Contributing Factors to Cancer: Part 2 (Acidity)

Cancer thrives in acidic environments. In fact, -- did you know this? -- cancer almost always starts in an area where there's inflammation. (Inflammation is the immune system's way of dealing with acidity.) Where there is inflammation, normal cells can more easily be damaged, or there's a greater possibility of a mistake being made during cell division -- or both things can happen -- and a tumor is born. 

So how does one eliminate acidity -- how does one become more alkaline? Well, there are the "foods" component,  the "stress" component, and the "toxins" component.

Let's start with Foods:
Sugar is the biggest single food culprit because it packs a triple whammy. Not only does cancer feast on sugar (see the post about that here), but sugar itself is acidic and it causes the pancreas to secrete insulin which is very acidic (pH of 4; neutral is 7). So it  makes sense that the less sugar you eat, the more even your blood sugar level, and the less insulin your body has to deal with.

All sugars (white, brown, powdered, honey, maple, molasses, fructose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup -- did I miss any?) appear to have this affect. Medical doctors and nutritionists will tell you, "Research shows that all sweeteners are identical in the body." But that's poppycock because there is also research that shows that natural sweeteners such as raw (not heated) honey and maple syrup have nutrients not found in refined sweeteners, and that our bodies do, in fact, know the difference. 

(Artificial sweeteners are not included in this post because they are so horrible they should be ingested only by mosquitos and wasps.) 

So I have chosen to include raw honey (straight from the bees, only filtered to remove bee parts and wax) because of its nutritive value. For instance, raw honey actually decreases fatty deposits in the vascular system. Does this mean that a person with heart disease should eat a lot of raw honey? Of course not. There's still the insulin factor to consider. But should a person include a bit of raw honey as part of their nutritious diet? Absolutely.  

Here's an interesting side note: We now know that heart disease is caused by inflammation, not cholesterol, as has been previously preached. And preached. And preached. But cholesterol actually acts as a fireman, putting out the fire that is inflammation. So the presence of abnormal levels of cholesterol in the blood merely indicates that there's a problem -- sort of like a dead canary in a deep mine. Poor misunderstood cholesterol . . .

Okay, where was I?

Oh. Acidic foods. Okay. Coffee is another substance that promotes acidity. But you knew that already, right? (I still treat myself to it once in awhile because it makes a horrible day not nearly so sucky.  A person's mental health is important too, right?) 

Chemical residues (e.g. pesticides, preservatives) cause acidity and therefore inflammation. If the label doesn't say "organic," or if you don't know the grower's methods personally, you'll likely be ingesting tiny amounts of poison. It may not seem like much each time, but ponder how it accumulates over the course of a day. Then ponder how your body has to run every bit of it thru your liver -- twice -- in order to break it down into a form that won't hurt your kidneys. Poor, hard-working liver. When it can't handle the load, it shuttles the half-processed toxins off to be stored in other areas -- joints, fat, other organs -- until it has time and energy to finish the process. But then tomorrow comes and you eat some more, and then some more, and it never gets back to it. Sort of like the piles of stuff in my laundry room. And my bedroom. And the garage. Sigh.

Moving on.

The Stress Component:
All stress is not bad. Some of us thrive on it -- to a point. Each person's threshold is a little (or a lot) different. Also, it depends on how you feel about your stress level. If you think you're stressed out, then you are. If you're having fun keeping nine balls in the air at once, you're probably fine. But watch out for your breaking point. That tenth ball can sneak in under your radar.

There are quite a few forms of stress. Of course, there are the negative ones like Anger and Dread and Frustration and Deadlines. But there are also "positive" stressors like Elation and Excitement.

Turns out, we are affected physically by our emotions. True fact. If we're happy, our bodies are secreting hormones like seratonin and dopamine which actually change the chemistry in our whole body in a good way. If we're stressed out or angry, our bodies secrete other chemicals like cortisol and norepinephrine (formerly known as adrenaline). These do things like increase the heart rate and blood pressure (making the heart work harder), and decrease digestion. So yes, our emotions affect us physically. 

What does that have to do with acidity?  Well, the "negative" hormones become acidic if they hang around too long.  Here's an analogy for you:  If you're sitting in front of a computer trying to beat a deadline because there's an ax hanging over your head, the cortisol and nor-epi (which would normally be used up by your muscles in running away from the scary thing) are stranded in your body's tissues, becoming acidic, causing inflammation, making your body expend energy to fix it . . . So the moral of the story is:  Think happy thoughts.

The Toxin Component:
I pretty much covered this in this post, so in the interest of brevity (or at least not-too- long-ity), I'll skip over it here. Just know that toxins are acidic.

As an interesting side note, viruses such as those that cause the common cold or the flu love acidic conditions. You probably knew that. But did you know that acidity also contributes to osteoporosis and gum disease because minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) are drawn out of the bones and teeth to buffer acid (sort of like Tums buffer stomach acid)? While you're at it, consider other inflammatory conditions like gout, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, all forms of arthritis, diabetes . . .

The list is long and the reasons are many to alkalize your system.

So how do you know if you're acidic or not?
You can find pH test strips in drugs stores -- probably even Walmart. I got mine online, here. (No compensation for this link, but you're welcome.) The directions come with the strips, so I won't go into that here. Just know that whether you're testing either your saliva or your urine, the testing should be done first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth or eating/drinking anything. And saliva will test a little more acidic (6.0-7.5) than urine (6.5-7.5). (The lower the number, the more acidic.)

And now the million-dollar question:
How do you help your body to become more alkaline (i.e. less acidic)?

