What are the first steps to take in avoiding cancer?

Some of the suggestions below are easy to implement, others take more planning and preparation. I wish everyone would make an effort to do all of them, if they did, we'd see a different world.. A world with less cancer..

1) Don't microwave paper or plastic. (The microwaves break pieces of the container off and push them into your food, and you end up eating bleached paper (containing dangerous chemicals such as dioxin) and plastics, which are obvious carcinogens.)

It's only okay to microwave glass or ceramic.


2) Don't put #1 Artificial Colors
#2 Artificial Sweeteners
#3 Artificial Flavors
in your mouth.

Artificial Colors, such as 'Red Dye #40' or 'Blue Lake' or 'Yellow Dye' that you read on the ingredient list.
Artificial Sweeteners such as 'Sweet & Low' 'Equal' 'Splenda', Nutra Sweet or aspartame. They are chemically derived and are known carcinogens. You're much better off breaking yourself of needing to have sweetness on everything you drink. Break the habit now. It's not as hard as it seems.
Artificial Flavors are easy to spot, manufacturers are required by law to say so on the package, so it'll say "artificially flavored" or "artificial flavor"

Just don't buy them. Insist that your food be at least of the quality that it's not made in a lab, but grown in a field. You're worth it.

3) Don't cook with, serve with, or store food in plastic. (On a daily basis. It's okay to do it occasionally for picnics or roadtrips, but take it out of your daily life.) Store your food in the fridge in glass bowls with plates or saucers on top for lids. Don't use a plastic slotted spoon to stir cooking noodles. Or a plastic colander to strain those noodles. Use metal or wood or whatever-------anything but plastic. Don't pack your lunch in tupperware to take to work. For packed lunch: think like they did in Little House on the Prarie, it worked just fine, wrap sandwiches in a handtowel and put other things in little jelly jars.

The idea is: You don't want to heat up plastic, that will cause it to break down, then get into your food, which then gets into your bloodstream. (For a graphic account of what happens when plastic gets into your bloodstream, consult the Environmental Working Group's website www.ewg.org or
John Robbins' legendary book 'Diet for a New America'. )

And you don't want plastic sitting smack-up-against your food for a day or two in your fridge. Why? Because it begins to break down, and the break down gets into your food, you eat it......you know the rest.

"But," you say "so much of our food is sold in plastic containers.......?" That's right, a great deal of our food is sold to us in plastic containers, which is a shame. Shame on the plastics manufacturers, the oil companies who supply them, shame on the whole line of production that leads to our buying food in a one-time-use plastic container, that never goes away.

That is a whole other, very discouraging issue. For now we're focusing on
what we can do to keep it out of our bodies, and that container has actually shown, in laboratory tests, to withstand use once, without showing significant breakdown of the plastic molecules. After one use though, it begins to shed the external layer.

So it doesn't do much good to fret about buying food in those plastic containers, unless you have an alternative, which is great, but if you don't, that's fine, just don't use them again to store your food later. Use pasta sauce jars, jelly jars and Pyrex glass bowls that have the plastic lids (that's okay, because your food sits in the bowl and doesn't touch the lid).

4) Use natural soaps, not soaps made from petroleum. Again, this is about keeping plastics out of your blood, your liver, your brain, your lymph nodes...
Traditional soaps-----hand soaps, body soaps, laundry soaps, dish soap----
--that you would find in a mainstream grocery store, are actually made from----i know this is gross------by-products of the gasoline process. They're what's left over after a barrel of crude oil yields about 1 1/2 gallons of gasoline. Chemical companies decided they could use that garbage by making it into soap and selling it to us, which not only pollutes our body but also our watershed.
Request that your grocer carry natural, non-petroleum dish soap, laundry detergent, body soap and hand soap. These are made by reputable companies and sold at reasonable prices.

Some examples are "Dr. Bronners" for hand and body soap
"Natures Gate" for hand soap and shampoo
"Seventh Generation" for laundry soap and dish soaps
"Ecover" for dishsoap and dishwasher soap
"Country Save" for laundry soap and dishsoap
"Citra Solv" for dishsoap and laundry soap
"Bi-O-Kleen" for laundry soap and dishwasher
Look these companies up on the internet.

More tips to come later. These are simple things you can adopt in your daily life that have been shown to make an impact on a person's lifetime risk for developing cancer.

Of course, the most important things an individual can do, by far, to reduce their risk of cancer, is to adopt an unprocessed, plant-based diet, to exercise strenuously and often, to drink green tea daily, take vitamin supplements, get plenty of sleep and to learn to manage stress well.

The tips listed above are small things intended to keep chemicals out of your body. The big things------eating right and exercising-----are to keep your body cleaned-out and strong, and both things, together, will put the power of good health in your hands.

Alzheimer's Disease is Scary

We often hear stories thru the news of how vibrant people get taken down by the progressive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, and it can seem horrifying the thought of this happening to you. It scared me into looking into it. I don't want that to be a part of my life. Researchers are finding more and more every year that the tools to preventing Alzheimer's is in our hands, not left up to chance.

