week 65

Medical Astrology

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Laura

‘A physician without knowledge of astrology will not rightly be able to call himself a physician.’ Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine

You only need look at the thousands of magazines and newspapers carrying horoscope columns to know astrology holds many of us in its thrall. One recent survey found that 30-40 per cent of Americans ‘believe in astrology and think their lives are governed by the stars.’

And while some might dismiss the ancient science as ‘superstitious nonsense’ there’s evidence that astrology is making a comeback: it is once again being taught at universities – in England, France, Russia, Germany, United States – the first time since the Renaissance.

But what does astrology have to do with disease? ‘Astrology can pinpoint the underlying problems that need to be addressed,’ says Jane Ridder-Patrick, a world-renowned medical astrologer. While there’s an assumption that astrology is depressingly fatalistic, nothing could be further from the truth:

‘There are four main factors that influence our lives and our health,’ says Ridder-Patrick. ‘Genetic makeup, the physical and emotional environment and our astrological makeup. We all have disease potential in our charts, and prevention is a matter of living as fully, authentically and healthily as possible.’

Every astrological sign has a wide spectrum of possibilities, according to Ridder-Patrick. Those born under the sign of Pisces, for instance, have the potential to play the role of martyr (putting others first) but they also have the capacity to become great healers.  ‘Difficult aspects, lived well, are like the grit in the oyster, producing the pearl,’ explains Ridder-Patrick.

So what does a medical astrology session involve? ‘Firstly, I ask the client to give me a detailed medical history, along with the date, time and place they were born,’ says Ridder-Patrick. ‘ I then draw up their chart and I look at what was going on astrologically – and emotionally – prior to their diagnosis.’ According to Ridder-Patrick one of the main causes of cancer – aside from a toxic lifestyle – is unresolved emotional conflict:

‘ I usually look for a trigger 18 months to two years before the symptoms appeared,’ she says. ‘One of my tasks, when working with cancer patients, is to identify the malignancy in their lives and help them eliminate it.’

A medical astrologer might also help you identify the optimum time for surgery or point out strengths and weaknesses of each of your planetary positions: for instance a strong line up in Pisces can be linked with allergies while Cancerians might find hot baths draining.

‘Fixed signs – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius – have a tendency to ‘hold-onto stuff’ both emotionally and physically, which can create an environment that fosters malignancy,’ says Ridder-Patrick: ‘ So they might have a tendency to brood and hold onto past hurts. On the other hand, these signs are also good at ‘holding on’ in tough times and sticking with things.’

Difficulty expressing emotions is often highlighted in the ‘cancer personality‘. And you can see it in the stars: ‘ A prominent Saturn in a client’s chart might indicate a fear about expressing their needs, or revealing who they really are,’ says Ridder-Patrick.

The place in the body where the cancer is found, might also give clues to the underlying causes of the disease: ‘The ovaries, instance, are about children, creativity, home. So if someone has ovarian cancer, there might be an issue around not being able to express their creativity or to nurture and care,’ says Ridder-Patrick.

Interestingly Mum’s cancer occurred precisely when her children started leaving the nest. ‘ If I was working with your Mum I might be helping her find a new outlet for her creativity energy,’ says Ridder-Patrick.

A medical astrologer might also look at where Venus is placed in a client’s chart: ‘Venus is what gives us pleasure, so if Venus isn’t satisfied then we are unhappy – and discontentment is the breeding ground for disease,’ says Ridder-Patrick.

When Venus is in Gemini (the case with Mum) it indicates that you crave fun, change, communication, mental stimulation and spiritual work. Prior to getting cancer Mum had felt her life was lacking joy and meaning. Understanding that her spirit was craving a shift – more travel, more learning, more fun – was helpful and affirming for Mum. ‘Every single chart factor gives us a wide spectrum of possibilities. So it’s not what happens to us that’s important but rather how we respond to it,’ says Ridder-Patrick.

As I was about to post this blog, Mum emailed me a link to a website which tells you which angels and archangels are linked to your specific zodiac sign. For those who are angelically inclined, here it is: bodysoulmind.net/spirit/angels-of-the-zodiac

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week 64

The Joy of Unremarkable

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Laura

Spring has finally come to England and my local woodland is filled with warbling birds – robins, finches (I think?) – fossicking among the thistles and swinging from newly greened branches.

If I sound head-in-the-clouds happy, I am.

Winter has passed, I’ve finished writing a book, the EU has voted to save the bees and Searching for Sugar Man star Rodriguez is coming to London…

AND

Mum recently had an MRI showing ‘absolutely no evidence of metastatic nodal disease or likely recurrent ovarian tumour.’

The pathology went on to report that ‘the remainder of the abdomen and pelvis is unremarkable.’

Others have not been so lucky, as Mum is painfully aware – she has lost too many close friends in the last year.

But she wanted to announce her results, not to rub salt in the wound of those who are still very much struggling with cancer, but because people do wonder, when you choose to say no to chemotherapy, whether it is physically possible to overcome the disease.

Two years on from a very scary diagnosis of ovarian and uterine cancer, Mum cannot say she is ‘cured’ (defined as ‘still breathing’ at five years) however she is thrilled to announce she is in vibrant health.

She recently broadcast details of her alternative journey on Perth-based Radio ECU.

While there is certainly no recipe for success – one man’s panacea can be another man’s poison – Mum is often asked which treatments she’s tried over the last two years and which ones she is still using.

For those who are new to this blog, you will find details of the myriad different protocols Mum has tried – including ozone and IV C - under the ‘old blogs’ tab at the top of the webpage.

For seasoned readers, please excuse a little revision.

Here are Mum’s top ten at-home treatments – the ones she still uses on a weekly basis.

* Haelan: This fermented soy beverage is backed by some very exciting research. In short it promotes apoptosis (cancer cell death) reduces circulating oestrogen levels, powers up the immune system and more. I recently contacted Walter Wainright, the foremost researcher on Haelan, and will share details of his research shortly.

