June Blog
For patients who’ve undergone chemotherapy, or for anyone who would like to cleanse their body, there are some simple things you can do at home. First, drink lots of pure mountain spring water – the higher the source, the better. Do not drink distilled water – distilled water is ‘dead’ water – all of the health-giving minerals have been removed. Avoid caffeine, soft drinks, tap water, hard liquors, frozen drinks and fruit juice (which is concentrated sugar).
Gently bouncing on a rebounder – a small trampoline – is another way to increase your circulation and stimulate your lymph system to flush toxins from the body. Just bounce lightly – the balls of your feet never have to leave the surface of the rebounder. Start with just a few minutes, and work up to 15 minutes a day.
Also, try to get at least 15 minutes or outdoor exercise a day – exercising in the fresh air can reduce stress and increase circulation of the blood and lymph.
Another great de-stressor is laughter. Keep a positive attitude. Be kind. Smile. Hug. Believe.
Organic Coffee Enemas
Organic coffee enemas are prescribed at many holistic clinics. They are simple to do at home. Use only organic coffee (not decaf). Make a pot of coffee – two tablespoons to 8 cups of water. Let the coffee cool to comfortable warmth. Put a towel in the bathtub, and hook the enema bag over the faucet. Pour half the coffee into the enema bag. Position yourself on the towel, and insert the enema nozzle.
The goal is to lie on your right side for 10 minutes, then your left side for 10 minutes. When you are ready, keep the nozzle in, sit on the toilet, and release. This cleans out the lower bowel. As soon as you finish on the toilet, pour the rest of the coffee into the enema bag and get back in the tub. Do the whole thing all over again. The second time, the caffeine will be quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. As it makes its way to the liver, it causes the liver to contract, and that will eliminate toxins (the liver is where we store lots of garbage, including residue from medications, alcohol, chemotherapy, etc.)
The first time you try this, you may only be able to hold the coffee for a minute or so. It takes a few times to relax and get the hang of it. Patients say they feel terrific and energized after a coffee enema.
IMPORTANT CAUTIONS:
- ALWAYS take a high quality multi-mineral supplement on the day you do an enema. Coffee enemas leach the minerals out of your body and can make you feel very weak. Liquid multi-mineral formulas are best. They may be found in the refrigerated section at your local health food store.
- If you are not a coffee drinker, do the enema in the morning. If you do it late in the day, you will get a caffeine buzz and not be able to sleep.
- Do coffee enemas three times a week for a good cleanse, and then only once a week after that, unless directed to do more often by a physician. Patients on chemotherapy may be advised to do more, but only do additional enemas on your physician’s advice.
DIET RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CANCER PATIENTS
We’ve received many requests for more specific diet recommendations. Here is a list of foods that are good for cancer patients, and foods to avoid:
NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS! USE Stevia or Tupelo honey in moderation. Never use commercial artificial sweeteners.
NO SUGAR! Remember, all ingredients ending with crose (such as sucrose, lactose, fructose, etc. are sugars) Eliminate all sugar from your diet! Also be careful to read labels for other sweetening agents – molasses, fruit juice) than may not end in crose.
ORGANIC VEGETABLES: Eat 5 servings daily. Vegetables are rich in antioxidants. Vary your diet by varying your cooking methods: try your veggies steamed, sautéed, baked, raw, in salads and in soups. Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables.
A word here about raw foods. We do not recommend a totally raw diet. Raw foods are good for weight loss because it takes so much body energy to digest. But cancer patients need that energy for healing, so while salads and some veggies are ok raw, it may be wise to gently cook most of your food.
ORGANIC FRUITS: Eat fruit only in moderation. Tropical fruits, such as papayas, mango, pineapple and citrus are loaded with sugar. When you do eat fruit, eat fruit that grows where it snows. A cold snap in the growing season removed much of the fruit sugar.
PROTEIN: Organic free=-range chicken, cold water fish, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Stay away from beef and pork.
GRAINS: NO white bread. Use only whole grain breads. Whole wheat bread is white bread with some brown dye. See list for permissible grains and flours. Whole grain cereals, whole grain pastas, and whole grain breads are perfectly ok!
DAIRY: Use only organic dairy. Read sugar content on labels. Use organic butter and never use margarine (lard with yellow food coloring). Never use soy milk – soy is a natural estrogen, and few cancer patients need additional hormones in their system!
HERBAL TEAS instead of coffee. If you must drink coffee, have a cup or two in the morning, but do not drink it throughout the day.
SPICES: Use onions, garlic and natural spices such as parsley, cilantro, chives, dill and peppers to flavor your food instead of salt.
Read Labels!! Avoid canned foods with sugar, coloring, artificial preservatives, added meats and meat by-products, sodium, oils, etc.
Our next blog will list specific foods from each food group.
FOODS FOR A HEALTHY DIET
The following suggestions will help you plan your healthy meals. These are all foods that you should include in your diet.
VEGETABLES
Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, Chinese broccoli, collard greens, green cabbage, turnip greens, endive, spinach, butter head lettuce, bok choy, daikon greens, parsley, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, Swiss chard, mustard greens, dandelion greens, cauliflower, watercress, Chinese cabbage, arugula, kale, escarole and romaine lettuce. Skip the iceberg lettuce, there are virtually no nutrients in iceberg lettuce.
ROOT, ROUND AND GROUND VEGETABLES
Onion, parsnip, lotus root, leeks=, turnips, red radish, beets, acorn squash, carrot, burdock, scallions, white radish, summer squash, celery, kabocha squash, rutabaga, cucumber, zucchini.
MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES
Sweet potatoes (not not white potatoes), snap beans, green beans, garlic, celery root, mushrooms, fennel, yams, snap peas, green peas, artichoke, kohlrabi, plantain, chives, wax beans.
SWEET VEGETABLES (these vegetables become naturally sweet with cooking – use them with whole grains or as a soup base) butternut squash, onion, daikon, kobocha squash, parsnip, carrots and cabbage
NIGHT SHADE VEGETABLES Green and red peppers, tomato and eggplant, mushrooms
BEANS Great white northern beans, anasazi, lentils, navy, black, turtle, peas. Lima, fava, chick peas, kidney, black-eyed peas, pinto beans.
ORGANIC SEEDS/NUTS Pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, nut butters, chestnuts, pine nuts, pecans.
Stay tuned….next time we’ll go over fruits, proteins, oils and flours.
I’ve just finished Michael Pollard’s Book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto which I mentioned in my blog last week. Many thoughts went through my head while reading this book but the one that stands out the most was that it reminded me of why I majored in nutrition in college. Simply put, I believe in the power of food and always have. The natural next step as a physician has been to believe in the power of food and healthy living to fuel our health and well being. The author does a masterful job of explaining how the food supply in our country has become so unhealthy. It also makes me question everything I put in my mouth and, as a parent, what my children put in theirs’.