Create a Body Cancer Doesn't Like

Dr Lise Alschuler, a naturopathic doctor with board certification in naturopathic oncology, and Karolyn A. Gazella, the publisher of theNatural Medicine Journal, an innovative peer-reviewed medical journal for holistic-minded healthcare practitioners, started Five to Thrive®. Five to Thrive is a multi-media educational initiative that features an informational website, books, radio show, videos, social networks, and a digital magazine.  It promotes an integrative approach to cancer prevention and treatment that aim to positively transform the health of those affected by this disease. Their mission is to educate people about lifestyle-based, integrative, and scientifically sound health promotion strategies, and in this way create deeper and more widespread wellness.

The five strategies to thrive after cancer are:

Spirit - joy, hope, laughter, service, love

Being grateful stabilizes the chromozomes.  To truly feel grateful you need to work on your ability to be in the moment. Great tools to achieve this are meditation and the gratitude journal

Movement - strength training, aerobic activity, flexibility, proper timing, optimal hydration.

Exercise is a wonderful tool to stay healthy. Our bodies are meant to move. Most of us are spending a lot of time sitting and we need to change that. We need to take brakes and move by doing for example knee bends or just walk around. Number of hours watching TV is  a predictive factor for getting cancer. When muscles contract they release chemicals that regulate key bodily functions. They act as an antidote to insulin resistance and are anti inflammatory. If we don't exercise we don't get the benefit from these chemicals.

Diet - engage your senses, add more color, eat organic, eat whole foods, spice it up.

Plant based, non processed foods offer a risk reduction.  Mediterranean type diet with plants, lean protein, good quality oils, fruit at the end of the meal, minimal alcohol. Eating in a relaxed social setting is very beneficial. You need to take time to eat making it a possibility for having fun with family and friends.

Environment - personal care items, cleaning products, toxins, water filtration, air purification.

Use natural, organic personal care products and use organic cleaning products to reduce exposure to toxins. You can find tips on DIY alternatives for cleaning here, and for skin care here and here
Dietary supplements can be helpful since we don't usually get all the nutrition we need from our food since the soil is nutrient depleted. There are five supplement  categories:
Antioxidants, fish oil/fatty acids, vitamin D, flavenoides and probiotics.
But don't get the cheap synthetic vitamins! Then it is better to stick with good food.

Rejuvenation - rhytm, rest, relax, replenish, remediate.

Being healthy before diagnosis means that you will probably take treatment better.

"The Definitive Guide to Thriving After Cancer, a five step integrative plan to reduce the risk of recurrence and build lifelong health" is available at Amazon and Kindle.

If you think you're old, you are.

The Psychologist John Bargh and his team asked students at New York University in the age group 18-22 to make sentences with four words by choosing words from a set group of words. One group of students could choose from a group of words where half of the words could strongly be associated with old age and senior citizens. Words like "Florida", "bald", "wrinkle", "forgetful", "gray", not words like "grand-children", "time-off" or "retired" . When they were done with the task the students from both groups were asked to walk down a short hall to fill out a form in a different room. It was this short walk that was the actual experiment. The students that had worked with the words that could be associated to old age walked at a slower pace than the other students. Why do you think this happened? The students said that they could not see a common theme but had still been affected by the words. This is called the Florida effect and is one of the earliest examples of "priming". Priming means the use of background factors to put someone in a psychological state that affects their actions without their conscious knowledge.

I recently watched a BBC documentary on aging presented by Johnny Ball. One of the studies presented in the documentary was one performed by Dr Elen Langer in 1979 when she took a group of elderly volunteeers, all over the age of 75, back in time. They had to live like they were 20 years younger and they were taken to a timeless retreat were everything was exactly as it had been 20 years earlier. On arrival they had to take care of their own luggage and were fully expected to take care of themselves one hundred percent. After a week the group showed improved dexterity, increased joint flexibility, more energetic gait and were moving around at a noticably faster pace. Some of the men had put on weight and actually looked younger and some even had improved eye sight and hearing.

A winning strategy for longevity seems to be to feel and live like you are young, vibrant and healthy . Do you do this? Or are there factors in your environment that pulls you down? Factors that makes you feel old and slows down your walk?

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn

Who do you hang out with and what do you talk about? Do you feel uplifted, optimistic and excited about life when you spend time with your friends?  Do you leave the room with a youthful gait, feeling great about who you are, knowing that your friends have your back covered and you have theirs? If not, try to make room for change. Make room for positive change, positive people, positive experiences. To make room you have to let something go. Let go of negativity bit by bit. Negative environments, negative people, negative talk and find your community where you can thrive, live long and prosper.

A major factor for longevity is the sense of community, of belonging and having a purpose. Perhaps the test group of 1979 also felt a sense of community with like minded people during this week? If you have the right genes you can live long no matter what you eat, drink or smoke but if you're not that lucky (and that applies to most of us) you can try a low calorie diet and most importantly find a community if you're not already part of one. See my earlier post on Blue Villages.

Fasting can generate a new immune system

A study at the University of Southern Californa shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protects against immune system damage (a major side effect of chemotherapy) but also induces immune system regeneration. The stem cells shift from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.

"Periods of no food for two to four days at a time over the course of six months kill older and damaged immun cells and generate new ones".  "Great for immune systems damaged by chemotherapy or aging. Fasting cycles can generate a new immune system"

Read more details in Science Daily

It's time to give fasting a try!