Wish Bone

So tomorrow is the big day. Mama and Papa bear are going into the clinic to get a bone marrow biopsy done, which will basically tell us whether or not the stem cell transplant was effective. For those of you who aren't aware, this procedure is the best way of getting the most accurate image of "where you're at" because it gets a direct sample of the myeloma cells residing within the bone. Needless to say, i'm pretty sure I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we're a little nervous... Since my mom was discharged, we've been living in this magical land that goes by the name of ignorance. Ok well, maybe not ignorance, as we are not choosing to ignore anything here. But after a stem cell transplant has occurred, there is usually a period afterwards where you go medication-free and just focus on recovering, on healing. It's been absolutely amazing, almost as if nothing ever happened. As if our lives had returned back to normal, whatever that means anymore. But subtle hints, like my mother's lack of hair and an ever-present cloud hovering above my head (although small), show that reality exists, and gives this dreamscape away. Ignorance truly is bliss. The truth is terrifying. If I could stay in this moment of not knowing forever, I would be satisfied. But alas, the world does not work that way, and we all must come to face reality sooner or later. Whether that is a good or bad thing remains yet unseen. Sometimes, the truth is a hard thing to face. Yet we all manage to derive strength from within in order to do so. I will be honest, since the transplant, not a day has gone by where I do not think about the mortality of my mother. I have gotten better over time at ignoring or shunning these thoughts to the recesses of my mind, but that does not mean it isn't easy, that it doesn't cause me great pain. I don't think my brother, or even my father sometimes, realize to the full extent of what we have gone through and what may lay ahead. A blessing indeed, to not be burdened with such thoughts. Or maybe they do, and they just don't show it. I try my best not to. But there are times where I feel the lessons we've learned, such precious lessons, have already been forgotten among them. I hope not, because those are lessons that no one should have to re-learn. Since the transplant, I have literally prayed every.single.day for the same thing, hoping that they be heard by someone above. That this transplant, and all the treatments beforehand, be all that my mother needs in order to obtain a strong, sturdy, everlasting remission until a cure is found for her, that will work for her. Every day I have prayed for this, and the general well-being of those close to me. Every day. I have never prayed so much for anything in my entire life. And so now, here we are already, turning the page of a new chapter that will hopefully be filled with good health, hope, and happiness. Tomorrow is the day, and I am praying with everything i've got. Please pray for us.

On Our Own Terms.

Mama bear be gettin' her hair did THIS.INSTANT!

So to prepare for the hair-loss, we figured that it would probably be easier and a LOT less traumatic if we cut my mom's hair before she lost it. Not buzz short, just yet, but in gradual stages to ease her in. So, first stage, she's going from shoulder-length to something similar to the late Heath Ledger's ex-wife, Michelle Williams. Eventually, we will have to cut it all off, but we're taking our time. No need to rush the gun. What I like about this, though, is that she is losing her hair on her OWN terms. Cancer will NOT determine how we live our lives. No one, or noTHING, is forcing her to do this right now except herself. And she is ready to take that step. So bravo mama!

If you haven't read my previous post on hair-loss, please view it here. I will mention this now and many times in the future because I really do think a new attitude must be embraced in regards to this universal symbol of cancer. Repetition is key, and I encourage you to try and inspire others to think differently.

Wellness Wednesdays: Wireless Edition Pt. 2!!!

How can you shield yourself from the radiation that, if you choose to live in civilization, is bombarding you at every turn?

24. According to Devra Davis, an epidemiologist and former director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Environmental Oncology, "the most important thing you can do is use a speakerphone and an earpiece," which puts some distance between the phone and your brain. Strapping on a headset may make you look like a call-center worker, but for every inch the cell phone moves away from your body, you reduce radiation exposure dramatically. Lastly, "At no time should you - men especially - keep your phone in your pants pocket," Davis says. Even clipping a phone to your belt can damage sperm. What else?

25. Get a landline and use it at home. Stay away from cordless phones, which emit the same kind of radiation as mobiles.

26. Abandon wi-fi. Nobody likes being tethered to an Ethernet cable, but there are mounting concerns that wireless signals interfere with brain functioning (Germany has already advised its citizens not to go wireless). If you can't bring yourself to plug back in, at least place the hub far away from your head.

