I dedicate
this blog to my family, friends and to all the people that helped and supported
me in this chapter of my life. What we
eat is important, your body will be thankful and the people that you love and
who love you will be thankful too. The
reason that I have been absent is that I have been helping my family with my
father's cancer. I am happy he is doing
better now and the information below is what I did to help my father in his
battle with prostate cancer.
The proper food can boost your immune system
which will stop the growth of the tumor and help to avoid the cancer spreading
to other organs. I will start with a few personal beliefs:
I believe
the eating natural, raw, unrefined, unprocessed, whole foods with all
their parts intact can provide more than
nourishment, it can offer a huge psychological boost.
A
nutritional meal plan, based on plant foods, spices, herbs and whole food, with
their abundant phytochemicals can block cancer's communication. Also eating
small portions often is the best route for delivering nourishment to the body.
Cancer is
related in many ways to nutrition. A focus
on nutrition is a key component as part of the treatment and the prevention of
any recurrence of the cancer.
I suggest
eating organic as one of the first steps.
It can cost a little more but consider that you are already dealing with
a lot of toxins in your body from a lifetime of exposure and to introduce more
can stress your immune system at the time you want it to be as strong as
possible allowing your immune system to focus on protecting your body.
Organics will limit the exposure the pesticides
and fertilizers used to grow vegetables and fruits and the powerful drugs given
to the animals we eat, including hormones, antibiotics and other drugs. Of course limiting refined foods is also key
as these tend to contain all types of chemicals. Our bodies will at first work double time to
keep us alive under such unfavorable conditions, reducing the effectiveness of
your immune systems. However, the body overtired by so much work, will begin to
accumulate waste as best as it can, instead of pushing it out. This waste
matter is usually stored where it does not interfere with vital life processes. However, in the long run the waste build-up
grows to an unmanageable amount and contributes to problems like cancer and
heart disease, and a life-threatening condition ensues.
The best first
step is to prevent any additional toxic build up and begin to reduce toxins in
your body. This is best done by changing
one's diet.
That was how
I started the treatment of my father - eliminate all his refined and processed food, meat products, significantly reduced the
dairy intake and most importantly eliminate sugar, especially refined
sugar. While there are some benefits to
natural sugars found in fruits and vegetable, refined sugar is found in almost
everything modern food companies make and has a devastating impact on your
body, so it is key to remove as much as possible from a cancer patients diet. I started feeding him with everything that
nature provides to us from broccoli to goji berries, dates, kale, garlic, homemade mineral broth, all natural
ingredients that have multiple cancer-fighting properties.
I started
each morning by giving him natural green juices with raw oat meal, flax seed,
chia seed, almond, cashew or hemp milk. For lunch I gave to him a cup of garlic
soup. Garlic is one of nature's best
immune boosters and that plays a huge roll when you are sick, allowing your body to maintain and strengthen your
cells which will help you keep a strong immune system. My father ate a variety of meals from
cauliflower turmeric coconut soup to a sardine soups, a lot of raw salad with
kale, carrots, radish, homemade dressings with fresh fruits, fresh herbs and
unpasteurized apple cider vinegar.
Plenty of raw foods in our diets is the best way to provide our bodies
with
Enzymes. Enzymes facilitate our digestive functions
and help cleanse our bodies of toxic wastes.
They are indispensable for proper food metabolism and ease the task of
digestion. The less energy your body
needs to digest food the more energy the body will have to fight the
cancer.
In addition
it is crucial to have the support and encouragement of family and friends. Fighting any disease and especially cancer is
not just a physical but also a mental and spiritual fight. Having the understanding and patience of your
loved ones is a huge part of this fight.
It is important to keep a positive outlook and to focus on the future
and truly believe that you will recover.
Set goals and take steps to achieve the goals and understand there will
be challenges and it will not always go exactly as you want but keep moving
forward.
I introduced these new foods to my mother and worked with her on how to
prepare them. At first my father was skeptical
eating all of these new foods. My father
always had a traditional Venezuelan diet, heavy on starches and meat, so it was
a change. He was happy once he tasted
the new foods realizing that just because a food provides health benefits
doesn't mean it can't taste good. This
is another key, providing these nutritious foods in a meal that appeals to the
palate.
My father
returned to the doctor after one month of the new diet and the doctor was shocked
at the improvement. The doctor said he
had never seen an improvement as fast.
The level of antigens were down significantly from 17 to 14 and he had a
positive prognosis for my father. My
entire family was incredibly happy with this good news.
He continued with the food program and
continued to see an improvement in his immune system. He had surgery one month late, which went
well. Since then my mother has continued
to provide him the natural fresh colorful immune boosting foods and his recovery
is going well and is now beginning to get back to his normal routine.
