The C-Word: Bouncing, Body-Brushing and Your Lymphatic System

If you have cancer - or almost any chronic illness - you owe it to yourself to try body-brushing. It's a cheap, simple way to make your skin and lymph nodes more effective at eliminating toxins and producing vitamin d3. Your skin is your body's largest organ and, when working properly, eliminates 25% of the toxins in your body every day. In natural medicine, your skin is called your "second kidney" for its importance in clearing fluids and wastes from your body.

If you are simply a healthy person, it also strengthens your immune system, increases circulation, reduces cellulite, gets rid of ingrown hairs and blocked pores and exfoliates for the softest, smoothest skin you ever felt. The other benefit is that many people find the process meditative, restorative and energizing, all in one.

dry brushing or body brushing can smooth away orange peel skin and help heal cancer

Think of it this way, any dead or dry skin cells on the surface of the skin block the healthy ones from light and oxygen so it's harder for your skin to produce the vitamin d it needs to keep you healthy. Also, by stimulating the skin, you stimulate the lymph system which is a highly-sensitive series of tiny tubes that lie just beneath the surface, transporting waste from your tissues to your blood for elimination. When your lymph system is inflamed or blocked, you are more likely to develop disease.

So here's how you start - you go to your local health food store or bath and body place or online amazon or thrive market - and a buy a natural fiber body brush. Mine tend to cost between $6 and $12 and last about a year. It is should be firm and a bit scratchy-feeling, though NOT TOO STIFF because the idea is not to rub yourself raw. For your first body brush, I'd suggest one that is slightly softer so you ease into it. This is the one I started with.

In the morning, before your shower, you strip down and start brushing at your feet. Remember this is DRY brushing. You do it before you are wet. Don't use any oils or products on your skin, it's just you and the brush. The idea is to always brush towards your heart, from bottom to top. Brush each foot, top and bottom, from the toe to the top of the foot and up your leg to your thigh. Stop there and brush the other leg.

Drybrushing for the lymphatic system

A simple map for drybrushing

You then brush the abdomen, personally, I follow the direction of the colon to also help with my digestion. If you do a search online, you'll see amazing before and after pictures of loose or puffy tummy skin being tightened up with regular brushing. Brush briskly so that your skin feels stimulated but not irritated. You can get a long-handled brush for your back.

Some people suggest brushing in small circles around your joints to loosen the fascia and release tension and toxins there.

If you have bad acne, I've read suggestions of a soft brush for the face - and seen incredible before and after images, but I have never tried it. You would need to wash your brush with soap and water regularly to avoid spreading bacteria.

Take a shower after the brushing and massage your skin with sweet almond oil as that helps soothe and heal the skin. Then apply any body lotion or product you like (but try to stay away from the junk, no matter how good it smells). You've just strengthened the moisture barrier on your skin so you're pretty protected now.

So what about the bounce?

If you are getting chemotherapy or radiation - your skin may be too sensitive for much brushing. I know mine felt thin and irritated all the time. Chinese medicine practitioners suggest using a rebounder - or a simple mini-trampoline - to keep the lymphatic drainage going.

daily rebounding can also be useful for cancer patients

This is equally easy and simple. You get on it once or twice a day and bounce gently for 10 minutes, more if you feel like it. You don't need to get really vigorous, it's not gymnastics. If your balance is off or you feel shaky, you can put the rebounder next to the sofa or a heavy piece of furniture to hold on to, or buy one with a handle. Shift your weight from one leg to the other and you will also help increase your bone density and improve your balance.

The motion of your body also helps stimulate the lymphatic system. I've read account of people with lymphoma who incorporate rebounding along with juicing and avoiding sugar animal products who have lumps and tumors resolve themselves with no other intervention. It's worth a try.

If you want to get fancy, try a powerplate. Just standing on one of these vibrating platforms for 2 to 4 minutes, twice a day, not only stimulates the lymph, it strengthens your muscles and increases your bone density which is very useful when aging, chemotherapy or radiation can make your bones porous.

Cancer especially seems to affect the lymph system - whether it's lymphoma, breast cancer or thyroid cancer - so any or all of these are worth adding to your healing or protective arsenal.