27. Dont' live next to a cell tower, if you can help it. When looking for an apartment, scout the neighbouring rooftops for clusters of antennas. "Major research still needs to be done," Davis says. "But there are already guidelines in place in other countries, and you'll be hearing more and more about the reasons for them"

Source: "Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health". GQ, February 2010

The article goes on to say...

- Though the scientific debate is heated and far from resolved, there are multiple reports, mostly out of Europe's premier research institutions, of cell-phone and PDA use being linked to "brain aging", brain damage, early-onset Alzheimer's, senility, DNA damage, and even sperm die-offs (many men, after all, keep their cell phones in their pants pockets or attach at the hip). In September 2007, the European Union's environmental watchdog, the European Environment Agency, warned that cell-phone technology "could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking, and lead in petrol."

- Perhaps most worrisome, though, are the preliminary results of the multinational Interphone study sponsored by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in Lyon, France... Interphone researchers reported in 2008 that after a decade of cell-phone use, the chance of getting a brain tumor - specifically on the side of the head where you use the phone - goes up as much as 40 percent for adults.

- Interphone researchers in Israel have found that cell phones can cause tumors of the parotid gland (the salivary gland in the cheek), and an independent study in Sweden last year concluded that people who started using a cell phone before the age of 20 were five times as likely to develop a brain tumor. Another Interphone study reported a nearly 300 percent increased risk of acoustic neuroma, a tumor of the acoustic nerve.

- ... At the vanguard of a new field of study that came to be known as bioelectromagnetics, he found what appeared to be grave nonthermal effects from microwave frequencies - the part of the spectrum that belongs not just to radar signals and microwave ovens but also, in the past fifteen years, to cell phones. (The only honest way to think of our cell phones is that they are tiny, low-power microwave ovens, without walls, that we hold against the sides of our heads). Frey tested microwave radiation on frogs and other lab animals, targeting the eyes, the heart, and the brain, and in each case he found troubling results. In one study, he triggered heart arrhythmias. Then, using the right modulations of the frequency, he even stopped frog hearts with microwaves - stopped the hearts dead.

The article is a bit lengthy, but it is a fascinating and informative read. I recommend everyone take a look at it and at least skim it over. You can read it here

Wellness Wednesdays

#19: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry. Ethoxylated diglycerides? Cellulose? Xanthan gum? Calcium propionate? Ammonium sulfate? If you wouldn't cook with them yourself, why let others use these ingredients to cook for you? The food scientists' chemistry set is designed to extend shelf life, make old food look fresher and more appetizing than it really is, and get you to eat more. Whether or not any of these additives pose a proven hazard to your health, many of them haven't been eaten by humans for very long, so they are best avoided. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#20: Get out of the supermarket whenever you can. You won't find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmers' market. You also won't find any elaborately processed food products, any packages with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients or dubious health claims, anything microwaveable, or, perhaps best of all, any old food from far away. What you will find are fresh, whole foods harvested at the peak of their taste and nutritional quality - precisely the kind your great-grandmother, or even your Neolithic ancestors, would easily recognize as food. The kind that is alive and eventually will rot. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#21: Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. People who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than those of us eating a modern Western diet of processed foods. Any traditional diet will do: If it were not a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn't still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others, Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to HOW a culture eats as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, for example, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and white flour?!) as much as their food habits: small portions eaten at leisurely communal meals; no second helpings or snacking. Pay attention, too, to the combinations of foods in traditional cultures: In Latin America, corn is traditionally cooked with lime and eaten with beans; what would otherwise be a nutritionally deficient staple becomes the basis of a healthy, balanced diet. (The beans supply amino acids lacking in corn, and the lime makes niacin available). Cultures that took corn from Latin America without the beans or the lime wound up with serious nutritional deficiencies such as pellagra. Traditional diets are more than the sum of their food parts. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#22: Eat Slowly. Not just so you'll be more likely to know when to stop. Eat slowly enough to savor your food; you'll need less of it to feel satisfied. If it is a food experience rather than mere calories you're after, the slower you eat, the more of an experience you will have. There is an Indian proverb that gets at this idea: "Drink your food, chew your drink." In other words, eat slowly enough, and chew thoroughly enough, to liquefy your food, and move your drink around in your mouth to thoroughly taste it before swallowing. The recommendation sounds a bit clinical perhaps, but try following it at least to the point of fully appreciating what's in your mouth. Another strategy, encoded in a table manner that's been all but forgotten: "Put down your fork between bites." Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#23: Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. Eating a big meal late in the day sounds unhealthy, though in fact the science isn't conclusive. Some research suggests that eating close to bedtime elevates triglyceride levels in the blood, a marker for heart disease that is also implicated in weight gain. Also, the more physically active you are after a meal, the more of the energy in that meal your muscles will burn before the body stores it as fat. But some researchers believe a calorie is a calorie, no matter what time of day it is consumed. Even if this is true, however, front-loading your eating in the early part of the day will probably result in fewer total calories consumed, since people are generally less hungry in the morning. A related adage: "After lunch, sleep awhile; after dinner, walk a mile." Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