• Cut out all forms of sugar. I figure if I shoot for 100% clean (from refined sugars), then I can afford to have some fruit or raw honey without upsetting the chemistry too much.
• Eat lots of vegetables and supplement with one of the "greens" powders on the market. I like Primal Force's UltraGreen mixed in some applesauce, but here's another link with interesting information, especially with regard to diabetes. (Links are for informational purposes only. Alas, I am not getting paid to drop names.)
• Animal proteins (meat, eggs and dairy) are quite acidic, probably because they take longer to digest. That doesn't mean you should cut them out, though. Their nutrients are important to your body's health. I read somewhere that 60% alkaline was a good goal to aim for, which means you need 40% acidic foods. It's all about balance.
• When you eat grains, rice and legumes, eat the unprocessed whole kind, and soak them overnight to break down the phytic acid and aromatase inhibitors (never mind what those are; this post is long enough). Then rinse well and add fresh water to cook.
• Exercise (provided it isn't too intense) burns the toxins that are causing your body to be acidic, so go for a 30-minute walk every day.
• Shop for organic foods -- even canned goods. And stay away from refined, processed, instant, pre-made, or boxed things.
• Use water that hasn't been chemical-ized with fluoride, chlorine, etc. (This is probably a subject for another post, it's so complex.)
• Here's the hardest thing to change -- If you're a person who tends to fret, stew, seethe, criticize, and judge, then teach yourself to think on more virtuous matters because you're making your body acidic. If there's something that can be done about a situation, do it. If not, set it aside. Better yet, give it to God whose hands are big enough to handle ANYthing. 

Lastly, here's another side note that I found immensely interesting:
It takes eight hours after eating for the body to finish digestion duties and decide it's okay to direct its energy toward cleaning house. The detox process then takes at least four hours (for just that day's worth of toxins). Thus, there needs to be at least 12 hours between the last food/drink of the evening and the first food/drink the following morning.  Do you see where this is leading?  Yup, all those late-evening snacks when you get the munchies are keeping your body from ever being able to clean house. 

There's a pretty easy fix, though. Just don't eat too late in the evening. Or if you must, then wait at least 12 hours to have breakfast. For example, if you have supper at 6:00 p.m., then you can have breakfast anytime after 6:00 a.m. the next morning. If it's your company Christmas party and you don't finish eating until 9:30 p.m., just figure you'll have brunch about 9:30 or 10:00 the next morning. It's pretty do-able, and your body will thank you.

Okay, that's it for this time. Odds are good that I've forgotten something -- left a gaping hole in the information -- so leave me a comment and I'll address it later.

Cancer is Wily

I learned something old last week. Does that ever happen to you? Do you ever read something, or someone tells you something, and a lightbulb goes on . . . and about a second later you realize you already knew that but it was buried under who-knows-what-kind-of-minutiae that apparently mattered more? Happens to me all the time. Sigh.

Anyway, cancer begins with a single cell (or maybe a few cells) that was damaged by toxins (stress chemicals, pesticides, etc.) and then when it divided (which is how cells multiply), it made two damaged cells. Which then divided to make four damaged cells, etc. etc. After a few months or years or decades (depending on the type of cancer and how fast it divides), there are enough abnormal cells to be seen as a tumor. With me so far?

Most normal cells are programmed to stop dividing at a certain point, but cancer cells have mutated in such a way that they don't have a shut-off switch. They will keep dividing -- and at a faster rate than normal cells -- until they kill the host by robbing it of the nutrition it needs. It becomes a parasite in the truest sense of the word.

So cancer cells are not programmed to die as normal cells are. But here's the really interesting thing. They mutate to the point that they provide their own food source. In essence, they eat their own (recycled) poop. Is that not ingenious?  Here's how it works:

Cancer loves sugar, right? (also known as glucose). When a normal cell processes glucose, the by-products are carbon dioxide and water. We get rid of the carbon dioxide by exhaling, and the water by urinating. So far so good? Well, when a cancer cell processes glucose, the by-product is lactate (the same stuff that makes your muscles hurt when you've over-exerted). Lactate isn't just urinated or exhaled out. No, it has to go to the liver where it's broken down into . . . wait for it . . . glucose! . . . which goes back into circulation and feeds the cancer. It's an endless, ingenious cycle!

That's the old thing I learned last week. Cool, huh?

The kicker is that no matter how carefully I cut out ingested sugars, theoretically, the cancer will still survive. Thrive, even.

So I may as well go have that fried ice cream I've been hankering for, right?

Nah. Because sugar (and homogenized pasteurized dairy) still creates an acidic environment, and that's exactly the way cancer likes it. I think my cancer's pretty much gone, but I don't want it to come back, so I'm all about maintaining an unfriendly environment for it.

Interesting thought though, yes?

Well THAT was anticlimactic.

Remember when I had thermography pictures taken a couple weeks ago? Well, I finally got the report back last week.  Something of a let-down, but interesting, nonetheless.

I guess I was hoping for something as definitive as “Nothing remarkable noted.” Would’ve been nice, but not realistic.  Actually, now that I think about it, a report like that would’ve been suspicious because there are still numerous cysts that should show up.

Anyway . . . It was not definitive either way. It did not say “You have cancer” or “You don’t have cancer.” It said (and I paraphrase), “There are lots of areas of hyperthermia that should be checked out by a qualified physician. They might be nothing or they might be something.”  So that was the let-down part.

The interesting part was buried in paragraph 7. “. . . Fibrocystic changes likely represent excess estrogen relative to progesterone (estrogen dominance). Supplementation with a bio-identical progesterone cream may be beneficial . . . Fibrocystic changes sometimes respond to discontinuing all caffeine and/or supplementing with iodine, selenium and vitamin D3.” [emphasis mine]

That’s the first I’ve heard of a known cause of cysts in the breasts. Estrogen/progesterone imbalance.  And it makes perfect sense. Why didn’t I put 2 and 2 together long before now? Duh.

(Warning: My male readers might want to stop here and go hunting or fly your RC thingamajig or do some other guy thing because the direction I’m going will probably not sit well with your stomachs.)

See ladies, I’ve been dealing with two beasts. The breast cancer – diagnosed in July – has been a walk in the park compared to the other beast – menopause.  I haven’t had your typical, run-of-the-mill hot flashes and moodiness. No, I have had horrendously vicious, raging, hemorrhaging, menstrual issues that have been steadily getting worse over the past several years. I recently discovered that this is greatly improved by taking herbs that urge my body to produce more progesterone.  Ding! (light going on) I have had an abundance of estrogen in my system for a lot of years – partly due to a diet promoting it, but ultimately because excess fat secretes estrogen. So of course the ratio of estrogen::progesterone is off kilter. Of course!