The C-Word: What's Left To Eat?

At this point, you've read all the things I gave up - wheat, dairy, processed foods, any kinds of preservatives, sugar - especially refined sugar, animal products (except for very rarely, a little bit of organic, grass-fed meat or chicken or wild fish). Sometimes, when the weather was warm, I even ate totally raw - and gave up the rest of the grains, too. You might be despairing - WHAT do you eat?

Chokeules helps me out with this.
 
As it turns out, I did not have to become a breatharian. This gentle, detox diet would probably do wonders for almost anyone. It's very good for soothing the body, as well as giving it the support it needs to heal itself. If you are trying to kickstart a weightloss program, lower your blood pressure or cholesterol or simply soothe your body during a stressful time.

A lot of people follow the ketogenic diet very successfully to "starve" their cancer out but I didn't do that. Instead, I tried to make my diet at least 80% vegetables. These days, if you live in a major metropolitan area, you'll find many of the ingredients and even pre-prepared food in health food stores, supermarkets and amazon.com. Any time, I mention vegetables here, I mean organic and non-GMO - you must read labels carefully. If you absolutely can't find organic, wash and peel the vegetables before you use them. But personally, I think anyone with cancer should not eat ANY pesticides or GMO products, so it may be better to bite the bullet and try to find organic or at least, locally-grown from small farms.

I put my diet together by reading cancer diets online and by consulting with nutritionist Joel Fuhrman so some of my recipes are modified from his book which is totally worth reading when you are feeling strong.

Any time I use salt, I use himalayan pink salt, but you can also use sea salt. Commercial table salt is bleached and refined and, according to Max Gerson, the doctor who created Gerson therapy for disease, it causes an imbalance in the body.

On a different note, if you have radiation therapy, I suggest you bathe in sea salt and baking soda, half-a-cup of each, soaking in the tub for 20 to 30 minutes afterwards to recover. If you are getting chemotherapy, I'd suggest taking a little glutamine along with your other supplements to help re-heal your stomach lining.

A few suggestions, try to make everything as fresh as possible, don't eat leftovers too often and never microwave anything. Microwaving heats food by making the water molecules jump around and there is a theory that that affects the chemical composition of the food and how it reacts with the water in your body. Remember you are 70 to 80% water. 

A ban on microwaving can be tough in the morning when one is in a rush. If I really don't have time, I eat a handful of raw nuts along with a dried or fresh fig or two - as long as it doesn't have any preservatives or sugar.  I tend not to have smoothies for breakfast even though they're fast, but for me, they are too intense in the morning.

Before Breakfast

Here's what I do in the morning. I have two tablespoons of Essiac tea and then a big glass of water with 2 spoonfuls of PolyMVA Then I do some oil pulling since chemo can do a lot of damage to your gums and teeth. Lots of dentists don't like to work on cancer patients as we get infections so easily.

For my oil pulling, I use one tablespoon of raw coconut or sesame oil and one drop of myrhh essential oil because it is a good antibacterial. I put it in my mouth and swirl and swish it around while I take a shower and walk the dog or read emails - 5 to 10 minutes. I spit it into a paper towel or directly into the garbage and go rinse my mouth.

Next I have a green juice:

4 or 5 leaves of lacinato kale or 2 or 3 of regular kale
a small bunch of cilantro or parsley
a small bunch of dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens and/or swiss chard
broccoli stems or any raw vegetable parts that you didn't cook
one small lemon
one to one-half a cucumber, depending on the size
4 stalks of celery
1-1/2 inch of fresh ginger
1/4 green apple - to taste

All the ingredients must be organic (except maybe the ginger because it's hard to find), because when you drink the juice, you are getting a super concentrated dose of the vegetable and you don't want a concentrated dose of pesticides with it. I put all these in my Omega HRT 350 juicer.
I mix up the combinations so it doesn't get boring. Sometimes I add a couple of carrots instead of apples. I don't add beets because they don't agree with me but they are good for the blood. You can add some from time to time, but not too much because, of course, they are so sugary.

