The C-Word: Anti-Cancer Supplement #1

One of the supplements I always recommend to anyone I know who has cancer is polyMVA. It's both effective along with chemotherapy and radiation or on its own. I also use it as an immune system boost any time I feel anything coming on. In my case, I started taking it while I was getting chemo, along with CoQ10. I noticed that, despite being around young kids and spending lots of time in public places, I didn't catch so much as a cold. On the one day when I started to get a bit sniffly, I took an extra dose of the polyMVA (normally, I took two teaspoons in a glass of water, three or four times a day) then two hours' later, a big dose of vitamin c and the next day it was gone. I was also incredibly resilient, I was able to take pilates during chemo and start swimming laps again within two weeks of stopping.

PolyMVA is a dark liquid combination of palladium and lipoic acid (the poly) along with minerals, vitamins and amino acids (MVA). To me, it tastes - probably because of all the b-vitamins - like marmite without any salt. Bad, but not gag-worthy. Clearly, the clever name was not created by a copywriter. That said, while it hasn't been subject to an FDA review (and honestly, I am not always impressed by what they do pass), there are scores of survivors who rave about the product and share stories online and in podcasts. A man called Walter Davis actually has created a regular PolyMVA radio show in which he invites people to give testimonials.

I was lucky enough to interview Gary Matson, a retired pastor, who now runs the doctors' programs with the company. He had actually been a bereavement counselor when his 62 year-old wife was diagnosed with stage-4 brain cancer. His son was a doctor in Southern California and got them the best allopathic medical care. They'd followed every traditional protocol and, finally, were told she had two weeks to live. In the hospice, someone mentioned PolyMVA and he started giving it to his wife. Within three months, an MRI showed that all of her tumors had stopped growing. Within five months, all of her previous tumors were gone. Unfortunately, she did die of a seizure in the 6th month - but that's a longer story.

So PolyMVA was named and invented by a Long Island dentist called Merrill Garnett, DDS, who was diagnosed with stage-4 brain cancer himself in the early 90s. He had also done some graduate work in biochemistry, so he started researching a nutritional cure that could cross the brain blood barrier at the Stony Brook laboratories and others in Long Island. He eventually came up with a combination of high-level, high-powered anti-oxidants including B1, B2, B12, rhodium, palladium and alpha-lipoic acid that helped the mixture cross into the brain. The combination of ingredients is water and fat-soluble so able to penetrate the cell walls and activate the cell mitochondria, repairing the cancer cells and improving the quality of the surrounding cells.

I'm not a biochemist myself so my explanations are not as clear as some of the infographics. The end result is that the PolyMVA works by "flooding" anerobic cancer cells with oxygen, thus "electrocuting" them, while strengthening the normal cells to keep them from mutating into cancer.

According to Gary, the transformation of the cancer takes time - normally, it takes about 4 months on what is called the "loading doses." In natural medicine, this usually means a larger beginning dose that sets the healing process in motion. A loading dose can be 6 to 8 teaspoons a day which is what I was taking - or 1 tsp for every 10 to 15 pounds of body weight. While it doesn't usually have an instant effect on one's sonograms, within a week or two of this dose, almost every cancer patient has a marked increase in energy and appetite and color back in their cheeks.

In about 4 months though, most people's tumors begin stabilizing and even shrinking.

The main disadvantage is the price. It's about $180 for a large bottle - which is even more than it cost when I was taking it. In my case, that meant about $500 a month. Taking coQ10 - and I recommend epic4health as one of the best distributors of the product - increases the bioavailability of the PolyMVA but adds to the cost. Also, in order to make it most effective, it's crucial that you give up sugar and processed foods - which a lot of people find extremely difficult to do - even when faced with death as an alternative. Palladium is an expensive mineral no matter what you use it for, so the product seems unlikely to get cheaper. On the other hand, I was happy to see that Iron Man used a palladium arc to get his power (even though it was poisoning him, too). The last disadvantage is that vitamin C interferes with its delivery, so you need to wait in between doses.

The advantage is that you can call the customer service at Amarc enterprises (the manufacturer) until quite late since they are in California. My personal contact is a woman called Vivien Ariola, and they will give you friendly advice on how to take it and/or modify your diet. Most of them are cancer survivors themselves.

Today, there are a number of doctors who have experimented with or prescribe polyMVA for their patients. Amongst them, the late oncologist, Dr. Rudy Falk and oncologist James Forsythe, who has a 60% remission rate using the PolyMVA, and metabolic cardiologist, Stephen Sinatra, who recommends it simply for oxidative stress.

Personally, I found that my oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering was not particularly averse to this supplement, but on the other hand, I was such a squeaky wheel that she may have just hoped I would continue getting treatment.

In your search for alternative or complementary cancer medicines, it's good to know which ones are not scams or weird "healing secrets." These days, I seem to get an email or two a day with the headline: "what your doctors don't want you to know!" or "secret healing from the Bible" or "weird spice CURES cancer."  Basically, they don't really explain what they are - or they are simply overpriced combinations of garlic and turmeric - which you are better off buying from a reputable supplement company.

