they were not the cure-all. These people included them as mere chapters of life seeking a much fuller, healthier life.
Community Support and Social Relationships are the two emotions that must also be considered
An essential aspect of our ancestors that is often neglected in examining their health is their strong social ties. The close relationship between people living in rural, traditional villages and their small communities strengthened them. This mutual accountability and connection could also have contributed to the health of the body and mind.
Now, we are aware that long-term stress can significantly weaken the immune system and possibly affect cancer incidence. A supportive basis could have been a kind of shelter to our ancestors in their survival and coping with the pressures experienced during their lives. The emotional support that family and community members provided could have lowered stress and improved physical and emotional health.
Moreover, the strong relationship among the community members meant that people often did not go away with sickness alone. They cared for and supported the ill patients with devotion. One interpretation of the joint community attitude towards health and healing might be that it had a long-term positive effect on recovery and general health.
In various traditional cultures, older people were esteemed for their extensive knowledge and practice. The regard and care for elderly people in the community might have even resulted in fewer age-related health conditions, including cancer.
Conclusion:
Even though the ancient people did not have the scientific understanding of cancer that we now do, their lifestyle and practices might have unknowingly worked for them in cancer prevention. Their natural nutrition, exercise habits, little or no use of such harmful substances as tobacco and alcohol, employing herbal remedies, and having positive relationships were all factors that contributed to being healthy and happy.
It is to be noted that cancer was unique and existed in ancient times. On the other hand, the extension of these kinds of diseases may be connected to changes in lifestyle, which are affected by two factors, life span and environment, directly, and consequently, people are getting affected, too.
As we reminisce over our ancestors’ lifestyles, we realize the importance of learning the same valuable lessons for our well-being. Although they are not available to us now, we can still use some of their ideas, which can also make our daily lives healthy. Sticking to a more natural, less processed whole-food diet, exercising regularly without putting ourselves at risk, avoiding the harmful effects of substances, trying the best traditional herbs under controlled conditions, and sustaining a good life are all methods we can practice.
Health is influenced by one healthy lifestyle and a holistic approach that looks at every component of our lives.