Some people have put all their faith in conventional medicine and think alternative medicine and lifestyle choices such as a whole-foods, plant-based diet; stress management; juicing; probiotics and/or essential oils couldn’t possibly have any impact on preventing or treating cancer.
Despite the growing body of evidence to the contrary, these folks won’t consider anything beyond surgery, chemotherapy or radiation as possible treatments.
They also tend to have a fatalistic attitude toward cancer and illnesses, believing that there’s no way to prevent them, so they don’t bother to exercise or eat well or reduce stress…
But we know these things work.
Thousands of studies are proving it, as are personal success stories, such as the one I want to share with you today…
Keep reading to discover the story of one man who was diagnosed with a rare cancer… and the unconventional steps he took after his diagnosis…
Continued below…
DJ and author Scott Binder was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. In 2014 he was living and working in Berlin, Germany.
In many respects his life was what we would call “normal.” He had been free from drugs and alcohol since 2000 and was relatively healthy.
His diet wasn’t horrible by average American standards. He ate meat 4 to 6 times a week, as well as carbs and indulged a big sweet tooth… nothing really out of the ordinary.
But while he was back in Seattle he saw a doctor about a lump under his jaw.
He was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) on March 5, 2014.
ACC is a rare form of salivary gland cancer that, in Scott’s case, began under his jaw and spread to his neck and chest.
It’s a relentless form of cancer that’s difficult to treat. Only about 40% of people who get ACC live for 15 years after diagnosis.(1)
The standard course of therapy for ACC is surgery, if possible, followed by radiation treatment.
Scott had surgery to remove the tumor, and initially agreed to his doctor’s recommended course of 4 weeks of radiation therapy.
“Without giving it much thought, I agreed to his suggestion,” Scott said in an interview.
“But as my mom and I left the clinic, I realized that I had just agreed to do something I didn’t believe in. I was raised to believe that natural medicine is an approach that works, so at that moment I turned my focus to finding ways I could try to heal the cancer by using this philosophy.”
He did some research into treatments options and ultimately decided to attend the Sedona Wellness Retreat in Arizona, which provides a program based on the Gerson Therapy, a whole-body approach to healing and cancer treatment based on a strict vegan diet, cold-pressed juices, supplements and coffee enemas.
He left Arizona after a few weeks, returning to Berlin. He continued to maintain the nutrition plan he started at the retreat, as well as meditating and exploring how his thoughts and attitude might help him heal.
Vegan diet and juicing for treating cancer
When the majority of your diet is fruits and vegetables you’re constantly flooding your cells with a variety of nutrients, enzymes, minerals and antioxidants that fight off degenerative diseases like cancer.
It also helps detoxify your liver and flush out harmful chemicals absorbed from toxins in the environment like pesticides and plastics.
When you’re eating and drinking fruits and veggies you’re basically eating nothing but:
- Resveratrol: a polyphenolic compound found in many plants, including grapes, that has been shown to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, induce apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells and act as a chemopreventive agent.(2)
- Curcumin: a powerful anti-inflammatory compound found in turmeric, it’s been shown to interfere with the cell signaling pathways of cancer cells, induce apoptosis and slow proliferation and metastasis in numerous kinds of cancer including head and neck (such as ACC), leukemia, breast, lung, sarcomas and more.(3)
- Anthocyanins: phytochemicals found in foods like berries, eggplants and sweet potatoes that can halt tumor formation.(4)
- Astaxanthin: a keto carotenoid found in microalgae. It’s a super powerful antioxidant that helps slow down the body’s aging process and reduces the risk of many types of cancer.(5)
This is by no means an exhaustive list. You also get a huge amount of flavonoids, polyphenols, phytonutrients and other elements that your body needs to survive and thrive.
If everything you eat and drink contains these kinds of powerhouse nutrients, and you’re not eating refined carbs and sugar, cancer cells will be either denied from the beginning or chased out in a hurry.
When Scott was diagnosed with ACC he cut out the meat and sugar and began eating a vegan diet.
“What I loved about it was I felt very clear and healthy,” he said of the vegan diet.
He was also drinking more than 10 glasses of carrot juice and green juices every day.
