We're open to suggestions, particularly on diet and immune system. the Dr's discourage take vitamin tablets when I'm on chemo, so we need to look at getting the immune system up through food. I'm going to try to make fresh vege/fruit juice for breakfast, which is one of my favourite things.. just a struggle with time.
cheers
Pen
If you are looking for diet strategies, my suggestion is:
- contact the
Gawler Foundation for recommendations of a nearby GP or centre that specializes in their diet and lifestyle techniques.
- contact the
Australian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine for a nearby GP who uses a diet related approach.
- the author and researcher I respect most as at the cutting edge on healthy diet is
Dean Ornish. He advocates that more vegetarian food is better.
- you sound like you've got a sharp mind. If you don't find it too exhausting, you might
search pubmed. But just search the literature reviews, otherwise you will get bogged down in specific papers that only a specialist in the field could weight appropriately.
-
Cochrane Collaboration is a highly regarded source that produce regularly updated medical reviews, and is often more palatable for people outside of a specialty.
-
Australian and
US patient support groups often keep an eye on the literature and summarize the latest and greatest.
- someone mentioned ginger above. Several years ago I was involved with a national prostate cancer support and information group, and read the literature broadly. Research of ginger's positive effect on prostate cancer was scientifically significant. I am unaware of its effect on other cancers.
Some of my views on cancer :
(This is not medical advice. It is provided as information only, and any action you take should be with the consent of your doctors).
- tumors generally proliferate faster than normal tissue, and therefore have a higher rate of energy consumption per cubic cm. Very often, they cannot get their energy from oxygen mediated sources because blood flow into the tumor is poor due to rapid growth of cells and poor capillary development within the tumor. They therefore rely moreso on glycolysis, the breakdown of blood glucose. Some natural and diet approaches focus on stabilizing blood glucose so there is not an abundance available for tumors. Some therapies include 4 day fasts, which slows and sometimes reverses tumor growth, probably because the tumor is not getting enough energy. I have personally seen 2 people with prostate cancer improve dramatically after a 4 day fast and Calorie restricted diet. However, I would not recommend you do anything like this without the knowledge and consent of your doctors.
- despite the above, one might be confused whether they should exercise to encourage better blood flow throughout the body. My view is you are better to get regular gentle to moderate exercise. This will facilitate the movement of white blood cells towards the tumor and stimulate these immunity cells as well. It is also important to stay well hydrated to keep your blood volume and interstitial fluid levels adequate. This facilitates transport of oxygen and nutrient to cells.
- avoid getting overly tired. better to retire earlier and still your mind and body, and use your visualization and meditation prior to sleep. this will help your immune system. yoga stretching will also help relax muscles and help blood flow (and delivery of white blood cells) to all organs.
- Keep in mind it has been proven that when you visualize a limb relaxing and light flowing into and healing it, the blood vessels in that limb dilate and allow more blood to flow. And blood is life. You could get a similar effect for you chest, by visualizing a sun or ball of light in your heart and lungs, gradually intensifying its color and size.
- juces are a better way to get more anti-oxidants into your system. but better to keep them around 2/3 to 3/4 vegetable and drink with food, otherwise they may spike your blood glucose, and their Calorie content would be high. raw beetroot, ginger, celery, parsley are regular constituents. I'd recommend you get one of the slower juicers like the Oscar, Champion, and greenpower machines
here.
- Ann Wigmore and
Norman Walker wrote books several decades ago about vegetable/fruit and wheat grass juicing. The above machines should be able to juice wheatgrass but it is time consuming and I don't necessrily think it is worth the effort. I am not up with the latest authors in the field but Walker was certainly the pioneer in the field. Some of his views are probably off the mark, but doing more of what he suggests would still be very beneficial.
- dark green leafy veges (asian greens like bok choy, kale, are highly recommended for cancer....as are lots of anti-oxidant (high
ORAC value) foods. blueberries are excellent and pomegranates superior but harder to get. I'd recommend you eat whole blueberries rather than juice them.
- enemas or colonic irrigation are often recommended when fasting. There's various opinions about their benefits. I personally think they can help but the technique has to be informed.
- finally, in my experience, if you are going to put effort into your diet and lifestyle, you want to pay 100 times more attention to your mindset and emotions. Forgiveness and grace are extremely important in the Gawler and Ainslie Meares paradigm. A key point: How does one reconcile when to forgive and when to fight. That is a big question and the wisest healer I met said that often you have to determinedly drive out impurities before you will have peace inside. Sometimes that will require Herculean sustained effort. As you genuinely apply and sensitize yourself to what is going on internally, you will know when it is right to focus on forgiving or fighting.