I was so focused on cutting out the estrogen that I didn’t think about upping the progesterone. It would have the same effect – bringing the ratio into line. Yes, that ratio needs to be in the lower numbers because I don’t want to be feeding the cancer, but it needs to be in balance for my body to function properly. Therefore, if I want to get rid of the cancer and the cysts and the horrible wretched menstrual issues, I need to bring down the estrogen and bring up the progesterone.

The other Ding! moment was the mention of iodine, selenium and vitamin D3 in the same sentence. I have read of the importance of each of these things individually – “selenium is great against cancer”; “iodine is vital to thyroid health”; and “vitamin D3 is an integral part of dozens of reactions in the body.” But they didn’t come together in my mind until I read this report.

So yeah, those two tidbits of information make me feel a lot better about the $135 I spent on pictures.

I guess I'm back to square one with regard to checking my progress. Not going to worry about it at this point, though. I have lots of work to do, and when the time is right, I’ll figure out how to know about the cancer. Or maybe I won’t. We’ll see.

Cutting Out Toxins

The last post was getting so long, I decided to write about the solutions to the contributing factor of Toxins seperately. So this is that.

As you have read (and read and read), there are gazillions of toxins in our environment today. Some of them are pretty much outside our control -- satellite signals, for instance. But the biggest number of toxins and chemicals that really affect us big-time are very much within the realm of our control. It isn't even all that hard. You just decide to change one or two things to start with, and once you've got them licked, you'll probably want to tackle something else. If not, hey, you're still better off than you used to be. But trying to do it all in a week is just setting yourself up for failure, so don't go there.

Here are a few ideas of things you can change without too much pain:

Ditch the microwave. Or at least use it on low power (but then what's the point, because it takes longer). Using high power (which is usually the default setting) kills nutrients more than stove-top cooking does (here's an interesting article with the science of it). If you're going to spend your hard-earned dollars on organic food, don't shoot yourself in the foot by microwaving it. As an aside, apparently a fair number of microwave ovens leak radiation.  So now you have two very good reasons to go back to the old-fashioned stove and oven. Three, if you count in having more counter space.  (If you have one of those over-the-range kinds, you now have another place to store stuff.)

As for thawing frozen meat, remember when we used to take meat out of the freezer in the morning so it would be thawed by supper time? It's called planning ahead. I'm not very good at it, so I usually end up steaming frozen meat in a fry pan with a tablespoon of water (lid on, medium-high heat) prior to frying. Or cook it in broth (i.e. chicken). Works for me. 

Eat more of your food raw. I shoot for 65% raw -- juiced or munched or smoothied.  But for the things you just can't stomach raw or cold -- like meat or eggs or oatmeal -- my favorite pan has turned out to be a ceramic-coated one. It's very slippery so clean-up is a snap.  I can plop in a big spoonful of oats or some leftover soup or a couple of eggs, put the lid on, and let it cook on medium heat while I put in a load of laundry or comb my hair. I'm amazed at how fast things warm up. Granted, I'm cooking for one now (big grin), but you'll figure out a way that works for you.

Shop organic. Farmers' markets are a great option during the summer, but winter is here now, so that's nixed. If your area doesn't have an organic grocery store, there are online sources such as Azure Standard and Bountiful Baskets which deliver to a central point where you can pick up your order. Kirstyn's been using Azure for a few years but their website can be overwhelming for one so organizationally-challenged as I.

As for anti-perspirants, there are a whole lot of things you can use that won't harm you and that will keep you smelling sweet. First of all, you need to understand that it isn't the sweat that smells; it's the bacteria that reproduces in the sweat. It takes that bacteria 10-12 hrs to build up to the point of being smelly, so if you shower every day, you should be fine without anything. Showering every day, however, is not such a great idea because it washes off your natural oils which protect your skin and help to make it an effective barrier against outside pathogens.  And having dry skin makes you want to slather on the lotion which is probably full of chemicals. I've found that a salt crystal (looks like a clear rock) works well for me. When I first started using it, I put the ladies in the office on notice to inform me if they ever noticed an odor. So far, so good (about a year now).

There is some concern about the use of talcum powders being connected with ovarian cancer. Cornstarch is a decent replacement, but then you have to wonder if it's GMO corn you're putting all over your body. I've quit using powder at all. One less thing to buy. (grin)

Water:  I'm still working on this one. It'd be nice to have a whole-house water purifier that would take out all the crap including fluoride, but those run in the thousands of dollars, so for now, Culligan is delivering five-gallon jugs of reverse-osmosis'd water to my doorstep. Maybe the coolest part of it is the neat dispenser that has both cold and (almost boiling) hot water on demand. Instant tea and no more tea kettle!  We're still showering and washing dishes/laundry in tap water, but one thing at a time. I came across an article recently that said reverse osmosis water isn't good for people either, but as near as I can tell, it's still better than drinking Belgrade's tap water. So until something better comes along . . .

That's enough to get you started. Half the fun is figuring out how to overcome the challenges you meet, so go for it!

Contributing Factors to Cancer: Part 1 (Toxins)

I've been thinking about doing a post on all the (known so far) contributing factors of cancer in general -- and breast cancer, specifically -- and it looks like today's the day. Ready? Here we go.