* Juicing: Yes I know, every Hollywood celebrity worth their Himalayan salt is touting the benefits of green juice – but for good reason. Sipping on a potent green cocktail – think base notes of broccoli sprouts, kale and wheatgrass – not only packs an anti-cancer punch, it also leads to luminous skin and glossy hair.

* Jumping: Rebounding has been shown to slow ageing, oxygenate the blood, re-energize the brain and dramatically increase lymphatic flow – key for removing toxins and dead cancerous cells. Mum spends twenty minutes three times a week on her mini tramp.

* Oxygen: Cancer loves sugar, hates oxygen – arguably the most important thing to remember in cancer prevention. Mum oxygenates her body in a number of ways – dry brushing, trampolining, and breathing through an oxygen mask connected to her at-home oxygen machine.

* Earthing: Like Miranda Kerr, Mum now sleeps grounded – using special ‘earthed sheets.’

* Coffee Enemas: Yep, still doing them, at least five times a week. She generally takes her coffee break between 3.30-4pm, just so you know.

* Inspiration: Mum believes a connection to spirit has been vital to her recovery. In our household archangels and spirit guides are referred to like family members and called on frequently for help with everything from dishwasher malfunctions to doctor’s appointments.

* No Dairy: Many experts believe milk feeds cancer, namely through the growth factor, IGF-1. ‘IGF-1 is one of the most powerful promoters of cancer growth ever discovered for cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon,’ says leading physician and nutrition expert Dr. John McDougall.

* Far infrared sauna: Mum hops in the hot box twice a week to sweat out toxins, improve circulation and oxygenate her body (can’t say it enough).

*Vitamins and minerals: Intravenous vitamin C was an important protocol for Mum following her diagnosis, but today she keeps her levels topped up with daily sachets of Lypo-spheric C. She also rubs magnesium oil into her adrenal glands, sprays 5000 iu of D3 in her mouth daily and takes supplements to boost glutathione.

I too have embraced almost all these activities (aside from Haelan and breathing through an oxygen machine) as a way of keeping my body healthy.

These days I bore on about the benefits of a non-dairy diet and I’m fairly evangelical about green juice. I can’t remember the last time I exercised in a gym (now that I have a mini tramp) or started the day without asking Archangel Gabriel for some guidance.

I really can’t thank him enough.

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week 63

A Healthy Fake Tan?

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Laura

With less than a week till Christmas most of you will be in full festive swing.

That means hangovers, ham-overs and champagne all round (or, if you’re like Mum, sparkling kombucha).

It also means dressing up and going out, and for many women (and apparently one in ten men) fake tans.

We’ve been living in the bronze age for over a decade now – see Victoria Beckham’s wedding pictures in 1999 – and although these days we might prefer olive hues to the tango-d look of yesteryear, our love of fake tan shows now signs of abating.

Fake tan sales are worth an estimated £100 million a year and are the fastest-growing area for cosmetic sales.

But our favourite beauty treatment has a dark side.

Scientists have warned that the active ingredient, dihydroxyacetone (DHA) – which reacts with amino acids in the skin to turn it brown – has the potential to cause genetic alternations.

UK health journalist of the year, Sarah Stacey, recently flagged up the dangers in a piece in YOU Magazine:

‘If this [DHA] gets into the bloodstream, it could theoretically alter and damage DNA, which could in turn lead to the development of cancers and malignancies,’ she writes.

Diabetes, obesity and birth defects have also been linked to the ‘cocktail’ of chemicals in bronzing lotions.

In a recent article in The Telegraph Elizabeth Salter-Green, of UK charity the Chem Trust, warned:

‘Many of the chemicals in fake tan are toxic to reproduction and can harm a foetus.’

Beyond the Biscuit Smell

The recent science only validates what many of us have long suspected: that when you enter a tanning booth you’re not in Mother Nature’s kitchen.

The overwhelming reek that permeates salons that ‘do sprays’, should send alarm bells ringing, but the desire to look good tends to override good sense.

For years I’ve left appointments, sticky and smelly, wondering ‘is this a good idea?’ – before thinking ‘now I can go for a swim at the beach tomorrow.’

Any misgivings were cast aside by a desire to look glowing and five kilos lighter.

But unlike me, one plucky woman from the Gold Coast, took action.

Sonya Driver

When Sonya Driver’s sister was diagnosed with melanoma three years ago, she began researching the ingredients in spray tans (The sisters had started having fake tans to avoid the potential risk from UV rays).

Sonya didn’t like what she found and decided to develop her own organic self-tan.

After thousands of hours of research, Driver finally came up with Eco-Tan, a formula that contains NO, synthetic food colouring, GMO ingredients or petrochemicals. And NO biscuit smell.

Instead Eco-Tan products are made from:

Natural cacao

Honeysuckle Flower Extract

Avocado Oil

Rose Geranium Oil

Grapeskin Extract

Chamomile

I came across the company when I was last back in Perth. Wanting to look my best for my brother’s twenty-first (determined not to appear the pale, ancient sister from London) I googled ‘organic tan’ and quickly came across Centro Innovative Health in West Perth.

The natural medical clinic recently started offering Eco-Tan sprays to clients.

Both Mum and I decided to give it a go. After completing a grueling seven day detox (more on that later) we were in the mood for some pampering. And it certainly was a treat.

We were greeted by the founder of the centre, Susan Carr, an award-winning naturopath, who surprised us both with the news that she would apply the tan.

Carr – who is no doubt more at home with hormone analysis than taking aim with a spray gun – bravely stepped in to bronze us, in the absence of one of her staff members.

As Mum and I took turns to stand starkers in a luxurious tent in the middle of a well-ventilated room (I think it was the reception area) Carr explained how she had grilled the company before deciding to offer Eco Tan. ‘Being a naturopath, I wanted to know that it wasn’t going to harm my clients in any way,’ she says.