Since I get zero benefit from this, and I tested it on myself and friends, you can probably trust your intuition here. I'd recommend that everyone who has cancer - especially leukemia and/or brain cancer or, even, heart disease - add PolyMVA to their healing arsenal.

Remember, you will be healed. Keep repeating to yourself - I am healed, I am healthy, I am vibrant, I am cancer-free.

The C-Word: All Those Pills!

I was watching Family Guy (the Amazons were watching, actually) and Brian (the dog) had fallen in love with an older woman. Stewie is the brilliant baby.

The dialogue went like this:

Brian Griffin: She's 50, Stewie she's not an old woman [His phone rings and he takes it out and answers it] Hello?...Hey Rita...So, uh-what're ya doing this afternoon?
Stewie Griffin: [Imitating an elderly woman's voice] Oh I'm just sorting out my pills for the week, sweetie. 
Brian Griffin: [Still on the phone] Well you do that, and I'll be over a little later [He hangs up the phone] 
Stewie Griffin: [Condescending noise] Did I get it? Was she sorting out her pills for the week? That little plastic thing with the 7 boxes? [Excited noise] 

Me, too. Since I started seeing Integrative Oncologist Mitchell Gaynor, I have had one of those plastic pill boxes, along with an entire tray full of bottles of supplements. The supplements were put together by him and a genius pharmacist called David Restrepo and a very good Drugless Practitioner/Acupuncturist called Galina Semyonova. My friend, Mary Schook, is always searching out the latest and best forms of natural antiaging products, so she tipped me off to some better forms of vitamins. If you have any health issues at all, I suggest talking to someone who knows supplements as there is a lot one can rebalance with vitamins, minerals, oils, herbs and enzymes.

After three years of studying Chinese medicine, Holistic Nutrition and North American Herbology, everyone asks me about supplements - but they rarely take them. Or they buy a few from the drugstore and then forget to take them. Given recent news about the GNC, Target, Walgreen's and Wal-Mart, be conscious about where you get your products. I buy a lot online and others at my local Wholefoods, I know people who work in the Whole Body section and there are a few who really know their stuff.

The main obstacles to successful supplementation are as follows:

1. Knowing which brands provide the most bio-available (usable for your body) sources and forms.
2. How much to take and when to take them, for your own body.
3. Whether you take them with or without food and what time of day.
4. Which supplements work better in tandem and which you should never have together.

and

5. Waiting to feel the effects. Patience! Herbs, homeopathic medicines and vitamins work gently.

They are meant to work in conjunction with your body to address the underlying causes of your issues. In the beginning, they might give you an upset stomach or a headache, so you should have your practitioner's number on hand in case you need to have the dose adjusted for you. But generally, you should wait at least 2 weeks before you take a bigger dose and six weeks before you decide they are not working.

It's like exercise. The first day you go for a run, you will not drop an inch from your waist. Maybe even if you run every day for a week, you might feel more energized, but you still won't be much skinnier. Real change takes time. Rushing it can make you sick. Imagine if you immediately started running 5 miles a day after not doing any exercise for years, you'd probably feel pretty bad and more than likely you would injure yourself.

Here's the other argument I hear against supplementation:

"I get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food and most doctors say that's enough."

There are several reasons why that doesn't work for most people - but especially not people with cancer. The food we eat is of varying quality, depending on how it was transported, how long it hung out in the shop and then your fridge and how you cooked it. Basically, the vitamin and mineral content is dropping since it got pulled off the stalk. And we're not even talking about how much less nutritious conventionally grown food is than organic. Then, depending on what's going on with your body, you don't always ingest all the nutrients in your food. Especially, as you get older, and your body produces less enzymes and acids to break the food down, you don't get the same value.

Last, if you have cancer or another chronic illness, you know it is systemic. Illness makes your body weak, can take away your appetite and, worse, limit your ability to absorb the nutrition from your food. If you are not well, you need more vitamins and minerals than you can possibly get from eating. And if you don't eat well, or if you are getting chemo or radiation, even more reason to supplement to help your good cells stay strong during the onslaught.

Obstacle 5 is the reason I never take multivitamins. First, because the various vitamins might cancel each other out, next because there might be things in there that my body doesn't need.  Also, some substances are best absorbed by your body at night and others in the morning. It's like the shampoo-conditioner-in-one, they never seem to do especially well at either job. Admittedly a multi is better than nothing. So, if that's your starting point -

CHOP YOUR MULTIVITAMIN IN HALF!

If you do take a multivitamin, some advice. Choose one that comes in smaller capsules so that you can divide the dose, take half of the dose - or chop the pill in half - in the morning, with/after breakfast and half mid-afternoon or after lunch. The reason is that your body can use the vitamins most effectively with food - your stomach secretes hydrochloric acid to digest food which breaks down the supplement and allows absorbtion, otherwise, the supplement can go straight out to vitamin-enriched urine - and it can spread out the effects throughout the day.

