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Cancer can strike anyone – the young or the old, the celebrity or the common man, the rich or the poor. Most people need to share their experiences to be able to cope as a patient, family or friend.
I saw a movie that does just that on DVD. The title of the movie is 50/50. The title was based on the doctor’s verdict of survival of the characters. This means the 50 percent chance of survival and the 50 percent of death. more…
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The festive season has just gone by. For the New Year, we made a few resolutions and this time, we intend to keep them. (really?)
Good healthy eating habits are fun! Preparing good nutritious food should be enjoyable and most of all rewarding.
We’ve known broccoli. It’s a functional food that has the compound sulforaphane, a phytochemical that inhibits the inflammation of cancer. Cancer research has shown that the inactive compound in the broccoli is transformed at the lower gut by bacteria into the active phytochemical. Once it is activated the phytochemical is easily absorbed into the body. This active sulforaphane is a potent inhibitor of cancer inflammation. more…
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When it comes to cancer, celebrities are just like us. They get cancer too. Being a celebrity is no guarantee they’re protected from cancer. At 37 years old, Giuliana Rancic, a co-host of E!news was stricken with breast cancer.
A smart woman, she listened to her physician’s recommendation. Her initial lumpectomy failed to cut off the tumor mass. She was brave enough to go through a double mastectomy. Most women would hesitate having both breast excised. But that’s exactly what she decided to do. The radical mastectomy seemed drastic. But it was the best way to cut off those deadly cancer cells from her body. Surgery is a standard cancer treatment. The aberrant mass of tissues is lopped off from the body. Doing so, those immortal cancer cells won’t proliferate, invade nearby tissues, metastasize to remote bodily organs. And then finally kills its victim. more…
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It’s never fun to be diagnosed with cancer. It’s like being hit by a ton of bricks. We’ll see our doctor’s lips moving but everything seems to be in slow motion. And then we’re paralyzed with unbelief. Slowly, we muster our strength and realize we have to do something about it.
Our best chance is standard cancer care. To even the odds and have a better chance to beat it, let’s add functional foods to our daily diet. Soy, a potent functional food, had shown to help against prostate cancer. It is processed in different forms such as tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, fermented bean paste, natto, tempeh or miso. We can substitute it for meat or mix it with other ingredients in our cooking. more…
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Christmas is here! It’s time to relax, enjoy and have a good time with friends and family. We’ll probably gain 5 to 10 pounds for the next 2 weeks. What with Grandma and Mom cooking! Add all that drinking to the equation. We won’t have an empty stomach for a long time. Then, we’ll realize we’ve just developed a huge abdomen also commonly known as beer belly. Were those bottles of beer responsible? Our daily 30 minutes exercise can fix this. more…
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Winter brings a lot of fresh fruits to our table. Breakfast is an important part of our daily diet routine. Let’s start kick our day by eating a citrus fruit with our morning coffee. Some of us find it difficult to consume our 5 to 10 servings of veggies and fruits. It would be much easier when we distribute them into our 3 meals – breakfast, dinner and supper. So let’s start by eating citrus fruits at breakfast. more…
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Every season brings fresh flavorful food to add to our daily meals. In the Western hemisphere, luscious pomegranates are in season from September to February or about the start of winter. We can use this potent anti-cancer fruit for the next months. We’ll just freeze the ruby red arils and use them later. more…
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Most of us are looking for a hero to save us! There’s that literature on a comic hero who can fight numerous villains. There’s that big conference called Comic-con. We dress up as heroes and we feel like one. Superman, spider man, Robin Hood, Harry Potter and you name it. Reality, however, bursts those images of a super hero. No one is charged with super powers to end cancer suffering on one quick sweep of the magic wand!
When we’re diagnosed with cancer, our oncologist can be our hero. Their knowledge and skills may save us. On the other hand, we meet people who’ve learned a lot from their personal experiences. Then, they share the lessons they’ve learned. Here’s one woman who doesn’t consider herself one. more…
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In our quest to overcome cancer, we seek food sources that we think can help. We sometimes think that just popping a pill will get us over it.
But fighting cancer – a complex and perplexing disease – isn’t that simple! The treatment and its dreadful side-effects; pain and that miserable feeling; and the continuing fight are enough to make us give up. Truly, we need loads of courage and help!
Most of us have heard about psyllium. Psyllium – as commercially known- are actually the seed husks of a plant scientifically named Plantago ovate. This plant is native to Asia and grows in the Southwest USA. more…
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Craving a sugary soda or chocolate chip cookies? You can’t argue that sweet and fatty snacks are very tempting when we are tired and stressed! There’s nothing wrong with the occasional sweet treat especially with Halloween just ended. We still have those bowls of candies, chocolates, cookies and sweet treats. But when occasional becomes every day then that’s the time we open a door for cancer to sneak in. more…