Eleven

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It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Like all of you, I’ve been busy. We took a long trip to escape a bit of winter, but got back in time for record cold and snow at the end of February, followed by rain, rain, and more rain ever since. So much for escaping winter!

Last fall I was tested and found positive for MTHFR. Since returning home I’ve been learning more about that, and find it’s a subject that affects quite a few of us – some estimate as many as 40% of Americans and even more Canadians have this problem. MTHFR is an acronym for MethylTetraHydroFolate Reductase Polymorphism. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Hold on, because I’m going to simplify what I’ve learned. Indeed, without a background in biochemistry, most of us wouldn’t understand much of the information on the subject. That’s because, relatively speaking, the information is new and few doctors and fewer people who are not in any medical field know anything about it. Those who are familiar with this problem roll those huge words around all the time. The rest of us need a little help.

We can thank the Human Genome Project for what is known about MTHFR. This is a defective gene causing a missing enzyme that makes it difficult or impossible to methylate folate, a B vitamin found in leafy greens and other foods. This in turn makes it difficult or impossible to clear heavy metals and other toxins through the liver. Our livers are amazing organs that perform over 500 different functions. One of the liver’s most important tasks is detoxifying all sorts of things through two different pathways, or phases. In the case of MTHFR, phase 2 detoxification doesn’t work so well. Thus, toxins like mercury from dental fillings and vaccinations, alcohol, breakdown products of metabolism, lead, and other nasties tend to build up rather than be broken down and sent packing. After years of this build-up, our bodies are ripe for some ailment. And that ailment could be something your doctor may not yet know how to help you with most effectively.

MTHFR Results

According to Mark Hyman, MD, methylation is one of the body’s most essential biochemical functions, greatly affecting the working of almost all organ systems. Methylation is continuous, happening billions of times each second. One of its most important functions is repairing damaged DNA. Because methylation is so important, methy cycle abnormalities are possibly THE root cause of most of the serious diseases that plague us today. Problems commonly associated with MTHFR include, but are not limited to:

·         Infertility in men, causing low sperm count

·         Infertility in women

·         Miscarriage

·         Preeclampsia

·         Birth defects, including Down’s Syndrome and neural tube defects such as spina bifida

·         Autism – 98 % of autistic children tested positive for MTHFR

·         Allergies

·         Depression

·         Anxiety

·         Schizophrenia

·         Diabetes

·         Peripheral neuropathy

·         IBS

·         Viral infections

·         Mononucleosis

·         Parkinson’s

·         Migraine, especially the aura type

·         Susceptibility to addictions

·         Heart disease

·         Fibromyalgia

·         Autoimmune diseases of all sorts

·         Blood clots

·         Stroke

·         Arteriosclerosis

·         Osteoporosis

·         Short term memory problems

·         Dementia

·         Alzheimer’s

·         Cancer, especially breast, colon and pancreatic. This likely explains why I developed breast cancer.

Heavy metal accumulation

That’s quite a list, isn’t it? But wait, there’s more! Over time, as heavy metals are retained in the body, the burden becomes so great it causes its own set of symptoms:

·         Shyness and social difficulties or withdrawal

·         OCD

·         Bipolar disorder

·         Schizophrenia

·         Aggression

·         Tantrums

·         Poor concentration

·         Premature graying

·         Hair loss

·         Liver and kidney problems

·         Colon and pancreatic cancer

I’ve researched and gathered information from a number of doctors’ and researchers’ websites, so there is some overlap here.

Is there anything good associated with MTHFR? Oddly enough, it is often associated with genius. And one website said that in some cases it helps prevent cancer. I’m not sure how they figure it both causes and prevents cancer.

Variants

There are over 50 variants of this genetic defect, but currently there are tests only for two of them. I’m sure more tests will be forthcoming. One variant is C677T, the other A1298C. You have to inherit one gene from each parent. There are six variations possible from these two variants. Those with either two C677T or two A1298C are more prone to depression, addiction and environmental damage because lead, mercury and pesticides do not clear well. People with the severest symptoms are those who inherit one of each type. This combination shows increases in strokes, heart disease and blood clots as well.