Wellness Wednesdays: Wireless Edition!!!

Wow. So until about twenty minutes ago, I thought TODAY was wednesday. Dang. Apologies! I decided for this week's WW to talk about wireless technology, with an important emphasis on cell phones. This form of technology is a very recent development that we've seen only within the last two decades or so. And a rapidly expanding one at that. I remember when I was little, my parents would carry around the ever-so elegant brick phone. Now, cell phones are capable of so, so much. It is most definitely a symbol of my generation. If you're like me, your phone is not just some gadget you use to talk to others, it is like a vital limb used for social networking, e-mail, internet browsing, texting, instant messaging, music, and of course, phone calls. So, you can only imagine the sheer amount of desperation and panic that ensues after you mistakenly misplace or lose your phone. It is pretty much like the apocalypse - for your social life. You literally cannot FUNCTION. How sad is that? I think this is an extremely relevant issue that we need to be aware of because wireless technology is only going to expand in the future. So here are a couple tips to keep in mind.

1. Don’t allow children under 12 to use a cell-phone except in emergencies. Organs that are still developing are more sensitive to the possible influence of exposure to electromagnetic fields. A child's skull is thinner than an adult's, and every millimeter between the handset that's emitting electromagnetic waves and the child's brain cells can make an enormous difference.

2. During calls, do your best to keep your cell-phone well away from your body. (When the handset is held four inches away, the amplitude of the electromagnetic field drops to one-quarter of its full value, and it is 50 times smaller when the phone is a yard away). Use the "loudspeaker" mode whenever possible, and a hands-free mode or Bluetooth earpiece (which on average gives less than one hundredth of the phone's normal electromagnetic emissions).

3. Keep your cell-phone conversations short. The biological effects are directly linked to duration of exposure. Text as much as possible.

4. Avoid using cell-phones when moving rapidly, for example when in a car or train. (There's an automatic increase in power to maximum when the phone is trying to pick up a new -- or increasingly distant -- relay antenna).

5. Choose the phone with the lowest possible Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for your needs. (The SAR measures the quantity of radio frequency energy absorbed by your body). Classifications of the SAR values of phones from various manufacturers are available on a number of websites.

More on this later. Family movie night.

Source: Anticancer: A New Way of Life (website)

OZ!

Currently watching Dr. Oz's show on cancer prevention. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, who is the author of "AntiCancer: A New Way of Life", of which I have been featuring quite frequently on WW, is a guest on the show. TUNE IN peeps!
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Wellness Wednesdays: The SUGAR edition!

I've decided to dedicate this week's WW to sugar. As you will soon discover, it is ESSENTIAL that we all reduce the amount of sugar (primarily refined sugars) in our diets. It won't be so much an emphasis on tips (although still there), but more of an informative bit. So herrrrre we go!

#17 ALL ABOUT SUGAR!

