The following letter of Mark Lipsman that was published in Spirit of Change (a Boston-area holistic magazine) about a year ago: Editor, Spirit of Change Dear Carol, It always surprises me to come across another article like the one in the last issue by Karen Dillon about her breast cancer. It surprises me to see that so many people still assume the best or only options for cancer are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (otherwise known as slash, burn, and poison). I refuse to believe that God put us here to live in fear of dread diseases and to ransom our health back from the medical profession for tens of thousands of dollars. Although Ms. Dillon was lucky, too many women are going through ordeals like hers and having their breasts cut off for no reason. The situation for men isn't much better. It's time to get the word out: cancer, like any disease, is not a random misfortune. There are reasons for these things. When you understand the reasons, you can get rid of them. I know that clammy feeling of discovering you have cancer--that something is chewing away at you every second. I've had cancer three times and have gotten rid of it each time without conventional treatment (or going to a doctor). Each time, I came to realize, it was because I wasn't following one of the guidelines below. Each time, I've learned more about it and gotten rid of it faster. I've written a long article about my experience and what I've learned, posted on a web site I created for holistic health information: goodhealthinfo.net. However, the main points are simple, and I can summarize them here. Cancer is not hard to get rid of, but there are five things you must do, and you must do them strictly. Sporadic adherence is not sufficient. 1. Cancer is a toxicity issue. Therefore, you must stop taking in more toxicity. If you're in any doubt as to what this means, see Michio Kushi's book The Cancer Prevention Diet. It means a strict vegetarian diet: organic produce and grain, no animal products, no dairy, no refined, chemicalized, or processed foods, no oil, and no sweets, caffeine, alcohol, or spices. The best way to do this that I know of is macrobiotics, because it's based on the principles of Chinese medicine and the idea of using the energy in food to promote health and help you heal. Avoiding electricity in cooking (microwaves, electric ranges) and chewing well are also helpful. 2. Besides not taking in more toxicity, you have to make sure your body is able to eliminate the toxicity that's already there. This is not as simple as having a daily bowel movement, although some people don't manage even that. It means making sure the organs are working together optimally and particularly that the liver, which eliminates toxins, and the gallbladder are functioning properly. Virtually everyone has some kind of energy blockage that needs to be fixed. The best way I know of to do this is Touch For Health, which uses applied kinesiology, also known as muscle testing, to ascertain which systems aren't working well and balance them. The goodhealthinfo.net web site contains interviews with several Boston-area practitioners and a description of muscle testing. 3. In addition to toxicity, any nutritional deficiencies must be addressed. Virtually everyone has nutritional deficiencies now, because of the poor quality of the soil in which conventional produce is grown and because most people don't eat enough produce anyway. But even organic produce doesn't have everything we need. Herbs are a good way to remedy these deficiencies. Herbs are foods, so the body assimilates them better than chemically synthesized vitamin or mineral pills. Herbs also have trace elements that promote their action, which synthetic products don't. However, herbal manufacturers are not all the same--some make much higher quality products than others. Low-quality herbs are a waste of time and money and can even be counterproductive. Muscle testing by a competent practitioner is a good way to find what you need, how much, how often, and for how long. 4. For a certain period, while the body is coming back into balance, you may need something to kill the cancer. On the web site, I list a couple of preparations I've found effective. One of them is called Cansema Tonic I, made by Alpha Omega Labs in the Bahamas (herbhealers.com). It contains chaparral, a traditional cancer remedy, along with other herbs. The only drawback is that it tastes awful and is hard on the stomach. But considering the alternative, it's not so bad. Alpha Omega also makes other remedies that may work for some people. These are good folks--they're helpful, they charge reasonable prices, and their products work. However, the idea is not to have to take something indefinitely--just long enough to give your own defenses a chance to kick in. Nature's Sunshine, another good herbal company, has an herb called paw paw that's been shown in clinical tests (if that sort of thing interests you) to reduce tumors. Other herbal products are also available and have been effective in some cases. Whether they work depends on what you need, and it's an individual matter; one size doesn't fit all. Again, muscle testing by a competent practitioner can tell if you need these things (although you may have to buy a bottle first and take it with you for testing. But if it's unopened and you don't need it, the company will usually take it back.) 5. If you follow all of the above, the pH of your blood should be alkaline, which is necessary, because cancer can't survive in an alkaline environment. How long does it take to get well? It depends on how toxic you are, how far out of balance your organs are, what energy blockages you have, and how well you adhere to these