A CANCER DIAGNOSIS BECOMES A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

At the start of the new millennium, relieved that world didn’t end due to Y2K (remember that?), I decided I really needed to get fit. I had watched a close friend make a quick full recovery from major heart surgery because she was so physically fit. I, on the other hand, had been a couch potato with a sedentary office job for years, and carried extra weight, suffered from asthma, allergies, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), frequent stomachaches, and creaky knees. I had even had a bout of gout in my 30’s, which I thought was a disease reserved for much older folks.

I decided I wanted to be like my fit, healthy friend, so I joined the gym, worked out diligently every day, lost a few pounds, and felt more energized. I joined some recreational sports teams, and that was a blast, but after a few years of experiencing aches and pains of all kinds, which turned into chronic arthritis and sciatic pain, I started to resign myself to the fact that this 43-year-old former couch potato needed to slow down.

Before I had a chance to retire from my athletic life, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It wasn’t a total shock because I’d grown up near farm fields that were crop-dusted regularly and DDT was sprayed each summer for mosquitos before it was finally banned. I was also exposed to chlordane shortly before it was banned and it immediately triggered adult-onset asthma and MCS. So I had always wondered if cancer was in my future, only to find that indeed it was.

I was offered a couple options, lumpectomy or mastectomy, both of which included a round of chemotherapy. I had no problem with surgery; “Just get it out!” was my philosophy there. But I was scared to death of chemotherapy because of my MCS.

Looking for an alternative to chemo, I searched the internet for the best ways to prevent recurrence of breast cancer and one of the top search links was Ruth Heidrich’s story on Dr. John McDougall’s web site. She was an avid runner and ate a healthy diet of lean chicken and fish and only low-fat dairy, yet in her 40’s she was developing osteoporosis (which ran in her family) and was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread, involving her bones and a lung. While recovering from her surgery, she read about a breast cancer/diet research study looking for volunteers and was accepted into Dr. John McDougall’s study, where she immersed herself into his clean whole food plant-based nutrition study. Her chronic constipation and arthritis were resolved right away, evidence of cancer disappeared over time, and her bone density increased with each test over the years.

I wanted what she had attained! I resolved to get my McDougall cookbook off the shelf and dive into it 100%. It was incredibly difficult the first few days. I felt edgy and irritable and had “brain fog”. I thought to myself, This diet must be deficient in nutrients or something. Thankfully, I stuck with it a few more days. It turned out the symptoms I thought were due to deficiencies were withdrawal symptoms. I was hooked on cheese and other rich foods like ice cream, candy bars and potato chips and had no idea just how addictive these foods can be.

Just 8 days into this unprocessed way of eating, I awoke with no pain. I also realized that I no longer had sudden stomachaches every other day, and the constant feeling that I had a lump in my esophagus (which was a hiatal hernia and acid reflux) vanished. Things just got better and better: My asthma and allergies and other MCS symptoms disappeared. My cholesterol dropped 60 points in 6 weeks. I no longer had to use two asthma inhalers, or take proton pump inhibitors and antacids, or pop ibuprofen every day.

To keep me inspired, I’d been reading success story after success story on Dr. John McDougall’s web site and they were all similar: Chronic and often life-threatening diseases seemingly cured by fueling the body with a wide variety of whole and minimally processed foods.

All these problems I attributed to aging and exposure to toxins and playing too hard just melted away when I powered my body with clean “high octane” fuel.

Why isn’t this information shared everywhere? I wondered.

I was angry as well. Why didn’t my doctor ever tell me about this?

Over the years, as I studied daily, reading books, poring through research studies, I learned that our healthcare system is mainly a disease care system that thrives on treating symptoms and biomarkers of disease instead of treating the underlying problems causing the disease. I learned that U.S. medical schools provide on average less than 25 hours of nutrition education over four years. I learned that powerful food industries fund poorly-designed studies that provide news headlines beneficial to their interests, but very dangerous to our health.

I was thrilled when I was asked to volunteer as a mentor for an experienced nutrition coach who was running 6-month sessions for people who wanted to reverse obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Over a couple years, I watched every single person in these groups reduce or eliminate medications and lose weight without counting calories or carbs.

The health miracles I had read about on-line and had experienced myself were happening to 100% of the people in these sessions right before my eyes.

I was inspired to help people experience these same miracles. I became certified in plant-based nutrition and nutritional therapy. To this day I continue to keep up with cutting edge research on the gut microbiome and the gut-brain axis. I now understand exactly why proper fuel for the body can prevent and often reverse the chronic diseases responsible for nearly 2 million deaths every year in the U.S.

If you’ve struggled with diets, or you’re concerned about cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, digestive problems, mood swings, chronic fatigue, and other health problems that seem hopeless, I may just have a Miracle For You!