Mum and I emerged from Centro Innovative Health, head-to-toe in a honey-smelling gloss – with a stash of organic teas and lipsticks in hand.

Mum and I before Banjo's 21st

According to Carr there has been a steady increase in demand for the service and the product is now stocked at a variety of different health shops and clinics.

There’s even a dedicated Eco-Tan stall at Mum’s local farmer’s market and apparently the products are ‘big in Broome.’

Mum believes it’s the best tan she’s ever had.

I personally couldn’t decide which I preferred, the Eco Tan or The Organic Pharmacy tan I’d previously tried in London…

The active ingredient in The Organic Pharmacy Self-tan is a ‘100% natural DHA made from sugar beet.’

Photo courtesy Robert Wallace/ WENN.com

Katy Perry is said to be a fan, along with a host of other celebrities who don’t appear on The Only Way is Essex.

I recently made contact with Margo Marrone, co-founder of The Organic Pharmacy, to find out what makes her tan superior to the rest.

Marrone, a homeopath, explained that the bad smell usually associated with fake tan is largely due to formaldehyde residue.

‘During the processing of DHA – which comes from sugar – it is sometimes possible for formaldehyde to be involved in converting the Sugar to DHA,’ she says.

‘Our DHA comes form an Ecocert certified source where formaldehyde is forbidden so the DHA is gentle and does not give the awful smell usually associated with self-tan cream. Combined with nourishing shea butter and hydrating Aloe it means the cream goes on really well, does not streak and gives natural tan.’

I spent last summer in England topping up my sugar-beet tan. The grey skies put paid to a sun-kissed glow and I figured it was the next best thing. At weddings it elicited a lot of ‘you look well’ rather than the knowing, ‘nice tan’

This week I’m booked in for another festive bronzing. If anyone asks… I’ve just got back from Perth.  In the meantime I hope you all have a joy-filled Christmas and Happy New Year. I’ll see you in 2013 – with light and love. Laura

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week 62

Kombucha

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Laura

They say fashion goes in twenty-year cycles.

Thus the noughties revival of electro-pop, Ray-Bans and high top sneakers.

But although we like to try on old trends, our taste buds inevitably change.

We want high-waisted jeans, minus the stonewash; synthesizers without the saxophone interlude.

Recently, Mum revived an ancient folk remedy she first tried twenty years ago: Kombucha.

When I took a sip of her most recent brew, I was transported back to my childhood; of wearing hypercoloured shirts and jumping around on gogo balls… and having the Kombucha ( a jelly-fish like culture) sitting in a pot on the kitchen bench.

Back then, I took pleasure in terrifying friends by lifting the lid; it looked like an alien and a mere wiff was enough to make you scrunch your face in disgust.

But Mum, who has long subscribed to the school of ‘it has to taste bad to be good for you,’ drank the tea with relish.

But, as with most things, the Kombucha eventually fell out of fashion, and ‘the mother’, as the Kombucha culture is referred to, was forgotten.

Until this year.

‘It’s growing out of control,’ Mum told me over the phone a few weeks ago. ‘ And it tastes so much nicer than the one I had years ago.’

I was skeptical, but she was right. I remember the tea being almost unbearably sweet and tangy, but her more recent brew is fizzy and refreshing, and not far off a rather good cider.

So what is Kombucha ?

Kombucha is a fermented tea with a vinegary flavour.

The Chinese have sipped the elixer for over 2000 years, passing the culture – like a valuable heirloom – from generation to generation.

From eastern Asia it travelled to Eastern Europe and Russia and was often found under a tea-cloth in a warm corner of a kitchen, being tended to by a wise old Babushka.

Up until World War II it was found in almost every household in Austria, according to Rosina Fasching author of Tea Fungus Kombucha: The Natural Remedy and its Significance in Cases of Cancer and other Metabolic Diseases.

In the book, Fasching writes: ‘When the war brought about a shortage of black tea and sugar, which are essential for the preservation of the fungus, it lost it’s popularity and fell into oblivion.’

But it wasn’t completely forgotten and today it’s sipped by a slew of A-listers including Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Halle Berry.

It’s touted as an anti-ageing drink (some believe it can reduce grey hair) but the reported benefits go way beyond the aesthetic.

According to numerous books, this celebri-tea can:

*Aid healthy digestion

* Detoxify the body

* Clear up yeast infections

* Aid with stress and insomnia

* Provide antibacterial protection

* Prevent hangovers

* Relieve migraines

* Reduce kidney stones

Packed full of amino acids and probiotics this effervescent beverage also packs a serious immune boosting punch.

Research now shows that up to 80 percent of the body’s immune system is located in the gut, so maintaining a healthy balance of bacteria in the intestine is vital for good health.

Healthy bacteria can also target cancer cells directly, according to research. In studies looking at colon cancer cells, probiotics were shown to:

* Bind to and inactivate carcinogens that can damage DNA

* Produce compounds that prevent cells from mutating

* Produce compounds that reduce tumor growth

While products like activia have raised the profile of probiotics, many people are unaware that there are non-dairy alternatives. Sauerkraut, natto and coconut-water kefir are just a few of them… but today, we’ll focus on kombucha.

Making the Tea

Nurturing a kombucha can be messy and a bit time consuming – but it’s not tricky.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Once someone has supplied you with a culture, you will need:

*Organic tea bags (black, green or oolong)

* Approx 70g sugar (Mum uses rapadura, more nutritious than refined sugar)

Sugar?! I can hear your shouting. Don’t worry,  the sugar in the kombucha is almost completely used up in the process of fermentation.

* A large glass or porcelain jar to keep your new friend in

BASIC METHOD:

Make two litres of tea, stir in the sugar, wait for the mixture to cool down and then add in your culture (don’t put it in hot water!).

