"Let food be they medicine and medicine thy food"
"Walking is man's best medicine"
"The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well"
Hippocrates 460BC - 377BC
Good afternoon my coffee friends!
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My coffee is long gone for the day. I am tempted to make a cup to share with you while we visit together. I have veggies roasting in the oven while I type. We are going to have vegetable spaghetti for supper. I am roasting brussel sprouts, onions, broccolli, zucchini squash - to this I will add some mushrooms and organic spaghetti sauce (yes I am cheating a little using canned sauce but it is very good). We will serve it over organic noodles and have a small side salad. The reason I am going into such detail is that this is an example of an anti-cancer meal. I want to share information about fighting cancer with food. I have spent a great deal of time this winter researching this topic and have some fascinating information to share with you. Sit back and prepare for the read. Heat your coffee or tea, get in a good chair and prepare to read a long blog. I have so much information that I want to share with you that this blog will be written over a period of days. Not only will this information help you fight cancer, it will help you fight inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, it will help you fight diabetes, it will help you with weight issues, and hopefully make you feel better from head to toe.
To give you a little background history - Back in Sept. 2012 we found Bob had a spot on his lung. The immediate thought was cancer. I think cancer is a dirty little word we try to keep hidden back in a part of our brain that we would like to forget. We do not want to have to get it out and deal with it. It is a scary word. I am sure each of you have had your lives touched by cancer whether it was you or a family member. My mother died of cancer in 1976, my brother died of cancer in 1992, and one of my sisters died of cancer two years ago. I have had many other relatives die from cancer. However, even with a family history I never really thought about fighting cancer until the spot appeared on Bob's lung. Compared to our family, Bob's family has had little to no cancer, He always thought he would not get it even though he had smoked for many years prior to stopping about 18 years ago.
Once the spot was found, the doctors prescribed many tests to determine the nature of the beast - a benign tumor, old scar tissue, or the C word.
The test that opened my eyes to trying to do something about cancer was the PET scan. I did not know how they worked, had never needed to know, was not concerned, would worry about it until I had to. The worry time arrived. Here is a copy of some info on how a pet scan works. Be prepared, boy was I ever surprised to learn this information about sugar..
"What does a PET scan show?
" PET scanning allows doctors to measure a range of activity including blood flow, blood volume, oxygen usage, tissue pH (acidity), glucose (sugar) metabolism, and drug activity. PET is very useful in watching the activity of cancerous tumors. Because malignant cells grow at such a fast rate, they metabolize more sugar than normal cells and can give your doctor a glimpse into how aggressive a tumor is or how its growth is slowed by treatment therapies." From the Mayfield Clinic.
The more I read the more I found that the Pet scan works on locating cancer because cancer feeds on sugar. "When it is inside the radiotracer will go to areas inside the body that use the natural chemical. For example, FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose - a radioactive drug) is tagged to glucose to make a radiotracer. The glucose goes into those parts of the body that use glucose for energy. Cancers, for example, use glucose differently from normal tissue - so, FDG can show up cancers. " From Medical News Today.
In other words can't you see those cancer cells sitting in their recliners going HA HA here comes some more sugar down the hatch and calling to the sugar to come on over to their place so they can feast and grow and grow. We Americans love sugar to the tune of an average of 152 pounds per person each year - thats 3 lbs a week. What? you say, I can't be eating that much sugar! Start reading those labels - sugar is everywhere - if it ends in ose its sugar. A German biologist Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that the metabolism of malignant tumors is largely dependent on glucose consumption.
Here is a list of common names for Sugar from the www.dhhs.nh.gov site.
"Sugar comes in different forms and a variety of names. All of the following
sweeteners provide you with calories and all have little or no nutritional value (except to that cancer cell)
(known as ‘empty calories’).
• Sugar • Dextrose • Maltose
• Glucose • Fructose • Corn sweetener
• Honey • Corn syrup • Sucrose
• Sorghum syrup • Sorbitol • Brown sugar
• Lactose • Molasses • Syrup
• Fruit juice concentrate • High-fructose corn syrup.
Of course we all realize cancer is far more complicated than sugar but it is food for thought. Needless to say when that spot on Bob's lung saw all that glucose riding on the radiotracer - lunch was served and the cancer cells called the sugar over and the spot lit up on the PET scan like a Christmas Tree. Yes, it was the big C word and sugar found it.
I have to tell you when I read that info about sugar it scared me. I mean it is so obvious that sugar is bad for you so I started reading more info about diet and cancer and diet and many other diseases.
WE CAN HELP OURSELVES! Sometimes new info is old info and we do not realize it. Remember the Hippocratic oath that Drs. take? Here are a couple of quotes from Hippocrates (considered the father of medicine born 460BC died 377BC). "Let food be they medicine and medicine thy food" "Walking is man's best medicine" "The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well" Does this not sound like what you hear on the talk shows on TV or on the news and look how old it is.