DROP A TEST PILL IN A GLASS OF WATER

Also, with any supplement you buy, try to choose capsules or liquid forms rather than pills. This is because the glue they use to bind pills is often so strong, even your stomach acids can't break it apart. To test if the pill will break down once you swallow it, drop one in a glass of water and see how long it takes to disintegrate. If it takes more than an hour, the pill is probably going straight through your body undigested.

 Dr. Oz recommends these five supplements.  I'd agree, except for the calcium and magnesium and the folate and the recommended dose of vitamin D3. The amount you need of those vitamins and minerals depends on your body, sometimes you will need those, sometimes in larger amounts than others, sometimes not at all. Personally, I don't take Vitamin A or B, because my body hasn't needed it - and perhaps I get enough from dietary sources. I take more D3 in the winter when I am not exposed to enough sunlight and less in the summer when I am outside a lot.

If you have cancer, there is an oncologist called Nicholas Gonzalez who uses pancreatic enzymes to fight the growth. The idea behind this therapy is that cancer cells have a thick coating that makes them invisible to your immune system, thus your body does not always attack them and otherwise strong immune-boosting supplements, like turmeric and quercetin, can't get through. The pancreatic enzymes digest/melt away the coating on the cancer cells, allowing your body to then destroy them naturally. While most people produce pancreatic enzymes sufficiently, when you have cancer, you REALLY need them, thus supplementation can be key. I did not see Dr. Gonzalez, but I did take 15 capsules of pancreatic enzymes, three or four times daily.

CHECK WHERE THE VITAMIN/MINERAL/HERB COMES FROM

With calcium supplements, one has to be careful about the source of the calcium. Many inexpensive supplements are made from ground up seashells or limestone. These substances are full of calcium but they are not always "bio-available," meaning, your body can't use them properly. Again, off to the kidneys, where they might cause stones. Also, without sufficient amounts of magnesium, vitamin D3 and vitamin K, too much calcium can cause an imbalance in your body, effectively draining calcium from your bones into your blood stream and soft tissues where, again, they can block arteries and cause trouble.

The best way to get calcium that is both soluble (dissolves in stomach acids) and is used by your body (bioavailable) is through plants and sea vegetables and algae. I suggest you look for a supplement that includes magnesium, vitamin K, D3 and strontium. Personally, when I do take calcium, I take New Chapter Bone Health and I break up the dose (six small pills) throughout the day. I take the majority of the pills at bedtime because it makes me calmer and helps me sleep better.

Similarly, many Vitamin E and D3 supplements are made of soybean oil. Soybean oil goes rancid very quickly, which makes it toxic. While soy is a phytoestrogen and has become controversial as a food source, the main reason I don't eat it is that 98% of the soy produced in this country is GMO and I believe anyone who has had cancer should avoid GMOs.

However, I am not a doctor but current recommendations for EVERYONE who is worried about getting cancer or bone loss supplement is at least 5,000 - 10,000 iu everyday.  To figure out what that means, 15 to 20 minutes out in the sun in Cape Cod gives you about 25,000 iu. Xymogen makes a good one that includes K2, which has the added advantage of being good for your teeth.  Personally, I take 6 to 8 drops every day of Micellized Vitamin D3. Along with large doses of vitamin C, it has also been shown to reduce asthma attacks in children.  And taking regular supplements of D3 can reduce your chance of cancer by 70%!

AMEENA'S ANTI-CANCER SUPPLEMENTS PROTOCOL

A disclaimer - I am NOT a doctor. I am telling you this purely from my own experience. Everything I list here, I tested on my body while still under the care of an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. My liver, kidneys, blood pressure, eyes and skin texture all improved greatly while taking them during chemotherapy and afterwards.

I TOOK THIS:

Turmeric 300 mg, twice or three times daily - Curcumin is the active ingredient in Turmeric, so the one you take should have a high active curcumin value - read the label.

I took Meriva-SR by Thorne Encapsulations. I currently take one capsule a day of Sky Curcumin by Revgenetics which is cheaper and seems to work just as well. It also seems to have more of the root, because often, when one isolates the active ingredient in a plant or a herb, it doesn't work as well. Most natural ingredients work better in their natural form.

Turmeric is good for inflammation of any sort so it is also recommended for arthritis and I give to my kids for headaches and cramps.

Alpha Lipoic Acid Sustain, 300 mg, one daily I took Jarrow Brand. This helps reduce the irritation in your stomach.

NAC 600 mg, one daily. I took Pure Encapsulations. This increases your body's production of glutathione, which strengthen your nervous system and helps your body absorb other nutrients.