Cover with a tea-towel and secure with a lacky band to ensure bugs don’t spoil the brew.

Leave in a warm, quiet place for 8-12 days.

Remove the culture with clean hands, and drain the liquid to drink, keeping about 10% of the liquid for the next batch.

Give the Kombucha a rinse under cold water and repeat the process, adding the reserved Kombucha liquid into the new tea solution.

Or….

You can buy ready-made Kombucha from a health shop near you.

I seem to have seen it everywhere this week.

At the Raw Kitchen in Fremantle, Western Australia, they offer it as an ‘aperitif’ to aid digestion.

It’s not quite a campari and soda, but, served in a glass goblet, on a hot day? It goes down pretty easily.

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week 61

Dust to Dust

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Laura

This week I had planned to write about a folklore remedy – a tea fungus.

But then my Grandpa died, and it didn’t feel right. His funeral is on Friday.

Grandpa Black, Mum’s dad, was 91.

He ‘had a good innings,’ by anyone’s standards. He could have lost his life many times over in his early twenties, as a pilot fighting in World War II.

But he survived. Thousands of other young Australians weren’t so lucky.

‘They used to just say, ‘he went off,’ when someone died,’ Granny said a few weeks ago.

One morning Grandpa’s co-pilot Kevin was told that his brother ‘went off last night,’ right before he had to report for duty.

It would be days before he was given the opportunity to grieve.

There are no words for these kind of deaths, where a bright young future is snatched and a family is left forever changed, with a wound that can never heal.

This kind of sudden loss is something I have experienced personally, and in writing about cancer, something that enters my thoughts constantly.

Every other week I hear stories that stop me in my tracks; a beautiful twenty five year old girl who succumbed to brain cancer; a mother forced to say goodbye to a toddler, when treatment didn’t work; and sons and daughters now looking ahead at endless Christmases without their Mum or Dad.

I cry for them, at the injustice of it all, at the unimaginable pain.

They are the tears I associate with grief – the frustrated, angry, despairing sobs – that leave you exhausted and unable to eat.

But then here, with Grandpa, was something else.

He had a ‘good innings,’ he died surrounded by loving family at the grand old age of 91, was I allowed to cry?

I couldn’t stop myself.

I cried for Mum who has lost her Dad; I cried for my Granny who has lost the love of her life; I cried for the memory of my Grandpa, before his sharp mind was crippled by dementia, when he used to bounce me on his knee and wink at me with those kind eyes.

It felt good to cry. According to Andreas Moritz, Ayurvedic practitioner and author of Cancer is Not a Disease – It’s a Survival Mechanism the chemical make-up of tears is influenced by our emotional state. ‘The tears of joy have pleasure hormones in them, while the tears of pain contain stress hormones,’ says Moritz. In other words, it’s good to let it all out, rather than hold it in.

Of course we know that a positive mindset, joy and laughter can help us heal -  studies show that cancer patients who laugh live longer – but the other part is important to: being able to grieve, talk about death and to express our fears rather than pretend they don’t exist.

For leading integrative oncologist Dr. Ursula Jacob, this is an important part of healing.

‘It’s a part we cannot deny,’ she said when I interviewed her a few months ago.

When I spoke with Dr. Jacob I had prepared questions about hyperthermia and other cutting edge treatments, but she dived right into this gritty topic. Dr Jacob explained she had a man working at her clinic, who helped comfort patients afraid of dying.

‘I have realised, during the time I’m been working with oncological patients, sometimes this is as important as therapies for a patient. To feel secure that he does not have to die in an awful way. That there is someone who is with him.’

‘So that might almost be healing in a way?’ I asked Dr Jacob.

‘Exactly’ she said.

On Friday I was listening to ABC radio national (I feel lucky to be back in Oz at the moment) and the topic was euthanasia.

One lady who called in, a woman faced with apparently incurable cancer, said that if she had at her disposal, a pill to end her life without pain it would give her strength to live, because it would take away her fear of death.

It’s certainly true that identifying our fears, and releasing ourselves from their grip, can be an important part of healing.

In The Creation of Health Caroline Myss observes that while a myriad of factors combine to make us unique, what makes us ill is ‘identical.’ According to Myss:

‘A strong dose of negativity or fear will contaminate any human being regardless of nationality, social background, education, wealth or talent. Poison is poison, no matter who imbibes.’

Dr. Bernie Siegel, world-famous cancer surgeon, inspirational speaker and best selling author runs workshops where he urges patients to face their fears.

When I spoke with Dr. Siegel, earlier this year, he had this to say:

‘I show them [patients] in a sense that there are others who have been there. That’s why a room full of what I call ‘natives’ [people who have had cancer] is good. There are people sitting in the room who have gotten through what this person is afraid of.The other thing is to get them to really look at what it is they’re afraid of, to really define it.

‘Like if you said ‘I’m afraid of dying’ I don’t know what that means. What is the afraid part? But if I said ‘tell me what you mean by that?’ Then as they break it up into things you can show there are ways of taking care of it and ways of getting help and then they’re not so afraid anymore.’

‘When you get it out you feel better – whether it’s into a journal or whatever, you’re not carrying it within you,’ said Siegel.

Sometimes Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he likes to be called, invites an old person in, to talk about their lives:

‘I asked this 90-year-old to join our support group, because she had been through a lot of troubles, because she had been through everything in her lifetime. And when everyone was talking about what they were afraid of I asked her ‘what are you afraid of?’ and after several minutes she said ‘I know what it is, it’s driving on the parkway at night’ and that’s when everyone in the room starts laughing and stops being afraid. Because she had lived through every damn thing everyone else is so afraid of.’

Grandpa lived through a lot – he experienced great love and great sorrow, hard-work, homemade cakes, gardening… and so much more that I’ll never know. Friday will be a celebration of his life and when I throw my fist full of dirt in his grave it will be with the knowledge that we all follow him there eventually.