I have no medical training so I can not begin to explain all the good in food but I believe I can share some of what I have learned and help you get started on a healthier life. A pill supplement may help but it is not the answer. Remember the research on beta carotene and lung cancer. They gave smokers pills containing beta carotene and it increased the incidence of lung cancer so much they stopped the test. Turns out the people who ate real carrots were helped. With further research scientist have determined it is the team effort of the combination of the amazing phytonutrients in whole foods that make the world go round. Thanks to computer technology foods can now be ranked based on how well they act as antioxidants. The research is fascinating and scientist have so much more to learn. I will give you a list of a few books at the end that you can follow-up with if you are interested. For now back to Superfoods - the amazing foods that score the highest in helping us fight off the bad stuff whether it is cancer, sugar, or other inflammatory diseases. Remember those cancer cells reclining about just loving that 152 lbs of sugar as well as all the insecticides, pesticides, out of balance omega 6's vs 3's, our lack of exercise, overweight and other things that go into the formula. We are going to make those cells sit up and take note along with the inflammation bad boys.
Let us start with brushing your teeth and flossing. Such a simple step for each of us. How long did you spend on your mouth this morning? Inflammed cells from our gums travel throughout the body and cause the C-reactive protein to increase and therefore our chances of having a heart attack, cancer, or other disease is increased.
Superfoods!!! I know you have been waiting for the list so you can see what you would like to make for dinner tonight. I would suggest spinach and kale. Yep, Popeye and his spinach were so right. Here goes, in addition to the spinach and kale
Beans - Blueberries - Cruciform Veggies (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc) - Oates - Citrus Fruit - Vegetables and Fruits rich in Carotenoids (yellow) - Salmon (other fish rich in Omega 3's) - Soy - Tea (Green or Black) - Tomatoes (especially canned because it concentrates the nutrients) - Mushrooms - Yogurt - nuts - seeds - herbs - spices - good fats - onion - garlic - ginger - dark chocolate (more than 70%)
In other words the more colorful the fruit or vegetable the better it is for you.
Our spices are amazing powerhouses. Turmeric is the best inflammation fighter and in the lab reduces cancer growth. However I have learned in order for turmeric to be processed properly by the body you should mix it with a little olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. This makes a wonderful sauce to put on meat. It tuns out that all of my years thinking Curry was a seasoning have been wrong - it is the combination of seasonings that give the curry flavoring. If you have Curry powder on your spice shelf - read the ingredient label - I was most surprised.
Cinnamon also fights inflammation. Try using cinnamon on your oatmeal instead of sugar. I love the cinnamon flavor and can not stand sugar on oatmeal anymore. Actually my favorite is oatmeal salad - you know throw in some blueberries, slices of bananas, ground flaxseed, yogurt, walnuts, cinnamon and mmmmmm good and good for US! Of course you can use the fruits you love, but blueberry is a true superfood. In lab studies blueberries contain words we can't pronounce such as anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins that are capable of forcing some cancer cells to commit suicide - YEAH TEAM!!! Other rich sources of the proanthocyanidins are cranberries, our friend cinnamon, and best of all - dark chocolate.
Goodness Me, I hope I haven't lost you yet because I am not through. I want you to be healthy - I want you to be interested in using food for medicine. Lets talk a little more about spices. I bet you just love using mint, thyme, marjoram. oregano, basil, and rosemary- you guessed it! these spices contain Terpenes and they act on a variety of tumors by reducing the spread of cancer cells or by provoking their death. I know you are asking - if all this information is available why are we not being told about it. I think a lot of this is new research and that you will hear more and more about it - meanwhile it doesn't hurt to help ourselves by eating wonderful tasting food that is good for us.
Now we all realize some food is not good for us - Sugar is so bad. We should also avoid foods that have a high glycemic index - (cause sugar surges that stimulate cancer cell growth) - you know what they are - white stuff - bread - rice - overcooked pasta, etc.
I have briefly mentioned pesticides and insecticide. Environmental toxins are known carcinogenics. This is why in addition to eating good foods we need to look at where our foods come from. Organic food is better for you because of lower toxins and less to no GMO's (genetically modified organisms). Since organic foods tend to cost a little more and we all have to watch our food budgets it is good to have an idea of the foods that are more contaminated. We should try to buy organic if we can for these foods. They are called the dirty dozen. To offset the dirty dozen we have the clean 15 that its ok to just buy as they are. The following list is from
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#slide-1
Dirty Dozen Plus™
Buy these organic
11
Blueberries
– domestic
+ May contain pesticide residues of special concern
Clean 15™
Lowest in Pesticide
I bet all of you have noticed that our beverage of choice, coffee, has been missing from the list of super foods. Most of the information I am sharing with you has come from materials that have been published prior to the recent coffee studies findings. These studies show that coffee is a super food so you can drink it ( the caffeinated version is best if you can handle the caffeine) with a smile on your face cause in addition to the mental rest break you are giving yourself, you are gaining a ton of good antioxidants. Although I have not been using organic coffee, I a going to make the switch to organic coffee. It only costs a little more if you brew your own and is more sustainable. I believe we have a moral responsibility to our earth to take care of it as best we can.