Toxins:  (hoo-boy, this is a big subject! Where to start? . . .)
Okay, let's start externally and work our way in. 
These are largely beyond a person's control:

• Satellite signals (to and from, as well as ricocheting off Earth's surface) from 1,071 satellites now orbiting our fair planet  (boggles the mind, doesn't it?)
• Radio, television and cell phone signals (not just our own, but everybody else's, too)
• Wireless everything (modems, routers, keyboards, telephones, printers -- even the watch you're wearing)
• Electrical everything. That's right; if it plugs in, it's emitting electromagnetic radiation.
• Can you imagine how thick the air would be from all these signals if we could see them?
• Vehicle exhaust (other people's, of course; your own car doesn't pollute, right?)
• Formaldehyde fumes from carpet, furniture, new fabrics, even toys
• Chemicals in plastic (which is absolutely everywhere, even lining paper plates and tin cans and leaching into our food) 
• Chemical air fresheners and scented candles 
• Radiation from microwave ovens, CT scans, mammograms, airport security . . .
• Okay, this last one is pretty much controllable, especially if you never fly.

Then there are the toxins we take in through our skin. Ever thought about that? Our skin is actually considered to be an organ. In some circles, it's called the "Third Lung".
These are largely within our control:

• Chemicals in shampoo, conditioner, body wash, antibacterial soap, hand sanitizer, hair styling products, hair dyes, skin care, makeup, toothpaste, mouthwash, lotion, sunscreen, perfume/cologne, nail polish, nail polish remover, laundry detergent, fabric softener . . . (Stop and count how many of these you use; I'll wait.)
• Anti-perspirants (This one gets its very own bullet point because it's so moronic.) Remember when folks used to be happy with taking a bath once a week? (Okay, maybe you don't remember it, but it actually happened, I promise.) Then we used to be happy with deodorant, which masked the scent of body odor. Then some brilliant scientist said, "Hey, let's clog the pores so we don't sweat at all! That'll take care of the smell for a whole day!" And we've been slathering on chemicals -- right over a bunch of lymph glands -- ever since. Does this sound incredibly dim to anybody else?
• Flu shots and other immunizations (Holy cow! Do you realize how many of these things we're injecting our babies with at a time when their little immune systems are still developing? 49 doses to protect against sixteen diseases. Forty-nine!) (here's the link to the CDC's recommendations)
• Second-hand smoke
• Household cleaners
  
• The water we shower in. Depending on your location, it's probably a cocktail of chemicals. If you want to have nightmares, take a look at this list provided by the EPA. What a price to pay for "clean" water.

Okay, now let's talk about the toxins we actually ingest.
These are also mostly within our control:

• Chemicals used to keep pests of all sorts from ruining the crop, aka Pesticides (Just because it kills bugs and weeds doesn't mean it'll hurt humans, right?)
• Chemicals used to prolong shelf life, aka Preservatives (If we eat enough, will we live forever?)
• Chemicals to make anemic foods prettier, aka Food Dyes
• Chemicals to make things pour easier (e.g. salt)
• Chemicals to keep things from settling out and looking gross, aka Emulsifiers
• Chemicals to make food taste tastier. (e.g. MSG, aka monosodium glutamate, aka "Natural Flavors") That one cracks me up.
• Chemicals used in turning food into non-food (Potassium bromate is a biggy; used to oxidize flour so the bread will have those tiny little air pockets and be light and fluffy and *white*. PB blocks the body's absorption of iodine, causing thyroid dysfunction which in turn causes all sorts of problems, not the least of which are hair loss and depression.) 
• Artifical sweeteners. As if refined sugar weren't bad enough, we now have a whole handful of  "worse" choices -- saccharin (Sweet 'n Low), acesulfame (Sweet One), neotame (NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), and of course HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). It now looks like the the concept of artificial sweeteners being better for us was one big lie. (click here)
• Alcohol
• Non-stick coating from cookware
• BPA's and other chemicals from plastic.
• Genetically-modified foods. Monsanto has been gentically engineering seeds for fun and profit since 1983 (tobacco was first). And since 1995 when GMO soybeans were introduced, the train has picked up speed. Now -- less than 20 years later -- almost all soybeans and most corn, cotton and canola oil are GMO. Pretty quick work! To quote from a book I just read, "Monsanto creates seeds that produce plants that cannot replicate, forcing the user to buy new seed each year. Through testing performed on mice . . . neutering effects have been observed to end propagation of the species." (Re-mission Through Divine Order by Scot Guariglia, p. 40) Pretty cool, huh? And soy is in practically everything the typical American eats. Do you suppose that has anything to do with the increase in fertility problems and difficulties in carrying babies to full term?
• Anyway, our bodies don't recognize the genetic makeup of GMO "foods", but we continue to dump them in anyway because we're stupid and lazy and all we care about is fast and tasty.
• And let's not forget the water we drink. Filtering is inexact because it's hard to remove some of the chemicals that form covalent bonds with water molecules. "Covalent": remember that word from chemistry class a hunnerd years ago?  Let's just say covalent bonds are very hard to unstick. Hence, your normal run-of-the-mill filter systems can't do the job. This means that you're probably still drinking fluoride and some chloramines (not to be confused with chlorine), both of which are very toxic to humans. That's probably a whole other post which I will probably never write because I'm tired of being disgusted.

Um, where were we? Oh, other causes of cancer. (This is going to be really long, isn't it? I'll try to talk faster.)

This brings us to the toxins we create within our own bodies because of the thoughts we think and the emotions we feel. When we are suddenly frightened (the old bear-in-the-woods scenario), our very wise bodies secrete norepinephrine (aka adrenaline) and cortisol to speed up our heart rate, slow down digestion (or in some cases, evacuate it), and send blood to the muscles so we can run!  This is all well and good, but every time we get upset and stew over something of perceived importance, our bodies think they're supposed to act. Problem is, there's no shut-off because the stewing goes on and on and on . . . So our poor bodies are trying to prepare us to run from a bear that actually comes from within. So stewing over the mess our country is in? or the choices your off-spring are making? or the remark somebody made to somebody else that might have been about you? or stewing over finances? or your spouse's philandering? or a loved one's illness? . . . all toxic to your body. 

So . . . we breathe in, eat in, drink in, live in and think in a chemical soup which our bodies do a pretty good job of handling, all things considered. They keep plugging away, filtering and cleaning and defecating out the crud -- with not a word of thanks from us because we're blissfully (read: obstinately) unaware -- but they gradually get farther and farther behind. The liver -- which has to cycle all these toxins twice -- gets overwhelmed and starts shunting them off to be stored and dealt with later . . . in our adipose tissue (read: fat). 