Back to mother earth; returning to the ground that gave, and gives, us life.

Since writing this blog, I have discovered that Andreas Moritz has since passed over to the other side. It was a huge shock and is a great loss to the world. RIP Andreas.

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week 60

The Fundamentals

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Laura

This week I had a vitamin crisis.

I somehow managed to c**k up my order of Bio En’R-G’y C, meaning there is currently NO vitamin C in the house, not one liposomal sachet.

Same goes for the organic wheatgrass shots. Due to an overwhelming demand, Evolution Organics has temporarily run out of stock (the price you pay for sharing health tips?) … which gave me pause for thought.

Was it time to take stock of my own OCD attitude to nutrition?

I was disturbed to find that running out of my favourite potions left me feeling edgy and vulnerable. When a man sitting next to me in the library started coughing, I wanted to move desks; when I got on the bus, I painstakingly avoided the handrail.

I usually feel bullet-proof, but without my full artillery of transdermal minerals, fermented fat-soluble supplements and vitamin sprays I felt like a sitting duck.

Spending most of my waking hours wading through alternative cancer research means I’m all too aware of the importance of supplements:

‘Vitamin D might prevent sixteen different types of cancer’ reads one study, ‘Magnesium can protect the brain from toxins, reduce high blood pressure and lower the risk of cancer,’ says another.

Even the vitamin skeptics were left looking at their feet last month, thanks to a large-scale study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers followed nearly 15,000 older male doctors for more than a decade found that those taking a daily multivitamin experienced 8 percent fewer cancers than the subjects taking dummy pills.

Some say a good diet is enough, but the majority of experts I’ve spoken to disagree:

‘There will always be resistance, even hostility from the nutritional ‘flat-Earthers’ – those who believe that ‘if you eat a balanced diet then you cannot be deficient in essential nutrients’ despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary,’ Professor Ian Brighthope said recently.

‘But I believe the system will eventually change in line with the accumulating evidence and research in the field of nutritional medicine is growing at a phenomenal rate.’

Dramatic changes to the way we live have, inevitably, affected our food supply.  Over the seventy-eight year period between 1914 and 1992, one medium sized raw apple with the skin intact showed a significant decline in mineral content.

According to  data presented in 2001 to the American College for the Advancement in Medicine, the modern apple showed a:

* 48 percent decrease in calcium

* 96 percent decrease in iron

* 83 percent decrease in magnesium ( The 9 Steps to Keep the Doctor Away by Dr. Rashid A. Buttar, pg 71)

These long lost nutrients have been replaced by toxins.

Over 80,000 chemicals have been released into the environment since 1900. Thanks to the march of modern industry, modern medicine and industrialized farming we are being systematically poisoned, every minute of every day – leaving our immune systems overwhelmed.

That’s where nutritional medicine comes in. Adding things like supergreens and high dose C to our daily diet can help usher these harmful substances out of the body.

So, let me be clear:  I don’t doubt, for a second, the value of supplements.

BUT it’s worth remembering they are not the whole story; not by a long shot.

Dr Nicholas Gonzalez, a New York based physician, believes emotional health is just as important as the enzyme therapy, individualized diet and coffee enemas he prescribes patients:

‘Nutrition is wonderful, but there is no vitamin mineral or trace element that can override somebody’s psychology,’ says Gonzalez. ‘Under stress the body tissues break down, to provide energy to deal with the stress – and that’s the antithesis of healing.’

Paul Pitchford, expert in Chinese medicine and author of Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition talks about ‘foundational healing.’

In a lecture for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition he explains the term: ‘I mean healing on the fundamental levels, for example awareness, activity and exercise and nutrition.’

For Paul Pitchford, the integration of mind, body and spirit is paramount:

‘If they [his clients] get overly involved in the nutrition and start focusing too much in every little detail, I ask them to stop and try meditation, try some kind of awareness practice, exercise more, don’t even think about nutrition for a while, or just put it on the backburner for a while… yes we’re about nutrition, but we’re also about the final result, people need to be healed.’

I decided to take a leaf out of Pitchford’s book and take the time to slow down and look inward.

Recently, I have been giving my Buddha a guilty, backward glance as I rush off the library. It was time to prioritize meditation over my rigid schedule. I also brought some new piano music – (Meatloaf’s ‘I’d do anything for love’ and this Summer’s anthem ‘ We Found Love’ … since you asked) and allowed myself to play a few songs rather than plough through emails until my boyfriend arrived home.

Mum has been trying to get me to understand the importance of emotional/spiritual wellbeing, for the last eighteen months:  ‘People always ask me about the tangible things – the ozone therapy, the vitamin C,’ she said the other day, ‘ but ultimately it’s so not the tangibles that matter.’

Bottom line? The less concrete things like a good night’s sleep, meaningful relationships, a connection to spirit, fresh air, forgiveness, gratitude, the earth beneath our feet… are so important in the healing process; just as important as any nutrient.

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week 59

A Dirty Weekend

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Laura

Last weekend my boyfriend whisked me away to Yorkshire.  We slept at a country inn, directly opposite what was once one of the greatest monasteries in England, Byland Abbey.

The ruins of this 12th century abbey are a sight to behold.

A fragment of the central tower still stands, providing a dramatic backdrop for the ever-changing Yorkshire skies; the gothic peaks reach for the clouds, like the tops of dribble castles waiting for the next wave to dissolve them.

The monastery itself was laid to ruin in the sixteenth century when King Henry VIII cut ties with the Roman church; dissolved the monasteries and sold off the church property.

The abbey’s lead roof was first to go, followed by the limestone walls: locals pillaged the stone to pimp their own cottages.

When you step inside the gothic ruins you immediately feel calm. Maybe it’s because it’s a holy site, steeped in history; maybe it’s something more.

