A Great Cancer Story

Just had to share this wonderful story. 

My Cancer Story

By Kim H.

In January of 2007, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I had a lumpectomy and then started chemotherapy a month later.  My sister had undergone chemotherapy and while she assured me I would be fine, she also gave me pointers on how to cope with the very uncomfortable (okay, miserable) side effects such as bowel distress and mouth sores.

With this in mind, I knew I had to do something to try to build my body’s defense systems.   When Kathy Price walked into my office one day, I followed a prompting to ask her about Body Balance.  I began taking it immediately. 

I had chemotherapy treatments every other week and I was on what they refer to as “dose-dense” therapy.  In other words, they plastered me with chemo because I had a very aggressive form of breast cancer.   While I did suffer with nausea, especially with the first drug, I kept waiting for the abdominal distress to come.  I never got it.  I also seemed to bounce back faster than other chemo patients.  When I sat in the therapy room with other ladies, I could hear them talking about the famous mouth sores.  I was so afraid of getting them because to hear them talk, they would totally put you out of commission, and I needed to be able to work.  One woman described her mouth sores as if someone had pulled her tongue out of her mouth and run a cheese grater over it until it was raw and bleeding. 

When I started the second drug, a receptionist handed me a piece of paper with suggestions as to what I could do when I developed mouth sores.  I told her that I hadn’t had any yet.  She said, “Well, I hope you don’t get them, but most people do.”  A few week later, I awoke in the night with a very sore tongue.  It felt as if it were on fire and like I had extremely large canker sores…although I didn’t.  I got out of bed and took a pain killer, but I also put some Body Balance in my mouth and just let it sit there for quite awhile.  I did this several times throughout the day and by that evening, my sore mouth was gone.  When I related this story to my doctor he said, that doesn’t happen to anybody! If they get mouth sores, they really get mouth sores.”   

Another blessing I had was that of my blood count.  I never had to take a shot to keep my platelets or red blood cell count high.  My doctor would say, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep it up.”   

One day my daughter was visiting me while I was on chemo, and she said, “Mother, I haven’t heard you complain headache for a long time.”  I had to stop and think about it.  I had suffered with migraines for some time, and after my daughter said that, I realized I hadn’t had a headache for several weeks.  And I have only had one bad headache since that time.  My migraines are gone.  I also don’t have any restless legs anymore. 

I am convinced that I need it for overall well-being, but also to help my body fight off a return of the cancer.   

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Now Body Balance has 65% more Sea Vegetables and a more potent Aloe Vera. Still the same great taste too. I hope you give it a try. 

Be well,

Mary

Fructose Could be the Key to Your Weight Loss

Here is some good news for anyone who is struggling to lose weight.  It’s not the calories you consume that sabotage your weight loss; it’s the sugar – particularly the FRUCTOSE. 

Dr. Richard Johnson, chief of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension at the University of Colorado, is the author of The Fat Switch presenting a new approach to preventing and reversing obesity.

Dr. Johnson’s research shows that a high fructose diet is the key to developing metabolic syndrome – what leads so many dieters to give up.

“[O]ne group [of animals] is getting a number of calories that an animal would normally eat, but it’s high in fructose. Another group will get the same amount of food – exactly the same amount of food, but with a different carbohydrate, like glucose.

It’s the fructose-fed rats that develop metabolic syndrome. Suddenly they get fatty liver. They get visceral fat. Their blood pressure goes up. Their triglycerides are high. They actually develop all these features, whereas the glucose-fed rats don’t—and they’re eating the same number of calories!

We even did a study two years ago that was even more remarkable. We took laboratory animals and we put them on a diet. We gave them 90 percent of what they normally eat, but one diet had 40 percent sugar. (Now remember, some kids are eating 30 percent of their diet as sugar right now)... The control rats were eating the same [amount of calories] in starch. What was amazing was that the sugar-fed animals developed fatty liver – like massive fatty liver – and even became diabetic. The control animals did not.