- When we eat sugar or white flour – foods with a high “glycemic index” – blood levels of glucose (a form of digested sugar in the body) rise rapidly. The body immediately releases a dose of insulin to enable the glucose to enter cells. The secretion of insulin is accompanied by the release of another molecule, called IGF (insulinlike growth factor), whose role is to stimulate cell growth. In short, sugar nourishes tissues and makes them grow faster (see where this is going?) Furthermore, insulin and IGF have another effect in common: They promote the factors of inflammation, which also stimulate cell growth and act, in turn, as fertilizer for tumors.

- Today we know that the peaks of insulin and the secretion of IGF directly stimulate not only the growth of cancer cells, but also their capacity to invade neighboring tissues. Moreover, after injecting breast cancer cells into mice, researchers have shown that the cancer cells are less susceptible to chemotherapy when the mouse’s insulin system has been stimulated by the presence of sugar. … Each of us can already cut back on the amount of refined sugar and white flour we consume in our diets. It has been shown that simply reducing these two dietary factors has a rapid effect on the levels of insulin and IGF in the blood. This reduction has secondary effects, such as healthier skin (oh lala!)

- There is good reason to believe that the sugar boom contributes to the cancer epidemic, as it is linked to an explosion of insulin and IGF in our bodies. Mice inoculated with breast cancer cells have been used to compare the effect of tumor growth of different foods of varying glycemic indices. After two and a half months, two thirds (sixteen) of the twenty-four mice whose blood sugar peaked frequently were dead, compared to only one of the twenty that had been on a low-glycemic-index diet. … All the scientific literature points in the same direction: People who want to protect themselves from cancer should seriously reduce their consumption of processed sugar and bleached flour. This means getting used to drinking coffee without sugar. (It’s easier to give up sugar in tea.) It also means making do with two or three desserts a week. (There is no limit on fruit, as long as it is not sweetened with sugar or syrup). Another option is to use natural substitutes for sugar that don’t cause a sharp rise in blood glucose or insulin (ex. Agave Nectar, Stevia, Xylitol, dark chocolate). Eating multigrain bread (made from wheat mixed with at least three other cereals, such as oatmeal, rye, flaxseeds, etc.) is also essential in order to slow down assimilation of the sugars coming from wheat. You can also choose bread made with traditional leaven (“sourdough”) instead of the more common chemical baker’s yeast, which raises the glycemic index of bread. For the same reason, ordinary white rice should be avoided (CURSES!!!) and replaced by brown or white basmati rice, for which the glycemic index is lower.

- Avoiding candies and snacks between meals is essential. When cookies (or other sugar) are consumed between meals, there is nothing to block a rise in insulin. Only their combination with other foods – especially vegetable, fruit, fibers, or good fats, such as olive oil, canola oil, or organic butter – slows the assimilation of sugar and reduces insulin peaks. In the same way, some foods, such as onions or garlic, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, or spices like cinnamon, reduce the rise in blood sugar.

- Three Principles of Detox: When smokers give up tobacco, their risk of cancer drops sharply. If we stop promoting the growth of cancer cells in our bodies, the natural mechanisms of control over cancer can start to intervene and curb their spread. To protect ourselves against cancer, we can limit our exposure to toxic factors in the environment. Among all of those already identified or highly suspicious, I have selected three that seem to me the most deeply involved and the most easily changed:

1: Overconsumption of refined sugar and white flour, which stimulate inflammation (BADDDDD!!!!) and cell growth through insulin and IGF (insulinlike growth factor)

2: Overconsumption of omega-6s in margarine, vegetable oils (including trans fats), and animal fats (meat, dairy products, eggs) stemming from farming methods that have been out of balance since the Second World War.

3: Exposure to chemical contaminants that have entered the environment since 1940, which accumulate in animal fats, and – though studies are not yet definitive – exposure to the electromagnetic fields of cell phones.

