Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Eating for Recovery - What I've learned

The Gawler Foundation and the books recommended in this blog should provide you with sufficient evidence that 'food is medicine'.  If only I had come to that conclusion earlier! 

Its really simple .... Cancer is multi-dimentional and no-one really knows why one person gets it and another doesn't.  In my case, I was healthy, exercised, never smoked and ate good foods.  However, in addition to genetic predisposition and various other elements ie smoking, asbestos etc, cancer has been found to be aggravated and stimulated by inflammation and stress.  Our western diet is highly inflammatory caused by foods such as meats, fats, refined sugar and chemical additives.

To give you an example, I had three PET scans where radio-active glucose was injected intravenously.  It took approximately 60 minutes for the 'radiotracer' to travel through the body and to be absorbed by the cancer tissue being studied.  The tumour loves the glucose/sugar and feeds on it.

The basic principles are:
  • Rethink your lifestyle and base your diet on vegetables, grains and fruit
  • Where possible use chemical free produce.  Plants produce phyto-chemicals which are like 'natural pesticides' that stop plants from being eaten by insects. When plants are sprayed with pesticides - you will absorb those chemicals.
  • Steam, dry bake, wok saute but don't deep fry.  In human history frying food is a relatively new way of preparing food. The heat of frying changes the chemistry of the fat molecules in the food. Our bodies are not adapted to take care of these fat molecules altered by frying and on a biochemical level the altered fat molecules interfere in a negative way with the functioning of the cells. 
  • Keep your body Alkaline and remove all acid forming food such as meat, soft drinks, salt, sugar, jams, pastries, white breads .... refined, sweetened and processed foods!

Anti Cancer Foods:
  • Cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
  • Turmeric/Curcumin
  • Pomegranate
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Vegetables juices at least 3 times a day (as per the Gawler Diet)


What to expect from Chemo

I'm sorry its taken so long to write another blog entry.  I've taken up studies and it has taken up most of my time!

Today's entry will focus on how I reacted to chemo.  Don't forget that everyone is different! So, you may experience various other symptoms or maybe no symptoms at all.  Taking copious amounts of other drugs whilst having chemo is the norm. Namely to treat nausea and vomiting as part of chemo treatment.  One of the drugs administered for the entire 3 months was Demamethasone.  It is used to relieve inflammation in various parts of the body and decrease swelling associated with tumors.  However, be warned ... it increases the appetite, will cause irritability and insomnia.  I also experienced fluid retention and over the 3 months I put on approx 7 kilos.  It may not sound like much but standing tall at 160cm - its approximately another dress size!

I had 4 chemo cycles and felt quite average after each one.  Exhaustion was an accumulative effect and found myself sleeping more and more.  However, after the 4th or 5th day post chemo, the sky opened up again.  I began to smell the flowers, hear the breeze and the birds, crave healthier food and wanted to go out an exploring. This is probably the most important time to have family and friends pop by and prepare you lunch or dinner.  I could not imagine what it would be like being on your own.  I had very little energy to do anything but go out for short walks and rest.  So, be kind to yourself and listen to your body.

I didn't look forward to the 15-17th day post chemo.  That was when my body had reached it's peak again, while blood cell count (lymphocytes) had returned to normal thus time for another cycle.  Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that's responsible for protecting the body against bacterial and viral infections.  They are made in the bone marrow and when the blood cell count is low after chemo - infection is a high risk.  Make sure you stay away from anyone who has the slightest sniffle.

Next entry will focus on what I learned about the food NOT to eat and the importance of creating a cancer unfriendly environment in your body!