How to find out…

There are tests your doctor can order for MTHFR, including:

·         MTHFR is the initial test for the gene defect.

·         HbA1C is an estimate of glucose intolerance. If it is in the 5.5-8 range it may be more difficult to dose the methyl B12 and it should be given daily.

·         Complete blood count, which can show if you have a type of anemia indicated by large red blood cells, with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) greater than 95 which can signal methylation difficulties.

·         Homocysteine. Many doctors now order this as a measure of inflammation and heart disease. A measurement of less than 13 is considered normal, but Dr Hyman says the ideal level is probably between six and eight.

·         Serum or urinary methylmalonic acid. This test for B12 insufficiency is important. However, it can be elevated even with normal B12 or homocysteine levels.

·         Specific urinary amino and organic acids. This is another way of testing for metabolic disorders of vitamins B6, B12 and folate. It may indicate something not found by the previous tests. This is important because the three B vitamins are all essential to the methylation process.

The good news…

Should you find you are positive for MTHFR, the good news is that you can do a lot to help yourself better methylate folate and B12. Most of the following involve diet and supplements, and, in some cases, a prescription for a stronger methylated form of folate than you can buy over the counter.

• It’s important to eat a nutrient-dense diet and maximize digestion and absorption. Keep in mind that everything you put into your mouth either supports health or helps tear it down, and opt for support every time you can.
•  Eat lots of leafy greens. Be sure to eat at least four to five servings of veggies every day, and make a big part of those spinach, mustard, turnip greens, collard greens, beet greens, Swiss chard, bok choi, escarole, and watercress. All those leaves are packed with folate, nature’s own B vitamin, which is much healthier for your body than synthetic folic acid*. You’ll also find folate in eggs, broccoli, oranges and orange juice, peas and beans.
• Since the other B vitamins are very important to methylation, eat rich sources of the B complex every day, including sunflower seeds, unsweetened whole milk yogurt with live cultures if you tolerate milk, wheat germ if you’re not allergic to wheat, nutritional yeast, walnuts, asparagus, whole grains, liver and almonds.
• We all need protein, but most of us think we need more than we do. If you eat animal protein, keep amounts small and use it more as an ingredient than as the main event. Most adults need only about 45-50 grams daily. A piece of meat, fish or fowl the size of a deck of cards – a single deck - has about 15 grams. Two eggs have about 12 grams.
• Eat your food fresh and much of it raw. Cooking, canning, freezing, indeed any processing depletes nutrients. Eat local when possible. The longer veggies travel the more nutrition they lose.
•  We have huge amounts of bacteria in our digestive tract. Called gut flora, these little critters need to be in a healthy balance. That subject would take an article of its own, but you can help these important little critters by taking probiotics, eating raw fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, unsweetened yogurt, kombucha and kifer, and staying away from sugar and refined grains.
• Great health requires good digestion, but most of us don’t make enough hydrochloric acid (HCl) after age 40, despite TV ads for acid blocking medicines to the contrary. So take HCl supplements. Call me, or another Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, if you need instructions for how to find your correct dose.
•  If you have MTHFR you need a protocol of supplements that help your body do the methylating job required to detox heavy metals. I’ll address that protocol later in this article.
•  Avoid sugar like the plague it causes! While you’re doing that, avoid trans fats from shortening, margarine and processed foods. Avoid supermarket vegetable oils. Use only expeller pressed or cold pressed oils – mostly extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, hempseed and flax oils. Never heat hemp or flax oils. Heat damages their fragile omega 3 fats that most of us get far too little of. Never heat any fats and oils too hot, as this turns them into trans fats, which are extremely harmful to your body.
• Avoid all processed and refined foods, especially things made with white flour and sugar.
•  Avoid caffeine. Wean yourself off coffee by diluting the grounds with decaf, a bit more every few days, until you’re caffeine-free without the headaches of sudden withdrawal. Caffeine depletes B vitamins.
• Alcohol also depletes B vitamins, so if you drink, keep it down to only three glasses of wine or beer weekly.
• Smoking depletes B6, so, if you haven’t stopped by now, perhaps this will supply added incentive.
• Avoid medications that interfere with folate methylation, including methotrexate, used for cancer treatment; cholesterol-lowering drugs; anti-inflammatory drugs like sulfasalazine; biguanide drugs like buformin, phenformin, or metformin used for diabetes; birth control pills; diuretics, and some anti-seizure drugs.