Some of the toxins settle out in our joints (causing arthritis) or intestines (irritable bowel syndrome, Crohns disease) or bone marrow (leukemia) or . . . the list is almost endless. Because toxins are toxic, they cause inflammation, which produces heat. In an effort to cool the system, our bodies manufacture mucus to coat the inflamed areas and contain the toxins. So mucus should be one of the biggest, reddest red flags there is. Coughing up crud? Fibroid cysts in your breasts? Mucus in your stool? All signs that your body is struggling. 

And if you have mucus in one area, it's a sure bet you have it in others areas too, because what affects one part of the body affects all the rest.

So negative! All these toxins coming from every direction . . . sounds pretty hopeless.

Nope, not a bit. 

You see, we have these amazing bodies that God crafted, and He built into them the ability to heal themselves. We just have to quit dumping the toxins into them and give them the chance to clean themselves out.  Many toxins are beyond our control, but the ones that really count -- the ones that make it inside our skin barrier -- are completely within our control. Sure, it's hard -- it takes time and effort -- but it's do-able. You just have to decide . . . do you want to play the whiny victim? . . . or do you want to stand up and take responsibility for your own welfare, your own . . . disease?

In the Interest of Honesty . . .

Since dishonesty would not be helpful to anyone (least of all, me), I have tried to be ultra-truthful about what I'm doing. With that in mind, I have a confession to make.

I am tired of drinking vegetable juice (and cleaning up the juicer). I am tired of swallowing pills (and looking at the bottles taking up counter space). I am tired of trying to drink an entire lake of water every day (and running to the bathroom every 47 minutes). I am tired of eating things that are good for me. Even if they do taste good.

So I had a really good cheeseburger at Fuddruckers today -- bread and all. And their awesome fries. (With more than a small dab of fry sauce on both.) Then I had a fantastic hot fudge sundae at Dairy Queen.

Burp.

Know why I'm tired of juice and pills and water and health food? Because I'm not doing it right. 

You see, when I'm diligent about doing everything I know to do -- eating carefully; getting up early to walk or use the rebounder every day; drinking lots of water; doing skin brushing; doing castor oil packs; doing de-tox breathing exercises; disciplining my thoughts constantly; and getting acupuncture and lymph drainage treatments every other week -- I don't crave anything. 

But then I get weary of taking care of business.

So I slack off. 

And things start to unravel.

It really tasted good and I don't feel any worse for it, but I know it'll take me quite a few days to make up for the crud I swallowed in just a few minutes.  Bummer how that works, isn't it?

So how was your day so far?

P.S. Don't leave me any "feel good" comments on this, okay? Don't tell me how it's okay and that you'd get tired of a regimen like that too, because that is so not the point. I won't beat myself up over it, but I also won't lie to myself and say it's okay, because it isn't. I set myself back a ways today.  Lesson learned.

How do I know whether or not I'm making progress?

I just know. The same way I knew I had cancer a couple of months before the actual diagnosis. (This is not terribly impressive since the cancer has likely been growing in there for 10-12 years.) I think it's pretty much gone now, but my body is still a long way from being healthy (i.e., the fibroid cysts are shrinking, but still very much present), so my work isn't finished yet.

I had initially planned to have another mammogram in six months (which would be January '14), but since then, my research has made that seem like a bad idea. You see, mammograms pack 100 (or, some articles say 1,000) times the radiation of a chest xray, so voluntarily doing that to myself seems pretty silly just to prove a point. Also, mammograms aren't definitive because they can only detect tumors that are already 1-5 billion cells big.

But then . . .

I accidently heard about something called "Thermography." It uses an infrared camera to take pictures of the heat emanating from the body. Cancer cells divide much faster than normal cells, so they put off more heat -- show up "hotter." And get this -- It picks up cancer ten years (10!) sooner than mammograms or CT scans!  AND there's no radiation involved.  So why are mammograms still so prevalent? No idea. I suppose, like most things, it has do with money.

Anyway, I finally found someone who does thermography here in Bozeman, so I got my pictures taken a few days ago. Have to wait two weeks for the report, but it looked pretty good to my untrained eye.  We'll see what the experts have to say. Have an awesome week, y'all!

What Do I Eat? - Part 2

There have been some questions about my last post, so here goes:

Yes, I buy organic. Organic everything. It may not seem that a fine residue of pesticide or herbicide spray amounts to much, but consider how it accumulates over a year . . . or a lifetime. I already have a body full of toxins I’m trying to clean out, so adding more to it is counter-productive. So yes, organic as much as possible.

No, I don’t “cheat on my diet.” There is no diet to cheat on. I'm just in the process of changing the way I eat -- figuring out what my body needs and what it really doesn't like. It's a work in progress.  So while I can give you an idea of what I'm eating, it's constantly evolving -- partly because my body is evolving, and partly because I'm experimenting. For instance, I had a focaccia-bread veggie sandwich the other day (focaccia is made with white flour). It's the first white bread I've had in three months, and I was curious to see if it would still put me to sleep. The fact that it didn't make me sleepy means that my body is waaay better off than it used to be, but the fact that I noticed a lag in my energy means I won't do that very often.

Remember, there is no protocol for what I’m doing. From the researching to the planning to the executing . . . I am *it*.  I use other folks' stories for guidelines, but no one is telling me what to do or what not to do. My success . . . or lack thereof . . . is up to me . . . as are the consequences. I like it this way. It's empowering. And it leaves the concept of "cheating" out of the picture . . . I have a completely different mind set.

What about gluten? I’m not cutting out gluten – only wheat.  When I added up all the wheat I had been ingesting (toast, sandwiches, pasta, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, baked goods, cereals, pizza, did I say pasta?), I decided that giving my body a rest from it would be a good idea. I still eat spelt and rye and pretty much everything else.

