September 2025 – InspireGrowth

The Big “C”

A bowl of fresh, steamed broccoli with a yellow background displaying the word 'Chemoprevention'.

The Big “C” — What We Can Do About It

All of us are familiar with cancer. The big “C.”

Unfortunately, many of us may personally know someone who has suffered through this devastating disease. Maybe it was you. Back in 2007, it was me.

Chemotherapy and cancer care can be brutal, and the effects ripple through families and communities. Facing that reality raises the question: Is cancer inevitable?

If you read my post on epigenetics, you already know the answer.

What the Evidence Says

Is there anything you can do to lower your chances of developing this catastrophic affliction?

Major health organizations and large epidemiological studies consistently point to the same message: a healthy eating pattern is protective. That means eating mostly whole, plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains — and limiting red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, and highly processed foods.

These recommendations come from many population studies and lab research, which together build a strong case that whole plant foods are associated with lower risks of cancer and other lifestyle-related diseases.

The American Cancer Society provides this guidance:

From American Cancer Society Journals:

Recommendation: Follow a healthy eating pattern at all ages

A healthy eating pattern includes:

Foods that are high in nutrients in amounts that help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight;
A variety of vegetables—dark green, red and orange, fiber-rich legumes (beans and peas), and others;
Fruits, especially whole fruits with a variety of colors; and
Whole grains.

A healthy eating pattern limits or does not include:
- Red and processed meats;
- Sugar-sweetened beverages; or
- Highly processed foods and refined grain products.

Why Whole Plant Foods Help

Whole plant foods contain a complex array of healthy-promoting substances. Take broccoli, for instance. It contains sulforaphane, a naturally occurring compound that exhibits anticancer properties, such as halting cancer cell growth and inducing cancer cell death. It is also an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory agent, contributing to optimal health.

Important note: these foods are for prevention, not a substitute for cancer treatment. The chemicals in broccoli and other whole plant foods are not potent enough to act by themselves as chemotherapy for the treatment of active cancer. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer, follow your doctor’s recommendations for treatment.

The Bottom Line

You can’t control everything, but you can control your daily choices. Imagine the incredible advantage you have in terms of cancer prevention by eating an abundance of whole plant foods. And yes, I know there are no guarantees in life, but can you see just how much influence you have over your own health?

That makes me feel empowered.

How does it make you feel?

If you’re interested in bringing this type of message to a wider audience, I speak regularly on topics related to health and wellness. You can learn more about my talks at https://stevepiriano.life/speaking/

I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.

The Surprise Box

It’s your birthday. Your best friend hands you a beautifully wrapped, basketball-sized box. 🎁 Brimming with excitement and anticipation, you eagerly, yet carefully, untie the ribbon, gently remove the top, and peer inside.

Gleaming in the center of the box is the wristwatch that you’ve wanted for ages. However, the fiery jubilation ignited by your eyes is quickly extinguished by your nose. Surrounding this newly acquired prized possession and filling the rest of the box are small heaps of filthy socks reeking of sweaty feet.

What was your friend thinking? Is this some kind of joke?

We may never know. I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination.

The point of this short and somewhat weird tale is that it is a good metaphor for the concept of a food package described by Lifestyle Medicine.

The Food Package Explained

A food package simply means the entirety of a food. It does not indicate one or even a few constituents of a food—it denotes the ENTIRE FOOD AND EVERYTHING IN IT.

This is a critical idea to understand because it is how you should think about everything you put in your mouth.

Take cheese, for instance. Yes, it’s high in calcium, but it’s also loaded with saturated fat. Look only at the calcium content, and you might think cheese is healthy. Step back and look at the entire food package, and the picture changes—sort of like that attractive wristwatch buried in smelly socks.

On the other hand, let’s take a look at fruit. Yes, it contains sugar, but that sugar is naturally occurring and bundled with fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. That’s a box worth opening. Refined sugar combined with fats, additives, and preservatives in processed snacks? That’s the junk-filled package that is best left sealed.

Some Words of Wisdom

How do you know if a food package is healthy or not?