Folate or Folic Acid?

*Before we get into the protocol for enhancing methylation, let’s talk a bit about the difference in folate and folic acid. Most of us are used to the term folic acid. Indeed, even my computer’s grammar checker knows that one, but it frowns, with a squiggly red underline, on the word folate. Yet folate is the natural form of B vitamin which is intrinsic, along with help from B12, B6 and a few minerals, to the methylation process. Folic acid, on the other hand, is the man-made or faux form, which doesn’t work the same way at all. Dr Fuhrman published an important article on the differences in how these two nutrients work in the body. I learned the information shared below from his website.

Dr Fuhrman gives facts and figures showing how very differently they each affect our bodies. Here’s a real zinger: In an article published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers collected data on womens’ folic acid intake from multivitamins over a 10 year period. They found that women who took multivitamins containing folic acid were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those who did not.

He reports that in another study people taking folic acid for more than three years increased their risk of having a colorectal adenoma by 35%!

Folic acid, which is now in almost all prenatal vitamins, was found to increase the risk of childhood asthma by 26%! At another site I learned that a Johns Hopkins research study of more than 8,000 people found those with higher levels of folate had fewer IgE antibodies, showing they had fewer allergies and less asthma. Those with the lowest folate levels had a 40% greater risk of wheezing than people with the highest levels.

In a six-year Norwegian study, it was learned that those taking folic acid along with other B vitamins were 43% more likely to die from cancer than those who did NOT supplement with this artificial form of the vitamin.

Look out, folks! Folic acid, not the natural folate, is in almost all multivitamins and prenatal vitamins. Yet folic acid is chemically very different from folate. The body uses it differently. There are limits to how much folic acid the intestines can change into a more useable form of folate, and the excess, unmodified folic acid goes into the circulation in unmodified, alien form. And, though scientists don’t even know what this excess folic acid circulating in our bodies does, it is mandated to be added to flour and vitamin products! It’s possible, even likely, that an even larger cancer epidemic is developing because of this.

Instead of encouraging pregnant women to get lots of natural folate from veggies and beans, they are all taking folic acid, which is putting them at risk of breast cancer down the road. Not only this, but there are many other nutrients found in green veggies that these women aren’t getting, and therefore their fetuses aren’t getting, because they likely feel the vitamin supplements cover all the bases. Childhood cancers are on the upswing, yet many of these cancers could be avoided with better prenatal nutrition.

On the other hand, people NOT taking folic acid, but getting folate from food, have less cancer, based on the level of folate they consume. The more they folate they eat, the less cancer they have. Thus, the natural form is protective, while the artificial form promotes cancer.

Dr Fuhrman’s site has a chart showing how much folate is in a 100 calorie serving of many foods. Unfortunately, this chart has limitations, because it doesn’t tell you how big a serving holds 100 calories. Any idea how many spinach leaves it takes to add up to that? I suppose there is another chart somewhere that does, but it would be a tedious conversion.

And the protocol?

Dr. Neil Rawlins, who, along with everybody in his family, is positive for MTHFR, posted a simple protocol on his website. It consists of specific amounts of high dose methylated folate. Methylated B12, NAC, or N Acetyl Cysteine, full spectrum minerals, vitamins B6, C, E, zinc, omega 3 sources, milk thistle or silymarin herb, and glutathione, along with Epsom salts baths to help the body absorb magnesium and sulfate, both important in the methylation process. For specifics, go to www.rawlins.org/mthfr/mthfr.html. To hear Dr. Rawlins give an informative talk on the subject, go to www.renewashoe.com/medical/.