From the National Institutes of Health website http://www.nih.gov/

Lifestyle Factors
A nutritious diet, vigorous exercise, social engagement, and mentally stimulating pursuits can all help people stay healthy. New research suggests the possibility that these factors also might help to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and AD. Scientists are investigating associations between cognitive decline and heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Understanding these relationships and testing them in clinical trials will help us understand whether reducing risk factors for these diseases may help with AD as well.

Dr. Andrew Weil's website http://www.drweil.com/

About the disease:
The occurrence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not a normal development in the aging process. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a gradual loss of memory, decline in the ability to perform routine tasks, disorientation, difficulty in learning, loss of language skills, impaired judgment and ability to plan, and personality changes. Over time, these changes become so severe that they interfere with an individual's daily functioning, resulting eventually in death. While the disease can last from 3 to 20 years after the onset of symptoms, the average duration is 8 years.

Alzheimer's disease affects as many as 4 million Americans. Most people diagnosed with AD are older than 65. However, it is possible for the disease to occur in people in their 40s and 50s. Recent research has shown links between some genes and AD, but in about 90 percent of cases, there is no clear genetic link. Early and careful evaluation is important because many conditions, including some that are treatable or reversible, may cause dementia-like symptoms. Examples of such treatable medical conditions are depression, nutritional deficiencies, adverse drug interactions and metabolic changes.

Much of the illness, disability and death associated with chronic disease is avoidable through known prevention measures.
Key measures include practicing a healthy lifestyle (e.g., regular, vigorous physical activity, healthy eating and avoiding cigarette abuse) and the use of early detection practices (e.g., screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, diabetes and its complications, and depression).


Alzheimer's Disease Prevention
To help prevent the form of dementia known as Alzheimer’s Disease, make sure you do the following:

Get regular, vigorous physical activity. 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week. It increases the flow of blood to the brain and can lower the likelihood of Alzheimer's by 30 to 50 percent!

Eat omega-3s. Oils in walnuts, and freshly ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil from a bottle (not capsules!), pine nuts and pumpkin seeds all provide omega-3 fatty acids, which are linked with reducing inflammation.

Take supplements and vitamins. Vitamins E and C are good choices, and B vitamins can help lower blood levels of homocysteine, a toxic amino acid linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's.

Stay mentally active. Read newspapers and books, dance, do crossword puzzles, play musical instruments, participate in ongoing education, learn a new language.

Alzheimer's Disease, like all chronic degenerative diseases, are largely and easily preventable if you're willing to take charge of your health.

3-Day Juice Fast

21 Feb 09
People i know----------friends, family, acquaintances, roommates, coworkers, in 3 different states-----------are about to embark on a little adventure together:
a 3-day juice fast. Experiences will be logged on this page.

Why? Many cultures around the world go on a fast annually, to give our hardworking digestive system, and our liver and kidneys, a much-needed break. Afterwards, people report feeling more energy and a clearer mind.

I have sent out 'info packs' to everyone, explaining 'the whys and hows,'
and in March----------------pick a day, any day!-----------------you can start yours and report back to us how it goes.

In a nutshell:

For 72 hours, you'll eat nothing, and instead drink water, fresh-squeezed juices and herbal tea.

The No's:
No exercise (cardio or weight-bearing). No moving furniture, digging ditches. No dead juices, from the shelf or from a bottle. No gum or candy, no coffee, of course. No tea from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea or white tea. (Only herb tea to drink.)

The Yes's:
Yes to yoga and stretching. Yes to going to work and school. Yes of course take your prescribed medicines on time.

Mickey's Story

The following is a story about a friend describing how improvement in his food choices led to improvement in his health.

by Mickey Greubel 29Jan 09
About fifteen months ago, I made a transformation to the vegan lifestyle. Going into this change, I had no idea what being vegan really entailed. Thanks to the advice, knowledge, and passion of someone I had met, I got started on my journey to becoming a vegan. At the beginning of this major lifestyle change, I was a bit skeptical due to the fact that I enjoyed lots of meat and was very athletic, but thanks to the passion of this individual, I started warming up to the idea of making the change. At the age of thirty-three, an injury caused all of what I call "anabolic muscle" to deteriorate and for fat to take it's place. I was on a protein diet that seemed to be working, however I felt sick and bloated all the time which left me lacking the energy to complete everyday tasks. At the age of thirty-four, I had irritable bowel syndrome, a hiatal hernia, and diverticulosis which, by most people, would be defined as less than perfect health. However, by drinking lots of water and eating whatever grows in a garden, I have noticed a significant decrease in the negative symptoms I felt because of my conditions and I feel great. Additionally my energy level has increased 100%. I have noticed an increase to both my endurance and strength; my vision has improved and I am in overall better health than before. I am truly grateful to Joshlyn Kaufman for introducing me to this wonderful way of life.