Juicers:  Most juicers grind up the produce and use centrifugal force (spinning) to "squeeze" the juice out of the pulp. This is fine for those who just like fresh juice occasionally, but for those of us who are needing to get every bit of nutrition out of the produce we buy, we need something better. For one thing, the high rpms spin air into the juice, and oxygen kills the nutrients within 15 or 20 minutes (so juicing in the morning for all day doesn't work). For another thing, the pulp that comes out is still relatively wet -- meaning that some of the juice is wasted. When you're going through five pounds of produce a day, that bit of wasted juice adds up.

My juicer of choice would be a Norwalk because it has a two-step process -- grating the produce into a canvas bag and then squeezing the juice out through the bag. The end-product pulp is completely dry and good for nothing but compost (think sawdust), so it takes less produce to get the same amount of juice. The down side is that Norwalk's cost $2,600 new, and close to $2,000 used on eBay. So #2 on my list is a Champion. They go for about $300 on eBay, but I haven't had time to watch one close enough to win the bidding yet. I bought an Omega Vert from Bed Bath & Beyond, but it left quite a bit of pulp in the juice -- to the point that I couldn't drink it without chewing. Yuck. So I'm back to my $30 Walmart model for now.

Doesn't sound like much variety.
I didn't do a meal-by-meal journal for you because that would be about as interesting to read as a dictionary, so use your imagination a little, I guess. I eat most any kind of vegetable you can call to mind; most fruits (just in small quantities); most grains (including some you may not recognize); and there's a long list of things I eat occasionally.  Here's some of them:
- Snails (in Europe they're prescribed for cancer treatment)
- Fermented veggies (more about this in a later post)
- Meat (probably also a subject for a later post)
- Kombu (Japanese seaweed) mostly in soups and broths
From the beginning, I have been trying to eat intuitively because that's the only way to get precisely what my body needs at the moment. But how to give you that concept in less than 1,000 words . . . It's easier to tell you what I don't eat.

Speaking of 1,000 words or less -- I have exceeded my limit. Chat with you next time.

What Do I Eat?

Quite a few people are wondering just what I'm eating these days. I guess I got sidetracked in telling you that part, didn't I?!

Here's my main law:

"I Shall Eat the Whole Foods and Nothing But the Whole Foods, So Help Me, God."

Subheadings and sub-subheadings:
- I shall eat nothing processed or refined.
       (This kicks out the contents of the whole center of the store (including bread), plus the
       dairy department. Wasn't that easy? Store time just got cut by 3/4.)
- I shall eat nothing that has been genetically modified (GMO).
       (This kicks out anything with soy and corn -- which is practically everything. Try 
       reading your labels; you'll see what I mean.)
- I shall eat nothing with pesticides or herbicides or growth-hormones or antibiotics.
       (So, only organic. Isn't this fun?)
- All grains shall be eaten whole and shall be soaked prior to cooking.
       (This makes them easier to digest. Makes them taste better, too -- kind of nutty.)
- At least half of all foods shall be eaten raw.
       (Not eggs. I draw the line at raw eggs -- even if they are Salmonella-free. Ewww.)
- Sweetness shall be kept to a minimum.
       (and then only in the form of whole fruits and raw honey. Or homemade jam that a dear 
       friend gave me. I can't offend her, right?)
- Fats shall be eaten in abundance but shall be of the natural, unprocessed variety.
       (This kicks out such "healthy" oils as vegetable, canola, and corn; but allows butter and 
       coconut oil. Isn't this great?)
- There shall no caffeine pass my lips. (grammar; I know) 
       (except green tea which is so beneficial we'll overlook the caffeine)

Are your eyes rolling back in your head yet? It's really not as bad as it sounds. Honest.
I mean, if you look at all the stuff you can't have, then I suppose it would be depressing. But if you think about all the things you can have . . . it's AMAZING! And if you add to that how awesomely *good* you're going to feel . . . well, there's just no contest at all. The hardest part is finding sources for all the foods you've never shopped for before because -- let's face it -- most of this is not found at your friendly neighborhood Walmart.

So here's what's for Breakfast most days:
 - 2 (organic, pastured) eggs fried in (organic, pastured) butter (yes, saturated fats are 
    *good* for you now; did you know?)
 - topped with 1/2 an avocado, sliced
 - splashed with Cholula or Tabasco (optional)
 - perched on half a sprouted-grain English muffin or a slice of Ezekiel bread (toasted and 
    buttered)
or
 - a cup or so of oat groats (fancy name for whole oats -- not rolled or steel-cut) that have 
   been soaked overnight, then cooked gently for 15 minutes (for detailed instructions, read  
   here)
- topped with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, pomegranate, pecans (or walnuts), 
   ground flaxseed, and coconut milk (Yes, all of that. The oats are pretty much buried.) It is 
   so yummy!

Lunch is usually a big salad with everything possible on it. Truthfully? I often end up at Clark's Fork for their salad bar -- waaay better than I could make at home. Start with a lovely mixture of colorful salad greens (no iceberg or packaged lettuce at this place!); add some grated carrot or radish from their own garden; some cilantro; some mushrooms; either cauliflower or broccoli; some green peas; a bunch of garbanzo beans for protein; sometimes some boiled egg (if I haven't already had eggs for breakfast); a smidge of real Parmesan cheese (because some days it sounds heavenly); some sunflower or pumpkin seeds -- and then a drizzle of thin Ranch dressing (which is not actually on my program, but until I find a recipe I like, it'll do). Are you hungry yet?

Other days, I'll have some homemade lentil or split pea soup or some black beans and brown rice (both of which have been soaked overnight before cooking). Or, once in a great while, Wendy's fixes my lunch -- their almond-berry chicken salad.  It isn't organic, but it's fresh and good and fills in, in a pinch.  

