Can having more fun fight Cancer

I know it has been a while since I have written anything, but I am not going to go into the excuses!

So today I was sent a really interesting piece of news saying that being socially active can help prevent cancer, not as ridiculous as it may seem. Some research at the Ohio State University showed that mice with an enriched living conditions and a boosts in their social life!! Shrank their tumors and with some completely disappearing altogether.

The article can be read here if you have a subscription but if not the Health Ranger does an excellent review here

I think therefore it goes to prove that it is all a balance and in recent years, we are all moving to far to one side giving cancer more opportunities to take hold.

So the answer is to live like a monk, well it may be extreme, but don’t laugh and read this article from the Times back in 2007. Compelling proof that cancer can be avoided, but in the 21st century it is near on impossible to live like a monk.

Pancreatic Cancer Prevention

After telling you all about the death of my father from liver cancer, I read this post from the food consumer website, where they picked up a recent study suggesting that high intake of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins C and E may reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The details of the study can be found in the International Journal of Cancer and more details at the Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention website entitled Vegetable and Fruit Intake and Pancreatic Cancer in Study in the San Francisco Area.

Reading the article has re inspired me, not that I needed telling diet can protect you from cancer, but the effort we put into trying to save dad may have been, a huge expectation. I certainly need to get my intake up on fresh raw fruit and vegetables, particularly as it may now seem I could be in a high risk group.

Taking this further I think it is time to buy myself a juicer and get the family into a healthier diet, we are not too bad but could do be better!

So why am I going out to buy a juicer this weekend well, the article gives you plenty of clues but this quote says it all for me

Raw food consumption was statistically significantly inversely associated with a 70% decreased risk of pancreatic cancer

So once again I will keep my eye open for any scientific research that proves a positive link between cancer and healthy eating, all goes to prove what Johanna Budwig discovered all those years ago.

Dad didn’t survive his battle with Liver Cancer

I have to admit it has taken me some time to write this or anything here, after my father lost his fight against liver cancer.

In the end it was just 3 months from diagnosis to him dying, but I know it is important to write what happened and whether I thought the Budwig Diet had an effect at all.

So I can only give you my thoughts and a gut feeling, which I am sure will not necessarily give you any real confirmation either way. What I can say is that when we knew my father had cancer I got him on the Budwig Protocol straight away, but being nearly 2000 miles away it was not easy to ensure he was following the diet strictly.  Non the less we changed his diet and cut out all the bad foods, but it was difficult because onto top of this he had no appetite for the diet or any food in fact. Looking back I know this was because of the liver cancer given him a swollen stomach and of course the ability for the liver to break down the food.

I am sure his age played a part being 76 and unfortunately his negativity, which seemed to become more pronounced the the nearer he got to the end. This could have been a result of the toxins in his body.

What was positive was he was in no pain and he was walking around right up until last day. In fact after being with him for 2 months, I returned home thinking we were winning or at least slowing the cancer down, but within a week he had died. The question of course is why did he go down hill so fast after I left him. Well the following day he went into hospital for his drain to rid the liquid that had built up in his stomach, which incidentally took 2 months to organise. The procedure should have taken just one day in hospital, which turned into a week. Whilst he was in hospital his health plummeted and of course he was not getting the care he was receiving at home. Looking back I get very frustrated that we let him go in, it seemed as though it was this that killed him.

Although I am frustrated that I could not save him from this terrible disease, which I am sure was not helped by its aggressiveness, but I do know that by having some hope and focusing on the diet it helped mum, in keeping positive and I am sure the diet took away the pain. The coffee enema which we were finally were able to persuade him to take, had a very positive effect, the result was he became more comfortable rather than getting upset by being constipated and was a huge relief to him.

At the end of the day nothing is lost by trying the diet, but as a cure it did not happen for my father. I do now wonder why I should have started this blog before I knew my father had cancer, because I was convinced the reason was that I would save my father, all I can now say is that God can only know!