If I am in a hurry, I buy a cold-pressed Green Love from organic avenue in New York City. Or the Squeeze truck's Stand and Deliver. These brands are great because they don't (currently) use hpp - a way of preserving the juice by squeezing all the air out of it (which tragically kills enzymes with possible bacteria) and means that it really isn't raw any more.

Either before or after, I drink a cup of hot water with a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I also take my probiotics.

In Paul Pitchford's famous Healing with Whole Foods, he suggests waiting for an hour or two after you wake up before you have solid foods. This is a brilliant book on healing the body with food but it's heavy reading so if you are in the throes of chemo or radiation, maybe a friend can start it out for you.

If you have a few cups of green or black tea after the juice and everything else, you probably won't be hungry for a little while. When you are ready, here are some possible foods.

For Breakfast:

 Chia porridge

2 tablespoons of chia seeds
2 tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds
2 tablespoons of flax seeds
1 handful of goji berries (for sweetness)
pinch of salt

I put everything together in a bowl and then add a cup of almond or coconut milk, stir it up well and let it sit. Within a few minutes, it will be thick and custardy. If it's too thick, I add more nut milk and/or a little hot water to warm it up. Sometimes, if I really need it a little sweeter, I add a sprinkle of coconut sugar on the top. You could also use a few drops of stevia extract but I don't like the aftertaste. You'll notice that if you don't mix it in, it hits your tongue first and you need less.

Black rice toast and Avocado.

Toast a slice of Food for Life Black Rice bread (which tastes more like a soft-baked cracker than bread, it's relatively low-carb and gluten-free), top it with artichoke pesto* and slices of fresh avocado. There is an American illusion that we don't have enough protein. If I am with someone who is stressing out, I might add a strip of eggplant bacon or some chopped roasted almonds.

Artichoke Pesto*

I put this on everything - from quinoa pasta to grilled salmon. You can buy it but it's better if you make it because there are theories that corn and canola oil contribute to the growth of tumors whereas olive and coconut oil do not. So here's a recipe, but I suggest you play around with the ingredients to taste. I don't use parmesan cheese but if you do, make sure it is organic and adjust the salt accordingly.

small bunch (1/4-1/2 cup chopped) cilantro/coriander
8 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspon of cayenne (or maybe a fresh green chili if you like it spicy)
1 cup of walnuts (especially good for prostate cancer)
1 cup of olive oil
1 8 oz package of frozen artichokes, thawed and chopped
sea salt to taste

I just put it all in the Vitamix and pulse until it is chunky but spreadable texture. It keeps for a week or two in the refrigerator. You can dip carrot sticks in it or mix in more olive oil and lemon and use it as salad dressing. Artichokes are great for clearing the liver and blood.

Oatmeal

Joel Fuhrman suggested I make it using Steel-Cut Oats which is quite slow-cooking. I used to cook a large amount in advance and then put it in a container in my fridge and heat it up a little at a time. I cook two cups of oatmeal with three cups of water, one cup of fresh apple cider, one tablespoon of organic blackstrap molasses, fresh cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, nigella sativa (onion seed) and ginger, along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I add 1/2 cup of chopped almonds, hazelnuts and/or walnuts and sometimes chopped dried figs which (along with sour apples) are one of the fruits that good for killing cancer cells. I eat the oatmeal as is or I add a little nutmilk to make it more liquidy. If you desperately need it sweeter, add a tiny bit of raw honey on top after you serve yourself. In Chinese medicine, all the spices are warming and cancer quite often makes a person cold, so this is a Qi-building tonic.

Since I refused to take prednisone (or steroids) with my chemo, I kept my bones strong but I had bad nausea. I counteracted the nausea with A LOT Of fresh ginger. It actually worked very well.

Again, if I am eating animal protein - sometimes, I have a small amount of grilled wild salmon over baby kale with artichoke pesto and olive oil on top. I try not to eat farmed salmon - organic or not - and I never buy it from places where they sell massive quantities of fish like Costco or Sam's Club.

If I'm in a rush but want something savory, I chop some broccoli, quickly parboil it in the tiniest bit of water and eat it with tamari or a little bit of miso.