There’s something special about fructose. It’s not just a calorie. This led us to try to figure out why... It was a big challenge to figure out how fructose was causing diabetes and obesity through a mechanism that doesn’t really require excessive calorie intake.”

Some people are more susceptible to the effects of fructose and may have high uric acid levels and insulin resistance. You can get your uric acid level tested. Ideally it should be no greater than 3.5 mg/dl for women and 4.0 mg/dl for men. If you fall into the susceptible group you’ll want to avoid fructose completely  - even avoiding honey which is up to 70% fructose and agave nectar (60% -70% fructose). My new favorite is coconut sugarwith only 3% fructose and a glycemic index of 35 making it a low-glycemic food.  It looks and tastes like brown sugar.

So don’t despair if you dieting is getting you no where.  I can help you come up with a diet that is more specific to your body type and needs.  Getting rid of the sugar (especially fructose) is one way for most people to have more success.

Be well always,

Mary

www.thejoyofbeingwell.com

www.NoMorePills.us

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Natural Remedies for Pelvic Organ Prolapse

(Below is a guest post by blogger Elizabeth Carrollton)

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a condition that will affect a great number of women during their lifetimes, most commonly as menopause approaches. If you have had children, POP is something you should educate yourself about, since nearly half of women who have given birth will be affected to some degree.

Symptoms to watch out for include feelings of pressure or fullness or a noticeable bulge in the vagina. Urine leakage when you cough or laugh can be a sign of POP, as can pain during sex, frequent constipation, irregular vaginal spotting or bleeding and frequent urinary tract infections. If you have experienced any of these symptoms, it is important to see your doctor, but if you do have POP, don't rush into surgical solution. Many women can be helped with natural remedies, so make sure to discuss less invasive options with your doctor before resorting to surgery.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse results from a weakened pelvic floor, which is the support structure made up of muscles and connective tissues that keep pelvic organs in place. When the pelvic floor is stretched or weakened, it can allow pelvic organs like the bladder, uterus and rectum to drop lower than they should be in the pelvis, placing pressure on the vagina. Weakness in the pelvic floor is most often linked to childbirth, but anything that places pressure on the pelvic floor can contribute, such as heavy lifting, high-impact sports, a chronic cough, obesity or the straining that comes from chronic constipation.

Natural Remedies

Most doctors will recommend that women try non-invasive natural remedies to alleviate the discomfort of prolapse before considering surgery. A daily routine of gentle exercise is a measure that eases the symptoms of many women. Speak to your doctor for instructions on Kegel exercises, which have proven very helpful in building strength and tone in the pelvic floor. Walking, Pilates and yoga can also help.

Addressing constipation is an important step in relieving POP symptoms. Add fiber to your diet by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. If constipation is still a problem, fiber supplements and stool softeners can help. Weight management is important as well, since excess weight stresses the pelvic floor. Also, avoid heavy lifting and high-impact activities, like running and jumping. If you have done all of these things and still have discomfort, your doctor may suggest a pessary, which is a medical device placed in the vagina to support prolapsed organs.

Surgery

If natural remedies fail, your doctor may recommend surgery if your POP is severe enough to significantly affect your quality of life. It is important that you discuss all surgical options, since some POP repair procedures involve more risk than others.

Over the past decade, many procedures have involved the use of transvaginal mesh implants. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued alerts on these devices, since reports of serious complications with their use have been growing at disturbing rates. The most common problems reported are mesh erosion, mesh shrinkage, organ perforation and infection. Further surgeries are often required to correct these complications, and they are not always successful. For many women the complications will affect them for the rest of theirs live, many have therefore sought compensation through the filing of a transvaginal mesh lawsuit against manufacturers of the mesh products. So, be sure to ask your doctor about surgeries that do not use mesh.

Elizabeth Carrollton writes to inform the public about defective medical devices and dangerous drugs for Drugwatch.com.