Still Fighting

Since being told by the specialist that your father has just a few months to live it hs been a hard couple of weeks, but mum and I have kept being positive and have really spent each day devoted to ensuring dad gets the best possible foods allowed via the Budwig protocol.

Until about 4 days ago it felt as though we were loosing the battle, dad was just lying down sleeping all day and in pain while taking the pain relieving tablets.

The last 4 days has seen a distinct change, in fact as I write this he is  cutting the lawn, yesterday he went for a walk to the shops and has reduced the pain killers to 2 per day from 1 every 4 hrs.

I am not sure as of yet why there has been an improvement, it may be because the diet has been going just under 2 months and maybe the body is now seeing a benefit or it could be the coffee enema, which we started 4 days ago!

We are also getting into a little rhythm and getting a little better at this now, with the breakfast working better I think by changing to mango fruit and with the cream being a little more liquid making it more easily digestible.

On top of this I now make a concoction of fresh fruit and vegetables at around 11am after the enema which consists of 1 apple 1 whole broccoli, 1 yellow kiwi, 1 carrot and some times a beetroot which he hates. This is all juiced and then I add the frozen wheat grass. Not too bad a taste but crammed full of nutrients.

For lunch is a little tough as he likes his bread and cheese sandwich, here we add freshly cut lettuce or tomatoes, I have now included some fruit after this.

The evening meal is a struggle, I was doing salads but recently it have been vegetables steamed plus a potato, as this seems to be a little more filling.

One major difference is that we started having a fruit cocktail for afters, but I realised we needed to get the flaxseed oil intake up from 3 to 6 table spoons and we have achieved this by making a smoothie with the fruit and the linseed oil cottage cheese combination.

NB I have also started to include garlic whenever possible.

No Chemo for Dad

Well I didn’t expect this to be writting this as a diary of my father, but none the less the lessons I hope will help everyone!

Thursday we went to see the specialist to finally get a prognosis, which in truth we were hoping for some positive news, believing we were finally going to get his stomach liquid drained, but in the end we just had bad news.

Firstly the Doctor said that there wasnt that much water and it was just the swelling of the liver and that the cancer was also on the lymph gland near the liver.

On top of this we finally was told Chemo was not really an option now, which was to be honest frustrating to have waited over a month to get this info.

Also then to be told he has just months to live.

Mum and myself obviously were disappointed to find that the doctor was unable to do anything, but we were still positive, knowing we had a fall back with this diet.

Unfortunately, the cancer seems to be aggressive and we are not convinced that we are winning the fight at the moment and there is a realisation that we really need to get our act together.

The positive is that over the past few weeks we have been getting used to the diet , but the negative is that my father is loosing his appetite and I think a feeling of panic is setting in at present, when it comes to food preparation.

Fortunately knowing many people have been cured using the diet or at least got it under control actually gives us hope.

As I right this the negative is that dad still is in pain, but there are some positives one is there is no longer any jaundice and his swelling seems to have gone down, whether this is a good sign I have no idea.

Having read many articles on the subject II realise we must really stick as close to the diet as possible.

I am glad I have flown back to help mum with the diet, partly because I am a relatively good cook at trying to make this as tasteful as possible, which is key.

Today I actually had my first attempt at the Budwig breakfast, which seems to have gone well by including mango’s and strawberry’s, I tested it and found it very tasty indeed.

I think the hard thing about this is when you father is ill and wants a steak or a Mars bars, it is kind of depressing, but you just have to remember you are fighting for his life.

Oh and finally I apologise for the rambling and poor grammer, because I have to admit I am just saying it as it is!

Still no news!

So my parents go back to get more info from the so called liver cancer specialist last week, only to get no more answers, the blood tests have not come back as of yet and so my parents are asked to come back in two weeks, the only news is that the cancer tumour was 7cm.

In the meantime dad has to have another CT scan of which we are still waiting for an appointment, god don’t they take there time. In some ways I am glad as it give me more time to get the Budwig protocol working, before he has to have chemo.