Rosemaria (rosemary oil) and Calendula, one capsules each, twice daily.  I took Completely Green, but it was quite expensive so I switched to New Chapter's Omega 7, which has a combination of Rosemary and Calendula as well as Sea buckthorn. I currently take 4 capsules a day of New Chapter's Omega 7 which seems to hydrate my skin as well as help with my memory. From a herbalist p.o.v., rosemary is antibacterial but also a nerveine, it helps calm the spirit and reduce headaches.

Rice Bran Oil Tocotrienols, one capsule, twice daily. I took Pure Encapsulations. This is a non-soy vitamin E that hydrates the skin and organs but also fights free radicals, especially in breast cells.

Wheat Embryo, one capsules, twice daily. I took Completely Green, but there are others available. This is a rich oil that hydrates your skin beautifully especially after chemo has ravaged it.

Plant-derived Calcium. I took Coxamin, one capsule, twice daily. Now I take the previously mentioned New Chapter Bone Health.

Vitamin D3, 8,000 iu. I took Micellized Vitamin D3, 1000 iu, eight drops daily in my green juice every morning.

Vitamin C, 1000 mg, three to four times daily. I used Lypospheric Vitamin C, I squeezed two envelopes in my green juice in the morning and one in the afternoon. I chose this brand because I noticed an immediate bounce in my energy levels after taking it. It's also recommended by the http://www.cancertutor.com/ website which is a not-for-profit resource for alternative/complementary cancer therapies. Whether or not you agree with Linus Pauling, vitamin c does seem to make you feel better - and if you take good quality l-ascorbic acid, you do not get an upset stomach or diarrhea when you take large quantities.

Shitake, one capsule twice daily. I used Completely Green brand again. This was the brand recommended by Mitchell Gaynor. These days, I tend to take a multi-mushroom complex. I do however eat LOTS of mushrooms - Shitake, Maitaki, Reishi, Chanterelle - but NO BUTTON MUSHROOMS, NO PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS, NO CREMINI - these basically all one kind of mushroom and so watered-down that they have little to no nutritional value (the nutritionist I went to see, Joel Fuhrman, suggested they have negative value).

Pro-Omega, 1280 mg, one capsule daily.  This is one capsule of concentrated fish oil, manufactured by Nordic Naturals.

Peak Immune, 250 mg, two capsules, twice daily. This is a combination of rice bran and shitake polysaccharides (I think) and is designed for people with compromised immune systems. I did not take it again after the first four months after stopping chemotherapy.

Krill Oil, 500 mg, one capsule twice daily. I don't know if it's redundant to take krill oil and fish oil but soon I didn't feel like I needed them both. I took the Mercola brand as I tend to find them trustworthy and conscious about their ingredients.

Immunotix 3-6, one daily. This is a beta-glucan which is especially useful for people who need more white blood cells and want to strengthen their bone marrow post-chemo. It is expensive and I only took it for three months.

Since I had neuropathy, balance and memory issues from the chemotherapy, I took several nerve formulas.

Alpha GPC, 300 mg, one capsule, twice daily. I took Jarrow brand. This is a phospholipid that crosses the brain barrier and helps learning and memory. I have to say, my short-term is still in the process of coming back.

Co-Q 10, 200 mg, once daily. I buy my co-q 10 in q-gel form from a company called epic4health. I have a friend whose father used to sell supplements and he recommended them as the best supplier of co-Q 10 and fish oil.

Enada, 5 mg, one capsule twice daily. This is meant to improve mental clarity and energy. I took this for three months and then stopped as I wasn't sure what effect it had. Post-chemo, I had trouble with word retrieval, reading comprehension (big handicap for a copywriter) and short-term memory which gave me terrible anxiety.

Rhodiola 60, one capsule daily. I took Thorne Encapsulations brand.  Rhodiola is an excellent anti-stress herb. I'd recommend it any time one is feeling overwhelmed or anxious and not getting enough rest. It helped a lot with the post-chemo hot flashes which were brought on by anxiety - and my constant confusion and memory issues. I found it very hard to understand the meaning of street signs or notices.

Triple-Bee Complex, one capsule twice daily.  This is a combination of bee pollen, royal jelly and propolis which are said to nourish the body and brain and activate killer cells. According to Mitchell Gaynor's Cancer Prevention Program book, out of print now, but a brilliant and useful text, bee pollen may delay or avert breast cancer. It's also great for seasonal allergies.

Bacopa, one capsule, three times daily. This is an ayurvedic brain herb. Apparently, it is very useful to take for people who have alzheimer's and/or parkinson's. I did take it for some time but stopped as it no longer seemed useful. It is an adaptogen, meaning it will naturally adapt itself to your needs so one could take it in the long term.

Pancreatic Enzymes, 15 capsules three times a day. I took the Allergy Research brand because they manufacture the capsules for Gonzalez.

Probiotics, three times daily. At first, I took 1/3 of a sachet of VSL3, the idea was to restore my digestive tract post-chemotherapy. Later, I wanted a larger selection of bacteria (for immune issues), so I started taking Mercola's Probiotic which does not need to be refrigerated and is enteric-coated so it survives the trip through your intestines to your stomach.

