By Marji Keith and Chris Joseph
You did everything right. Hit the gym regularly, treadmill sessions, pilates classes. Organic produce when you could swing it. Maybe even tried the plant-based thing. People always told you how great you looked, how healthy you seemed.
Then cancer happened.
And your first thought was probably something like, “This can’t be possible! I’m the healthy one in my family. It must be genetic—it must be bad luck.”
This story plays out more often than you’d think. And it breaks our hearts every single time.
That person everyone called “the picture of health” was probably doing things that seemed perfectly normal. Having a glass of wine with dinner (it’s good for your heart, right?). Grabbing those gorgeous salads from that trendy spot, not realizing that everything from the dressing to the candied nuts to the dried cranberries was loaded with inflammatory seed oils, added sugars, and artificial preservatives. Drinking their morning smoothie from a plastic bottle they’d been reusing for months.
Maybe they were choosing whole grain everything because fiber is good for you. Oatmeal for breakfast, whole wheat bread, even “healthy” cereals like Cheerios. But nobody told them that constantly spiking blood sugar might be creating an unwanted environment. And those grains? They’re loaded with glyphosate, one of the most toxic substances we’re exposed to daily. Oats and wheat are some of the worst offenders when it comes to pesticide residues.
They didn’t know that dairy products—designed by nature to grow 80-pound calves into 2,000-pound cows—are packed with growth factors that don’t discriminate about what they’re growing.
There’s so much more we don’t even think about. Phone charging right next to the bed. Scented candles that make everything feel cozy. The “clean” beauty products that are anything but clean. Heating up leftovers in whatever plastic container was handy.
Sound familiar?
What “Healthy People Get Cancer” Really Means
This phrase gets thrown around like it’s some profound truth about the randomness of life. Like we should all just throw our hands up and say, “Well, I guess health doesn’t matter!”
But what does “healthy” even mean here?
When someone says a person was “healthy” when they got their diagnosis, what are we actually talking about? That they didn’t have any scary symptoms yet? That they looked good in their workout clothes? That they ate salads sometimes?
We’ve gotten confused about what health actually looks like. We’ve been treating our bodies like cars where as long as the check engine light isn’t on, everything’s fine. Meanwhile, the brakes are squeaking, the tires are bald, and when’s the last time anyone checked the oil?
Real health is more than just avoiding a doctor’s visit. It’s about having a body that can actually handle what modern life throws at it. A body that sleeps well, manages stress without falling apart, keeps blood sugar steady, and can clean house at the cellular level.
Cancer Takes Time to Develop
Cancer isn’t a lightning strike. It develops over time.
Think of it like a house where little things keep going wrong. First the bathroom faucet starts dripping. Then there’s that weird stain on the ceiling. The basement smells a bit musty. None of it seems like a big deal on its own.
But then one day, you’re dealing with major water damage, and you realize all those little signs were connected. The problem wasn’t the day the ceiling caved in—it was all those months of small issues creating the perfect conditions for what happened.
Cancer develops similarly. By the time someone gets diagnosed, their body has usually been dealing with inflammation, stress, and cellular damage for years. The tumor is the ceiling caving in, not the beginning of the problem.
According to research in metabolic health, environmental medicine, and integrative oncology, around 90 percent of cancers could be prevented if we addressed the root causes. That’s not “bad luck; that’s our modern world creating specific conditions in our bodies.
The Hidden Factors We Miss
You might be thinking, “But I do eat healthy!” And you probably do—by normal standards. But there’s so much more to the picture:
Blood Sugar Rollercoaster
Even if you’re not diabetic, your blood sugar is probably spiking and crashing throughout the day. That morning smoothie with all the fruit? Those whole grain crackers? The wine with dinner? Your insulin is working overtime, and cancer cells love insulin spikes.
Hormone Disruptors Everywhere
We’re talking about stuff that seems totally innocent:
- That plastic water bottle you refill constantly
- Receipts that transfer chemicals through your skin
- Heating food in plastic containers
- Non-stick pans releasing toxic fumes when heated
- Conventional beauty products and sunscreens
Modern Life Stressors
- Checking your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night
- Breathing air that would concern previous generations
- WiFi signals and electromagnetic fields everywhere
- Stress about things that didn’t exist 20 years ago
- Over-exercising without adequate recovery
Environmental Toxins
- Scented candles and air fresheners
- Conventional cleaning products
- The makeup and skincare routine that makes you feel put-together
- Conventional sunscreen you slather on religiously
None of these things will give you cancer next week. But layer them together over 10, 20, 30 years? That’s when your body’s terrain starts shifting toward disease.
Why This Actually Matters
If you’re dealing with cancer or trying to prevent it, the “bad luck” story isn’t serving you. It keeps you passive when you could be proactive.
The truth is more empowering: you have way more control over this than anyone’s been telling you.
When you understand that cancer grows in a specific type of environment in your body, you can start changing that environment. You can reduce inflammation, improve detoxification, balance hormones, stabilize blood sugar, and support your immune system.
You don’t have to become a health-obsessed person who’s afraid of everything. It’s about making informed choices based on how your body actually works in our modern world. It’s about becoming more mindful.
Where Do You Even Start?
This probably feels overwhelming. Like, great, now you have to worry about your water bottle AND your candles AND your workout routine AND everything you put on your face?
Shifting your body’s terrain is more than just swapping regular vegetables for organic ones (though that’s a good start). It’s about understanding how all these pieces fit together to create the environment your cells are living in 24/7.
This work takes time, patience, and often guidance. Most people read something like this or pick up books like The Metabolic Approach to Cancer and think, “This makes total sense!” But then they get home and stare at their pantry and think, “Now what?”
That’s totally normal. This approach is comprehensive. It touches everything from your morning routine to your skincare products to how you handle stress. Having someone who’s walked this path, who understands both the science and the real-world messiness of changing your entire approach to health—-that can make the difference between getting stuck in research rabbit holes and actually transforming how your body functions.
Moving Forward
You didn’t get cancer because the universe was having a bad day. And your yoga classes and green salads weren’t enough to create a body that could handle everything modern life was throwing at it.
But here’s what should get you excited: now you know. Now you can do something about it.
The question isn’t whether you were “healthy enough” before your diagnosis. The question is: starting right now, what kind of environment are you going to create for your cells?
Your body is incredibly capable of healing itself when you give it what it needs. The work of figuring out what that looks like for you—that’s where the real power lies.