Sources

www.rarediseases.info.nih.gov

www.mothering.com

www.NaturalNews.com

www.hopkinschildrens.org/Fol

www.medicineworks.com/user

www.DrFuhrman.com

www.renewashoe.com/medical/

Ten

Cancer likes making a comeback, but nobody wants a curtain call from cancer. So keep this in mind as you read the following:

After tasting it, and especially after pricing it, I fought taking it regularly, but Dr Weeks convinced me to take it for a month because it does so many things to prevent the return of cancer. So just what is this mysterious IT?

Called Haelan 951, it is a fermented soy* drink which helps because it contains all five on the National Cancer Institute's 1991 discovery list of foods that have anti-cancer properties. These are isoflavones, protease inhibitors, saponins, phytosterols, and phytic acid compounds. (See Journal of the National Cancer Institute April 17, 1991)

     The stuff, especially the finish, tastes truly nasty, but it doesn't linger on the palate, so I swig down four ounces every morning and evening, rinse my mouth, and take a miniscule bite of a raw vegan brownie, all to obtain the following bennies:

     1. Cancer cells live on and on instead of living a natural life and dying. The process of natural cell death is called apoptosis, and Haelan 951 helps restore this normal process to cancer cells and stem cells that are not yet designated to be the cells of one organ or tissue or another, and can, instead, become cancer cells.

     2.  It helps repair DNA that has been damaged. This damaged DNA is the first step toward cancer formation, so repairing the damage is crucial.

     3.  It reactivates P-53, the tumor suppressor gene. This seems to be especially active in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

     4.  Cancer cells grow by creating a blood supply of their own. This process is called angiogenesis, and Haelan 951 stops angiogenesis without damaging factors needed by your heart, brain and other vital organs, as chemotherapy drugs can.

     5.  This drink reduces exosomes, which are particles that inhibit your body's immune defense against  cancer.

     6.  Haelan 951 increases another gene which kills cancer cells by allowing apoptosis. This is called BAX, and the drink increases it by 500% compared with Doxorubicin, a chemo drug.

     7.  Also compared with Doxorubicin, used for breast cancer, Haelan 951 decreases BCL2, the gene which allows cancer cells to thrive by evading apoptosis.

All I can say is, I hope it works as Dr Weeks tells me, and fast, because I don't want to use it any longer than I absolutely must. But if it does these things, it should help in the mop-up of any stray cancer cells that could still be floating around in my body.

At my last visit to Dr Weeks for IPT, Walter Wainwright, the scientist who researched and developed Haelan 951, and president of the Haelan Research Foundation, talked with Dave and me for an hour or more about the positive benefits of this product. He explained something I'd never read anything about or heard anyone else discuss. It is the fact that stem cells, which are undifferentiated and have the potential to become any kind of tissue the body requires, can also be turned into cancer cells. But chemotherapy, which can kill cancer cells, does nothing to turn these stem cells back into normal cells. That's where his product comes in, turning potential cancer cells back into normally functioning cells that the body can use as needed, and which live out a normal cell life, then die.

If you're scientifically minded and want to learn more, The Townsend Letter (www.townsendletter.com) published an article in its August/September 2010 issue, #325/26, by Wainwright, explaining in greater detail, using with lots of graphs and charts, and citing many, many research papers supporting the components of this non-prescription product.

As Thanksgiving Day is drawing to a close, I am especially thankful for that clean PET scan, showing no cancer activity, and for the yukky-tasting, but possibly life-saving Haelan 951.


*Soy, generally is not a good food. It has many factors that are toxic, and it cannot be considered a health food, despite all the hullabaloo to the contrary in the media. However, when soy is fermented, those toxins are eliminated, and its good properties come to the fore. The only fermented soy foods I know of, besides the Haelan 951 discussed above, are soy sauce (nama shoyu is raw soy sauce), tempeh, miso and natto. I understand that natto, eaten in Japan, is an acquired taste, and I suspect you have to acquire that taste at an early age!