PolyMVA, 2 tbsps, four times a day. This incredible weird supplement is especially good for the immune system, leukemia and pancreatic cancer, as well as reducing the incidence of bone metastasis post-chemotherapy. Leukemia was the main side-effect of my chemo-drugs so I thought it wise.
I noticed an immediate difference in my energy levels and sense of well being taking this. I have to say I have only caught one cold in the past four years, even during the worst of my immune system damage post-chemotherapy and I am around lots of schoolchildren who cough, sneeze, share my food  and drinks and wipe their noses on my towels. It's expensive but I recommend it to everyone who has cancer or even bad respiratory infections (at smaller doses).

Exhilarin, one pill twice daily. This is an ayurvedic combination of herbs, including ashwaganda, holy basil, amla and bacopa, which is very good for calm and focus, especially during menopause.

Resveratrol, 200 mg, 1 daily. I actually took Shaklee's Vivix which seemed to make an amazing difference in my skin quality, too. Today, I take two capsules a day of Revgenetics Nitro 250.

Melatonin, 5 mg, two at bedtime. Personally, I found I built up too much of a tolerance to melatonin. I started needing 20 to 25 mg to fall asleep so I stopped and switched to a tea of chamomile, passionflower, valerian, skullcap and hops.

Every afternoon, I drank one smoothie made of

Stem Cell Strong, one scoop. This is a combination of mushrooms and fruits.
Slim blend, one scoop.  
One-half an avocado
One or two stalks of kale, deveined
Half a cup of vanilla hemp milk
A handful of fresh or frozen berries
Half a cup of frozen acai
Coconut water to make it more liquidy

Every morning, I drank a cup of hot water and lemon and then 16-24 oz of "green juice."

I used three or four stalks of kale (deveined)
4 big leaves of romaine or swiss chard
1/4 to 1/2 green apple
1 half cucumber
3-4 stalks of celery
1 lemon
1 small bunch of parsley and/or coriander
1/4-1/2 inch of ginger root

Sometimes, I replaced the apple with carrot but it makes the juice browner.

Juicing is crucial when you have cancer because it floods your body with vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are immediately available to your body. The proponents of juicing include Norman Walker, Max Gerson, Fred Bisci, Alex Junger and a whole series of raw juice purveyors. The best method for juicing is using a cold-press - at home, one can buy a Norwalk Juicer if one has a big kitchen - because it extracts the most nutrients with the least damage to the enzymes. Personally, I use the Omega HRT slow juicer. If I don't have time, I buy my juice, but I make sure it is fresh, not hpp-processed and bottled for a month as that kills a lot of enzymes.

The combination of raw food, juicing, enzymes and colonics have been extremely successful at resolving all kinds of chronic and systemic illnesses at places like Hippocrates in Florida. If I had a little time and money, it would be worth it to go there and reset your body post-chemo or radiation or in the early stages of cancer.

I should add that I had acupuncture and a massage three times a week for two months while on this program. I did not eat wheat, sugar, dairy or other animal products - except maybe at a birthday party, a few bites here and there. I drank three liters of purified water daily. Every two weeks, I went to an energy healer like Penney Leyshon.

I exercised almost every day, swimming laps and/or pilates or yoga.

In the past four years, since the cancer and the tumor disappeared and the scars healed themselves, I have slacked off in terms of supplements - and I have to admit, I don't look nearly as good!

I do currently take essiac tea every morning as a prophylactic and have been for the past three months, with no adverse effects.

The above regimen cost me more than $1500 a month, and that doesn't even include the doctors and there was only so long I could afford it.

But this is is what worked for me.

Remember, this is an arsenal. It is a group effort. Diet, acupuncture, supplements, exercise, energy work, prayer or meditation, therapy, getting A LOT of rest.

It's not enough to do one or two things because cancer is a big disease. And it's here to teach you something. So do everything you can to learn the lesson and move on.

The C-Word: Essiac Tea

In the past few years, people often call or email me to talk a friend or family member who has just discovered he/she has cancer of one kind or another.

I tell them my story and give them tips about what they can do to heal naturally, as well as what they might do in conjunction with chemo.

Burdock root has anti-tumor properties

I've been impressed that people who take the information and run with it, have incredible results. Cancer recedes, diabetes disappears, aggressive tumors turn benign. Even if it is a few years' since their cancer was treated, changing their diets, breathing, exercising and taking supplements has changed their lives. They are energetic and vibrant, their skin glows, they are optimistic and active.

Usually, almost everyone I talk to gets really excited about the options available to them. There are so many ways to heal cancer these days - and heal it in a way that overhauls your life for the better - that people come away feeling relieved and positive about the challenge.

Unfortunately, three-quarters of the people I advise, then go to the hospital and get frightened.

Their doctors say things like, "Well, if you take these supplements, we can't help you.."