The benefit of juicing is that you get all the above-mentioned nutrition without the fiber. This allows you to get the nutrients without literally stuffing yourself.
Plus, in the absence of fiber the nutrients absorb into the cells and tissues faster. This is especially important for people suffering from cancer, as the body doesn’t need to use energy to break the food down to get the nutrients.
Supplements
At the Sedona Wellness Retreat part of Scott’s treatment consisted of what the Gerson therapy calls “biologicals, materials of organic origin that are suppled in therapeutic amounts.”(6)
Some of these biologicals include
- Potassium compound
- Lugol’s solution (elemental iodine and potassium iodine)
- Vitamin B12
- Thyroid hormone
- Pancreatic enzymes
While healthy individuals do not need to take a fistful of supplements every day, it’s important to ensure you’re getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals in your diet.
When following a vegan diet, a supplement of vitamin B12 is important, as only fortified foods or animal products contain this essential vitamin.
Another important supplement is probiotics, which help to keep the balance of good bacteria in your gut.
The health of your digestive tract is important not only to preventing colon cancer, but for preventing other kinds of cancer as well.
Probiotics, fruits, veggies and fermented foods such as sauerkraut feed the disease-fighting bacteria, while sugar, grains and meat feed the bad bacteria, causing many kinds of dysbiosis and disease.
Scott’s journey and spirituality
When Scott got sober he began meditating and connecting with God.
When he was diagnosed with cancer he increased his daily meditation by attending a 10-day Vipassana, or silent meditation, course.
He meditated for 8 hours a day, for 10 days.
“It was by far one of the most challenging experiences I’ve done, but also one of the most rewarding, Scott said.
“I had been meditating for about 15 years, but usually only for about 10 minutes per day. After getting back from the course, I followed the recommendation to meditate two hours per day, once in the morning and once in the evening.”
He also began to incorporate visualization into his meditation practice.
“I would picture myself growing old and seeing my children grow old,” he said.
“At the moment I don’t have children, I was simply picturing myself living the life that I wanted to create and seeing it happen.”
I wrote in Issue #530 about how studies have shown feeling spiritually connected to the world around you gives you a better chance of surviving cancer.
One such study was performed in 2015 at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Researchers found that cancer patients with a strong spiritual and/or religious belief reported better physical health while undergoing treatment.(7)
When patients are able to see their cancer experience as a challenging part of their life’s journey, they’re more likely to survive a bout of cancer while suffering less pain and fewer problematic symptoms.
This is exactly what Scott did.
He took the diagnosis and used it as a chance to start really living life as he wanted to, trying things he had been putting off, deepening his sense of connection to the world, letting go of rigid ideas and a tough exterior to allow more vulnerability into his life.
“Instead of being afraid, I realized that my diagnosis could be a blessing for me,” he said.
“What I’ve learned in life is that often when situations appear to be a negative one, they turn out being a gift, and something that helped me grow. This is why I knew cancer would be a good thing for me, no matter what happened, and no matter what happens going forward. Facing a life threatening illness puts life into perspective, and this is exactly what having cancer did for me.”
On November 25, 2014, just 8 months after he was diagnosed with ACC, Scott Binder’s doctors declared him cancer free.
Without chemotherapy.
Without radiation.
Scott beat his cancer with natural vitamins, enzymes and nutrients found in a plant-based diet and a lot of hard work in his mind that eventually healed his body.
So this stuff isn’t just theory.
It works.
Best Regards,
Lee Euler
Publisher
References:
- Adenoid cystic carcinoma. http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/facts/rare/ac/#sthash.6N3DjNYn.dpuf
- Resveratrol and Cancer: Chemoprevention, apoptosis, and chemoimmunosensitizing activities. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cmcaca/2003/00000003/00000002/art00001
- Curcumin and cancer: An “old-age” disease with an “age-old” solution. http://www.cancerletters.info/article/S0304-3835(08)00231-0/abstract
- Anthocyanins and human health: An in vitro investigative approach. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082894/
- Cancer Chemoprevention by Carotenoids. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/3/3202?trendmd-shared=1
- http://gerson.org/gerpress/the-gerson-therapy/
- Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta-analysis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26258868
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