‘Dowsing shows that many ancient buildings, such as churches and temples, were built on positively-charged zones,’ writes Dr Keith Scott Mumby in Cancer Research Secrets.

Could this apply to Byland Abbey?

Short of a dowsing rod – or any knowledge or experience on the matter – I wouldn’t have the faintest clue.

What I did know was that kicking off my shoes and planting my feet in the soil was going to be good for me.

Walking around the ruins barefoot led to stares from wellie-shod tourists, but I stood my ground, and ordered my boyfriend to do the same.

‘Ergh! It’s cold and squidgy,’ he moaned  ‘It’ll help your hangover,’ I retorted, squelching happily in the October sun, as my boyfriend looked like he might be sick.

Why Go Barefoot?

Our earth is alive with powerful healing electrons, which help balance our body and keep us healthy:

‘It’s thought that the influx of free electrons from the Earth’s surface will help to neutralize free radicals and reduce both acute and chronic inflammation, which is at the root of many health conditions and accelerated aging,’ explains the legendary Dr. Joseph Mercola author of mercola.com.

For Marcus Freudenmann, producer of Cancer is Curable Now, connecting to the earth not only offsets free radical damage but also activates red blood cells:

‘Red blood cells – if they don’t have enough negative ions – they start to clot,’ he told me recently.

Mum was the first to alert me to the importance of connecting with the earth:

‘The American Indians believe that when we began building footpaths, roads and driving everywhere in cars, we lost not only our connection with the earth but we lost our ability to heal ourselves,’ she told me the other day.

Rather than regularly plugging into the ground, today we choose to connect ourselves to wireless devices, cordless phones and computers, which have the potential to wreak havoc on our health and cause cancer:

‘Mobiles can give you a tumour, court rules’ screamed The Sun, just last Friday.

Is earthing the answer?

Recent published studies, in peer-reviewed journals, suggest that it just might be.

One recent report found that ‘… when the human body is grounded it is naturally protected from static electricity and radiated electric fields.’

Further evidence suggests that earthing can:

*Reduce muscle pain

*Provide antioxidant protection

* Balance the hormonal system

*Oxygenate the blood

One 2010 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine concluded that ‘the body consumption of oxygen increased during grounding and stayed that way for at least 10 minutes after.’

Sleep is one of the biggest areas of ‘grounding’ research.

A recent report in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health states that:

‘…the intensity of the Earth’s potential may be important for setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body rhythms, such as cortisol secretion.’

The Victoria’s Secret, Secret?

Supermodel Miranda Kerr is a big fan of earthing: ‘ Sleeping grounded gives me sound uninterrupted sleep. I awake feeling refreshed even with all my traveling,’ she said recently.

Just to clarify, Miranda isn’t talking about resting her head on a grassy playing field.

Sleeping ‘grounded’ means connecting to the earth using a conductive mattress pad or sheets.

In one recent study, twelve subjects with complaints of sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress were grounded to the earth in such a way.

After eight weeks researchers reported that ‘grounding the human body to earth …improves sleep and reduces pain and stress.’

In another study, 85% of participants reported that they fell asleep quicker, 93% reported sleeping better, and 100% reported feeling more rested when they woke up.

Getting a good night isn’t just good for our general health and vitality, it may help fight against cancer.

Professor David Spiegel from Stanford University has found that when cortisol rhythm is thrown off by troubled sleep, it can make a person more cancer-prone.

In a recent Daily Mail article he said:

‘Although having cancer might be something to lose sleep over, we’d rather help people regain the sleep and lose the cancer.’

Living in cold wet London, it’s not always easy – or appealing – to get grounded.

So I try and get my fill of free electrons whenever I’m back in Perth,  by running barefoot on the beach and wandering around the garden with Mum.

She’s out there everyday barefoot, pottering around as the dogs eat their dinner; picking herbs for her juice; and surveying the work that needs to be done before her youngest child’s 21st and oldest child’s marriage.

Two occasions which Mum is eternally grateful that she’ll be there to celebrate.

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week 58

Rebounding

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Laura

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Marcus Freudenmann, producer of the hit film CANCER is Curable NOW.

Freudenmann and his wife Sabrina, a naturopathic doctor, traveled the world with their four children for almost three years interviewing the world’s leading cancer experts.

Their aim was to create a film that would ‘wake-up the world’ to natural cancer treatments.

The eye-opening documentary has sold over 50,000 copies since its release in 2011 and Freudenmann has been inundated with messages from doctors around the globe, who want to know more about his research and be involved in his work.

I recommend the film to anyone with cancer. It provides an instant hit of hope and in 90 minutes you are clued-up on a host of groundbreaking therapies, available right now.

But the movie is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Marcus’ wealth of knowledge – as anyone who reads his regular newsletter knows.

Whether you’re talking ozone therapy and hyperthermia or emotional healing and toxic relationships Marcus knows his stuff. He’s also full of great practical advice for cancer patients; and he is a big fan of rebounding:

For the last few months Mum has been spending about 10-20 minutes – every other day – jumping on a mini trampoline. So what are the benefits? I asked Marcus…

Marcus Freudenmann

‘It’s the best thing you can do,’ he says. ‘Jumping activates your lymph system, which is so important for flushing toxins out of the body.’

‘Increasing lymph circulation also gets white blood cells moving – which are critical for cleaning out your system and also killing cancer cells.’

Unlike the circulatory system, which is pumped by the heart, it takes physical movement to get the lymph system going.

‘For a lot of people the lymph system is completely stagnant,’ says Marcus,  ’It doesn’t move because it’s only transported by muscle movement and by gravity.’

‘So rebounding is really helpful, especially for those with breast cancer because it stimulates lymphatic drainage around the breast tissue,’ says Freudenmann.

Rebounding is also one of the best exercises to oxygenate the blood – something so vital for those recovering from cancer.

