Enough Already! . . . Movin' On

Every time I think I'm done reading books about, watching videos about, and listening to others' ideas about how I should eat, I stumble across yet another one that makes perfect sense . . . but is contradictory to something else that makes perfect sense. The latest thing is a video entitled "The Perfect Human Diet" (found on youtube or Amazon). It postulates that humans began going down hill when they started eating more grains and less animal proteins. (It's interesting; give it a watch.)

This is why it's taking me so long to post about what I'm eating.

The past few days, I've been hungry for meat. Not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill sort of hunger, but the so-gnawingly-ravenous-that-I'm-dreaming-about-hamburger sort of hunger. But supposedly I don't make enough stomach acid to digest red meat, so I baked a butternut squash and a yam, and sauteed a chicken breast along with a bunch of mushrooms and broccoli  -- which I savored slowly, chewing each bite at least 31 times. 

Or not.  I scarfed it down like a starving wolf in a henhouse.

Two hours later I was hungry again. How can this be???

That was yesterday. This morning I had three (small pullet) eggs with a tablespoon of grated asiago cheese and a bunch of sauteed mushrooms . . . and two slices of the best bacon I've ever tasted. I thought about snapping a picture of it but it didn't last that long.

So, obviously, the way I've been eating the past couple months -- even with all the supplements -- isn't giving me everything I need. But you don't know how I've been eating because I haven't posted much about it, have I? And I haven't posted much about it because I keep changing it. And I keep changing it because (30 days post-diagnosis) I'm still reading books/articles, watching videos, and listening to suggestions from people I care about.

Here's a sampling. (Which does not include articles, videos, or conversations, of course.)

I need to stop. Now.

I shall henceforth stash the books in my bedroom (read: never to be seen again), and move on. 
From this day forward, I shall be eating:

• whatever form of animal protein sounds good on the day of consumption (e.g. eggs, beef, chicken, snails, cheese . . .) Notice fish is not mentioned because it never sounds good. I shall be taking fish oil capsules instead. Much as I tire of swallowing pills, it's still a fair trade.
• dried beans of every sort (cooked, of course; I value my teeth) and pre-soaked brown rice
• lots of vegetables, sometimes sauteed in a saturated fat such as butter or coconut oil which (if you haven't yet heard) is now deemed to be good for us
• nuts and seeds which have not been pre-soaked (because I don't like them that way; they're sort of creamy with a mushy sort of crunch, and nuts are supposed to be . . . hard crunchy) (Sorry Steven Acuff.)
• very little in the way of fruit (except for peaches because they're worth dieing for, and except for certain fruits whose cancer-fighting benefits outweigh their sugar content -- berries, mainly)
• very little in the way of grains -- whole or otherwise -- because they make me sleepy. And hungry. And dumb (or at least that's what I'm blaming it on)
• limited amounts of cheese and yogurt. And maybe sour cream. We'll see.
• and a daily glass of beet-carrot-apple-celery-kale-with-a-squeeze-of-lemon juice -- because beets are good for liver function and because I have a refrigerator drawer full of them. Did you know that beets even turn your pee red(ish)? (Okay, that was probably TMI, but it's true. And I warned you this might get graphic at times, right?)

I shall not be eating:

• pork. Or not very often, anyway. "Never" is a very difficult concept when it comes to bacon and ham. You see, pigs don't sweat. And they'll eat anything. So the meat has a lot of toxins. God didn't call 'em "unclean" for nothing.
• anything GMO, non-organic, processed or refined. No exceptions. (nope, not even Velveeta cheese sauce or Rosauers' maple bars -- which are truly to die for; they'll probably even accelerate the process)
• sugars of any type (except for peaches, as mentioned above) because cancer loves sugar even more than I do. Sigh.
• nightshade vegetables (i.e. tomatoes (sigh); potatoes (bigger sigh); peppers (whatever); eggplant (yay!); goji berries and gooseberries (meh)) except as a very special treat, because they tend to promote inflammation which tends to encourage cancer growth
• bread and pasta (maybe the biggest sigh yet). But this actually makes the tomatoes a little easier to do without because what good are tomato-and-Miracle-Whip sandwiches without the toasted white bread and the Miracle Whip? Not worth bothering with, that's what. I will miss them in shrimp cocktail sauce and salsa, though. And spaghetti.
• caffeinated anything (except for very special occasions like disgusted-with-life days or . . . yeah, that's probably about it) Here again, caffeine isn't so delectable without the flavored syrup (read: sugar) and milk, so it's rendered moot.
• milk. Or at least not the homogenized, pasteurized stuff. It makes me phlegmy which is a sign of inflammation, and that is not a good thing when fighting cancer (or any other time, actually). I'll be experimenting with cheese and yogurt because it'd be nice to be able to include them from time to time. Instead of cow's milk, I'll be using coconut milk and almond milk.
• soy. There's a fair amount of controversy over whether it's good for cancer or bad for cancer, but the bottom line is, it's almost 100% GMO now, so that's a good enough reason for me to leave it alone. Besides, it tastes gross. Have you tried unsweetened soy milk? Blechhh.

In case this post isn't already long enough . . . 
There's much more to this battle than just food. Since cancer is a disease of the mind (as is all disease), I will also be:

• walking 30 minutes six days a week (can you guess which day I'm taking off?) while thinking of things to be thankful for (it's called "meditation" in some circles)
• following each walk with a cold(ish) shower which stimulates the immune system (and the bladder system too, but I don't know that that's particularly beneficial)
• finding things to laugh about (because laughter really is the best medicine)
• doing yoga three days a week (probably one of those things to laugh about)
• spending at least ten minutes a day doing something for the fun of it (try it; it's harder than it sounds)
• cutting back on my working hours to allow for more energy to . . . I don't know . . . do stuff for the fun of it, I guess. Sleep, maybe.
• drinking 80 ounces of purified water each day (a subject for a whole 'nother post)
• taking supplements in the forms of capsules, tinctures, powders and pills (another subject for a whole 'nother post)
• using a castor oil pack on my abdomen for 45 minutes every evening which stimulates the immune system and helps get rid of inflammation. It may also help the liver to filter better; I can't remember for sure. I'm going to start using it on the area where the cancer is, too, just for grins.

There you have it. That's my diet in a (rather large) nutshell. My Office of Information Processing is now closed and vacated; I'm movin' on. The Office of Question Answering is still open, though. :-)