He is doing
better now, but we remain vigilant.
This is not
the end but in fact just the beginning.
Cancer is not easily defeated and once in your body notoriously hard to
eliminate. It is crucial to continue
eating the foods that will help your body and not make it harder for your
immune system. I hope you can learn
from my experience and even more I hope that you can see the importance of
maintaining a healthy diet to prevent cancer and other diseases. Finally always remember that nutritious
healthy food can be also be delicious and a joy to eat.
Important Foods for Health
Nuts:
Brazilian nuts - contain antioxidants that have been linked to trigger
cell death in certain cancer cells and are anti-inflammatory; Cashews - contain oleic acid which is an anti
cancer component of monounsaturated fat.
Coconut: Milk or oil: anti- inflammatory and
an antibiotic, may play a role in attacking cancer cells.
Turmeric: An anti-inflammatory used in Chinese
and Indian medicine. Helps to reduce tumor
growth. Curcumin, turmeric's
antioxidant, helps the body to destroy cancer cells. It also improves production of cancer fighting
compounds, like glutathione the most important antioxidant in the body. Research has shown that glutathione helps to
inhibit cancer growth and help prevent heart disease.
Dates:
They are excellent source of fiber, vitamin B (niacin), thiamine,
riboflavin, pantothenic acid. Dates also
contain minerals such as magnesium, copper and iron and are easy to digest. Recent
studies show that dates have potent anticancer compounds. Dates also have the ability to protect against
free radical damage.
Avocado: Contain phytochemicals that fight
prostate cancer. They also contain
glutathione, vitamin E and are high in monosaturates ( unsaturated fatty acids). This combination helps the immune system
function properly and promotes healthy cells.
Some of the oils contained in avocados like linoleic acid and oleic acid
can help to lower cholesterol levels.
Organic Chicken: Rich in selenium that can help stop
the function of cancer cells.
Mushrooms: Especially beneficial are Shitake, Reishi
and Maitaki. Good sources of protein, selenium, fiber and iron. These mushrooms
have properties that boost the immune system, giving to the body the ability to
fight infection and diseases and helping to destroy cancer cells and prevent
the spread of cancer.
Sesame Seeds: One of the oldest foods in the
world. This small seed contains lignans
that inhibit the proliferation of a few types of cancer. They are an amazing antioxidant and anti
inflammatory. Sesame seeds are rich in
vitamin E, which many believe to help prostate and other type of cancer.
Sea Vegetable: Incorporate Sea Vegetables into
your meals. They are good source of minerals, vitamin A, C,
B12,D and K. They are free of calories, rich in calcium,
iodine, iron and phosphorous. And the
best thing is that the sea vegetables contain an amazing substance called
alginic acid that binds with toxins in the body allowing your body to eliminate
the toxins that have been built up through a lifetime of exposure. Kombu,
Nori, Agar-agar, Wakame, Hijiki Arame, Dulse are types of sea vegetables that
contain the most fundamental nutrients and minerals.
I used Kombu for cooking
beans and grains because the presence of chlorophyllins in it. These are thought to offer benefits in dealing
with cancer. It also contain lignins
which may prevent cancer from spreading beyond its original site.
Chlorophyll is the substances that
makes plants green. Chlorophyll can help deactivate many carcinogens and
counteract toxins. In addition it is an
anti-inflammatory and activates enzymes.
It can improve liver function. It
also can help purify and build your blood by providing oxygen to our cells, key
to maintaining cell strength. The
greater amount of chlorophyll we consume the greater benefits we will obtain
for our body. Green color is associated with the spring renewal, freshness and purifying.
I recommend consuming more
green rich foods, in plant or fruit form. Also you can use this in liquid form
available in any natural or health store.
Micro Algae is raw chlorophyll with additional
properties; Spirulina, chlorella, wild blue-green contain more chlorophyll than other any other
food with ample protein, beta-carotene, omega 3 and/or GLA fatty acids and very
large amounts of nucleic acids RNA and DNA , known to benefit cellular renewal
and may help to reverse aging.
Chlorella:
contain protein, beta-carotene,
nucleic acid (cellular renewal and repair) and chlorophyll.
It binds with heavy metals, pesticides, and such carcinogens as PCBs,
and carry these toxins safely out of the body. It has anti-tumor and immune
enhancing activity.
Spirulina: In general, the blue-green micro-alga is
nurturing an helps cleanse. Nourishes
the body, builds and enriches the blood. Cleanse the arteries; enhances
intestinal flora, and inhibits the growth of fungi, bacteria, and yeast.
For more information on
how to add the nutrition rainbow to your plate visit www.cancerproject.org
