It's Almost Spring...

...and its a nice day today in Seattle. The houseplants are loving it! When I finish off this blog entry, I plan on going on a walk around Green Lake, which is few blocks north of home.

I finally finished reading The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell. I mentioned this book a few times in past blog entries so some of you may already getting sick of me mentioning it! I will sum it up this way, I recommend reading it. The book is about how a whole foods, plant based diet can prevent many of the illnesses we deal with in America, including cancer. Its science is based on a comparison of a dietary and lifestyle analysis of over 6,000 Chinese people. Why the Chinese? As the book says, the Chinese are pretty set in their ways, don't move about much by staying in one region (or ecosystem), and 90% are of Han decendent keeping them similar genetically. The study then is able to look at people who have slight variations in their diets which is mostly vegetable based while everything else remains the same and controlled. In comparison, America is quite diverse, read "the melting pot of the world," with much movement between different regions of the US exposing us to different environments and ecosystems, and yet the diets of America is pretty much the same, meat and dairy based with fewer vegetables. The results is a focused analysis on how diet alone can affect one's health. The study of the Chinese was commissioned by the Communist Government when the head honcho in the 1970's was dying of cancer. Before his death, he wanted his people to know more about cancer and its causes. This is the same guy who met with Nixon in the early 70's that defined Nixon's legacy before Watergate. So I imagine, without the book saying so, he was influenced by Nixon's War on Cancer. Eventually, the results of this study was brought to the attention of American scientists, including the author, when relations opened up between the 2 countries. The American scientists were floored by such a massive study and salivated at what this could mean. Us taxpayers then funded many grants to review and understand this study and this book, nearly 30 years later, is publishing what has been learned. Of course, there is contraversy since the results are really telling us there is something fundamentally wrong with the American diet. That is why there hasn't been much said in the media. Not only does the book detail the science behind why a whole foods, plant based diet is best for your health, it also details the problems with getting this info out to the American people. In short, food and health industries are built around the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) and a sudden major shift could cause an economic quandary.

The author does advocate a whole foods, plant based diet which is essentially saying vegetarianism. However, he doesn't rule out eating meat or dairy. While the average American diet consumes 30% to 50% of calories as animal based foods, the author recommends keeping this lower than 10%. The evidence is strongly supported with good science, which is well discussed and demonstrated in this book. In fact, the author spends a chapter explaining what good science is and means and how one comes about it. To me, most of this book is preaching to the choir, however, the science that supports it confirms to me that I am doing the right thing with my healing path. While I follow a vegan diet, I do eat some fish, about 2 servings at most a week. I have sometimes wondered if that was a bad idea, this book allows me not to be concerned about that. Without going into much more detail, I do recommend giving this book a read. Mostly it helps to rid of us those food myths out there such as is a high protein, low carb diet good for us (its not!). You really want to lose weight while eating as much as you want with minimal excercise, its here in this book and I can support it. Since being diagnosed, I have lost 25 lbs and not put it back on and all the excercise I get is a few light walks a week. I should walk more, but I have been limited by the fluid around my heart, the side effects of chemo, and the weather. Meanwhile, as you have seen with me posting my vitals each week, my weight has been steady as a rock. Give the book a read and take from it what you will. As I said before, I won't preach the gospel with this book. I recognize the dogma of vegetarianism and I know you must make your own choices when it comes to your health.

So why I am telling you this? Let me start by telling you about my dinner with Sushil last night. After I got finished up at the office around 5:30, I went over to my friend, Sushil's place where he had dinner prepared. It was a great dinner with East Indian influence. It came at the right time since I found I am out of curcumin and he had plenty of tumeric mixed in. After dinner we talked till pretty late. We talked a lot about how I am dealing with cancer. What I told him is that its better for me to see dealing with cancer as a learning experience. That there are several lessons to learn. One of these lessons is how to live healthy and get the most out of life. If it hadn't been for cancer, I would still be 25 lbs heavier, dealing with elevated uric acid (and bouts of gout), and continuing a lifestyle that ultimately, and somehow, lead to cancer. While I thought I was doing ok, there were holes in my health and here I am. Now I am educated. When I get this cancer beat, I will know how to live the rest of my life maintaining optimum health. I have found a deep appreciation for a healthier lifestyle and since the change has been made, it will be easy from here on out. Its quite amazing, leading up to cancer, I always knew I could do better and I would tell myself that I need to get more excercise and shed a few pounds. Even when dealing with a painful episode of gout where I would be limping around during the day and in agony without sleeping at night, I still wouldn't do it. I, like the many of us, just wouldn't take that extra step even though every New Year's I'd tell myself I would! Why do we wait until we are faced with severe consequences to make that change for the better? Are we really convinced that we would could go on being unhealthy and when something severe happens, there will be a pill that magically cures us? Do we really ignore what our bodies are telling us by popping a pill to shut it up? (You all have seen the commercial where the guy is about to take a bite out of that big spicy burrito and his family is running in slow motion yelling "noooooooooo." The guy says, "don't worry, I popped a Pepcid AC." While his body is rejecting such poor food choices that is doing his health harm, he takes a pill and forces his body to deal with it. One day, he might wake up with heart disease or colorectal cancer and think, how could this happen to me?)

So what I am telling you is I have learned a valuable lesson. My body needs much more care than what I was willing to give it. I had ignored it too long. Even though I didn't smoke a pack a day, I don't need to ask how could this happen to me. I know I am guilty for not doing enough, for ignoring my body, for ignoring my health. As long as the powers that be don't feel I waited too long to address my health and grant me more time in this wonderful living world, I will do what's necessary to maintain optimal health. While I have been hit with this cancer in the prime of my life, that is what is probably most fortunate. I am young enough to take a beating and come out strong and to change bad habits to good habits. My mind is open to being educated and I have a youthful desire to live and play. It is easier to teach a young dog new tricks. However, whatever your age, if your health is compromised, don't believe for a second that you can't make a change to reverse the process. Never give up on your health and your life. This is a pretty cool world and even the longest lived life is just a drop in the bucket in time. Death will eventually come, get the most out of life while you can.

Now I must go so I can get out to enjoy this warm sunshine. The mountains are capped in snow and view is inspiring...