        

Nine

A Day to Remember: A Day to Celebrate

Did you ever have a day when you didn't even realize you were standing under a black cloud until the sun came out? Today was such a day for me.

I returned from An Oasis of Healing three weeks ago, not really knowing if the cancer that sent me there had completely resolved or not. It was too soon for a PET scan, which would give the answer. Two weeks went by before I could have the scan. Then, after having it last week, I had to wait until today for the results. During that time I didn't think about it too much, because I knew that fretting and worrying wouldn't change the result, but would cause me unneeded anxiety. Today I finally got the answer, and the result was fabulous! NO SIGN OF CANCER ANYWHERE!

Thank you, God, for answering all those prayers from friends, fellow patients, relatives, and myself. Thank you, all of you, for taking a few moments to add me to your prayers, distant Reiki, and various other forms of good vibes. Thank you, dear friends, for coming to my home and giving me Reiki. That includes Dodie, who came often, Fran, Helen, Susan, and Jordan. If anybody else came (and I keep thinking someone did), please chalk it up to brain fog on my part. I'll probably remember in the middle of the night and feel very stupid!

A special thanks to Sheri Bade, a woman I've never met or even talked with, though I did try several times, who lent me her condo for my Phoenix stay of seven weeks. And thanks to Fran for setting that up for me.

The entire staff of An Oasis of Healing gets a huge thank you. Everyone there puts heart and soul into helping all the patients, becoming our friends and families during our time there.

I appreciate Dr. Lodi's dedication to each patient, and to taking his Hippocratic oath of "First, do no harm." very seriously. He stands out from the crowd of doctors who treat cancer because he is willing to help patients with therapies that work by aiming small doses of toxic drugs at the cancer, not spreading large doses of them throughout the body. Because of this, I sailed through the treatment with few side effects. Yes, I did lose most of my hair. OK, anybody else would have shaved off the little remaining, but I wanted to keep my head as warm as possible at night! But I didn't suffer from nausea or loss of appetite, or malnutrition. Indeed, I was far better nourished with each morning's smoothie than most Americans are with a whole day's worth of what they mistakenly think of as food!

The nurses - Michelle, Courtney, Susan, and Tommie (and oh, yes, the pregnant one who worked Fridays and Saturdays - sorry my name-recall-ability has gone blank on me!) worked so very hard, paying close attention to each of us and our needs and conditions, keeping up with everybody, noting changes small and large, administering treatments with kindness and caring.

In the kitchen, Colleen and her helping elf daily created tasty raw vegan meals with variety and originality, then taught us all many of the tricks of doing the same at home.

The supporting therapists all played most important roles, helping us release toxins, both physiological and psychological. They, too, came to be dear friends and helpers along the road to wellness. A special thanks to all of you who contributed your love, kindness and expertise to helping all of us heal.

And behind the scenes, in the offices, everybody's assistance made the journey run smoothly. I appreciate all of you and your contributions to this red-letter day!

All the other patients became dear friends who shared each others' ups and downs, joys, fears, and sorrows. I appreciate each one of you, for all are precious and unique and all are facing the frightening and often difficult task of eliminating cancer from their bodies.

Tomorrow I have a follow-up appointment by phone with Dr Brad Weeks on Whidbey Island, here in Washington, who did one IPT treatment last week, and who ordered the PET scan. I'll find out how best to continue following up, since we know that cancer may not show up on a scan, but can still be in the body in microscopic bits, waiting for the opportunity to reassert itself. He will help me keep that from happening.

One of the most important things Dr. Lodi teaches is how to stop making cancer. So I'll continue with my plant-based diet of mostly raw veggies and a few fruits, small amounts of nuts and seeds, as a way of keeping my body free of cancer in the future.

And I'll continue feeling grateful for all the wonderful people who contributed to this triumph of a healthy body over one with a very scary ailment.