More on Water

So we are back to drinking RO water doctored up with liquid minerals. Still searching for the perfect solution. I remember our visit to Manitou Springs, CO and taking a tour of all the natural springs in town. I've never tasted anything better. Amazing! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all have delicious, healthy mineral water every day?

Meanwhile I continue to search for the best, fluoride-free, chemical free, heavy metal free water. I did find one possibility at Pure Water Freedom.   It's quite an elaborate system that uses a form or aluminum to attract the fluoride, then takes the water through 6 other layers to remove chemicals and the aluminum and other heavy metals. Let me know if you have used or are using a system that removes fluoride please.

Sure would be nice if our city councils would stop poisoning us by adding the fluoride in the first place. It's been proven to be a neurotoxin and is banned in many countries. We just don't need it. If you want to avoid tooth decay brush your teeth and stop drinking soda. Not rocket science folks. It's time for us to take responsibility for our health and stop relying on someone else to fix us when we keep getting sick. We are smart enough to know better. We can do this.

If you want ideas on where to start, let me know. I'd love to help.

Be well always,
Mary
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/fluoridated-water

http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/osteosarcoma.aspx

http://www.fluoridealert.org/caseagainstfluoride-appendices.html

I was wrong!

I started to write about foods that naturally reduce inflammation and was led (yes - I believe guided) to information that pretty much rocked my safe little world.

For years I have been touting the benefits of drinking RO (reverse osmosis) water because it was the only think I knew of that could eliminate all the toxins including fluoride from drinking water. I later learned that the ph level of RO water was very low (acidic) so we started adding liquid minerals to our drinking water and recommended that friends do the same.

Today I was led to article after article, including one by the WHO, proclaiming the dangers of drinking demineralized water. It is extremely acidic, absorbs carbon dioxide and leaches minerals out of your body as you drink it. In fact, your body contributes so much calcium, magnesium and potassium in an effort to alkalize the water that osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, gout, thyroid disease and heart disease can all result from drinking this water.

I thought adding mineral drops to the water would take care of this, but studies have shown this not to be true. After years of doing just that, RO water drinkers who added minerals were still more deficient in minerals than others who drank tap water.

I still believe that drinking unfiltered tap water is dangerous and there are many studies out the to prove that point. For now we are switching to the Shaklee Water Pitcher  This pitcher takes out way more contaminants than any of the other water filtration pitchers we looked at.  If you don't know a Shaklee consultant, contact me - I know several.

There - I feel a little better now. Please share this information with people you care about. We are all learning as we go and I will let you know new information as soon as I find it.

Be well always,
Mary

Some information taken from the following sources:
Winston W. J. Kao 727-447-2344 or info@gobeyondorganic.com

http://shop.snyderhealth.com/product_info.php?product=alkalife-alkaline-booster-drops&category=ph-booster-drops-alkalife&osCsid=940ecec3410f5c95237c844e5a61523b

http://www.snyderhealth.com/water_ionizers/distilled_and_reverse_osmosis_water.html

Foods That Make You Happy

Summer is usually a happier time especially in this northern climate because the sunshine is so full of Vitamin D3 for us. However, if you are having a bad day, you might be tempted to turn to food for comfort.  Guess what - there are foods that will actually help you to feel better fast - maybe even keep the bad days away. 

1. Bananas - Loaded with potassium, these sweet, creamy treats are so good and healthy, you'll want to eat them every day. They contain tryptophan that the body converts to serotonin - the feel-good hormone. 

2. Nuts (especially walnuts) - Packed with Omega 3's, protein and minerals, they could help short-circuit depression. try rolling slices of banana in chopped nuts for a mood-altering, delicious treat. 

3. Chocolate - Yup - you know you love it and now you know that chocolate contains anadamine that scientists say is a brain chemical that boosts your mood. OK - I'm seeing frozen banana slices dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped nuts. YUM! I'm happier already. 