Mum supercharges her work-out by putting an oxygen mask on while she jogs on the tramp.

So what does Marcus think of this combination?

‘Perfect,’ he says. ‘Oxygen should never be used in a stand still position like sitting on the couch, that can actually be detrimental. You should only breathe in oxygen [from a machine] while you do exercise.’

‘So rebounding plus oxygen is a great combination, rebounding also strengthens your bones, helps detoxify the body and makes you happy!’

He’s not wrong. Bouncing on a trampoline makes you feel about five years old again.

It takes you back to a time of simple pleasures, when you became lost in the moment – trying to double bounce a friend, or imagining you were an olympic gymnast (Incidentally Dr. Harry Sneider helped raise the profile of rebounding in 1984 when he added it to the US olympic athletes regime).

As a kid, when it got too hot outside we used to put a sprinkler underneath the tramp for an added thrill. It made it like a slippery, tramp/slide and provided HOURS of entertainment.

But who knew it was so beneficial?

According to a recent piece by the Underground Health Reporter, rebounding can: fend off aging, re-energize your whole body, and may even prevent cancer.

Ty Bollinger, author of Cancer – Step Outside the Box, is similarly enthusiastic about this simple exercise. He says: ‘All of the body’s cells become stronger in response to the increased ‘G forces’ during rebounding,’

While jogging on hard surfaces can put stress on your ankles and knees, jumping on a trampoline strengthens your joints without the risk of damaging them.

It also provides a great way to spy on your neighbours, according to Fi Cotter-Craig author of The Middle Class ABC: A Loo Book.

You don’t need gym gear to get jumping (although the more bosomly might prefer a sports bra) or, indeed good weather.

In England, winter is quickly closing in and I’ve found trampolining is a an easy way to get a quick exercise fix. When my eyes start to swim in the face of a half-written feature and my mind turns to mush I know it’s time to get outside and give my lymph system a boost.

Recently my boyfriend caught me on camera, having a quick tramp break.

At first I demanded the footage be deleted, and then I thought it might make an amusing blog addition. So in the spirit of sharing, click on this link: The lady is a tramp

To watch how the professionals do it, click here

CANCER is curable NOW is now on tour in Australia!  Marcus and his wife Sabrina will be presenting their cutting edge research to audience in Perth on Sunday November 4th and on the Sunshine Coast Sunday 28th October. Click here for more details.

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week 57

Find Your Passion

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Laura

Mum and one of her charges

‘I’ve never felt happier or healthier,’ Mum said to me the other day. She had just come in from her third dog walk of the day; she’s looking after four of them at the moment. ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’ I said. ‘When does everyone get back from holiday?’

‘Oh it’s fine,’ Mum said. ‘I’m getting lots of oxygen and vitamin D, and as Caroline Myss says, you’ve got to become a verb, not a noun, if you want to heal. You’ve got to get off your butt and get moving.’

Mum now admits that prior to her diagnosis she was just going through the motions: she had lost her passion for life.

She had forgone a career to look after four children and was left stymied with indecision when we all left home. Mum felt unfulfilled, but didn’t know where to look for inspiration.

Ironically, cancer has renewed her lust for life. She has always been passionate about alternative health and in the last eighteen months she’s been invited to share her knowledge and experience through various radio shows and seminars.

So how important is it for us to have a passion in our life?

‘That’s why we’re here!’ says Bryan Hubbard, co-editor of What Doctor’s Don’t Tell You. ‘It’s our soul purpose for being on this planet, there’s no other reason to be here.’

A few months ago I interviewed Bryan about his new book Time-Light. The central idea is that when we allow ourselves to get weighed down by past experiences we become ‘Time Heavy’: his book offers a roadmap for how to become more Time-Light.

Here is a little more about it…

What sparked this idea that we can become ‘time heavy’?

‘There were a number of factors… one was my father’s death. There was nothing physically wrong with him, but there was just this sense that he had ‘had enough of life.’ He quite literally rolled over in his bed and decided to die.

And it’s not an unusual phenomenon, I mean there are many people who say my mother or father… just felt they had enough of being alive.

We all know it happens, and yet we’re told that our genes and our DNA determines how long we live.  But to me it’s fairly clear, we are imbued with a spirit or energy that determines so much.

I could tell you about my own mother… She was diagnosed with late stage breast cancer a few years ago – and given a few months to live. With the help of her doctor, Patrick Kingsley, she radically changed her diet, gave up the white bread etc, and started having high dose intravenous vitamin C and hydrogen peroxide. Four months later? She was completely cured.

But there was more to it than that. It was the first time our family really rallied around her and expressed our great love for Mum, and I’m sure that had as much to do with her cancer reversal as the actual treatment.’

Can you explain what it is to be ‘time heavy’?

‘Life experiences way you down in such a way that that spirit flickers and then seems to almost go out. It affects all of us, to a greater or lesser extent, when we can’t live in the present moment because our mind is too full of the past.’

What signs or symptoms might alert us to the fact we need to lighten up?

‘The everyday ones are depression, anxiety, being very snappy with people, being impatient, not being able to control your temper, being up and down – obviously sometimes those things have a biochemical cause, but what I’m talking about is like a metaphysical malaise – so taking antidepressant pills won’t touch it.’

How does your theory relate to something like cancer?

‘There are many reasons for cancer.

If you’re a heavy smoker that will have a biochemical effect that causes cancer, but you also might ask ‘why are you smoking in the first place?’

If you live next to a nuclear power plant then it might come as no surprise when you develop cancer. So these are just straight cases of cause and effect – nothing to do with psychological issues.

But beyond that then you are dealing with other issues. And it is not dealing with these issues – the anger, the unresolved issues, the lack of fulfilment – that will manifest as disease, cancer being one of them.’

In your book you talk of us all having a ‘potential self’ what do you mean by that?

