Morning Habit CUTS Cancer Risk?

Liver cancer is nasty business.

Symptoms can be vague, so it can be difficult to catch it early.

For cancer that’s already spread, the 5-year survival rate is just 12 percent.

But even if you DO catch it early, the 5-year survival rate is still only 43 percent.

Talk about terrible odds.

Of course, your best bet is never to get it in the first place. And doing just that might have gotten a bit easier…

Fortunately, researchers have recently identified something that could lower your odds DRAMATICALLY.

Your oral health impacts the health of the rest of your body. Believe it or not, gum disease (periodontitis) has been linked to conditions like…

• Respiratory disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Coronary artery disease
• Problems with blood sugar control
• Dementia

Sounds crazy, I know.

But it’s not as far-fetched as it might seem.

You see, poor oral hygiene can open the door for bacteria to flourish in your mouth. In addition to contributing to tooth decay and gum disease, these bad-news bugs enter your bloodstream and travel throughout your body.

Anywhere they decide to set up camp can cause problems. BIG ones.

Now researchers just added another nasty disease to the list: liver cancer.

They analyzed over 469,000 people to look for a link between oral health and gastrointestinal cancers, including liver, colon, rectum, and pancreatic cancers.

And they found that poor oral health was strongly linked to liver cancer.

Specifically, it was associated with a 75 percent increase in the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common type of primary liver cancer).

It makes sense that the liver would be affected by bacteria. You see, its job is to eliminate toxins—like bacteria—from your body. So if your mouth is teeming with ugly bugs, you can bet your liver is getting hit with those microscopic creepy crawlies, too.

If your gums bleed easily, are swollen or tender… if you have pus between your teeth and gums… or chronic bad breath…  then chances are good that a whole colony of bacteria has set up camp in your mouth.

The solution here is NOT simply brushing your teeth more. (Although it IS essential to stick to a regular brushing routine.)

Instead, the best way to promote even better oral health is by making a few simple changes to your diet:

• Cut out sugar because it feeds bacteria.
• Avoid processed foods, which promote bacteria growth, and hydrogenated oils, which are highly inflammatory.
• Eat whole, organic food.

For additional protection, try xylitol chewing gum, which prevents bacteria from building up.

Taking these steps doesn’t mean you’ll never get liver cancer. But it definitely can help tilt the odds in your favor.

P.S. Gum disease is linked to Alzheimer’s, cancer, respiratory disease, heart disease, and more. And now a study has added another hidden, but major danger to the list. It’s something that kills more than half a million people every year.

SOURCE:

“The association between self-reported poor oral health and gastrointestinal cancer risk in the UK Biobank: A large prospective cohort study,” UEG Journal, Volume 7, Issue 9, November 2019, Pages 1241-1249