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

I don't too often eat supper -- for a few reasons. (This is probably a subject for another post, but I'll tackle it here anyway, because . . . well, you're here now, and I may never get back to it.)
  1) I usually eat breakfast around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. and "lunch" is often around 3:00 or 
      4:00 p.m., so supper would be around 9:00 p.m.  Nah.
  2) I usually have a handful of supplements (that should've been swallowed throughout the 
      day), and taking them with a glass of water takes care of any hunger issues that may 
      have been developing.
  3) System cleaning (another post I'm working on) needs to happen every night, and it 
       takes at least 12 hours to do, so eating late in the evening is a bad idea.
  4) Eating three meals a day is apparently a relatively new development -- within the last 
       200-300 years -- so it isn't strictly necessary. I do fine on two meals a day, so I'll go 
       with it.

Meat:  I was raised on it and always thought I had to have it, so it has come as something of a shock to find out that I really don't need it. Even more shocking, it doesn't even taste good right now! I have no idea if this state of affairs is temporary or permanent or temporarily permanent or permanently temporary or what. I'm just going with it.

Oh! I almost forgot -- I also juice most days. My idea is to flood my body with nutrients so it will have an abundance of Legos (did you read that post yet? it's here) to build and heal with.  Because I'm keeping things simple (oh okay, it's because I'm not very creative in the kitchen), my juice usually consists of:
- 2 large carrots
- 1-2 stalks celery
- a medium-ish beet
- a couple handsful of kale (stripped of the spines) or spinach
- half an apple (preferrably Granny or Pippin)
- a squeeze of lemon
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- and sometimes a small bunch of parsley and/or a thin slice of gingerroot
This makes about three cups of juice. I swig on it all day.

There you have it . . . my "diet". If anyone cares to do the calculations and tell me where you think I'm coming up short, feel free. I'm just listening to what my body's telling me and eating accordingly. It's simpler that way.

I know I've left out a lot of information in attempting to keep this post from becoming a book, so if you have any questions, leave me a comment. Actually, leave me a comment anyway.

A Couple of Things of Interest

A couple things of interest (to me, anyway) . . . 

For several weeks now I have woken up (awakened? woke up? nevermind) with a sore throat some mornings. You know, the kind that feels like you're coming down with a cold? At first, I was bummed because I haven't had a cold in three years, and here I'm eating all healthy, and NOW I get a cold?? Bah.  But here's the thing -- no cold has developed.  I'm still waiting. 

Item of Interest #2: My mood is usually pretty good, but some days . . . not so much. Yesterday was one such. Grouchy? Oh, my word, I was off the meter! I was very glad to have only one massage booked. Today, though? I feel awesome! Not hyper-awesome; just cheerful and upbeat and able to see the good in humankind (even in spite of all those Facebook postings that focus on the evil stuff).

Well, I've come up with a theory: These are both signs that my body is continuing to detox -- letting go of more of the crud that's been stashed in my adipose tissue (read: "fat"). You see, eating all healthy like I've been doing for the past almost-five months has side effects. Among them are improved digestion, increased energy, improved mental clarity; improved sleep; . . . and, well, . . . weight loss. It was bound to happen.

(Just an aside. Losing weight is not my primary concern -- or even secondary, for that matter. It's just a side effect. I don't want it to become a focus, so if you ask how many pounds I've lost, I'll tell you, "I have no idea.")

Back to the point. Disposing of adipose tissue frees up the toxins that were residing there, allowing them back into circulation where they can be flushed out through the kidneys, colon, skin, and lungs. If a person doesn't take in enough water to do the job though, the flushing system slows down to the point that the toxins start settling out again -- looking for a new home. So when I wake up with a sore throat, I make sure to get in at least 36 ounces of water before I leave for work (not rocket science; it's just three 12-oz. glasses because that's the size that lives in my cupboard dishwasher). Sore throat is gone within an hour or two.

Oh Ah-chie, it's MAGIC! (visualize Edith Bunker's voice)

Prayers Help Immensely

My heart hurts for the ranchers in South Dakota who have lost so many cattle in last weekend's early snowstorm. If you haven't heard about it, here is a blog from folks close to the situation:

The Blizzard That Never Was

Most of the mainstream media seems to have chosen not to cover this catastrophe . . . which is sickening in itself, but I choose not to go down that path today.

When I first announced that I had cancer, there was an out-pouring from friends and family members expressing that their thoughts and prayers would be with me. It felt like nothing I've ever experienced before. I can't describe it exactly, but I *felt* God's presence all around me and in me. I was filled with hope and . . . warmth . . . I guess is the best word I can come up with. And an absolute certainty that I was on the right path.

My reason for writing today is to ask that, as you go about your day over the next weeks, you find a few seconds here and there to pray for the ranchers in South Dakota who have lost so much. Our God appreciates it when we care for each other and He will pass our prayers along in a mode that will be just what those poor people need.

He's Been There, Done That . . . 10 Years Ago

From time to time I will post links, book titles, videos, and other information I find useful and/or interesting. This is one of those times. 

Here's someone who's been where I'm at and is saying exactly the same thing. How cool is that?!  Check it out (in two parts):

 

And a Q&A session afterward:

I'm glad it's him on national television and not me! Great job, Chris!

Why I'm Going This Route

Well, I broke down and posted my blog on Facebook, and the response has been waaaay bigger than I ever imagined. Which is more than a little mind-boggling.  Anyway, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about why I’m going this route and whatever possessed me to think I could actually win a battle with big, bad CANCER, and why am I giving up without a fight, and so on and so forth . . . and I realized that because I’d been telling so many people orally, I had failed to cover a lot of it in the blog. So for all you newcomers, here you go:

I am a massage therapist by trade, working in an office with two chiropractors. Between the three of us, we deal with the fall-out from surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation on an almost-daily basis.  For instance, take the person who had hip replacement surgery and ended up with one leg ½” longer than the other, giving him back problems for the rest of his life.  I’m not saying hip replacement surgery is bad – just that all surgeries seem to have unforeseen consequences. Like scar tissue that continues to grow inside the body of some people after abdominal surgery, adhering to the intestines and causing blockages, not to mention pain (which was the reason they had the surgery in the first place).  It doesn’t happen to everybody, but how do you know whether you will be one of the lucky ones?

