When I started looking into way to fend off another recurrence, I was intrigued by the use of spices to enhance nutritional value of meals. Some herbs such as Turmeric are well known, but I wanted to know what else was out there that I could grow and use. Turmeric by the way if you do not know, is a powerful antiinflammatory. I like it, but one can only eat it so often and still be a happy person. So what else did I find that I like? Here is a list:
Turmeric -antiinflammatory
Mint -blocks cancer cells from spreading
Thyme -blocks cancer cell from spreading
Marjoram -blocks cancer cells from spreading
Oregano -blocks cancer cells from spreading
Basil -blocks cancer cells from spreading
Rosemary -blocks cancer cells from spreading
Parsley -inhibits blood vessels from forming on tumors, strong anti-oxidant
Celery -inhibits blood vessels from forming on tumors
Ginger -inhibits blood vessels from forming on tumors, strong anti-oxidant
Garlic -blocks cancer cells from multiplying
Onion -blocks cancer cells from multiplying
Saffron -inhibits blood vessels fro forming on tumors
Clove -antiinflammatory, anti oxidant
Cinnamon -stabilizes blood sugar
Chili -antiinflammatory
Now, this is not a complete list. These are just the ones I have incorporated into my diet. Each one can be googled along with the word cancer and you will have plenty to read and learn about each one. I learned a few things that are interesting in addition to the list. For example, some of them work even better when used together. Turmeric and black pepper for example seem to enhance the positive properties of each other. Garlic and onion should be cut and left to sit before using. It takes a few minutes for the chemicals that are most beneficial to come out after cutting.
Well, that is enough for one day, as this list will keep you busy. If anyone wants me to post a few recipes to demonstrate how I might use these just ask. In the mean time, if you want to learn more about this Sloan-Kettering has a nice page on this topic. Here is a link:
http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/about-herbs
Next Post: Cruciferous veggies- what the heck are they and what do they do for breast cancer?
Showing posts with label Breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breast cancer. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Breast Cancer .Org members
Here is a special welcome to the ladies from Breatcancer.org. who are coming over to have a look. Thank you so much!
If you are new to breast cancer and have not found Breastcancer.org yet, I would suggest taking a peek as it is a wonderful support forum with over 100,000 member from around the globe.
www.breastcancer.org.
If you are new to breast cancer and have not found Breastcancer.org yet, I would suggest taking a peek as it is a wonderful support forum with over 100,000 member from around the globe.
www.breastcancer.org.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Anti-cancer lifestyle
Before being diagnosed with brest cancer, I considered myself a health nut. I thought I was doing all the right things. Eating well, getting pleanty of exercise and such was what I had learned to do to stay well. Now after a crash course in survival I realize that inspite of my best efforts, I was very ignorant to the realities of many things.
For starters, you can eat all the "healthy food" in the world , but if it is contaminated with hormones, pesticides, and preservative you are fueling the division of cancer cells. Which, by the way, we all have. I would also enjoy a glass of wine (or 3 sometimes) and had no idea that there is a relationship between alcohol use and breast cancer. A 50% increase in risk as a matter of fact.
Today I plan to share a list of the things I do each day, and over the next few weeks I will talk about each one and why I do them. I will aslo try to point you to some good research regarding each item. I generally look for what are called peer reviewed journal articles. Just a fancy way of saying that there has been sound research, which has strict requirements for it to be legit, and that a panel of experts have reviewed the research to check for any possible flaws.
I consider myself a life time student in wellness, and have learned a lot about how to keep myself as well as I can. It helps my mental frame of mind to know I am doing everything in my power to head off another terrifying recurrence. There are several aspects to wellness and within each category there or sub-categories. For instance mental wellness includes, thoughts,emotions, brain function, and beliefs- which enters into the spiritual aspects. Physical aspects include what you fuel you body with, food, drink & supplements as well as movement, which in itself has several different reasons why it is essential. And then you must also consider your environment and the people you spend time with.
Here is the list of things I consider everyday:
Food-organic, and a good dose of those foods known as anti-cancer foods (Look for more on this later. You will be shocked at what I know about our food chain). We will also look at food synergy.
Vitamin supplements ( Later I will explain each one and why they help, and the timing of taking them, in relation to maximum absorption.
Movement- Many reasons, including the essential lymph system will be explained
Light- Sunlight or full spectrum light is essential, especially for cancer patients
Air-I have 78 plants in my house, two aquariums and several fountains for moisture.
Mental-Yoga, meditation, brain exercises, spiritual practices
Skin care- Did you know that toxins also exit through skin?
Cosmetics- You won't believe what is in some of the most common things such as lotion, deodorant and more.
Water- How it has become poisoned, what you can do about it, and how it relates to PH which is very important to well being and avoiding cancer
Environment- Your home is full of toxins, I will talk about how I have been eliminating them one by one.
Medicine-Anti -hormone meds and why they are proscribed to breast cancer patients
Stress-Where do I begin? There is research to suggest that it is a key factor in breast cancer
Immune system- How does it work or not work in relation to breast cancer?
