Monday, November 15, 2010

Knowledge is Power Part II...

I realized one very important thing that I forgot to mention in my previous post...Dr. Warburg's research "hypothesized that cancer, malignant growth, and tumor growth are caused by the fact that tumor cells mainly generate energy by non-oxidative breakdown of glucose (a process called glycolysis). This is in contrast to "healthy" cells which mainly generate energy from oxidative breakdown of pyruvate. Pyruvate is an end-product of glycolysis, and is oxidized within the mitochondria. Hence and according to Warburg, cancer should be interpreted as a mitochondrial dysfunction." I think Dr. Warburg summed it up perfectly in a lecture by saying, "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." The first part of this was a bit technical, but that is why I added the quote from Dr. Warburg that summed up the technicalities in layman's terms. Basically, the cancer cells feed off of sugar, because your body has no oxygen in your cells, the unhealthy cells continue to multiply by feeding off of each other and the "sugar" state that your body has created.

Since I am in a "cancerous/diseased" state, to me this all seemed to be too simplistic...in the fact that...if you just give your body more oxygen, then it would eradicate the disease it has because you are putting oxygen into an environment where none exists. Well it isn't quite that simple...oxygen cannot cure disease UNLESS it's delivered to the Cells and Tissues of the body. So we can't just breathe through our lungs to get oxygen (because then what would be the point of eating, if we could nourish our body with just breathing? LOL.) Right now I am trying other methods of helping to help supply my body with oxygen. Some examples of this include drinking water with a product called "cell food (http://www.luminahealth.com, drinking water with lots of Barley Grass powder, and soaking my feet in diluted 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide.

Other things that I am doing include: taking Omega-3 Fish Oil (gel caps), Vitamin E (gel caps), and a liquid vitamin called LiquiVive (http://www.lifenatural.com/liquidvitamins.htm. On a side note, your body tends to absorb anything liquid better than it does caplets. For example, taking a liquid vitamin as opposed to a caplet form. On several websites, I have read your body tends only to absorb between 10-30% of vitamins in a caplet form as opposed to about 90-95% in a liquid form. Many times the caplet form doesn't absorb as well because of what is used to bond the vitamins together...so if you are going to take a caplet form of a vitamin then make sure that it is an organic/natural pill, those tend to breakdown and dissolve in your body more easily than others (e.g. like Centrum). As for the fish oil, yes it is better to take the liquid form, but if you are going to take any form of it...make sure that it is a very purified form (which is probably the more expensive of the brands). "The easiest way to tell whether your fish oil is reasonably free from contaminants is through smell and taste. A very fish taste or smell of fish oil is highly indicative of oil that is not sufficiently refined" [Dr. Barry Sears, author of "The Zone Diet" and "Toxic Fat"]. Look for oils with five-star ratings, indicating that they are pure and potent. I have found fish oils both at Whole Foods, health food stores, and on-line.

I do want to mention that I am taking more of the recommended dosages on some of the above mentioned products. Most of these products are intended for people who are in a semi-healthy to healthy state of being, and just want to maintain or improve their healthy state. As for my case, since I am in a state that the doctor's call "cancerous," then I am taking more than the recommended dosages on some of the products.

As for the hydrogen peroxide soaks...these soaks are actually recommended for many different types of illnesses, such as people who suffer from fibromyalgia, gout, edema, and many others. The idea behind hydrogen peroxide/oxidative therapies (e.g. through the skin, orally, or intravenously) is "based on the belief that you have toxins in your body that are typically burnt up in the process of oxidation (oxygen). Oxidation breaks down toxins into carbon dioxide and water. However, if the body is weak or deficient (whether through the lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking, improper breathing, or environmental pollution) our bodies cannot eliminate the toxins adequately and a toxic reaction can occur. Therefore, by introducing oxidative therapies, it introduces active forms of oxygen. Once in the body, the hydrogen peroxide/ozone breaks down into various oxygen sub-species which contact anaerobic viruses and microbes (i.e. the viruses that can live without oxygen) as well as diseased or deficient tissue cells." Basically once this process takes place, your body becomes saturated with these forms of oxygen and the toxicity is oxidized and eliminated from your body. If you want more information on this subject let me know and I will be happy to tell you what I know about it. Again, this is just me giving information that I have.

