Food Could Be the Reason....

Facing the fear that my cancer could be back has provided me with time to think. Time to think about the changes we have made to make my life and my families healthier. According to medical studies, I am not your typical breast cancer patient. Statistically speaking I was the last person to get this crap. I was in my twenties, breast feed and was breast feeing my baby, and no one in my family had breast cancer. Doctor's doubted that I had cancer for months. In fact, going into my surgery to remove my ducts, the Doctor told me that the surgery was elective. That they were preforming the procedure because I was unhappy with what was occurring. It wasn't until after the surgery that the Doctor admitted that I had cancer. I had Stage Zero Ductal Carcinoma. No radiation or chemo needed, my "elective procedure" took it away. My question after that was, "Why did I get cancer in the first place"? If I was doing everything right why did I get this crap. The Doctor was unable to provide any answers to that question. In fact to this day, I have yet to find a Doctor that can answer this question.

So Scott and I did some research on our own. We wanted to figure it out. Not only for me but for my kids. We also wanted to know what to do to keep cancer away. We read, and we are still reading...

What we have found so far is, diet. Food and things contained in food cause cancer. Looking at my lifestyle this made perfect sense to us. So we made changes lots of changes....

Anything with artificial sweeteners; Phenylalanine and Aspartame are out...

We will not ever drink diet anything. We read every label looking for the above ingredients. Let me tell you, it is hard to find a breath saver that does not contain aspartame. So far all we can find is Altoids. So that is all we buy. In fact this ingredient is in almost everything. It is pure poison. I have not read one thing that would make me think differently. It not only causes cancer, but is the reason for a lot of other medical issues. Heart problems and joint pain, just to name a few. So it is out and will never come into my home!

We have for the most part become vegetarians. At one point we had become Vegan. This has been hard with three vegetable hating kids in the house! We struggle to find recipes that everyone will enjoy. So shrimp, fish and on a rare occasion we will eat turkey burger or chicken. Red meat is out. Things with lots of animal protein are limited to a small amount or not at all. We continue to read and research and believe most of the studies. There are always a few that are a bit crazy, but I do believe diet has a lot to do with why there is an increase in cancers of all types. 

In fact there was a segment on the Today show yesterday about this idea. Sheryl Crow is a breast cancer survivor and she believes the same thing as Scott and I do, that what you eat could cause cancer.  I love that she got on the show and said just that. She is using her celebrity power to spread the word, to help us make changes. I am just Tara, and can't do that! So I appreciate people like her. She made my life easier by publishing a cookbook. 

Preordered this bad boy yesterday. It hits the shelves today. The recipes are separated out by season, which is so awesome. That means fresh and cheap veggies! Each recipe includes a vegan or vegetarian option. To top it all off, each recipe contains cancer fighting foods. How awesome is that!!! I can't wait for it to come in the mail. I promise to post pictures and reviews of what we try! I am hoping this becomes our new Betty Crocker cookbook!!! 

Books like this help me. They help me believe that I am not crazy. That our beliefs are true. Other people believe it. I feel if I can convince others of our beliefs, maybe one less person will have cancer. Wouldn't that be amazing!!!