Or, as they said to a friend, "If you want to risk your life like that, go ahead, because we can't guarantee the results of alternative treatment."

So remember: Healing cancer, even more than almost any other disease, IS possible - but it's uncertain, no matter which method. All of our bodies are different and react differently. All of our minds and souls have different lessons to learn. Whether you choose the traditional route or the naturopathic one or a combination, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE. Just because the doctor/healer says they have success with one method or another, doesn't mean it will work on you.

For instance, if you have a virus and a doctor mistakenly prescribes you antibiotics and you get even sicker and end up in the hospital, you don't get anything back from the doctor.

There is no money-back guarantee on healing.

And worse, there is no health-back guarantee. This is even scarier when you are dealing with your kids.

So here's the other thing, YOU live in your body. You know it better than anyone else and you have for years. See what you feel comfortable with. Try one thing and see if it makes you feel better. There is nothing wrong with testing the experiences and listening to your body.

If it's your kid - remember, this child lived IN your body - you were there from his/her earliest moments. No one knows your child better than you do.

My recommendation - cancer is systemic - so never stick to any single therapy. You need to heal, mind, body and soul. If it makes you feel better to follow an oncologist's orders, do that. But also try the dietary changes and supplements. Try hypnotherapy, try polarity, try Brennan healing. Try acupuncture, infrared heat and vitamin therapy. Try intravenous glutathione, meditation, and Chinese medicine.

See what makes you feel like you are healing.

Recently, I discovered Essaic tea. 

It's a brewed herbal mixture that was created by a Native American tribe called the Ojibwa that uses local plant roots, bark and leaves to kill cancer and also normalize diabetes and HIV.  It started being used in mainstream healing by a nurse called Rene Caisse in Canada. She had such success with using it to heal the bottom-the-barrel cancer cases that it exploded.

Since I've been studying herbal medicine and Chinese medicine, I cross-referenced the four main ingredients with my textbooks and what I've learned. I also put in hours with my biology textbooks and reading testimonials and research online.

I should add that it has a tumultuous history with the mainstream - and even slightly alternative - medical establishment. Andrew Weil, for instance, says you should avoid it. But he also says that the formula was never passed on correctly by Rene Caisse. Apparently, Caisse refused to divulge her ingredients to the drug companies because she believed the product should be cheap and free and readily available. She did give it to Memorial Sloan Kettering, and interestingly, there are studies on their websites regarding certain ingredients, but from what I've read, she got angry at the way they handled it (they froze the herbs, making them much weaker) and took it all back.

That said, there are so many testimonials most people have bought a jar of vitamins on Amazon with fewer good reviews. And you can buy it on Amazon as capsules, pre-made liquid and dried herbs. It is also sold under the name Flor-Essence with the addition of kelp (good for the thyroid), red clover (builds iron and strength), watercress (purifies the blood, tones the kidneys and reduces inflammation) and blessed thistle (strengthens and tones the liver).

I suggest making it yourself as the pre-made versions are more expensive and, since they are not as fresh, they might not be as effective.

The ingredients are as follows:

Burdock root - which has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to address a multitude of illnesses, amongst them, diabetes, gout, wrinkles (aging skin), measles and hypoglycemia. It has anti-tumor effects and is used in India and Russia in cancer treatments. It's also been used to cure fibroids. Burdock root is the main ingredient in Essaic tea. It's a pretty common weed that grows along roadsides in the U.S. and Canada.




Slippery Elm (inner bark) - you might recognize this name from natural sore throat and cough remedies. It coats the throat, esophagus and even bowels when ingested, which makes it great for mitigating the effects of chemo and/or radiation on your mucus membranes. When applied topically, it calms and soothes irritation on the skin as well. While, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering, it doesn't have anti-tumor effects, it does have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities. Its mucillagenous (slippery, right?) qualities make it especially good for coating the stomach in IBS. People even eat it as a highly-digestible food. The trees grow in the Northern U.S. and Canada.



Sheep Sorrell - this grows wild all over North America, in fields and meadows. It's an astringent and a diuretic with a tangy, lemony taste. Traditionally, it's been used to treat fevers, scurvy and diarrhea, but it's also nice as a salad green. In Essaic tea, it's an anti-tumor agent, as well as an anti-bacterial. Kids like to chew on it, calling it sour grass. It should be taken in small quantities - and it's proportions are quite small in the essaic mixture.

Turkey or Indian Rhubarb - this plant has been used in herbal remedies for over 2,000 years.
It has both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. In Essaic tea, it's used for its anthroquinones, emodin and rhein, which have tumor killing capacities. Anthroquinones are also good for strengthening the lungs, especially after chemotherapy or radiation. Finally, it's said that the tea can be used for controlling menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.

It seems incredible. If you have any health issues that affect the pancreas or liver, from diabetes to hepatitus to HIV or cancer, you should try this tea. Some people, like Flor-Essence, add additional herbs but these are the four main ones.