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey of healing. I'll be back from time to time, and in the future I plan to write about others who have healed their bodies of cancer using alternative therapies. The world needs to know!

Eight

Saying goodbye to Phoenix? Easy! The thermometer stood at 115 the day I stepped off that Southwest jet, and yesterday, September 3, driving away from Mesa, the car thermometer read 118! Yikes! I can't begin to fathom why anybody would ever make a home in this brown, sere landscape. Yet some claim to love it.

I do get tired of our short, dark, cold, and often wet Northwest winter days, but they seldom trap me indoors. Even the famous rain seldom falls all day without letup. Linda and I walk practically every day, only letting the cold or snow stop us for a few days here and there.

If rain is predicted for home, my poor nostrils will welcome air with a little moisture in it. My eyes eagerly seek visions of green trees, blue water, and the loving faces of family and friends.

Still, when I reflect on my time here, it has been mostly positive. I'm very grateful to have had this rare opportunity to learn how to deal with cancer in a less destructive, more natural way, to see the dedication of the staff at Oasis, to meet courageous people who are fighting for their lives, often after receiving cancer treatment at home, then being told there was no hope.

All our stories continue, with progress and sometimes setbacks. I've met some of the kindest, most patient and dedicated people who have come to help their loved ones, whether friend or family, in their struggles for life. All have adhered to the policy of speaking only kind, positive words in the clinic, always seeking the highest good for everyone.

We've become foxhole buddies, forging friendships quickly with people whose paths we would never have crossed anywhere else. The various therapists, the chef and her helpers, the nurses and office staff, the doctors, all have grown to feel like family over these last seven weeks. For all of this I am most grateful and filled with love and hope. Leaving the clinic? That was not as easy. Knowing I'll probably never see these people again, praying for all to grow strong and well, to gain new insight and new health from their experiences here, to go home to forge new lives, using their new knowledge: all that is filled with conflicting emotions.

As Haifa said once, "God has a plan, and it is good. It is all good."

And now, back to the seemingly impossible task of cramming everything back into the suitcases which brought me here with so little. How did I acquire so much stuff? Bundles of Chinese herbs from the acupuncturist, a few clothes from that trip to Chico's, the cute sandals I had to have, bottles and packets of supplements, a humidifier to make the night air breathable, and more. Where did it all come from? And how will we ever get it all home?

Seven and one half!

When I wrote last weekend I was tired and didn't add the brownie recipe. Since it's a perennial favorite at the clinic on IPT days, when we get a sweet treat to bring our blood sugar back up, I said I'd send it, so here it is:

An Oasis of Healing's Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownies

3 cups walnuts, previously soaked overnight and dehydrated (this eliminates enzyme inhibitors)
6-8 dates, seeded and soaked 10 minutes or longer. Save the soak water.
1/2 cup raw organic cacao or cocoa powder

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixture forms a ball. If the mixture is too dry and not forming a ball, add some of the date water until it does.

Place mixture in a 9" pie pan and spread level with an offset spatula.

Icing

1/4 cup raw organic cacao or cocoa powder
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
1-2 tablespoons agave syrup

Place all ingredients in an bowl and whisk until creamy and smooth. Spread smoothly over the top of the brownies. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Serves 8

These are very rich and a small piece is satisfying.

Seven

Since Dave arrived about a week ago I haven't done much blogging. He's keeping me busy. Today, August 27, is our tenth anniversary! It's sometimes hard to believe that it's been so long. They have been good years, with lots accomplished, some challenges, and lots of good times and companionship. We'll be flying home together Saturday, Sept. 4, at the end of my seventh week at An Oasis of Healing www.anoasisofhealing.com.

A couple of you have asked about the food we eat to stop our bodies from making cancer. As you know, I've had a strong interest in nutrition my entire adult life, and I always tried to feed my family well to enhance our health. I first learned about how we could be healthier from Adelle Davis back in the early 1960s, and there is so much new research and information available since those days.