‘The potential is the most interesting part of the self, it’s the one that says ‘When are you going to be glorious?’ ‘When are you going to be a triumph and really express yourself in this world ?’ ‘ When are you going to love fully enough and be loved fully enough.’

When this aspect is dampened down, invariably by the past again, then that can sometimes be a cause of cancer.

A friend of ours, Dr Bernie Siegel, has done so much work on this.

The first thing he says to a patient is ‘what do you really want to do with your life, that you’ve never done?’

It doesn’t have to be amazing, like ‘build the Taj Mahal’ it can be something like ‘I always wanted to paint but… ‘I never felt there was time,’ or ‘I never felt I was good enough,’ or ‘my parents never encouraged it.’

Bernie will say ‘well paint!’ From today, give yourself that present of painting and that is part of that expression of the glorious self.

And when you’re in touch with that?

Hey presto, you’re powerful. And then suddenly the need for the cancer might go away, because the purpose of the cancer is always to point at something. In Bernie’s experience when you’re finally expressing yourself and doing what you love, the cancer often vanishes.’

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But sometimes despite everything it doesn’t.

In the last six months Mum has had to say goodbye to two special people to cancer. Both tried everything conventional and alternative medicine had to offer – including exploring the emotional/spiritual side of healing.

As Carolyn Myss so beautifully puts it in ‘Why People Don’t Heal and How they Can’ sometimes it’s just time for the spirit to be called home.

 

Bryan Hubbard and his wife Lynne McTaggart have just launched a glossy, newsstand version of their popular journal What Doctor’s Don’t Tell You. It’s available at supermarkets and WH Smiths.

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week 56

‘Black Salve Saved my Life’

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Laura

This is the product the pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know about. It’s a remedy so simple anyone can make it at home. It’s been around since the 12th century and when applied topically it selectively kills cancer cells according to experts. Many claim it’s been a lifesaver. One of them is Livia, from Perth, Western Australia.

Here is her story, in her own words:

‘A few years ago a mole appeared between my breasts and in 2007 it started to attract my attention. It started to itch like crazy.

The mole looked like a miniscule bunch of grapes, very small – maybe a centimetre in size. I went to the doctor and he said, ‘No worries Livia, it’s nothing.’

But I knew something wasn’t right. I showed it to a friend of mine, June and she suggested I rub something called ‘Black Salve’ onto it. She said: ‘Look Livia, you have nothing to lose, if it’s nothing the black salve won’t have any affect and if it’s something more serious, the black salve will take it away.’

Within twenty-four hours of putting the paste on I could feel something happening. There was a very mild burning, a sort of drawing feeling. The next day the redness around the mole had gone from being two centimetres to five centimetres.

June got in touch with a man in America who regularly consults with experienced doctors, and she emailed him a photo of my chest. He said, ‘Definitely put the paste on again. Leave it for three to four days – no more than that – put it all over the redness this time, not just on the little spot.’

Three days later I thought ‘Oh my God.’ This thing grew bigger and bigger, it looked like a spider with legs and I thought ‘Christ what’s going on!’ I didn’t want to go to the doctor because I thought he would kill me for trying this ‘crazy’ therapy!

But my friend – and the consultant – both reassured me. The two of them were supervising me the whole time. I went to the chemist and bought a large gauze patch, to cover the sore on my skin. At this stage, there was a pulling sensation and a bit of pain and I could see that something was coming out. I took some painkillers so I wasn’t so uncomfortable.

By the fifth day this thing was like, no joke, the size of a dinner roll. It was like another breast.

I put the paste and gauze on one last time and the man in America said: ‘Don’t worry, no more paste [after this] just leave the gauze, leave it for 24 hours, you will find that everything will come out. Don’t be concerned with the hole that you will be left with, because within three days it will heal.’

By the way this man we were speaking to in America? It was free to contact him. He never asked for a cent.

So anyway by the fifth day this thing was huge, and it was painful, pussy and disgusting. It was monstrous.

On the fifth day I called my friend and said ‘look I’m coming over.’ It was 11pm at night but I said I’m coming over and I’m staying with you. My husband didn’t mind.

It was nearly midnight and we were emailing the American guy and he said ‘take that gauze off, don’t worry it will heal.’ You had to see it. It was like a piece of meat – red with roots.

But as soon as this thing came off  the pain disappeared.

Interestingly, I hadn’t been able to breathe properly for three years. I was constantly catching my breath and I didn’t know why. But as soon as this thing came off, I could breathe freely.

My friend had the special hermetically sealed container ready to go – to have the tissue lab tested immediately.

I was told to put [food grade] hydrogen peroxide on the wound on my chest. I did that three or four times a day and it wasn’t painful at all.

Three days later, you would not believe it! My breast had almost completely healed. Now all I have is a tiny white mark – as if I had had an operation and had stitches. It’s miniscule.

The man in America – and the experts he consults with – believed it was the worst melanoma they had ever seen. He said I would have lost two breasts and maybe my life. But instead I used the black salve for five days – and had three days of healing. I tell this story to everyone. It saved my life.

We really wanted to get the ‘tumour’ lab tested, but even though we took it to the doctor within hours they said it ‘wasn’t live’ and they ‘couldn’t test it.’

What a joke! The biggest lie ever.

When I told my doctor about what happened he thought I was nuts. But to his credit he is actually now reading up about the black salve and told me a few months ago  ‘Well there’s something here I’ve got to admit it.’

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A little while later, it was discovered that June’s daughter-in-law had a skin cancer on the back of her hand. ‘Cutting into it would have damaged many nerves so she tried the black salve which worked beautifully,’ says June.

They went to the specialist, had tests done and she was cancer free. Weeks after that, black salve was  banned in Australia.

To listen to testimonies from others and to find out how to make Black Salve go to:

One Answer to  Cancer (www.oneanswertocancermovie.com)

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