Since we are on the subject of toxins...I wanted to reinterate why it is so important to have a pH balanced diet. If you don't have a balance diet, your body can go into a state of what doctors call "inflammation." Dr. Andrew Weil (a nutrition and health expert) says, "We all know inflammation on the surface of the body as local redness, heat, swelling and pain. It is the cornerstone of the body's healing response, bringing more nourishment and more immune activity to a site of injury or infection." But there are other types of inflammation, one is called silent inflammation. Silent Inflammation is described by Dr. Barry Sears, as "the most dangerous type of inflammation because you do nothing about it as it continues to attack your organs for years until enough accumulated damage occurs to produce a visible chronic disease." This type of inflammation begins slowly and over a long period of time. At first there is no pain associated with it until it becomes into a chronic disease (e.g. heart attack, cancer, etc). Dr. Sears book, "Toxic Fat," describes how we need to have a balance of pro and anti-inflammatory responses. If we one or the other out of balance, then our body is under constant inflammatory attack, but at a low level of intensity. This is how a "pro-inflammatory diet" causes what he calls Toxic Fat Syndrome. The end result of it, is that your body develops chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and even Alzheimer's. But if you follow an anti-inflammatory (e.g. pH-balanced diet) you can avoid chronic diseases.

One thing that Dr. Sears points out in his book is that "many of the diseases (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc) that the 'Western civilization' has are probably due to our dietary changes that have occurred in the past twenty-five years." I am sure that you have noticed that there are so many people that have cancer now than there used to be twenty-five years ago. Many of you know of at least one or more people that have cancer. I don't think that it is a coincidence, but I am fairly sure that a lot of it does have to do with our diet.

I will admit, I am guilty of having had a poor diet. I wasn't much for vegetables (not that I am the biggest fan now), but I did like fruit, but didn't seem to eat much of that this past year. I did eat a lot of junk food and things that weren't healthy for me...and the interesting part of all of that...is that one day, I actually thought to myself...well this can't be that bad for me because I am not really gaining weight! Little did I know, there was this thing called silent inflammation. I will be honest and say that I have never been tested for this "Toxic Fat Syndrome" which is linked to silent inflammation, but I truly wouldn't doubt if I had it. He gives a list of questions in his book and says if you answer three or more of them...it is quite likely that you probably have high levels of silent inflammation which can lead to the syndrome.I was able to say "yes" to four of the questions. :( Saying all of that, brings me back to my point of writing all of this...his book mentions that you don't have to be fat to have this "toxic fat syndrome." Which surprised me, since my thinking was, "well I am not gaining weight...so this can't be that bad for me."

All of that said, it is so important to keep a well balance diet if you want to fight off chronic disease. There are several websites and resources out there that give you hints and tips to an "anti-inflammatory diet."

Two months ago, today, God impressed upon me to begin a fast for forty days. I decided to start with the Daniel fast that Aaron and I did a few years ago. I prayed and sought God about the purpose and reason for the fast. I told him that I was expecting great things on His part and asked for His grace to be able to finish well. Those forty days have since passed and I know that I only finished well because of His supernatural grace. During that time, I did a lot of researching on my own and God brought resources to me as well to make more informed decisions about my eating habits. I actually changed my fast to a more restricted one, based on the information that I researched and was given. I have since introduced a couple of other foods into my diet, but I feel that God continues to impress upon me that I must continue so that I make this type of eating a life-long habit. Not just one for a momentary passing. I know that my eating habits will be a life-long process and that in the moments that I just want to give into eating unhealthy foods all the time because that is what is quick and easy...God's strength in me will prevail, because I am weak in those moments.

On November 30, 2010...I will have my next follow-up appointment and I will boldly say, I am expecting to hear the doctor say, "...there is no hint of disease or trace of cancer!"

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