This weekend we have been getting a little concerned as my father has been getting tired recently and for some reason his stomach has be growing, a huge concern so at this point I thought I should contact the guys on the flaxseed forum on yahoo, this is the link but I think you will need to register to read it if you haven’t the time the transcript it is below:

It sounds like he might have ascites edema.  If the liver cancer is primary, it is likely that the liver function is impaired.  The tumor size might not matter.  An impaired liver can result in a low albumen level in the blood causing fluid to leak into the abdomen.  Consider supplementing with milk thistle herb.  Also consider SAMe.  Both of these can improve liver function.  Start low and gradually increase the oil, as it requires liver produced bile for digestion.  You might use a little lecithin supplementation to help the bile.  These things should not interfere with the diet.
Mike

Hi Stephen,

Good to see you post

When you say “large stomach”, is it the stomach or the abdominal cavity in general. I.e. does the “largeness” go right up to the diaphram. I am thinking ascites here, which is not uncommon in liver cancer, particularly if the ablumin level is low. A palliative treatment for that is drainage, called paracentesis. (I have had 5 para’s this year). If thats not the case, I think a sneak peek at his diet might give you clues.

I started on the full FOCC straight away and had no side effects. It does vary from person to person, and some are forced to retreat to the transition diet. My best guess is that your dad would be feeling liver pain if the FOCC was too much – and that it is unlikely to cause the stomach problem. (It would be better if someone who retreated to the transition diet answered this.)

Best wishes
Peter

At this stage we need to find out more if it is the case, but in some ways I feel I am getting more help and support here than the doctors.

So now I have a better idea I feel more comfortable, also one positive the jaundice, which just started was temporary and seems to have gone again, so maybe we are winning some battles.

At the weekend as I had panicked, I thought I better get on the case with a few issues. It doesnt help being here in Spain while dad is in the UK, but I will be back over soon, sorry I digress.

Anyway there are a couple of areas which I know mum has not got onto so I decided to spend some money to solve them. The first is wheat grass which mum has not found, so after a little searching I came across this company Frozenwheatgrass.co.uk which produce the wheatgrass juice and freeze it instantly and then post out, luck they live in Manchester but it should arrive still frozen and is due today, if there any problems I will post here. Mind you I was impressed as they phoned Monday to check if they would be in before shipment, as it is perishable.

The next thing is the coffee enema, which has not arrived as of yet, but will be something which I will have problems persuading my dad to take I am sure, so we shall see! I will go into this a little more at a later stage, but interestingly Prince Charles has been out spoken on its benefits.

Thirdly I have bought two bottles of Biotta Breuss Juice, which I believe is handy as an alternative if you have not the time to produce the fruit juices.

Oh and I have ordered some Thistle Milk upon the recommendation of the above, having purchased it today I think I could have gone to a better site for this which is here as they seem to have a better combination, well at least I will know for next time and saves anyone else making the same mistake!

**update just as I finish this the weatgrass has arrived and it doesn’t taste that bad apparently!!**

2nd update the Coffee Enema has arrived too and apparently in the garage so will have my work cut out there.

OK that’s the latest I suppose another update in a week or after the CT scan.

Skin Cancer is it caused by the Sun?

This may sound like a rhetorical question, particularly when you see all the English Lobsters on the beach here in Spain, but in truth it is a little more complicated than this, particularly when you consider Joanna recommends the Sun as part of her protocol.

To add a more scientific argument to this I was sent an interesting article from a Doctor Lloyd Jenkins of  the Mariposas Clinic, in fact their clinic is one of very few using the Budwig protocol in Europe, as a result of Dr Lloyd Jenkins having met with Joanna.

The article really speaks for itself with the underlying question, is  it the sun that is causing cancer?

The full article is below:

CANCER AND THE SUN

A recent National Cancer Institute study reveals that the rate of deadly melanoma jumped 50% in young women yet stayed the same in young men between 1973 and 2004.