For Lunch:

Smoothie

I usually save my smoothies for lunch because they keep me full for a long time. My favorite smoothie is still the same:

1 avocado
3-4 leaves of kale or swiss chard, stems removed
packet of unsweetened acai
1 scoop of delgado protocol stem cell strong (this has lots of good mushrooms and parasite-killing herbs) but you can use other brands.
1 scoop of delgado slim blend (not trying to lose weight - this is very filling and nutritious) - again, this is the brand I use, you can use other vegetable-based protein blends, just read the ingredients carefully.
1 cup of vanilla unsweetened hemp milk
1 cup or so of coconut water, more if it gets too thick


Big Green Salad

I am very organic when I cook and even more so with salad because I think respecting your vegetables and their combinations is key, otherwise chewing it feels like a chore for horses. I do what the French do and start with a big salad bowl. I make the dressing at the bottom, put the salad on top and then toss it all together. All the measurements are approximate and you will have to see what works for you.

1/4 to 1/2 cup of extra virgin organic, cold-pressed olive oil
2-3 big tablespoons of pesto, basil or artichoke or one of each.
1 tsp black olive tapenade (check the ingredients to make sure there are no preservatives)
a few anchovies very finely chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of fresh herbs - whatever you have, basil, coriander, oregano... if you use thyme or rosemary, of course, you will need much less and have to chop very finely
a few squeezes of fresh lemon

stir this all up and taste, maybe add some Coconut Aminos if it needs more salt.

If it's summer, you can chop in some fresh tomatoes, but otherwise, don't eat unripe tomatoes. In Chinese medicine, nightshades cause inflammation and unripe tomatoes seem especially suspect.

Add a small washed bag of organic baby greens - spinach, arugula, kale, swiss chard, watercress, whatever you can find. If I have some leftovers in the fridge - like roast chicken or grilled fish or meat or vegetables, I heat them a little in a hot oven (just in case of mold or bacteria) and throw them in, too. You can also add cooked beans, edamame or corn (as long as it is organic and not canned or frozen).

If you want to add something really tough and chewy, like carrots or cabbage, be sure and grate it well first so that it mixes together with everything else. After it's tossed, throw in the broccoli or kale sprouts because they wilt very quickly - though peat shoots really hold their own. Eat this up immediately, it won't keep.


Vegetable Slaw

I make this more like an Asian-style slaw and it's good way to eat lots of cabbage and carrots. If you add cucumber, know that it will get much more drippy and liquid. You can do that whole thing of removing the seeds of the cucumbers first but it's tedious.

1/4 head of cabbage chopped
3 or 4 carrots grated
1 daikon grated (daikon is a japanese radish that has cancer-killing properties)
1 cup of mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup of broccoli or kale sprouts
1 cucumber grated (optional)
1/4 cup chopped almonds or hazelnuts (I use these instead because peanuts cause inflammation and when you have cancer, you are trying to keep your body as calm and uninflamed as you can).
 1/4-1/2 cup fresh basil, coriander and mint, chopped

In a small bowl, mix the sauce

1 clove garlic minced
1 small shallot or three scallions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce - more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon raw honey
juice of 1 lime or lemon
1-4 thai chili (seeds removed) chopped very fine, depending on how spicy you want it.

Toss it all veggies together and then add the sauce a little at time to taste. You can put it all in fridge to marinate for a day if you like. If you do prepare it ahead of time, don't add the cucumbers or sprouts til you're just about to eat. This makes me one serving, but I eat a lot of salad.

The dressing is very Asian-inspired, but you can try out your favorites. If you decide you want to use a mayonnaise-type dressing for a classic cole slaw, I'd suggest you make your own. Most commercial mayonnaises use soybean oil which is usually GMO, pesticide-laced and too high in omega-6s. If you can find a local, small batch organic mayonnaise using olive oil and cage-free eggs, go for it.

Zucchini "Pasta" with Basil Pesto

For this, you need a spiralizer. They are not too expensive and they are a super cool kitchen tool to have around because you can cut spirals of all kinds of vegetables and that makes them more interesting to eat.