- More than 4 cups of coffee a day decrease oral and head cancers by 39%.
- Women who drink more than two cups of coffee a day have less chance of uterine cancer.
- Men who have 6 cups of coffee a day reduce their prostate cancer risk by 60%.
- At least 5 cups of coffee prevents certain types of brain cancer by 40%.
- At least 2 cups of coffee a day can cut colon cancer risk by 25%.
- At least 3 cups of coffee a day can prevent or delay the onset of certain types of breast cancer.
- Coffee drinkers have 41% less instance of liver cancer.
In addition to fighting cancer, recent research is showing that coffee does help fight Alzheimers.
Dear coffee friends, I hope I am not overwhelming you with information but there is a little more we do need to talk about - the balance of omega 6's and omega 3's in our diet. They are called "essential" acids because our body can not make them. We get them from our food. The average ratio in our diet is 10:1. We need it to be closer to 1:1. Omega 6's are pro-inflammatory and Omega 3's are anti-inflammatory. We know that inflammation causes cancer as well as many other health problems such as arthritis and asthma. Although most of us are way short on our Omega 3's they are easier to get into our diet than we think. Certain wild fish such as Salmon, sardines, tuna, and cod (be careful of farmed raised fish) are the best source but other good sources are flaxseed, walnuts, grass fed beef, omega 3 rich eggs, and greens.
To balance our ratio we need to eat less Omega 6's. This is hard because our food is full of Omega 6. Grain fed meat including poultry has very high Omega 6 and almost no Omega 3. Just like our diet impacts our health what we feed our animals impacts their health. Think about that grain and how it was grown - GMO - all the harmful toxins that were sprayed on it. Think about that animals life cycle that was grown for our consumption - fed the grain - animals that have been given growth hormones and filled with antibiotics. I eat meat and I think about it. Garbage In - Garbage Out. Another huge source of Omega 6 in our diet is cooking oils and when hydrogenated the Omega 6 level is increased - read the labels and see how much of our food has hydrogenated oils in it.
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| Chestnut Grove Farms Cadman of Wye |
Recently when I was in a local heath food grocery store I saw that they had grass fed beef from Australia. The beef had not been fed antibiotics or hormones. I thought, WOW, why not carry American beef. Maybe American does not produce enough grass fed beef to meet the demand. It is possible to buy grass fed local beef that has not been given antibiotics or hormones. In fact if you live in this part of the state here is a great local source of beef for you. http://www.chestnutgrovefarms.net . This farm is not far from our house. They have great meat, they take wonderful care of their animals and their land.
Although I have largely concentrated on food to fight cancer let us not forget a couple of other Hippocrates quotes
"Walking is man's best medicine" Exercise. I don't think I need to write much about this because we all know how important it is to our overall health.
Besides altering your immune cells into a more potent disease-fighting form and improving circulation of those immune cells in your blood, another primary way exercise lowers your risk for cancer is by reducing elevated insulin levels. This creates a low sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells. It's also been suggested that apoptosis (programmed cell death) is triggered by exercise, causing cancer cells to die. http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/11/30/exercise-protects-immune-system.aspx
According to professor David Nieman, Dr. PH., of Appalachian State University, when moderate exercise is repeated on a near-daily basis there is a cumulative effect that leads to a long-term immune response. His research showed that those who walk at 70-75 percent of thei rVO2 Max for 40 minutes per day had half as many sick days due to colds or sore throats as those who don't exercise.
"The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well"
Thank you all for hanging in there. I am excited to share this information with my coffee friends and I hope you have found it interesting and useful. Bob and I are trying hard to live a healthier life. Hopefully you have been inspired to also pursue a healthier lifestyle.
Here are some of the book sources I have used for learning. Yes, I have read or perused all of these and they are part of our Library of books.
Anti cancer A new way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PHD (
Highly recommend)
The fat Resistance Diet by Leo Galland MD
SuperFoods RX by Steven Pratt, MD and Kathy Matthews
The Inflammation Cure by William Joel Meggs MD, PHD with Carol Svec
Dr. Ann's 10-Step Diet by Ann Kulze, MD (Bob & I heard her speak a few years ago - she is wonderful)
The Makers Diet by Jordan S. Rubin
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PHD and Thomas M. Campbell II
The Mayo Clinic Diet by the Mayo Clinic
Whole Food Facts by Evelyn Roehl
Food is Your Best Medicine by Henry G. Bieler, MD
Eating Well for Optimum Health by Andrew Weil, MD
The Inflammation Syndrome by Jack Challem
Power Foods from the Editors of Whole Living Magazine
Nourishing Traditions Cookbook by Sally Fallon