guidelines. But don't expect it to drag on indefinitely. The body is extremely forgiving, and you should expect to see changes even a day or two after beginning a macrobiotic diet. You may not feel better--you may feel worse, because the toxicity is beginning to discharge--but you should notice something. As time goes by, there'll be periods when you feel lousy, but overall, the trend should be up. Depending on the seriousness of your condition, in three to six months the cancer should be pretty much gone. The subject of discharges is worth reading up on, and again Michio Kushi, one of the foremost teachers of macrobiotics in our time, is a good source-he covers it in The Book of Macrobiotics. Ms. Dillon also mentions several times the clues she got from her face about her condition: "I . . . considered my face aged and dull . . . my eyes ringed with shadows . . . I looked old and tired . . . My face has always tattled when my body is sick." This is not coincidental. The face, like the hands, feet, and eyes, is a map of the body and reflects the condition of the organs. Chinese medicine has systematized specific and accurate diagnosis based on facial examination. Moreover, a macrobiotic diet and exercise will, over time, rejuvenate the appearance. Michio Kushi has contributed to understanding facial diagnosis with a small but invaluable book, Your Face Never Lies. Although the above should be sufficient to get rid of cancer in most cases, other factors may exacerbate the problem and may need to be addressed. These include electromagnetic radiation (cell or portable phones, computers, TV, other electronic equipment, electric blankets, heating pads, waterbed heater), aluminum cookware, mercury dental fillings, and geopathic stress (or any other kind of stress). I recall, some years ago, reading a full-page article in the Globe about the prevalence of breast cancer. One woman was quoted as saying, "We just assume we're going to get it." I felt so sorry for this poor woman. Don't assume you're going to get it, and if you do get it, don't assume you have to go the slash-burn-poison-nausea-baldness route. Can you spare a few days first to try a better way? It always reminds me of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz: she goes through the whole book trying to find a way to get back to Kansas, and at the end she learns she had the ability all along, with the witch's magic slippers. All she had to do was click her heels together three times and wish. It may be hard to believe getting rid of cancer can be that simple, but it really is if you know what to do. Remember that disease is a message about imbalance in the body resulting from improper diet, toxins in the environment, and energy blockage. As Michio Kushi put it in the title of an article, "Civilization is the disease; cancer is the cure." Regards, Mark Lipsman Dear Carol, It always surprises me to come across another article like the one in the last issue by Karen Dillon about her breast cancer. It surprises me to see that so many people still assume the best or only options for cancer are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (otherwise known as slash, burn, and poison). I refuse to believe that God put us here to live in fear of dread diseases and to ransom our health back from the medical profession for tens of thousands of dollars. Although Ms. Dillon was lucky, too many women are going through ordeals like hers and having their breasts cut off for no reason. The situation for men isn't much better. It's time to get the word out: cancer, like any disease, is not a random misfortune. There are reasons for these things. When you understand the reasons, you can get rid of them. I know that clammy feeling of discovering you have cancer--that something is chewing away at you every second. I've had cancer three times and have gotten rid of it each time without conventional treatment (or going to a doctor). Each time, I came to realize, it was because I wasn't following one of the guidelines below. Each time, I've learned more about it and gotten rid of it faster. I've written a long article about my experience and what I've learned, posted on a web site I created for holistic health information: goodhealthinfo.net. However, the main points are simple, and I can summarize them here. Cancer is not hard to get rid of, but there are five things you must do, and you must do them strictly. Sporadic adherence is not sufficient. 1. Cancer is a toxicity issue. Therefore, you must stop taking in more toxicity. If you're in any doubt as to what this means, see Michio Kushi's book The Cancer Prevention Diet. It means a strict vegetarian diet: organic produce and grain, no animal products, no dairy, no refined, chemicalized, or processed foods, no oil, and no sweets, caffeine, alcohol, or spices. The best way to do this that I know of is macrobiotics, because it's based on the principles of Chinese medicine and the idea of using the energy in food to promote health and help you heal. Avoiding electricity in cooking (microwaves, electric ranges) and chewing well are also helpful. 2. Besides not taking in more toxicity, you have to make sure your body is able to eliminate the toxicity that's already there. This is not as simple as having a daily bowel movement, although some people don't manage even that. It means making sure the organs are working together optimally and particularly that the liver, which eliminates toxins, and the gallbladder are functioning properly. Virtually everyone has some kind of energy blockage that needs to be fixed. The best way I know of to do this is Touch For Health, which uses applied kinesiology, also known as muscle testing, to ascertain which systems aren't working well and balance them. The goodhealthinfo.net web site contains interviews with several Boston-area practitioners and a description of muscle testing. 