4. Coffee - Again science proves that the energy-boosting drink we love can actually boost our mood as well as our memory. It improves attention, concentration and reaction time too. Add a little milk and the calcium to calm your nerves and it's even better. Are you with me here? Nothing like creamy cappuccino to go with those cool bananas.  Moderation is key - one to two cups a day. 

5. Fish (salmon, tuna) - Again the Omega 3's are responsible for mood boosting here. You'll also get lots of B6 and B12 that are used in the production of serotonin so aim for 2-3 servings a week to keep your feel-good mood. 
6. Broccoli and Spinach - Yum! Raw or cooked these greens and many others give you a power house of B vitamins, minerals and much more. The B vitamin Folic Acid is especially important for production of serotonin and reduction of stress. 
7. Blueberries and Strawberries - loaded with Vitamin C and fiber, these yummy summer fruits help combat stress, fight free radicals and keep away tummy troubles. Eat up. 
8. Beans - Round out the menu with a variety of beans because their fiber, Omega 3's and folic acid will fill you up, help you lose weight and boost your mood at the same time. 


So when you're having a bad day, don't feel guilty about indulging in a healthy, delicious treat. Just remember to use moderation, drink lots of pure water and BREATHE. Actually breathing should be your first go-to for grounding yourself and lightening your mood. It works every time. 


Be well always,
Mary

So tired of being tired

Everyone is talking about being exhausted all the time. Life is so crazy and we are stressed to the max! We don't take time off - can't afford to.  We don't get enough sleep - can't afford to. We don't always eat right - can't afford to? Or can't afford the time?  So what is the answer in this crazy, extreme life we created?

First of all, even if all of the above is true, a different perspective is needed here. We feel we can't afford the time, cost, energy, whatever to treat our bodies well. Here is the truth. We really can not afford not to. 

We all have these two little adrenal glands that help us deal with stress. Going back to the beginning of the human race these glands have allowed us to deal with extreme stress and survive. Here comes a lion - I need to run or fight like crazy. Extreme rush of adrenalin to give me super-human strength so I can survive. Afterwards I crash from all of that exertion and excess adrenalin, but that's OK because I am safe now so I rest and restore my body before the next trial. 

Jump to today - here comes the boss - say the right thing, have all the work done, make sure it's super-fantastic so I don't lose my job so I can keep my house and feed my family. Phone is ringing, emails need to be answered, need to take work home with me, need to work late into the night and get up early for a morning meeting - need caffeine to look like I'm awake - no time to rest - no time to restore my body - just keep pushing. . . . . . 

Wow! Your body is saying "Really?!?? You want me to do that again?!?!? When do I get to rest?"

Guess what - when your adrenal glands are exhausted they can stop producing adrenalin - that 'fight or flight' hormone that keeps you going at high-stress levels. What happens then is a system crash that will force you to either stop everything or use major drugs to keep going. Yuck! 

We need to make some changes as the best forward-thinking companies recognize. Some are incorporating yoga classes on site. Others are making time for Meditation or even mid-afternoon naps. If you have not tried the 15 minute nap, please do! It's amazing how that tiny bit of time can calm your nerves, reduce your stress and make you more alert and productive. 

Stress-free eating helps too. Avoid sugar and caffeine for starters. Add more fruits and veggies or if that doesn't seem appealing or possible, add one of the great whole-food, organic, cold-processed products that will give you your fruits and veggies in a quick shake. Two I recommend are Body Balance and Natraburst. I use them both. 

Stay hydrated - try for half your weight in ounces of water daily. (ex. you weight 160, drink 80 oz). 

MOST IMPORTANTLY - BREATHE! 

Remind yourself to take deep belly breaths whenever you can. Take a 5 minute break and just breathe as deeply as you can. You will be amazed at the results - more energy instantly, better sleep, weight loss, better health, better complexion, etc. 

This is the only body you get this time around. It needs your love and attention. We all need you to take care of yourself so you can be here for a while and share your wonderful gifts. 

Be well always,

Mary

More on adrenal fatigue...

http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/what-is-adrenal-fatigue