What’s behind this trend? Is it mainstream medicine’s belief that women get too much sun exposure?   Let’s see. Sales of sun care products have grown substantially in the past 30-plus years. According to a cosmetic and toiletry report, the global market for sun care products is expected to grow 6% per year to $4.8 billion by 2011.1

Yet the cases of melanoma continue to grow. Could it be that the more likely culprit is the sunscreen itself?  Sunscreens block UV rays, eliminating your body’s ability to make vitamin D. Research indicates that vitamin D is the most potent cancer fighter there is. In fact, a Nebraska University report says that vitamin D has the potential to lower the risk of all cancers in women over 50 by 77%.3

Moreover, several common sunscreen ingredients have dangerous, even cancer-causing, side effects. Yet they have never been safety tested or safety approved by the FDA. So make sure to check your sunscreen for the following ingredients…

Oxybenzone, sometimes called Benzophenone-3, is linked to allergies, hormone disruption, low birth weights, cell damage, and more. It also helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.4 The Centre for Disease Control says 97% of Americans have this chemical in their system.

Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) kills skin cells.

PABA, also known as octyl-dimethyl and padimate-O, attacks DNA and causes genetic mutation when it is exposed to sunlight.  Sunscreen is in lip balm, make-up, moisturisers and more. In one study of more than 10,000 teenagers, girls were 34.4% more likely to use sunscreen than boys were.

If you really want to protect yourself from skin cancer, go outside! All you need is about 20 minutes a day of unprotected sun exposure to get your daily dose of vitamin D.

An Anticancer Research study found that just by getting a little sunlight every day – about 20 minutes for fair-skinned people and two to four times that much for those with dark skin – could reduce the risk of 17 types of cancer.

If you plan to spend more than 20 minutes of fun in the sun, there are natural ways to protect yourself. Here are some tips.

Get enough antioxidants, one of your best lines of defense against all types of skin damage.

Vitamin D. Take 1,000 to 2,000 IEUs per day, particularly during the winter or if you live in cold, damp climates with little sunlight.

Vitamin C. Fights free radicals, reduces inflammation, and boosts immune response. Take 500 mg twice per day with food.

Vitamin E. Great for skin health. I recommend 400 IU per day. Look for vitamin E as “mixed tocopherols” on the label. They are the organic compounds most readily absorbed by your body.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid. A powerful antioxidant that protects skin cells from free radicals, guards their mitochondria (the power plant of every cell), and pumps up your cancer defence mechanisms. I recommend 200 mg to 400 mg daily.

Get enough omega-3s. Studies show that omega 6:3 ratio is important in preventing skin cancer.6  One of the significant aspects of Dr. Budwig’s work is that she has discovered, (or rather rediscovered) the affinity of the human body with the sun. If the body has the right balance of oils and proteins, it has a magnetic field which attracts the photons in sunlight and thus is open to the healing powers of the sun.  One patient commented “I tried Dr. Budwig’s methods for general health improvement, and I was amazed that within even less than the three days she predicted, I felt an incredible improvement in so many areas that it would take too much time to describe it here. I then recommended it to several members of our Ashram and those who took it seriously had similar experiences to mine. We all felt an increased feeling of general well-being, a feeling of lightness, more energy, better circulation and, when in the sun, I felt the healing power of the sun affecting my skin much differently than before. Also, every week or two, I become aware of feeling better in different ways. Old aches go away, my skin improves and I am able to do things better. One woman felt so good about it that she gave it to her children and said that right away she could see improvements in their skin tone. As she spoke, I saw that her own skin had more color and was radiant. And this was only about two days after she started taking the oil-protein combination”

Dr. Jenkins recommends to try rubbing a little mango butter or shea butter on your skin as a sun blocker without the toxic chemicals. You can also use zinc oxide, a natural mineral that provides a reflective barrier on your skin. You can find these in most health food and supplement stores. For more suggestions www.MariposasClinicSpain.com

No News is Good News!

Well I do not think that is the case in reality, my father finally had his appointment on Thursday with the so called Liver Cancer specialist, who in my opinion sounds like a typical ass from the NHS.

My parents go in hoping to get some information and in truth all they find out is that, he has cancer of the liver, which is too big to operate on and is somehow combined with the lungs.