(The tedious part is making the tea. This isn't the kind where you buy a teabag and put it in a cup with hot water. It is actually a herbal extract or tincture, so it is boiled for quite a long time. Then strained and reduced again. Then you have to sterilize and fill a bottle with the thick, dark substance and keep it in the fridge. The advantage is that it lasts for several weeks that way and you only take a tiny amount in the morning and the evening, ideally on an empty stomach.)

Think about it this way, if you have a horrible sinus infection and you go to the doctor for antibiotics, you are probably still going to drink chicken soup, take a ton of vitamin c and maybe a hot toddy and/or watch some funny movies on netflix.

The doctor will tell you that all these other things won't make any difference. But, if you really want to get well fast, you'll decide that you want to put in the extra effort.

Along with meditating and speaking gently to your body and your cancer, it's worth it to use every piece of soul and body strengthening weapons reinforcements in your arsenal.

Just know that if you want to be well, listen to your body. Love it. Put in the time to treat yourself with love and respect. Who knows what miracles you could make happen?

thank you to thich nhat hanh for reminding us

The C-Word: How to Cure Your Cancer in 30 Days

this is the title of a book by ty bollinger. actually, it's "the 31-day cancer cure."

despite the confidence of the title and the fact that they sell it hard online and that ty bollinger is a committed christian and uses those metaphors in his work, it actually has some very useful advice.

the question remains - can you cure your cancer in a month?

i would say, yes. with some qualifiers:

1. it depends on how far your cancer has advanced.
2. it depends on how much chemo and/or radiation you've had already.
3. it depends on how much you are willing to commit to resolving it.

people who have cancer call me about once a week with questions about what i did and how i did it.
so i add with my own qualifiers - 1. i had a cancer that has a very high "cure" rate. 2. i did do fourteen weeks of traditional chemotherapy (though my experience made me believe that if my cancer were to return, i would never step into an oncology ward again). 3. the symptoms - very heavy bleeding - made it easy to discover i had cancer, however, i had an extremely aggressive and fast-moving cancer and i (like lots of busy mothers) ignored the hemorrhaging for six months.

i also swam laps - 3/4 of a mile - daily, until the last month, and did pilates every other day so it IS possible to be sick and not really realize it.

personally, i recommend the book - not as the be-all and end-all - but because it addresses the physical parts of healing cancer very well.

bollinger begins with the idea of the "de-tox" - i recommend this to EVERYONE who has cancer or any kind of degenerative illness - and then, re-building your strength.

1. eliminate sugars (and anything that turns into simple sugar) from your diet. that includes wheat, white rice, potatoes, most fruit, corn - i'm sure you know the drill. you might need to do this just until you are in remission, but i recommend one do it forever - with slight exception of fruit. you can start havng organic fruit once the cancer is resolved.

2. eliminate animal products - many sources say that a cancer diet should be low-protein AND low-carbohydrate, especially during chemo. i refer to william li's ted talk, can we eat to starve cancer? so bump up cruciferous vegetables. now almost everyone knows that broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage and daikon (japanese radish) are the enemy of cancer cells. i like to tell people the story of how i stopped eating sugar, wheat, dairy and animal products the day i was diagnosed (my brilliant brother had found the "cancer diet" online and printed it out and taped it to my fridge). in those two weeks, the size of my tumor shrank by half. this is before any chemotherapy or treatment of any kind.

i had ultrasounds in four different medical facilities before i came to memorial sloan kettering. my tumor was 4 cm and appeared to be expanding rapidly into the uterine wall.

when i got my first ultrasound at msk, my tumor was 2 cm.

my msk doctors said the rapid shrinking was the result of different kinds of ultrasound machines in the different hospitals. however, the other four places all had the same result. i find many cancer doctors feel like they have to cover their tracks.

3. eliminate ALL processed foods. if you have done the first two, you are probably forced to do this anyway. no artificial colors, sweetners, nothing that comes wrapped in cellophane, no MSG, nothing from a fastfood restaurant (where it is probably chemically-treated), no preservatives. if you can prepare your (organic) food at home - eat it fresh and quickly - you will always be better off.

4. ty bollinger - and many german doctors - suggest you address your teeth. first, like many naturopathic doctors, they suggest you get all your mercury fillings very carefully removed and replaced. mercury leaches out from the fillings and damages your immune system. people who do this report having headaches and colds disappear. next, there are a lot of illnesses lurking in the bacteria between your teeth and there is a theory that root canals - where a cavity exists inside your gum that is closed up and allows bacteria to hide and reproduce - can be the cause of everything from heart attacks to cancer. if you go to a holistic dentist, they can address the root canals as well as the mercury fillings using the proper materials so you are not exposed to the mercury. the idea is the stronger your immune system will be in order to fight the cancer. at the time, i did not have the finances to do this - and i still haven't but i have heard that it is a very important step.