As you can see from my list there are many things you can do to protect yourself. I encourage people to be proactive, as much as we want a cure, no one actually wants to need to be cured from breast cancer. Prevention is the key, we don't want breast cancer to start with.
Tommorow: Anti-cancer foods
For starters, you can eat all the "healthy food" in the world , but if it is contaminated with hormones, pesticides, and preservative you are fueling the division of cancer cells. Which, by the way, we all have. I would also enjoy a glass of wine (or 3 sometimes) and had no idea that there is a relationship between alcohol use and breast cancer. A 50% increase in risk as a matter of fact.
Today I plan to share a list of the things I do each day, and over the next few weeks I will talk about each one and why I do them. I will aslo try to point you to some good research regarding each item. I generally look for what are called peer reviewed journal articles. Just a fancy way of saying that there has been sound research, which has strict requirements for it to be legit, and that a panel of experts have reviewed the research to check for any possible flaws.
I consider myself a life time student in wellness, and have learned a lot about how to keep myself as well as I can. It helps my mental frame of mind to know I am doing everything in my power to head off another terrifying recurrence. There are several aspects to wellness and within each category there or sub-categories. For instance mental wellness includes, thoughts,emotions, brain function, and beliefs- which enters into the spiritual aspects. Physical aspects include what you fuel you body with, food, drink & supplements as well as movement, which in itself has several different reasons why it is essential. And then you must also consider your environment and the people you spend time with.
Here is the list of things I consider everyday:
Food-organic, and a good dose of those foods known as anti-cancer foods (Look for more on this later. You will be shocked at what I know about our food chain). We will also look at food synergy.
Vitamin supplements ( Later I will explain each one and why they help, and the timing of taking them, in relation to maximum absorption.
Movement- Many reasons, including the essential lymph system will be explained
Light- Sunlight or full spectrum light is essential, especially for cancer patients
Air-I have 78 plants in my house, two aquariums and several fountains for moisture.
Mental-Yoga, meditation, brain exercises, spiritual practices
Skin care- Did you know that toxins also exit through skin?
Cosmetics- You won't believe what is in some of the most common things such as lotion, deodorant and more.
Water- How it has become poisoned, what you can do about it, and how it relates to PH which is very important to well being and avoiding cancer
Environment- Your home is full of toxins, I will talk about how I have been eliminating them one by one.
Medicine-Anti -hormone meds and why they are proscribed to breast cancer patients
Stress-Where do I begin? There is research to suggest that it is a key factor in breast cancer
Immune system- How does it work or not work in relation to breast cancer?
As you can see from my list there are many things you can do to protect yourself. I encourage people to be proactive, as much as we want a cure, no one actually wants to need to be cured from breast cancer. Prevention is the key, we don't want breast cancer to start with.
Tommorow: Anti-cancer foods
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Radiation therapy- a month of sadistic tourture
From the Institute of Image guided radio-therapy:
Radiation Therapy is cancer’s worst nightmare. It uses high-energy X-rays or particles to change the genetic makeup of these cells and take advantage of their rapid growth cycle. So now when they try to multiply, they die. The whole goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to healthy tissue. Since healthy cells grow and divide much slower than cancer cells, normal tissues have more time to recover and are not as adversely affected by radiation. The majority of normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The method used to deliver radiation depends on the treatment goal and what part of the body is involved. Some methods allow the radiation to penetrate the body more deeply, while other methods are better suited to treat smaller or larger areas. Each treatment plan is tailored to each individual patient. Radiation therapy may be used alone, or combined with surgery and/or chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy, called RADS among those of us who have endured it, is often presented as easy compared to Chemo. Some ladies have an easier time of it but most whom I have chatted with felt it was hell on earth. This is especially true for fair skinned woman.
You have to go every day and climb into a giant machine that has been programed to send beams to and area on your chest that the doctor has deemed at risk for cancer cells spreading. For me, that meant my entire right chest wall, my arm pit and up past my collar bone. The beams themselves are painless, but after about two weeks, my fair skin looked like I had been scalded. By the 30th treatment my skin was purple and it hurt to move. I was nauseous from pain and blistered severely.
In the weeks to follow I continued to blistered and peel. I had to sleep on my back and if I turned in my sleep the pain of rubbing a fresh burn would wake me. I was prescribed the same burn cream that 3rd degree burn patients are given. I wondered just how many layers could peel off before I was going to see bone. The flip side was, looking at that mess, I knew cancer could not have lived through that. Nothing could, and I marveled at my own capacity to recover from so much trauma.
Since Radiation therapy ended I have been in physical therapy. The skin and muscle were burned enough that they retracted, and everyday I have exercises that are helping regain my strength and range of motion. Like I said before, it is a long road out of purgatory.
Just so ya know. Though I may have been beat down by chemo and radiation, a week after I finished treatment I flew to Tennessee to see my lovely daughter and we hiked up a mountain to a beautiful waterfall. Fuck Cancer! ( insert image of bird here).
