Hi fellow bar hoppers. I wanted to write about anti-cancer foods so I thought it would be a good chance to share some of my story and what brought me here today to writing the dailygreenbar. 
My story started in 95 with really invasive right temporal lobe surgery for a malignant brain tumour- an astocytoma/glioma. I was lucky that it was low grade and discovered fairly early. I’ve always been fairly sensitive to what’s going on in my body and any changes -especially any affecting my brain!  The intensive radiotherapy combined with a long list of prescription medication culminated in nearly dying in 2004 after a medication/low sodium related seizure where I woke up in ICU intubated after being in a coma for 2 days. 

August 2004 After a few scans I went home a fortnight later. I had a broken left foot after falling over in a hallway after a reaction to a new anti-convulsant that also gave me hallucinations. You can only laugh in hindsight. So I was sent home with all the same meds I’d been prescribed previously and a different just in case anticonvulsant. 
I went back home…back to the bed that I was unable to get out of for the previous 2 years because of a severely depressed nervous system and seriously toxic body/brain that had never been given the chance to fully recover…

so that was my life back then- the highlight of my day was the knock on the door signalling the arrival of the daily cocktail of addictive opiate painkillers and diazepam…they were my assurance that the mental pain and anguish of my life would be vanquished for another day. These had been delivered to my door on the GP’s instructions for years…

I was also prescribed and taking for years along with the opiates just in case anticonvulsants, just in case anti osteoporosis tabs (early undiagnosed early menopause from radiotherapy) and tabs for high prolactin also from radiotherapy that had psychotic side effects…and   as a result of this medication I had tablets for an ulcerated oesophagus… 

so back to August 2004- after being home for about a week and basically unable to stay awake for any length of time or even to concentrate enough to read (and I read SO many books during these bed years!) I woke up one morning, looked over at the envelope of tablets and decided to stop taking EVERY medication I was on…I’ve always loved a challenge! 

I took control, rang the chemist and told him I didn’t need any tabs that day…and made one last visit to doctor just for clarification on when I started certain medication as I had no memory of when I was first prescribed Endone oxycodone, MS Contin morphine tabs then finally Physeptone…which for me was really the lifestopper.  Physeptone is an opioid analgesic methadone tablet that are used for pain relief. All opioid painkillers are addictive and have severe side effects- just because they’re prescribed by the friendly family doctor doesn’t make them any less harmful. 

September 2004 Within 2 weeks I had what I describe as a black fog lifting out of my head and there I was…back- me back in my body and head for the first time in almost 10 years! I got out of bed, moved the TV back to the loungeroom and started thinking about every hospital and doctor visit I’d ever had since I was diagnosed and knew exactly what was missing and why I had lost 10 years of my life to this stupid lump in my brain. Obviously what I was feeling for the first time in years was some rage, indignation and anger-no not bitterness or regret but just a fight back/take control feeling that was empowering and made me want to be a survivor rather than a victim…

As my brain started clearing and rational thought and logic kicked back in I started thinking about the 3 previous admissions to hospital for low sodium and absolutely nothing ever being said to me about food/sodium/nutrition. I dragged out all the books I had on nutrition and healthy food, some going back to when I was 17- when I was making alfalfa sprouts, my own bread and torturing my family with lentil casserole… and I started researching first sodium then all the healthiest foods on the planet that I should be eating. I knew I needed healing and food was the best place to start. 
I also needed some answers to some really big questions.

Fruit, wholegrains, seeds and leafy greens were high on my healthy foods list…I started eating healthy whole food, drank lots of water and started walking…outside and then round the block for 5-10 minutes then increasing it daily to 40 minutes. I had  an initial detox that seemed to last a few months combined with giving up coffee withdrawal- my usual morning before coma in 2004 was wake up get the tablets down then make strong espresso in  the bialetti to try and stay awake and maintain basic functions. I’d drink a huge mug of espresso with milk and about 10 or more nutrasweet tablets….I decided to go completely dairy free a short time after giving up coffee. 

I also went to the neurologist to have the epilepsy issue sorted- I’d been on a restricted driver’s license since the operation when I was automatically prescribed anti-convulsants- for just in case of epilepsy which is normal when you have a brain tumour. The EEG test showed what I thought- I didn’t have any form of epilepsy…the only seizures I’d had were a blackout 6 weeks before diagnosis and the low sodium seizure in 2004.The year after my operation I had small temporal lobe seizures which were changes in consciousness- smell taste hearing music etc but the daily medication I took for 10 years was worse than the actual fleeting moment of something weird going on in your brain. I haven’t had anything like these since 2005 and being medication free… and the EEG proved this.
That’s what brought me finally to green smoothies- wanting to feel even more alive at the end of 2008 after going back to work in 2007. I felt there was more I could do- on mind/body/health and what I was eating, craving and stress/energy levels etc 
SO the research began again for healthier fresh raw options and I discovered green smoothies.I hope my story explains why I can sometimes appear to be critical of mainstream medicines complete disregard and ignorance of nutrition and whole body healthiness…and as I’ve always said “There’s more ways to go into a house than through the front door.” Ok hope you’ve made it this far! I could have expanded this (well 10 years is a long time) and made it into a 3 part series but there are other blogs waiting to be written. 
My prescription for general good health and happiness? Green smoothies!!

Cancer and green smoothies ? Eating fruit and vegetables every day reduces risks of getting cancer but which ones have the best anti-cancer properties and what do they have to do with green smoothies?
Here’s the science. They’re called anti-angiogenic and they are cancer fighting because they contain naturally-occurring compounds known as angiogenesis inhibitors. Angiogenesis inhibitors stop the spread of cancer by preventing tumours from creating new blood vessels. Without new blood vessels, the tumours cannot survive…biotech companies are starting to look into this and add elements to cancer drugs…
These anti-angiogenic foods includeGreens-kale parsley bokchoy broccoli Fruit/berries-orange red grapes blueberries strawberries cherries raspberries blackberries cranberries pineapple apple lemon Green tea ginger and dark chocolate 
Does this list sound a bit familiar? Yes it should because these are some of the main ingredients of a green smoothie..except the dark chocolate of course but hey we always be adaptable! No surprise that green smoothies are getting such a big wrap by daily drinkers and healthy food advocates. I wonder what it will take for the dieticians, nutritionists, GP’s, doctors and oncologists to get on board…
“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison.” Dr. Ann Wigmore

the daily green bar-green smoothies: anti-cancer green smoothie and my story

Tags: hallucinations, only seizures I, body brain, radiotherapy

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