5. the longer you've had cancer, the deeper its gone, and the longer you've had chemotherapy and/or radiation, the longer your healing process will be. simply put - and even doctors admit (like mine at memorial sloan kettering) - chemotherapy and radiation damage your "good" cells, your fast-growing cells (thus your hair falls out) and your immune system. most forms of natural healing work by activating your own immune system in order to fight the cancer. while you've been treating your cancer, you've been suppressing your body's own immune system.

if your cancer is quite deeply entrenched, or you have had a lot of allopathic treatment, i suggest you learn to be very patient with your body. if you've ever been pregnant, you remember that the day after your baby is born, you are horrified to see that you still look pregnant. my midwife used to say, ten months' up and ten months down. (it's sort of the same way you recover from a bad relationship).

ty bollinger suggests you start with a parasite cleanse. this takes about a week and can be done simultaneously with the liver and colon cleanse.

in my classes in naturopathy and chinese medicine, i've learned that almost all of us have parasites (some beneficial) - if you have ever eaten sushi, raw fruits and/or vegetables and/or almost anything prepared in a restaurant - you probably have some malicious ones too. it doesn't take a trip to somewhere exotic to have parasites and they are often not obvious.

the reason to kill the nasty parasites is to optimize your body's ability to utilize nutrients. it's not that hard as there are a number of kitchen plants and herbs that kill parasites, amongst the, ginger and garlic and oregano oil.

6. after the parasite cleanse, the liver and colon cleanse to help strengthen your immune system and to clear out the toxins that are building up from the chemo and/or radiation.

again, i would recommend that everyone do a liver and colon cleanse, at least once a year. but if you are feeling very weak, these might be hard to do. this is hulda clark's version.

for a gentler liver cleanse, my teacher of herbalism, peeka trinkle, suggests this. for 48 hours, avoid ALL fats, sugars (including fruit, potatoes and alcohol), grains (wheat, rice, oats, barley, quinoa), caffeine and animal products (no meat or dairy), no medicine (not even aspirin or tylenol, which settles in the liver) - with NO CHEATING, not even a teensy bit. lots of well-meaning people say, "just a little bit won't hurt..." in this case, it will - don't do it.

drink at least three liters of water a day and as many fresh vegetables as you can eat. if you can handle it, drink a spoonful of organic apple cider vinegar in water every few hours.

this has been known to get homeless alcoholics to get over the alcohol sickness and dry up for a little while.

after a liver cleanse, you'll notice immediately that your skin is brighter, the whites of your eyes clearer and the bags under your eyes depuff or disappear entirely.

7. continue to eat a ketogenic diet.

8. since ty is a christian, he suggests you go to church. i suggest you increase your level of prayer and/or meditation, wherever you do it - church, mosque, synagogue, temple, forest or beach - to help you manage stress, tension and anxiety.

9. add anti-tumor supplements and foods to your diet - including large amounts of turmeric, quercetin, vitamin c (pure l-ascorbic acid), vitamin d3, bitter almonds, cesium chloride, potassium, essaic tea, co-Q 10 and polymva. (please note, i am not suggesting you rush out and fill your shopping cart. work with a good naturopath or natural pharmacist to get your dosage and brands. i recommend speaking to david restrepo at vitahealth in nyc, they deliver all over the country).

10. take probiotics in the morning and pancreatic enzymes with every meal.

11. make sure you get a lot of sleep, at least eight hours a day - if possible ten.

12. drink only purified water - chlorine and fluoride are carcinogens - you need to avoid them at all costs.

13. if you are strong enough to exercise, do it. walk, yoga, pilates, swim (in non-chlorinated water), bicycle, run or lift weights if you can. it doesn't have to be intense, but it reduces your chance of cancer by 50% and increases your chance of recovery.

in reference to my own exploration of alternative and complementary medicine, someone asked me how i figured out which things to do. how did i know which were scams? "how did you decide?"

i said, "i just did everything non-invasive that anyone suggested."

that's not completely true.

everything that i read or heard about or that was suggested to me, i investigated online and with friends to see if there was real back-up. i also checked if it had more than one source that recommended it. i cross-referenced with the crucial database www.cancertutor.com

how to cure your cancer in 31 days is somewhat similar in that its program addresses the physical cancer from every angle.

like bollinger, i agree, there is NO SINGLE CURE. it's not just acupuncture, hypnosis, getting enough vitamin d3 or juicing or even switching to a total raw diet if you don't address all the cleaning and strengthening - and even more so, if you don't address your mental and spiritual state.
anxiety, self-doubt and tension will take you down, my friend.

in the end, if you are strong and committed enough to actually follow all the recommendations in ty's book. i believe you WILL cure your physical cancer in a month or less.

however, the cancer could come back if you ignore your mind and your programming. personally, i'd recommend working with a good hypnotist and/or an energy healer to help calm your subconscious and improve your self-talk.

be well. you can do it. it just takes work and a real commitment.