I have worked with several people during and following chemotherapy treatment, and have gotten to see up close and personal the toll it takes on them. They’re miserably sick (to the point of wanting to die), and the poisons stay in their tissues for many years after they’re through with treatment (probably the rest of their lives).  They will actually have recurrence of the sickness they experienced during chemo (sort of a flashback), following a deep tissue massage because it releases some of the crap back into their blood stream again. And the really rotten part of it is that most of them have ended up dying of cancer anyway. (Or the treatment thereof, but that’s another story.)

Then there’s the person who had radiation for throat cancer eight or nine years ago and had to talk through a hole in his throat. Over the years, the radiation apparently continued to disintegrate his cervical vertebrae because he had to begin wearing a neck brace in order to hold his head up. He recently passed away as well.  And have you ever seen the burn scars left behind from radiation?

As an aside, what would you guess is the ten-year survival rate of all cancer victims?  50%?  25%?  Would you believe 2.6%?  Apparently published statistics are based on five-years of survival, but if you look at the ten-year numbers, they plummet. Why?  Because the cancer comes back. The underlying cause and environment that allowed it to grow in the first place are still there. And the second time around, the immune system is shot from all the prior rounds of chemotherapy, so it can’t fight, leaving the only options stronger and stronger chemo cocktails, and/or more radiation/surgery.  Think about all the people you’ve known whose cancer was in remission for a few years but came back and got them. Sad isn’t it? It’s because they treated only the cancer itself -- not the underlying cause. And they wrecked the body in the process.

I kind of wish I had kept a list of all the reading I did in the first month because it would be nice to be able to cite it here, but I was trying to get as much information into my head as I could and wasn’t thinking about things like blogs.  Anyway, at least one research study found that surgery actually increases the chance of metastasis (spreading to other areas of the body), for two reasons:

-           - Any time you cut into the body, it grows new blood vessels to the area to help heal the wound. This provides a new freeway system for any stray cancer cells to emigrate to a new home; and

-          - Anesthesia suppresses the immune system for – not days, but --  several weeks after surgery, so any cancer cells left behind have a chance to get re-established. 

I don’t know what ranking this next reason gets, but from a strictly practical standpoint, I suppose it’d be pretty close to the top: I can’t afford to go the traditional treatment route. In the first place, it costs the price of a rather large house; and secondly, I can’t afford to be sick and unable to work. The nice lady at the hospital assured me I could get on Medicaid, but I don’t understand why the taxpayers should have to foot the bill for my cancer.  It’s a moot point anyway, because I am so completely repulsed by the whole concept.

Which brings up another thing. There’s a very interesting book by Norman Cousins called “Anatomy of an Illness.” It spends a whole chapter talking about the placebo effect – how strong it is and how, rather than poking fun at it, we should embrace and use it to our benefit. In a nutshell, whatever a person believes will work, will work. People who thought they were receiving a drug (but who were in fact given a placebo) had the same chemical changes in their bodies as those who were given the drug! Pretty intriguing, yes? The opposite holds true, too. So my point is, because I don’t believe in the benefits of conventional treatment, it won’t help me as much as it might someone else. And because I do believe in the medicines God made for man, they will benefit me. 

Which brings up another thing. When God created Earth, he also created everything that Man would need to live on it -- including medicine.  He created herbs, plants and foods that would nourish, heal, soothe, calm, and even stimulate.  In the past 50 or 60 years, Western medicine has come up with “better” medicines. But are they really? Every one of them has side effects. And most (if not all) just cover the symptoms like a Band-Aid but do nothing to aid in healing.  Even antibiotics have a dark side. Anyway, over the years, I have come to trust God for absolutely everything and in every situation, so why would I not trust His creation over man’s improvisation?

Which brings up yet another thing.  (Okay, the connection is probably only in my mind, but let’s go with it.) Why is our society so dead-set against dying?  It’s part of living, right? Nobody survives life. So what is with this thing of keeping people alive  waaay past their expiration date, no matter how much it costs or how much misery they have to endure? Well, it’s malarkey, that’s what. So I will live my chunk of life the best I can – putting God first, and attaining as many of the characteristics of Christ as I can – and when my time is up, I will die with satisfaction, contentment and dignity.  That is the natural order of things.

So no, I don’t have a death wish. I’m not suicidal. I’m not taking the easy way out. (You try eating this way, then tell me it's the easy way out.) I’m treating myself with the medicines God made, and I’m leaving the outcome in His hands.

There’s more.

Our bodies were created with the innate intelligence to heal themselves. Did you know this? It’s true. It may retain a scar or the stump of a limb, but it will heal and go on functioning – if it has everything it needs to work with.  Take a set of Legos, for instance. If you have all the pieces, you can make about anything you want to. And if you’re missing a few pieces, you can usually make do. But if you’re missing too many pieces, or missing key pieces, then your project is doomed.  Think of the Lego blocks as nutrients. When we run short of nutrients for a short time, our body makes do. But if we continue to run short for years and years, the body can’t function like it should be able to. The heart, the brain, the digestive tract, the liver – all of these systems are vital to the body. If they don’t work, the body dies. So when things start to go wrong, something less vital has to be dispensable. And that something is the immune system.

When functioning optimally, our immune systems recognize and destroy viruses, evil bacteria, and sick or dead or mutated cells (think “cancer”).  When it can’t function well due to lack of “Legos”, mutant cells slink by the radar and set up housekeeping.  Which brings me to my main point:

It seems completely illogical  and absurd to carve up the body, leaving it scarred and defaced;  flood it with poison; and then drop an A-bomb on it – all in an effort to kill a few billion cancer cells that the immune system could take care of while leaving the body unscathed.  

Does it not make more sense to build up the body’s immune system so it will identify and annihilate the buggers like it’s meant to do?  I think so, too. 

So that's why I've chosen this way of treating my health. I feel very certain that I will lick this thing, and that I will come out the other side of this experience healthier than ever before in mind, body, and spirit.  If not, if it licks me instead, then I will consider that 50+ years is the extent of my lifetime, and call it good.