Tips for Detoxifying Your Body After Chemotherapy and Radiation Treatments

Once you are strong enough, detoxifying your body after cancer treatment is an essential part of your healing journey.   Chemotherapy and radiation can overload your system with excess toxins as can the residue of dead cancer cells.  Here I have listed what I feel are the key first steps in the detoxification process.

Eliminate junk food and eat a whole foods diet

Not only is this the essential element of any detoxification process, it is the first place to begin when rebuilding your immune system, the key to remaining cancer free.  I strongly suggest eating an all-organic diet.  To begin the process of converting to an organic diet, refer to the “Clean 15, Dirty Dozen” which lists the foods most and least affected by pesticide contamination.

Maintain Hydration

Consuming water greatly aids in the detoxification process after treatment.  Ensure that your water is filtered to eliminate possible toxins that your water may contain.  Herbal teas are also wonderful to help the cleansing process. Examples include Dandelion Root tea that aids in liver detoxification and Green Tea.  Green Tea contains the catechin Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) as well as other polyphenols which help rid your body of free radicals.

Juicing

Consuming fresh-pressed juices floods your body with easily digestible nutrients that help flush away toxins and heal damaged tissue.  When it comes to diet, juicing may be the most beneficial food for detoxifying.  It is important to gradually introduce juicing in to your diet.  As mentioned, juicing floods the system with nutrients that can be very detoxifying.  Gradually introducing juices allows your detoxification process to run smoothly by not overwhelming your system.

I would like to note that although the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables are great, juicing does eliminate the bulk of fiber content from these foods

Maintain adequate fiber in your diet.

  • Fiber slows down digestion with the result that glucose enters our system gradually reducing spikes in blood sugar.
  • Fiber absorbs toxins and aids in their elimination.
  • Fiber is essential for a healthy gut flora.  A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and legumes is essential for adequate fiber intake.

Exercise

Exercise stimulates your body increasing blood flow rate and aiding lymphatic circulation.  This in turn aids in detoxification. Exercising also helps to keep weight within an ideal range.  Excess fat may harbour unwanted toxins.  Rebounding, walking, yoga and Tia Chi are examples of good exercises to take part in after treatments as you build back your strength.

Detoxifying Baths

A detox bath is one of the easiest and most enjoyable therapies to encourage the body to eliminate toxins.   A simple recipe is one part Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) with 2 parts Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) added to warm running water.

Sleep

During sleep the body repairs, rejuvenates and detoxifies.  Aiming for 7-8 hours of good sleep each night will greatly aid the detoxification process.

Detoxifying your Environment

Skin care products and household cleaning products are laden with toxins.  Consider replacing these with natural products. Remember that toxins enter our system in many ways including through breathing and by penetrating our skin. I also highly recommend replacing your plastic storage containers in favour of glassware.

Try incorporating as many of these detoxifying tips in to your healing protocol as they will help to relieve many symptoms of toxic load including fatigue, digestive issues and headaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating Certain Nuts may Fight Cancer

Nuts as a whole offer a good source of essential fatty acids, protein and fiber as well as vitamins and minerals. Unless allergies are a concern, they are always a component of my dietary recommendations.

Nature has provided nuts, as well as seeds and legumes, with defense mechanisms intended to allow them to grow until maturity. Enzyme inhibitors and phytic acids are 2 such mechanisms that can strain digestion and cause malabsorption of nutrients. Soaking nuts, as well as seeds and legumes allows for the breakdown of the phytic acids as well as encouraging the production of beneficial enzymes thus rendering them much more bioavailable to us.

The process is an easy one. Cover nuts with good quality water and let sit, covered for 12-24 hours. After elapsed time, rinse nuts well and they are ready to be consumed or used in recipes. You can also dehydrate them to remove the added moisture.

As a disease targeting food, specific types of nuts appear to offer nutrient profiles more beneficial for impeding cancer growth than their common counterparts. In the video  that I have posted here, courtesy of NutritionFacts.org, Michael McGregor M.D. (@nutrition_facts) provides research that indicates that the stars in the nut family for fighting cancer are walnuts and pecans.

#nuts #cancer #nutrition

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TCM Improves Quality of Life for Cancer Patients

Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, has been practiced in China for over 2,500 years and incorporates such modalities as acupuncture and massage therapy to alleviate symptoms such as fatigue, pain, anxiety and depression. When used as part of cancer protocols, cancer patients have experience relief from gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue and a lessening of the anxiety associated with diagnosis. In summary, patients have experienced an overall improvement in their quality of life.

This study serves to highlight the growing understanding that a truly comprehensive cancer protocol must include a focus on the whole person, not just the disease that they have. Cancer patients need to attend to their emotional and lifestyle aspects of self as well as their bodies when diagnosed with cancer.

Truly making inroads to healing from cancer will be best served when the paths of allopathic and alternative therapies merge and patients are treated from a whole body approach.  

Nondrug Intervention

Oncobiome: The New Frontier of Cancer Research?

A newer area of study in cancer research further points to the importance of working to cultivate our microbiome. Termed the Oncobiome, research is uncovering how certain bacteria may strengthen our immune system aiding in the fight against cancer.  This area of study continues to underline what researchers in various other areas of health study are finding.  Our microbiome plays a significant role in our health.  And this takes us back to square one.  The majority of our microbiome resides in our gut.  It plays a significant role in our intestinal health, metabolism and immunity. Fed well our microbiome is our friend.  Starved for proper nutrients the delicate balance between our good and bad microbes tips in the wrong direction and opens the door for disease.  A healthy microbiome is cultivated by a good diet and appropriate lifestyle choices and it is far easier to achieve this before disease sets in.

 

gut bateria

what's next?

Tapping Out

For those looking from the outside in, it is reasonable to assume that the toughest part of a cancer diagnosis is the treatments that a patient must go through. This may very well be the case. But perhaps an overlooked aspect of a cancer patient’s protocol is what to do when treatments are completed. More people are surviving cancer today and while the focus has justifiably been on the treatment aspect of disease there is an ever-growing need to attend to the surviving patient. Both on the emotional front and on a going forward basis we, as cancer survivors, must come to terms with life after treatment. And this can be a daunting task. Stacking the odds in our favour to prevent reoccurrence comes from addressing the very same pillars of Holistic Health we look to when striving for optimum health; our body, mind and soul. Our after cancer care protocol must focus on nutrients to strengthen our immune system and reduce inflammation as well as cultivating positive lifestyle and exercise habits to further encourage our good health. Perhaps if post care cancer protocols were incorporated routinely we would not only be seeing the trend of greater survival numbers but also we might just see a trend towards diminishing numbers of reoccurrence. Cancer found a breeding ground in us once. We cannot allow ourselves to perpetuate the same circumstances after fighting so hard. We must be diligent forever thus. There is no tapping out when it comes to beating cancer.