3. In addition to toxicity, any nutritional deficiencies must be addressed. Virtually everyone has nutritional deficiencies now, because of the poor quality of the soil in which conventional produce is grown and because most people don't eat enough produce anyway. But even organic produce doesn't have everything we need. Herbs are a good way to remedy these deficiencies. Herbs are foods, so the body assimilates them better than chemically synthesized vitamin or mineral pills. Herbs also have trace elements that promote their action, which synthetic products don't. However, herbal manufacturers are not all the same--some make much higher quality products than others. Low-quality herbs are a waste of time and money and can even be counterproductive. Muscle testing by a competent practitioner is a good way to find what you need, how much, how often, and for how long. 4. For a certain period, while the body is coming back into balance, you may need something to kill the cancer. On the web site, I list a couple of preparations I've found effective. One of them is called Cansema Tonic I, made by Alpha Omega Labs in the Bahamas (herbhealers.com). It contains chaparral, a traditional cancer remedy, along with other herbs. The only drawback is that it tastes awful and is hard on the stomach. But considering the alternative, it's not so bad. Alpha Omega also makes other remedies that may work for some people. These are good folks--they're helpful, they charge reasonable prices, and their products work. However, the idea is not to have to take something indefinitely--just long enough to give your own defenses a chance to kick in. Nature's Sunshine, another good herbal company, has an herb called paw paw that's been shown in clinical tests (if that sort of thing interests you) to reduce tumors. Other herbal products are also available and have been effective in some cases. Whether they work depends on what you need, and it's an individual matter; one size doesn't fit all. Again, muscle testing by a competent practitioner can tell if you need these things (although you may have to buy a bottle first and take it with you for testing. But if it's unopened and you don't need it, the company will usually take it back.) 5. If you follow all of the above, the pH of your blood should be alkaline, which is necessary, because cancer can't survive in an alkaline environment. How long does it take to get well? It depends on how toxic you are, how far out of balance your organs are, what energy blockages you have, and how well you adhere to these guidelines. But don't expect it to drag on indefinitely. The body is extremely forgiving, and you should expect to see changes even a day or two after beginning a macrobiotic diet. You may not feel better--you may feel worse, because the toxicity is beginning to discharge--but you should notice something. As time goes by, there'll be periods when you feel lousy, but overall, the trend should be up. Depending on the seriousness of your condition, in three to six months the cancer should be pretty much gone. The subject of discharges is worth reading up on, and again Michio Kushi, one of the foremost teachers of macrobiotics in our time, is a good source-he covers it in The Book of Macrobiotics. Ms. Dillon also mentions several times the clues she got from her face about her condition: "I . . . considered my face aged and dull . . . my eyes ringed with shadows . . . I looked old and tired . . . My face has always tattled when my body is sick." This is not coincidental. The face, like the hands, feet, and eyes, is a map of the body and reflects the condition of the organs. Chinese medicine has systematized specific and accurate diagnosis based on facial examination. Moreover, a macrobiotic diet and exercise will, over time, rejuvenate the appearance. Michio Kushi has contributed to understanding facial diagnosis with a small but invaluable book, Your Face Never Lies. Although the above should be sufficient to get rid of cancer in most cases, other factors may exacerbate the problem and may need to be addressed. These include electromagnetic radiation (cell or portable phones, computers, TV, other electronic equipment, electric blankets, heating pads, waterbed heater), aluminum cookware, mercury dental fillings, and geopathic stress (or any other kind of stress). I recall, some years ago, reading a full-page article in the Globe about the prevalence of breast cancer. One woman was quoted as saying, "We just assume we're going to get it." I felt so sorry for this poor woman. Don't assume you're going to get it, and if you do get it, don't assume you have to go the slash-burn-poison-nausea-baldness route. Can you spare a few days first to try a better way? It always reminds me of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz: she goes through the whole book trying to find a way to get back to Kansas, and at the end she learns she had the ability all along, with the witch's magic slippers. All she had to do was click her heels together three times and wish. It may be hard to believe getting rid of cancer can be that simple, but it really is if you know what to do. Remember that disease is a message about imbalance in the body resulting from improper diet, toxins in the environment, and energy blockage. As Michio Kushi put it in the title of an article, "Civilization is the disease; cancer is the cure." Regards, Mark Lipsman http://www.goodhealthinfo.net LINK to Mark Lipsman's site Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. 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