The trouble is, so much of the information is conflicting, which makes it terribly hard to know what to believe. I've finally come to realize you cannot take any nutrition information seriously if it comes from any publication or TV show that advertises either food or drugs. Well, you ask, where do you get information, then? There are lots and lots of books out there, but most of the authors have an agenda, just as the magazines do. They want to sell you on their diet.

The solution seems to be to consider this: Is it really food? I know that sounds funny, but if your great grandmother wouldn't have recognized it, it isn't food. If she wouldn't have known it as food, neither will your body. You have to realize that every bite you put into your mouth is either helping you heal, be healthy, and strong, or it is contributing to your early demise. Period. If it is food, it came from nature. It isn't cloned, sprayed, laced with chemicals, or denatured by being extruded through a machine to give it a fanciful shape to appeal to the kids. It hasn't had its nutrition removed and replaced with artificial colors, chemical flavors, or weird fats not found in the natural world. Every bite of those things you eat helps make you one of the sick, fat or sick skinny Americans you see every time you step outside the door.

So now we've eliminated practically everything in the entire supermarket. And, when you realize that even the fresh looking produce, unless it has been organically grown, has likely been doused with chemicals from its seed origins to its trip to the store, you know it's time to make a commitment to eat only foods that are actually real and that have not been poisoned. Makes sense, doesn't it, not to spray poison on something you're going to eat?

OK, so now we've got the produce covered. What about bread, milk, eggs, meat? As most of you know, I went back to school a few years ago to study nutrition in greater depth and became a nutritional therapy practitioner. I learned a lot during that intensive year of reading and study. The core of my education was based on the research of Weston A. Price, who traveled to the far corners of our round world to find people who had not begun eating what he referred to as the foods of commerce. He found healthy people in remote areas eating extremely varied diets. They didn't have any of our modern killer diseases. No heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or doctor-caused ailments. They didn't even have rotten teeth. Their teeth were perfectly aligned, not crowded, and their bone structures allowed for easy birthing of babies. These people were about as perfect specimens as you could find, and far healthier than their offspring who moved to town and started eating canned pork and beans, white bread, margarine, shortening, and lots of sugar.

While they ate widely varying diets, they all had some things in common. For one thing, they all ate fermented foods daily, foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and poi. They all ate animal protein, and all ate some of it raw. They all got lots more of the fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K than most of us do today. There were lots of other things they did in common. If you're interested in knowing about them, check out www.westonaprice.org. This is just a little background to tell you where I was coming from before I decided to come to the Oasis.

But, when I began looking for results, that is, for programs where they were actually talking about healing cancer, not just shrinking tumors, I found that they were all either vegan or near-vegan. No animal protein, no animal anything. A few of them use some milk products, such as yogurt or cottage cheese, and that's about it. But now there is compelling evidence that dairy products strongly promote the growth of cancer. Nobody is talking about whether the studies showing this use raw or pasteurized milk, but the milk protein, casein, turns the cancer button on. Remove it and other animal proteins, and you can turn the cancer button off.

The China Study by T Colin Campbell, talks a lot about how they discovered this, and the mechanisms involved, including the fact that cultures eating more than 10% of their food from animal sources have much higher rates of all the killer diseases we are so familiar with today. That includes the biggies: heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, as well as the autoimmune diseases that are so prevalent nowadays. And you can see on the charts in his book, the more animal protein they eat, the more the disease rates spike. And I had to realize that I, too, had been eating more beef, because I found a source for well raised, pastured local beef.

So I've been a bit conflicted about this 180 degree turnaround in dietary thought, but when I came here I saw right away they were getting results. People were being healed of cancer. I also found the staff to be professional, busy, slim, vibrant and healthy. When I had to go to the hospital for a little procedure I saw nurses who were nice but seemed to be a bit foggy about the details, moving slowly, and carrying a lot of extra poundage. You sure can't say that about the nurses at Oasis! They are attentive and on top of things. They know what they're doing and they do it in friendly good grace.