1-2 small zucchinis/courgettes
2-3 tablespoons of vegan basil pesto (this just means pesto that has no cheese, but you can just as easily do it with a little parmesan)

This is kind of a trick food because it's so easy. You chop off the top, impale the zucchini in the spiralizer and put a bowl in front of it. Then spin it around until long, "spaghetti" strands start filling up your bowl. Toss it with the pesto and add more or less to taste. It's wonderful to eat if you are missing the "pasta" texture. You have to eat this relatively quickly too, as the zucchini can get watery from the salt.

For Snacks:

I usually have lots of fresh carrots, celery, daikon, jicama and cucumber chopped up that I can dip into hummus, artichoke pesto, or even olive oil and lemon.

I like oat cakes (homemade made using coconut oil or grass-fed raw butter rather than goosefat or Nairn's) with almond, hazelnut or cashew butter.

I also eat Brad's Nasty Hot Kale Chips. You can see the spicy food is a theme for me. There are other versions, too. But it's good way to keep up your cruciferous vegetables. If you can't buy them and you don't have a dehydrator, I suggest tossing kale with salt and garlic and putting it in the oven at the lowest temperature you can possibly use and letting it dry out for a couple of hours. Just check it from time to time to ma

Tart green apples or fresh or dried figs are the few fruits that you can eat without much trouble. I wouldn't eat large quantities but they are a nice snack when you need sweets.

Hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and chickpeas all have anti-cancer properties, so you can eat a handful of them whenever you want. These days you can buy them in all different flavors, too.

I just discovered this recipe online for when you are craving chocolate.

Coconut chocolate sea salt fudge

Melt an equal amount of coconut oil and unsweetened chocolate into a pan at very low heat so the fat doesn't separate from the cocoa solids, add a pinch of himalayan or sea salt.
Sweeten with coconut sugar, stevia extract or lo han guo extract - all low-glycemic sweeteners that you can actually eat from time to time. Don't add too much though because they can still trigger sugar cravings if it gets too sweet.
 Ladle mixture carefully into an ice cube tray.
Put in freezer for thirty minutes.
When solid, loosen from ice cube tray with a knife and pop out into a plate or freezer-safe container. Return to freezer til you are ready to eat.

You can eat one or two when your sweet cravings are driving you crazy.

One of the best way to detox from your sugar cravings is a glass of water with a tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider vinegar.  Put all the sweets out of sight and then chew some chlorella tablets which are also good for quelling sugar and junk food cravings.

For Dinner

If it is winter, I like a hot, hearty meal to warm me up - and also heat up my kitchen - in the evening. But there are sometimes, especially in the summer, when I find I don't feel very hungry at dinner and I skip it all together. For the most part, if you have cancer, I don't believe you should force yourself to eat if you are not hungry. It's better to rest and eat small amounts of food when you do feel hungry. It may seem scary when you lose weight, but rest assured it will come back when your body is in balance. DO NOT EAT JUNK FOOD IN AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN WEIGHT! That can backfire and weaken your immune system even more.

Here a bunch of warm things you can make so you eat more vegetables without feeling like you are eating a tragic meal of cold leaves while everyone else has something hearty.


Lentil or Split Pea Soup

If I making dinner for myself (without kids), I usually make soup. Since I am an Asian, I like the taste of browned onions and garlic, so I'll start by browning them in a little coconut or olive oil.

One onion, sliced or chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
2-3 tablespoons of olive or coconut oil
1 cup of dried lentils, split peas or dried beans - or a combination. If you are impatient like me, I suggest you soak them the night before, or in the morning when you are doing your oil-pulling.
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 to 1 cup of maitake, shitake and reishi mushrooms, chopped
any other vegetables cooked or raw you have lying around, broccoli, kale, cabbage, sweet potatoes, chop them up and throw them in.
4 cups of purified water

Brown the onions and garlic with a little salt in the oil. You can even add the other raw vegetables and brown them a little because it changes their texture and adds a little sweetness, but you don't have to. Then add the beans/peas/lentils, mushrooms and water and anything else you want to put in. I often add anything that is leftover in the fridge - usually, it's raw or roasted vegetables. Then you let it simmer forever (that's what it seems like to me) but it can be a few hours unless it's well-soaked. You have to check on it and add water when the pulses suck it up, so that it doesn't get too thick. Once it's finished, you can eat it immediately and save some for the next day or two as well.

