genglob magazine

Cancer or the ‘Big C’, as it is fearfully referred to, is no longer considered a death sentence. The number of individuals who have survived cancer has considerably increased over the years. Certain adult cancers have a survival rate of 70% or more, while a few childhood cancers may boast of a greater cure rate.

Surviving cancer requires a great deal of strength, endurance and courage. While cancer can change lives for ever, it can also be viewed as an experience that may help an individual to grow in different ways. Appreciation of self and others is at the centre of this change and,in this context, cancer survivors learn to acknowledge their bodies and their health in a better way. It will be important for them to appreciate the new lease of life and to take better care of themselves, in all ways possible.

Most often treatments like radiation, chemotherapy and surgery are required to bring cancer under control; nevertheless, the root cause is never addressed. Besides, these treatments exhaust the patients and mar their quality of life. This is where naturopathy can help to bring relief from the ‘body–racking’ side effects and to restore the individual’s overall health.

Naturopathy is a complimentary branch of medicine that makes use of natural and safe therapies. It upholds detoxification as the first step towards recovery from cancer. Naturopathy recommends 5 natural steps, which are dealt with in the following sessions.

Stage 1 – Toxic Lifestyle

If fully / highly toxic, you need to get de- numbed,as toxicity often leaves people numb towards their reactions to the world.

• If you are smoking, work on stopping that habit.
• Avoid excessive alcohol /coffee consumption. These overload your liver
• Ensure enough sleep everyday
• Exercise regularly

Stage 2 – Healthy Eating

More attention must be paid to what you eat.

• Go for a fruit/ vegetable- rich diet. By adding more vegetables and fruits, you are giving your body fiber for detoxification and necessary nutrients for both detoxification and healing.
• Water is the medium that transports toxins out of the body and nutrients into the elimination organs.
• Most meat are full of antibiotics, hormones and pesticides, due to the manner in which they are bred and grown. Besides, the meat also contains stress chemicals secreted by the animals while being slaughtered.
• Allergens place the body in a constant fighting state; by definition, allergens are foreign substances that the body rejects. When your body constantly wastes energy fighting allergens, its energy stores will be depleted when time to heal or detoxify arrives.
• Avoid alcohol, coffee and regular tea; these will only help to over-load your liver (the major elimination organ).
• Avoid condiments sauces, mustard, ketchup, Worcester sauce, MSG, steak, BBQ, chili shrimp and soy sauce, pickled vegetables, relishes, salad dressings (unless homemade).

These will affect the liver and the kidneys, therefore slowly shutting down all your elimination apparatus.

Stage 3 – Organ Repair

This stage involves repair done to the 2 major detoxification organs which are affected by the medical procedures involved in treating cancer.

The liver, besides many other functions, is responsible for breaking down medications (anesthetics, chemotherapeutic, drugs, radiation effects, etc.). Once the liver gets clogged, it cannot continue detoxifying the body of all the remaining toxins.

The best way to balance and rejuvenate the liver is through 2 phases:

• By draining or cleaning up its toxins
• By strengthening and boosting its powers through Supportive Therapy.

The body’s ability to protect itself from toxic substances and the body’s ability to heal are both dependent on the integrity of the intestinal lining. Allopathic treatments often lead to intestinal damage, like increased intestinal permeability, thereby allowing increased absorption of pathogens, allergens and toxins. This process results in putting more stress on the immune system, decreasing its ability to focus on healing.

The intestinal damage is corrected in 2 stages:

• Eliminate/ clean up all pathogens (yeast, pesticides, pathogenic bacteria, etc.) and also all the damage caused by allopathic treatments.
• Restore the normal, friendly bowel flora

Once these stages are completed, you need to re- evaluate your medications for symptoms such as pain or depression.

Are they all necessary?

Remember: Drugs are chemicals that need to be metabolized by the liver; they cause side effects because the end products of their metabolism are toxins.

One example of over -prescribed medications are antibiotics.

Considering that most infections are viral, antibiotics are none other than toxins!, There are many natural alternatives(homeopathics, herbs, nutritional supplements), that work by addressing the cause of your problem.

Eliminating Toxins -Stage 4.

This stage of your natural recovery involves preparation of emunctories (=elimination organs). Before pouring toxins out of the cells into the blood, the patient must “open the gates “; so the toxins will leave the body completely.

If the toxins continue being circulated in the blood, they cause degeneration, or get deposited in fat tissues.

Restoring Detox Organs- Stage 5

Restoring the liver and the intestine may be done by re directing toxin elimination through the skin rather than through the usual route

In this stage, it must be ensured that the elimination organs are strong enough to handle all toxicity and that they continue keeping up with the body’s demands.

The best way to support the major detoxification organs is:

• By giving them a rest. This can be done by re- directing toxin elimination through the skin rather than the usual route.
• Saunas, sweat inducing exercises (aerobic) and niacin therapyare some methods by which this can be achieved.
• Another way of “resting” your digestive elimination organs is by mimicking a fast. Digestive enzymes will help you digest without the digestive organs actually working very hard.
• By using supportive supplementation – including fibre, vitamin C , chlorophyll, other anti-oxidants and different herbs such as garlic, red clover, cayenne.

Detoxification is your first step towards cancer recovery. As a cancer survivor, remember you are a winner already! Keep going and enjoy life!