Please Spare Us The Ribs

I can't do as good a job as the others did in showing the complete inanity and ignorance in the latest popular press headlines shouting "Red Meat'll Kill Ya" so I will take the liberty of linking to two bloggers whom I admire!

Junkfood Science: More Reindeer Games

Dr. Michael Eades: Meat and Mortality

Please take the time to read these blogs carefully. Your health could depend on it!

Can I Get a High Five?

Seems that Heidi "Kimmer" Diaz' attempt to gum up the works in the class action lawsuit with her frivolous bankruptcy filing has gone for naught.

The US Bankruptcy Court has DISMISSED the Diaz Case!

Way to go, John!

Who Do You Believe?

Most nutrition science tells us that to prevent or treat cancer, we should include plenty of dark green leafy & cruciferous vegetables, red and purple fruits and berries, citrus, whole grains, and minimize red meats.

What do most of those foods listed above have in common (except red meat)?

If you're a low carber, you know.  It's CARBS.  Dirty 4 letter word.

A Nobel Laureate from years ago, a Dr. Otto Warburg discovered the very important fact that cancer cells LOVE sugar.  Glucose to be exact.  

"Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between normal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarcely picture a greater difference. Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by an energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms, namely, a fermentation of glucose."  partial quote:  The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer, (Revised Lindau Lecture) By OTTO WARBURG (Director, Max Planck Institute for Cell Physiology, Berlin-Dahlem, Germany) English Edition by DEAN BURK, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland

Now, as I stated in my previous post, I have long believed that a low carb, very low carb or even zero carb WOE is beneficial.  However, it seems perilous to ignore documented evidence that there are important phytochemicals and certain substances in spices and herbs that can indeed fight cancer or better yet, prevent it from taking hold in one's body.

So what do I believe?  How do I handle what could be literally a life-or-death decision as to my food intake from here on out?  

For now (and subject to change with further research) I'm eating as low carb as possible each day, and adding a plethora of antioxidants, angiogenesis inhibitors and other supplements to my diet.  

A brief list of these includes:

Beta glucans extract (from shiitake mushrooms) Red Lightening drink mix (acai, noni, mangosteen, pomegranant and goji) KyoGreen Harvest Blend (zillions of good things in a green drink) folic acid, turmeric, fresh garlic every day, as much as I can stand, curry powder, organic flax oil, organic cottage cheese (per Budwig protocol), milk thistle, fish oil, resveratrol and pynogenol, drinking lots of water and green tea, etc.

Foods are organic, meats are grass-fed and organic if possible. I should buy stock at the local health foods store :-)

Treatment update: I saw an oncologist today, and I should now be on the fast track for staging of the tumor and treatment to begin soon. We are seriously considering Cleveland Clinic for treatment if it turns out that chemo and radiation are clearly going to be the way to go. More on that later.

(Photo credit: istockphoto.com)

ZC vs The Big C

So, I got some news this week that nobody on earth wants to hear:

"Your cancer is back".

It's been a couple months since my last entry (I know....bad bad blogger) so I'll bring this up to date now.

Two years ago I was found to have a rare and rather aggressive form of colorectal cancer.  But after a couple of biopsies, they seemed to have gotten it all and one year ago this month, I was declared NED at the James Cancer Hospital at OSU.  

Uh....errrr....well.....perhaps they missed something.  Or not.  Who really knows?  I'm not wasting energy on that now.  

So, anyhoo, here I am again.  This time I had symptoms and wasted no time getting my hiney (literally, lol) to the doctor for testing.   It's a tumor, a small but messy one.  I'll be headed in for more testing (to determine staging and lymph node involvement etc) and then picking an oncologist.  

I'm upset, sure, but surprisingly at peace.  I had a "dry run" two years ago, and I've learned so much about this particular cancer.  It's true:  knowledge is empowerment.  

Since this is a diet blog first and foremost, I'm going to mention that for about 5 weeks now I've been eating as few carbs as possible.  This WOE is called VLC or ZC for Very Low Carb and Zero Carb.  

You might ask why?

I was amazed to find a few months ago, the discovery by Dr. Otto Warburg that cancer feeds on sugar.

If you are a total brainiac, here's a link for you

If you prefer a shorter, easier to read and understand synopsis, try this one.

Considering my Metabolic Syndrome and concurrent hyperinsulinemia (insulin resistance) and knowing that my body already has a blood sugar malfunction, it only makes sense that continuing to consume as few carbs as possible makes the most sense for me now.  ALL carbs convert to glucose and then triglycerides.   The last thing I need is to give this cancer what it really wants:  glucose!  

What my daily diet looks like now:

B:  usually 2 eggs and bacon.  Sometimes leftover roast beef or steak.

L:  More steak usually.  Yes, I eat the fat. 

D:  Roast beef, steak or turkey.  Chicken in any form has totally lost it's luster for me lately.

I have discovered pemmican, too.  I like it a lot!  

Before you say "Egad, woman!!  Don't you know red meat causes cancer??" please do some research.  Make it unbiased research, please.  Read Gary Taubes "Good Calories Bad Calories", Dr. Barry Groves "Trick and Treat" and some of the information on these blogs before you declare I've lost my mind:

http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson1.htm 

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-about-zero-carb-carniverous-diet.html

http://drbass.com/stefansson1.html

In addition, I started 2 weeks ago on a course of Essiac, and take two glasses daily of KyoGreen Harvest Blend drink.  I also drink 2 ounces daily of a special Acai drink, and have added turmeric to the many other supplements I take daily.  Just covering all bases if I can.

Will I do this exclusively forever?  Not likely.  In fact who knows what I'll feel like eating while on chemo!!  But for now, this is the path I've chosen.  I hope it helps.