Roasted Broccoli

This is a delicious way to prepare broccoli that my youngest daughter discovered online and that we have customized. We make it often because everyone likes to eat it and we go through several heads of broccoli in one sitting.

1 head of broccoli
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves of minced garlic
Sea salt/himalayan salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper (only because it tastes better)
One fresh lemon to squeeze

Preheat the oven to 425 (farenheit). Cut up the head of broccoli, separating the florets and leaving the stems (you can juice those tomorrow morning). Put it in a bowl and toss with the olive oil and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Spread the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Put it in the oven at 425 for about 15 minutes, check on it from time to time. If it's nicely browned around the edges and slightly crispy, you can take it out. If it feels too soggy, reduce the heat to 300 and leave it in for a few minutes longer so that it gets drier and crisper.

Put it in a serving dish and squeeze a little lemon over it if you like. Or don't, if you don't feel like it. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

This is similar to the broccoli, those sometimes bitter brussel sprouts become slightly sweet and crispy and quite luscious after roasting.

Two containers of brussels sprouts, maybe a pound and a half
3 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of coconut oil or grass-fed butter
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
himalayan or sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Rinse the sprouts, remove the outer leaves, chop them in quarters and put them in a big bowl. Toss them with the oil or butter and garlic. Put them on a cookie sheet or a wide baking pan. Roast for 10 minutes, then toss in the hazelnuts and reduce the heat to 300. Roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned but not burned.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Yams

This is a regular dish in my house and the prep is quite similar to the other roasted things.

4 big yams, washed and chopped into bite-size pieces
4 or 5 shallots, peeled, maybe cut in half if they are big
1 or 2 additional root vegetables if you have some, washed and chopped.
8-10 big cloves of garlic
Vietnamese cinnamon, ground
Fine Herbes or Trader Joe's 21 Salute
Sea salt or Himalayan Salt
4 tablespoons of coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 450. Basically, add the vegetables (and shallots and garlic) to a roasting pan. I use my 13 x 9 cake pan. Sprinkle with spices, salt and coconut oil and stir it all up with a big wooden spoon. Shake the pan slightly so everything is distributed evenly and put it in the oven. I leave them there for about 20 minutes and then I reduce the heat to 350 and leave them in there for a really long time - like maybe another 45 minutes. If I have time, I take them out in the middle and toss them around the pan a bit so they cook evenly. But even if I don't, they seem to do fine, the slightly burned ones taste nice too.

Sauteed Kale or Spinach

I go back and forth between the two - sauteed kale has a lot more body and can stand up to longer cooking so it can become a nice combination of bitter and sweet. Sauteed spinach becomes soft and soothing and it's a good comfort food.

If I am making sauteed spinach, I heat a few tablespoons of olive oil first along with slices of three or four garlic cloves and a few sprinkles of himalayan or sea salt and pepper. I like to let the sliced garlic brown a little before I add a big bunch of spinach. I add salt to taste and cook the spinach just until it's wilted and bright green.

If I am sauteeing kale, I add the oil and garlic but then I devein (take out the hard stems) and chop the bunch of kale and add it as soon as I am finished chopping it. I cook it for quite a long time so it is not too chewy.

What is crucial is that you never heat the olive oil to smoking point. Olive oil is full of anti-oxidants as long as it is not overheated. So let it brown your garlic gently. If you feel you want a nice crispy, stir-fry sensibility, switch to coconut oil.

Tandoori Roasted Cauliflower

I adapted this from a recipe I found on PureWow - and you could use theirs instead, just never use "vegetable" oil - always choose coconut, olive or palm fruit. Then I followed some advice from my friend Purvi and made a nice tahini and garlic dip for the cauliflower on the side. The recipe I found used yogurt, but I used coconut yogurt without much trouble. Since the point of the yogurt is to keep the cauliflower moist and to hold the marinade to together, you could probably even substitute coconut butter.