Tomorrow: What else I am doing to insure my continued wellness
Radiation Therapy is cancer’s worst nightmare. It uses high-energy X-rays or particles to change the genetic makeup of these cells and take advantage of their rapid growth cycle. So now when they try to multiply, they die. The whole goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to healthy tissue. Since healthy cells grow and divide much slower than cancer cells, normal tissues have more time to recover and are not as adversely affected by radiation. The majority of normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The method used to deliver radiation depends on the treatment goal and what part of the body is involved. Some methods allow the radiation to penetrate the body more deeply, while other methods are better suited to treat smaller or larger areas. Each treatment plan is tailored to each individual patient. Radiation therapy may be used alone, or combined with surgery and/or chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy, called RADS among those of us who have endured it, is often presented as easy compared to Chemo. Some ladies have an easier time of it but most whom I have chatted with felt it was hell on earth. This is especially true for fair skinned woman.
You have to go every day and climb into a giant machine that has been programed to send beams to and area on your chest that the doctor has deemed at risk for cancer cells spreading. For me, that meant my entire right chest wall, my arm pit and up past my collar bone. The beams themselves are painless, but after about two weeks, my fair skin looked like I had been scalded. By the 30th treatment my skin was purple and it hurt to move. I was nauseous from pain and blistered severely.
In the weeks to follow I continued to blistered and peel. I had to sleep on my back and if I turned in my sleep the pain of rubbing a fresh burn would wake me. I was prescribed the same burn cream that 3rd degree burn patients are given. I wondered just how many layers could peel off before I was going to see bone. The flip side was, looking at that mess, I knew cancer could not have lived through that. Nothing could, and I marveled at my own capacity to recover from so much trauma.
Since Radiation therapy ended I have been in physical therapy. The skin and muscle were burned enough that they retracted, and everyday I have exercises that are helping regain my strength and range of motion. Like I said before, it is a long road out of purgatory.
Just so ya know. Though I may have been beat down by chemo and radiation, a week after I finished treatment I flew to Tennessee to see my lovely daughter and we hiked up a mountain to a beautiful waterfall. Fuck Cancer! ( insert image of bird here).
Tomorrow: What else I am doing to insure my continued wellness
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Is stage one breast cancer " no big deal?"
Stage one breast cancer, no big deal right? Caught early, chances of survival are very good. What they don't tell you is the years that follow are going to be very challenging, physically, mentally and emotionally. I am three years out from my original diagnosis of Invasive Lobular carcinoma.
There are several types of breast cancer, this is one of them. What began with a one centimeter lump on my right breast, turned into a 3 year nightmare that almost went unchecked (and would have if I had listen to the first doctor I saw about it.)
I have a story to tell about my experiences and what I have learned. My hope is that I can help others who are faced with this avoid the mistakes that I made through ignorance, misguided advise from professionals and allowing my own fear to run my thoughts.
I will be posting a plethora of topics so check back daily if you want to learn from a real life person who has lived the experience. In the mean time, if you feel a lump get it checked!
Tomorrow: What are the stages of breast cancer and what do they mean?
There are several types of breast cancer, this is one of them. What began with a one centimeter lump on my right breast, turned into a 3 year nightmare that almost went unchecked (and would have if I had listen to the first doctor I saw about it.)
I have a story to tell about my experiences and what I have learned. My hope is that I can help others who are faced with this avoid the mistakes that I made through ignorance, misguided advise from professionals and allowing my own fear to run my thoughts.
I will be posting a plethora of topics so check back daily if you want to learn from a real life person who has lived the experience. In the mean time, if you feel a lump get it checked!
Tomorrow: What are the stages of breast cancer and what do they mean?
Monday, December 19, 2011
Breast cancer and PTSD
Breast cancer is a wicked sycophant that tries to suck the life out of its host. It's best friend and companion is fear, which can be incredible debilitating. Fear actually fuels breast cancer by keeping the immune system busy while cancer does its ugly little mating dance. Only if you have heard your name and the word cancer in the same sentence can you really grasp this concept. Hearing that you have cancer is a poisonous mortality pie in the face. Suddenly you realize that nothing is safe, nor was it ever. Death becomes a real possibility and it changes the way you view everything.
Breast Cancer
Stage one breast cancer, no big deal right? Caught early, chances of survival are very good. What they don't tell you is the years that follow are going to be very challenging, physically, mentally and emotionally. I am three years out from my original diagnosis of Invasive Lobular carcinoma.
There are several types of breast cancer, this is one of them. What began with a one centimeter lump on my right breast, turned into a 3 year nightmare that almost went unchecked (and would have if I had listen to the first doctor I saw about it.)
I have a story to tell about my experiences and what I have learned. My hope is that I can help others who are faced with this avoid the mistakes that I made through ignorance, misguided advise from professionals and allowing my own fear to run my thoughts
There are several types of breast cancer, this is one of them. What began with a one centimeter lump on my right breast, turned into a 3 year nightmare that almost went unchecked (and would have if I had listen to the first doctor I saw about it.)
I have a story to tell about my experiences and what I have learned. My hope is that I can help others who are faced with this avoid the mistakes that I made through ignorance, misguided advise from professionals and allowing my own fear to run my thoughts
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