Here’s some advice:

Good advice: Read ingredient labels. Fewer ingredients often (but not always) mean a healthier food.

Better advice: The healthiest foods don’t even have labels because they are whole foods created by nature—no label needed. Think apples, berries, beans, and broccoli.

Life-changing advice: Of the foods created by nature, the healthiest for us and the ones we should be eating the most are whole plant foods.

✨ Next time you’re choosing what to eat, think about the whole package—not just the beautifully wrapped box.

I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.

Healthy or FOS (Full of Sugar)?

The Questions

Apples are packed with health benefits—but wait… aren’t they full of sugar? Doesn’t that sugar cancel out the good stuff? Aren’t we told to avoid high-sugar foods?

Yes, apples do have a lot of sugar. In fact, a medium apple has almost as much sugar as a Snickers bar.

No, the sugar in an apple doesn’t cancel out any of its health benefits.

And yes, we are told to avoid high sugar foods.

So, why eat apples, or any fruit, at all? Why does “an apple a day keep the doctor away” if excessive sugar consumption can lead to type 2 diabetes and a host of other health issues?

Great questions!

The Answers

It comes down to content vs. context.

Sure, fruit and the candy bars have nearly identical amounts of sugar—which would be their content.

But content is meaningless without context. What else is going on? What else is inside these foods?

Let’s take a quick look.

Not only does the sugar in apples occur naturally, but it is also packaged together with fiber, water, vitamins, and antioxidants. The fiber slows down the rate at which the sugar is absorbed, and the entire apple is a high-nutrient, low-calorie superfood that is gentle on blood sugar levels.

Conversely, the sugar in a Snickers bar is refined sugar added to the mix of fat and other ultra-processed ingredients. There is barely any fiber present to slow the rate of sugar absorption, which makes this candy bar (and most others) a low-nutrient, high-fat, high-calorie food that will cause your blood sugar to spike.

CONTEXT MATTERS.

A Few Numbers

We can also compare the glycemic index and glycemic load of these foods.

Some quick background info: the glycemic index (GI) measures how fast the body absorbs the sugar in a particular food. The higher the GI, the faster the absorption, and the worse the effects on blood sugar levels will be. Glycemic load (GL) uses the GI and also takes into account the actual amount of carbs in a particular serving size of food. Like GI, the higher the GL, the worse the food will be in terms of its effects on blood sugar levels.

A medium apple has a GI of 36 and a GL of 6 (both low).

A Snickers bar has a GI of 55 and a GL of 22 (moderate/high).

The Bottom Line

So, once again, context matters. When considering a food’s healthfulness, you must not just focus on a single component—you must focus on the entirety of the food. In Lifestyle Medicine, this concept is known as the Food Package.

So, knowing that context matters, go out and enjoy a crisp, juicy, and sweet apple, knowing that you are giving yourself the healthy boost you deserve.

I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.

The Impactful Apple

Is an apple just a fruit, or could it rival your neighborhood pharmacy?

Loaded with fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals, this mouthwatering sweet fruit can confer a host of health benefits.

Reduce the Bad and Raise the Good

Apples have also been shown to decrease:

Total cholesterol
LDL (bad) cholesterol
Blood pressure
Inflammation

…and increase HDL (good) cholesterol.

Disease Prevention

Along with their substantial antioxidant content, their anti-inflammatory effects may contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.

Regular apple consumption has also been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.

And here’s a bonus: an apple’s fiber promotes a healthy gut microbiome, which means steadier blood sugar and much more.

There is even some early evidence that eating apples regularly may have beneficial effects on pulmonary and cognitive health.

The Impactful Apple

So, although I wouldn’t say that apples alone can lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammation as effectively as statin drugs and other pharmaceuticals—imagine the powerful impact they could have as part of an overall healthy diet filled with a rainbow of whole plant foods.

And, HUGE BONUS, no risk of adverse side effects.

So, the next time you bite into a crisp and juicy apple, remember—you’re not just enjoying a healthy snack, you’re giving your body a natural prescription for health.

I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.