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 head organic cauliflower

1½ cups plain Greek yogurt/coconut yogurt/softened coconut butter

1 organic lime or lemon, zested and juiced

4 tablespoons tandoori marinade (i use Shan Masala but there are a number of brands that make it)

1 tablespoon crushed fresh garlic

2 teaspoons sea salt or himalayan salt

Preheat the oven to 400° and lightly grease a small baking sheet with coconut oil. Set aside.
Trim the base of the cauliflower to remove any green leaves and the woody stem.
In a big bowl, combine the yogurt with the lime zest and juice, chile powder, cumin, garlic powder, curry powder, salt and pepper.
Dunk the cauliflower into the bowl and use a brush or your hands to smear the marinade evenly over its surface. (Excess marinade can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days and used with meat, fish or other veggies.)
Place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the surface is dry and lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes. The marinade will make a crust on the surface of the cauliflower.
Let the cauliflower cool for 10 minutes before cutting it into wedges and serving it with a tahini dip or a nice raita (yogurt, mint, coriander, cucumber and roasted cumin seeds) and a salad.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I recently made this but substituted ground chia seeds mixed with water for the egg (I am allergic to eggs) and the teenagers ate it all up. If you're avoiding dairy, you can use daiya mozzarella in the place of the cheese.

There are a lot more recipes in Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live and Alexander Junger's Clean Eats- and even just looking online. When I eat raw - way easier in spring and summer - I like Organic Avenue's cookbook. Or I buy pre-made stuff at my current fave raw food place, Juicepress. I WISH Karliin Brooks of The Squeeze would write one because her moc' n' cheese is worth going vegan for,

See? Not too hard! Start with one or two meals a day and then gradually ladder back!

If you fall off the wagon, do not stress.  Have a bite or a taste of something you crave. Eat it slowly, enjoy it, savor it. They say we most appreciate the first and last bites of everything we eat. Two bites should be enough then. Eventually, your taste buds will be cleaner and you will find the taste of artificial colors and flavors will be harsh and chemically. Sugar will give you a sudden headrush and you'll discover how quickly grains bloat you and make you sleepy. It's ok to have a little from time to time. But let your body rest, too.

The most important thing is to take the time to believe that your food is made with love and cooked to nourish and heal you. Take the time to bless your food and feel gratitude for the planet and the Source which gives you food to eat.

Sometimes the belief alone will transform your food.

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 Say No

I am always asked this question.

When faced with the enormous weight of the medical establishment and the cancer industry, along with the battalions of family members and friends who told me I was a selfish, unrealistic, irresponsible mother with a death wish, how did I say no?

How do you make a decision based on the quiet voice of your intuition when you're scared out of your skin? And when almost every person of repute is telling you that your intuition might be deadly wrong.

How do you do what you feel in your gut is right for you and your body?

This is critical.

Toddlers say, "No" often and with conviction. "No green beans!" "No shoes!" It's simple.

Teenagers do it by rolling over and going back to sleep. Or ignoring their parents' text messages. It's all about creating a separate identity and learning to make your own boundaries. It's a crucial developmental step.

Eventually, though, as we grow up, we all learn the value of saying, "Yes." Or at least, "Oh, all right," most of the time. It's a necessary part of living in society. We get to work when we are told to be there, we do the laundry for the whole family, make dinner when we're exhausted.

The problem is that we - especially women - often forget that we need to assert our independence sometimes. Not just for the brief rush of power (and ensuing guilt) of doing what we want, but as a sort of self-protection. There is only so much you can do and if you don't learn to protect yourself, the world will eat you up.

I am not suggesting that the world is malicious, just that the people who love you most, who care most about you, sometimes don't realize that you are a human yourself who also has a responsibility to herself. That sometimes you need to tell them, "No."

When you are sick, this can get even harder.

If you feel like your illness might respond better to a certain diet, let's say your own version of Unger's Clean or Gerson therapy or any of the variations and options out there, you need to protect yourself from the people who love you and may have stayed up all night baking your favorite brownies or frying samosas. If you are weak and tired and you don't even really like brussel sprouts, but you somehow know that's what you need, you need to say, "No, thank you," to the person who brought cupcakes and the doctor who says, "What you eat doesn't really matter anyway."