If a raw vegan diet heals cancer, then count me in! The food here is interesting, tasty, varied, full of lush veggies, berries and a little fruit (not much, since cancer thrives on sugar), nuts and seeds. The only sweet treats we get are to bring our blood sugar back up into a normal range following IPT, where it has been artificially lowered with insulin in order to feed poison to the hungry cancer cells. Even then, our treats are sweetened not with sugar, but with fruit. The raw brownies are a special delight everybody looks forward to. They are made from only five ingredients, and that includes the icing! They are sweetened with dates and there is a tiny bit of agave in the icing. Mmmmm, delicious! Maybe next time I write I'll give you the recipe.

But for now, it's after midnight and time to hit the sack!

Six

This will just be a quickie, with two or three things to add, just to keep in touch.

First, I meant to post something last weekend. Some of you have written asking for more information about how to stop making cancer in your body with food. I've put it off because it is such a big, and emotionally tinged subject, but I planned to tackle it last Saturday. Then I woke up not very energetic, so I spent much of the day in a recliner with a nice, easy Sue Grafton novel, nodding off from time to time.

Tuesday when I went in for IPT Michelle, one of the nurses, was rather shocked to find my blood pressure at 70/47! Yikes! I told her that was an all-time record low (previously, in fact when I was in my 20s or 30s, it once measured 80/60). She immediately suspected I had let myself become dehydrated, and immediately started me on a saline drip.

While on the drip I went off to the colon hydrotherapist, Carol, who began pumping water in from the other direction! Oops, probably more than you wanted to know.

Michelle checked with Dr. Lodi and he told her I was needing electrolytes, so she brought in a glass of salt water, from a good sea salt, with apologies. To tell the truth, it actually tasted great, reassuring me that the doc was correct - I needed the minerals!

By the time I got back on track for IPT, my blood pressure was up to 110/68 or so and my problems with not feeling energetic had evaporated. Wow! What a lesson!

Now I'm once more energetic and I won't be letting that happen again.

My second piece of news is that Dave is flying in this evening, to stay until I go home. I was so concerned that his born-and-bred-in-the-Northwest body would never adapt to Arizona heat, and knowing how he loves working outdoors every day, I thought he'd be like a caged lion stuck indoors in the clinic every day. But he's convinced he'll do ok with the situation, so here he comes!

The third thing I'm excited about is meeting Anna yesterday. Anna is her real name (well, since she grew up in China, it really is probably something else, but Anna is what she uses these days). On the clinic website, www.anoasisofhealing.com, there are video testimonials of patients. In hers, from two years ago, Anna, at 80 pounds, is a very sick young woman whose doctor in Hawaii had given her a very dire prognosis. She looked like she would just fade away into the chair. Her voice was weak and she couldn't project it because she had fluid in her lungs. To tell the truth, she looked like she wasn't long for this earth.

Toward the end of her stay she did a second testimonial, This time her strength was returning, she spoke out, and she looked wonderful, because she was healing.

Yesterday, Anna was a force to be reckoned with! She is almost 50 pounds heavier, and very proud of it! Many of us have struggled to keep from gaining too much weight over the years, or to lose and regain it over and over, but the flip side, gaining weight, for people who can't seem to, can be much more daunting. And, she has managed to gain the weight while eating a largely raw food diet of veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Anna is walking enthusiasm for all she learned at An Oasis, for her seemingly miraculous healing, for embracing her new, totally healthy lifestyle, and for telling the world her story. Her husband has joined fully in the project, and they happily spend time together, in the kitchen and out, joyously sharing the good news: you can heal cancer and share love with the world, through alternative healing means, and your newly restored life can be abundantly full of happiness, energy, enthusiasm and vigor.

I'll be doing more writing about Anna and her husband. She has agreed to let me tell her story to the world, and I'm pumped!

So now I'm off to the clinic for another round of IPT, EWOT, Sauna, and more healing. I'm headed in to kill some more cancer cells! Back to you soon!