A Cancer Story

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