For the hospital, here is your first bit of ammunition. In the land of the invalids, the squeaky wheel gets gets the oil. Statistically, patients who complain and demand attention get better care - and recover faster. The more active you are in the process, the better your care will be - mainly because you've lived in your body and you know it better than any doctor ever could. I'm not suggesting you be nasty and mean to anyone - and especially not the nurses because they really work hard - but that you stick to what you believe.  Even doctors and nurses, when they stop to think, believe this.

The uncomplaining patient who quietly does what she's told tends to be forgotten in the rush. If you have unpleasant symptoms or side-effects and you don't demand that your doctor address them in some way, you run the risk of hurting yourself in the long run. The human body reacts differently to different drugs as well as different illnesses. It's possible that something that seems unimportant may turn out to be something serious.

That's why I suggest you listen to yourself and your body. Trust your intuition.

When you are sick, vulnerable, frightened or even just intimidated, that is the time to say, "No," and take your power back. No, I don't want cortisteroids. No, I don't want a medical student to give me spinal tap, I'd rather have someone with years of experience. No, I can't walk there, I want a wheelchair. No, I don't want a wheelchair, I'd rather walk myself.

Even if every single person tells you that acupuncture or prayer or avoiding surgery or chemotherapy or radiation is a stupid thing to do, if you feel like something is not working for you, if you get a sinking feeling as you start do it, say, "No." (Interestingly, my daughters never question my convictions).

Remember that you can. There is a patient's bill of rights that allows you to refuse any treatment that you don't feel is benefitting you. It means that your doctors need to explain what they are doing and why. Just because something has "always been done that way" or because something is the "standard protocol" doesn't mean it always works or it can't be improved upon.

In my case, I knew too many people who had suffered from the side-effects of chemotherapy and radiation. The cancer was defeated, but with many of my friends, it came roaring back in four or five years because the person's natural immune system was so decimated by the chemo. I've known people who were killed by the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation but I never met anyone who was killed by natural medicine.

While I am a big proponent of natural healing methods, there is a lot to be said for your own state of mind. If you really have faith in whatever method you are using to get well, it is likely to work. If you have your doubts, don't do it.

For me, I tried psychic healers, massage and cranial-sacro therapists, acupuncturists, integrative oncologists, reiki healers, brennan method healers, nutritionists, and hypnotists. I chose them based on positive recommendations from others. If something felt good - and I found research supporting it - I kept doing it. If it didn't feel like it was doing me good or I didn't respond to the energy of the person, I stopped. I really worked on not being intimidated by either the New Age machinery or the medical industry.

Cancer and other life-threatening ailments are big business and too many people are scared or intimidated into spending a lot of money on treatments that don't work for them. Say, "No."

Not to be too trite but in Legally Blonde Two, Elle Woods uses a disappointing haircolor as a metaphor:

Sometimes you realize that part of the reason you got sick was that you didn't learn how to say, "No" enough. No, I can't drive you there. No, I can't keep the kids this weekend so you and your girlfriend can go to a bed and breakfast. No, I can't cover that bill. No, you can't come have your lunch at my house just because you're in the neighborhood. 

Years ago, my mother taught me the beginnings of saying no to authorities. "Well, the recipe calls for three cans of chicken broth, but I made some chicken stock myself so I will use that." Or "The doctor told me to take this, but it's making me feel sick, so I'm going to throw them away and call him."

Start small. But work on it. 

It's not always nice to say no to the people who care about you. But it's better to be nice to yourself some time.

When I finally told my oncologist I would not do any more chemotherapy despite her recommendations, she said, "You'll be dead in 12 weeks."

When I told the psychiatrists who were sent to counsel me that there were other ways to cure cancer, they laughed and said, "Those are fairy stories."

That was two years' ago. (That doesn't mean I might not have a relapse anyway because five years is the mark, but I've enjoyed the last two years at full steam).

Be brave.

Say No.

It could save your life.