Receiving the news that you have cancer is never easy. The emotional impact is huge to you and your loved ones. It is also overwhelming because there are so many questions and answers and options and what if’s and to whom do I turn for the right answers and on and on. I have sat with so many cancer clients over the few years. I have heard all of this first hand and I have heard the conversations with the oncologists and the radiologists. Just in case I have not made myself clear on this subject, I am NOT a doctor, nor a dietician, nor any kind of academically trained medical professional. What I am is an intelligent, well-educated, caring, sympathetic, compassionate individual who got handed the difficult task of becoming part of a caregiver team to Mama Edna when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in January 2013.

Before making any major decision about treatment, please do yourself a favor. Do not let the oncology/radiology team strong arm you into beginning  treatment tomorrow. It happens all the time. You have cancer already. You have cancer probably because your body is lacking something it needed to fight off cancer. Research shows that almost every human body has free-floating cancer cells in it 8-10 times during the average human life-span. How your body handles those cancer cells depends on your body’s strength, dietary intake and over health of your immune system.

Take control of your cancer therapy. Take things at your pace. Delay medical and chemical treatments by at least three weeks and get your body prepared for the onslaught of toxins, chemical and radiation that is about to slam your immune system out of orbit. I have spoken to many caregivers and family members over the last year who tell me that cancer did not kill my father, mother, brother, sister, etc., CHEMO killed my loved one.

What steps should you take to prepare for chemo? From many testimonials I have read and/or been given by several of our clients, start with detoxing the body. Cleanse the body by cleaning up your diet IMMEDIATELY. Don’t wait until tomorrow. You don’t have the luxury of time here. Get a copy of Rebecca Katz’s cookbook called The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen. You will learn more in the first fifty pages of this book (prior to where the recipes begin) than your team of docs will ever tell you.

The big lessons here? FIRST, reduce sugar to a bare minimum: use honey, molasses, or organic maple syrup in small amounts if you must have sugar. Or use a little raw sugar, again minimally. ABSOLUTELY NO WHITE SUGAR! SECOND, open your pantry and freezer. Throw out all the boxed, prepackaged, processed food items containing high sodium contents, high-fructose corn syrup (usually in most packaged foods), non-organic or GMO/GE (genetically modified or genetically engineered) ingredients, or loads of processed sugars. THIRD, reduce dairy and meat intake as these foods create mucous build up in the body. Two of cancer’s favorite foods are sugar and mucous. Use the cookbook mentioned above for healthy, cancer-fighting proteins, but limit proteins in general. Think wild caught, oily fishes, almonds, quinoa,  free-range organic chicken. But again, in small quantities. Eat instead larger quantities of raw, steamed or stir-fried veggies, cooked only until slightly tender. Don’t overcook them as they lose more of their nutrients and don’t boil them in large quantities of water as the nutrients land in the water and not your body. These are just a few guidelines to get you started.

Now to ALKALIZE your body. Please see my note on alkalizing the body through what you consume daily here on Facebook. But add this step as well. Limit alcoholic beverage intake to one a day, as well as coffee. Before consuming anything in the morning. start your day with 8 ounces room temperature water with TWO TABLESPOONS fresh lemon juice (not Real Lemon from a bottle or elsewhere, a lemon squeezed fresh) and TWO TEASPOONS apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg’s brand). Drink this elixir daily before anything else. Let it do its work for 30 minutes before you eat or drink anything else. It will help bile production and flow and help remove toxins from the gut, liver and kidneys. It will also slowly help bring up the blood pH levels. Normal blood pH levels in the human body range from 7.35-7.45. When the pH falls below that level, your body is more susceptible to degenerative diseases of all types. Above that level, your body shuts down. Healthy digestive organs will usually find the correct balance. Also, know your pH blood levels. Please have your doc do a blood pH test.

If you have access to a juicer, I suggest beginning a serious juicing routine on a daily basis. As I discuss this often here and on our blog at www.themamaednaproject.com, I will not go into great detail here in this note. Please see juicing recipes here and on the blog, or reach out to me for individual juicing needs and questions.

For any questions about juicing, resources to guide you about your care during cancer, dietary concerns, caregiver concerns or other cancer-related topics, please reach out to me here or at my email address at themamaednaproject@gmail.com or call/text me at 919-780-8669. Remember, I am no doctor, but I will hopefully help you find the answers you need.

Andrew Klutz, Founder and President at The Mama Edna Project

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