Appropriate movement levels can promote a cancer-free functional state – a level of health in the body where the likelihood of the development of cancers is significantly reduced; this is more evidence of the critical role movement plays in an ideal life.
Elsewhere on this site we have shown the impact of a chronic ‘stress’ reaction on the functional capacity of our immune system.
Deficient exercise/movement is a stressor and initiates the stress response.
Sufficient levels of exercise work to normalise the physiological changes this stress response would otherwise cause.
Exercise therefore will normalise liver function and as described elsewhere, have major effects on insulin sensitivity by the action of skeletal muscle.
Through these mechanisms we have a normalisation of the production of sex-hormone binding globulin which ‘chaperones’ hormones like testosterone and oestrogen/progesterone, so they are not ‘free’ to move around in the blood interacting with any and all tissues.
Both insulin specifically, and the unchaperoned sex-hormones are 'mitogenic' meaning they promote or initiate rapid cell division - this is what they should do in certain areas of the body, but uncontrolled or not directed to the right organ systems, the effect can equal cancer, particularly site-specific cancers such as those of the breast.
Adequate levels (more than the minimum requirements for basic fitness) of movement mean reduced insulin release and better production of sex-hormone binding globulin, which means it is harder for these hormones to interact with cells and tissues other than those they are intended to primarily affect.
In addition to Insulin being a cause of rapid cell division, in high concentrations it also turns off major immune system function.
With insulin sensitivity normal, higher concentrations of insulin are not circulating or maintained in the bloodstream, preventing its effects on both the liver and the immune system.
Movement and other strategies to bring the internal chemistry closer toward healthy function lead to reduced blood sugar levels - cancer likes sugar! Because glucose (sugar) is similar in structure to Vitamin C, high levels of blood sugar compete for 'activation sites' on the outside of immune cells and reduce their effectiveness in finding and eliminating cancers in the body.
We know that inappropriate levels of movement can lead to the storage of abdominal fat. This type of fat is metabolically 'different' and in fact more active than other fat storage sites - one of its impacts on metabolism is an increase of insulin production and release as well as an increase in prostaglandin formation, and the decrease of body antioxidant production/systems.
A decrease of organ movement may also be a causative factor in digestive cancer formation.