When asked whether he can be cured the answer back is no but we can prolong his life with Chemo, at this point it makes my family happy, I suppose because they didn’t say to him go home to die.

On top of this he had some more blood tests to see if the cancer had spread elsewhere, another time delay.

When he was asked whether diet would have an effect or if he had heard of Joanna Budwig, he knew nothing and thought diets were a waste of time and an excuse to get money from people who are desperate for a cure.

It is just beyond belief to me that someone who is supposedly a specialist in Liver Cancer treatment knows nothing about, the benefits of flaxseed oil or Joanna Budwig, surely these doctors should be looking at all the latest research to help there patients, because if they did they would know the work that is going on in this field, documented scientific papers on the subject.

Obviously there is no passion from these doctors, they just want to move onto the next patient take a huge salary and go to the golf course, there doesn’t seem to be any motivation to really want to cure anyone.

Fortunately I know better and thanks be to god I heard about this diet, before my dad found out he had cancer. What is interesting and at this stage I cannot be sure is that I have had my father on the Budwig Diet for about 3 weeks before he saw the specialist and for him to say he was surprised to see my father in such a good state of health with all things considered, it made me wonder if this is because of the diet, in the coming days I am sure we shall know more.

So personally I am not convinced the news is good, all that has happened is there is a delay in the true gravertiy of the situation and a lack of speed from the NHS.

My Father has Liver Cancer

I almost find it surreal that I am even writing this, how can it be that after starting this website on the Budwig Diet, that yesterday I find out my Father has been diagnosed with liver cancer.

Devastated as I am and added to this the success rate with this type of cancer is only 10%, I just knew that I would have to put my knowledge to good use and maybe writing this blog, could be fundamental in saving my fathers life or at least extending his life expectancy.

While at the same time what I learn can benefit other sufferers of Cancer, or more specifically Liver Cancer.

What I will do is keep this blog updated on his successes and failures so that we can all learn.

So just to give you the most recent news, I thought I would outline what I have done to date.

Firstly my father is 71 he was fit until recently going to the gym on a regular basis, until the end of last year when he founded out he needed a hip replacement and from there it all seemed to go horribly wrong, as after the operation he had problems with his heart and needed to take various drugs, which now appears he was given the wrong dosage over a longer period of time than necessary, which seems to have effected his liver and therefore could be the cause of the cancer, I will give more info at a later stage.

So as soon as my father was told he has liver cancer after a ct scan, the doctors would not say any more and said he now needs to see a specialist, talk about delays as the appointment is to be made via post!

So while we wait I have told my mother all about the Budwig protocol, which I think has given them a more positive out look, but more importantly I contacted a testimonial who had liver cancer and is using Budwig, I have to sing his praises because after emailing him for help he called back the same day and run through his experiences of the budwig diet and what he did to ensure its success after being given 6 months to live I am pleased to say 2 and half years later he is still with us and refused the chemo route etc. and went with budwig, what must have been an amazing leap of faith.

So I have past this info to my parents and I have ordered the “The Oil Protein Diet by Joanna Budwig” and I have it express delivered so they should have this tomorrow morning.

I will update this post later as I am still comming to terms with what has happened and I will try to correct the grammer and go into more details over the comming days.

Omega 3 in Baked Beans!!

It goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, thank heavens for a common sense article from www.hc2d.co.uk stating that foods fortified with omega-3 are close to useless, when you consider how much you have to eat to get the same amount for just a portion of oily fish.

It is all just fancy marketing, well I suppose we have to be thankful that people are beginning to wake up and realise that diet is the biggest killer or saviour depending on which way you lean!

I for one have taken on the changes in hc2d, sometime back I wouldn’t say I am perfect but I have quadrupled my intake of water, I eat fish  two times a week, load up on plenty of fruit and vegetables and I have replaced most of my sugar intake with honey.

The hardest thing for people is to change their habits, but when you know how much of a difference it can make and from what I have read at least a 50% reduction in chances of catching various diseases including cancer, it was enough to even include broccoli for me, wonders never cease

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