Creating Health in 2009: Updating Your Relationship with Food to Bullet-Proof Yourself Against Disease

Today we welcome in a new year. It’s a time for dreaming, visioning and creating a plan for making your life what you want it to be. Don’t let fear and uncertainty stop you from pursuing your dream. Don’t have a dream? Now’s the time to do some soul searching and discover your passion. What is it that juices you more than anything? What would you do night and day just for fun that you can turn into your life’s work? There’s a book called The Passion Test, by Janet and Chris Attwood that can help you to identify your true passion and begin to live your life to its fullest.

While it feels like the year 2008 literally flew by, and I certainly did not complete all the projects I had  planned, as I look back and reflect upon the events of the past 12 months, I am awed by the many changes and accomplishments that I’ve experienced in such a short time. Some of my 2008 experiences were very painful. Others were fulfilling and rewarding.

I spent an emotional afternoon on New Years Eve, one which, like many of the other events of 2008, reinforced to me the importance of my life’s mission.

As cancer and surgery touched my life quite intimately this year, I began to really appreciate both the gift of health and its fragile nature as well.

I watched helplessly as my younger sister Cathy was diagnosed with lymphoma, which took her life within 3 months.

I so wanted to guide her back to health, but my approach of diet and lifestyle change was so foreign to her and the medical approach felt so safe that she turned her care over to the hospital staff and closed herself off from alternatives. I felt angry and betrayed by their ignorance of basic nutritional science.

During my 8 day round the clock stay at Cathy’s bedside, I learned with horror how little the medical staff actually knows about restoring health. They are masters at the mechanics of repairing broken body parts, cutting out unwanted growths, and stitching things back together. But when it comes to rebuilding the broken immune system,balancing body chemistry to safeguard against disease and strengthening the body, mind and spirit, they are seriously lagging in technology.

My experience this afternoon brought me back to the frustration I felt at Cathy’s bedside. I spent the day at the bedside of a 15 year old boy, a good friend battling for his life against cancer. He’s had the surgery, chemo and radiation and his parents decided to take him home and build his immune system using alternative therapies, such as Qi Gong, energy healing and nutrition.

The family set up a hospital bed in the dining room and are providing round the clock care for their son. He’s on a feeding tube that goes directly into the small intestine, and he was prescribed a pre-packaged nutritional formula, the same one as my sister was prescribed. The ingredients confirm a complete lack of understanding of the digestive process and nutritional needs of a cancer patient. With such ingredients as corn syrup, canola and corn oils and soy and milk protein, all implicated in the causation of cancer, how can a cancer patient be expected to rebuild and repair?

My friend and I are brainstorming other options, like wheat grass juice, E3 Live and green juices, and we’reconsulting with an expert in the area of cancer nutrition, Dr. Thomas Lodi in Arizona. I am so inspired by the videos on his site.

I also suggested that they try the Healing Codes, an energy system developed by Dr. Alex Loyd and promoted by Dr. Ben Johnson, MD, NMD, DO. They have lots of testimonials from people who’ve been helped with cancers of various types.

While it’s nice to know that there are doctors who specialize in helping people with cancer to restore their health, like Dr’s Lodi, Loyd and Johnson, and many others, including Dr. Brian Clement at the Hippocrates Institute in Florida, I’d much rather see you prevent cancer in the first place. It’s easier to build your immune system and create a fortress to protect you from cancer than to treat it after it takes hold.

I for one am tired of seeing my close friends and family members becoming afflicted with cancer and other debilitating diseases. This year has been a challenge for me as I watched close friends and family members deal with lymphoma, sinus cancer, breast cancer, a brain tumor, depression, diabetes, lupus and substance abuse. Many of these and other serious health challenges can be prevented and reversed through dietary and lifestyle balance.

A diet high in greens and living foods is a great starting point, along with balancing body chemistry through  targeted nutritional supplementation, herbs and energy work.  It helps to get coached by a trained practitioner, knowledgable about the medical science, nutritional biochemistry and fresh, whole foods diet.

Adrenal fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, autoimmune disorders and cancer can all be prevented through diet and lifestyle, including exercise, positive attitude,  a gluten free diet, lots of greens and raw and living foods.

It’s estimated that more than one in three people will get cancer during their lives. Don’t wait to become a statistic. Stop disease before it starts. I’ll be posting a series of videos, audios and written materials over the next few weeks to help you bullet proof your immune system. They are part of my soon to be announced Stepping Stones to Vibrant Health Program.

Everyone who signs up for the Stepping Stones to Vibrant Health VIP notification list will receive access to these audio and video resources.

My next blog post will be my special list — Best of 2008 – resources to make 2009 your healthiest year ever.

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If you found this article useful and would like more articles on the management of disease through nutrition, especially fresh, living green foods, write a comment in the box below.  Let me know what topics are of most interest to you.  If you have any important cancer resources, let me know and I’ll include it in my resource list.

I wish you Love, Peace and Joy in the New Year .

Dr. Ritamarie