Source: AntiCancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

Wellness Wednesdays

#12 Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not. Imitation butter – aka margarine – is the classic example. To make something like nonfat cream cheese that contains neither cream nor cheese requires an extreme degree of processing; such products should be labeled as imitations and avoided. The same rule applies to soy-based mock meats, artificial sweeteners, and fake fats and starches. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#13 Omega-3s. “Organic” meats or eggs contain few or no pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics, but they are not necessarily balanced in omega-3s. If the animals have simply been fed organic corn and soy but are not grass fed or free range, their meat and eggs remain excessively rich in proinflammatory omega-6s and deficient in omega-3s. To be sure that you’re eating products of the same quality as what your grandparents ate, look for labels that specify “grass fed” or “rich in omega-3s”. Source: Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

#14 Sugar. Recently, the team at the University of Sydney that introduced the concept of “glycemic index” pointed out a natural substitute for white sugar with a very low glycemic index: Agave nectar. An extract from cactus sap (used to make tequila), it tastes delicious, comparable to a light honey. It is three times sweeter than white sugar, but its glycemic index is four to five times lower than that of honey. (The glycemic index is considered “low” if it is under 55; glucose has an index of 100. The glycemic index of agave nectar is between 15 and 21, and between 60 and 80 for most kinds of honey.) Agave nectar can be used instead of sugar or the usual syrups to sweeten tea, coffee, fruits, and desserts. Xylitol, a birch-bark extract, is highly sweetening but contains only one third of the calories of other sugars. It does not cause blood sugar or insulin levels to rise, and it is the only sugar that has been linked to a decrease in the risk of dental cavities. Source: Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

#15 Vitamin D. Skin cells produce vitamin D when they are exposed directly to the sun. People who live away from the equator produce less vitamin D and can sometimes be deficient. It has recently been shown that a significant supply of vitamin D reduces considerably the risk of several cancers (by more than 75% with a daily intake of 1000 international units (IUs) of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D form), in a Creighton University study published in 2007. In a Canadian pilot study of fifteen patients with prostate cancer, researchers reported on the effects of taking just 2000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily over a median of eight months (up to 65 months for one of the patients). Fourteen of them saw a slowing of progression of their PSA levels (the most common marker of prostate cancer, used to follow its growth over time). And these levels actually dropped significantly in nine of the patients compared to their levels at the start of treatment.

Other studies published recently have shown positive effects of vitamin D3 on breast cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer. Many researchers now believe that vitamin D3 contributes to slowing down all forms of cancer, at least in the early stages. Moreover, we no know that vitamin D3 very likely protects us from colds and flu and contributes to maintaining a positive mental outlook – a precious antidote to lower energy levels during the dark, cold months of winter.

The Canadian Cancer Association now recommends a daily intake of 1000 IUs of vitamin D during the fall and winter months (because of Canada’s limited access to sunlight) and all year long to people over sixty-five years of age and those who get very limited exposure to the sun because of lifestyle or religious reasons. Take care: Vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, should be avoided, since some specialists have reported potential toxicity from hypercalcemia.

Remember that twenty minutes of noonday sun exposure to the entire body provides between 8000 and 10000 IUs (but beware of the risk of overexposure, which is clearly related to skin cancer).

The foods that contain the most vitamin D are cod liver oil (1,460 IUs in a tablespoon), salmon (360 IUs in 100 grams), mackerel (345 IUs in 100 grams), sardines (270 IUs in 100 grams), and eel (200 IUs in 100 grams). Milk enriched with vitamin D contains only 98 IUs per glass, an egg 25 IUs, and calf liver 20 IUs per 100 grams.

Though rare, there are possible risks associated with excessive intake of vitamin D3. Kidney stones may develop, due to excessive calcium in the urine, and hypercalceima (excessive levels of calcium in the bloodstream) may develop, which, in some very rare cases, can be lethal to people with cancer. I therefore recommend that you measure blood levels of vitamin D3 and calcium levels in blood and urine under your doctor’s supervision before you begin supplements and roughly every three months subsequently. Source: Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

Sorry. Bit of a doozy, eh? If you want to know more about the importance of vitamin D (and its connection with Multiple Myeloma), check out Margaret's Health Blog! It's Super!

#16 Meal Replacement Bars: Nutrition on the go. I thought this would be a relevant post as many of us are constantly busy with treatments and other activities.

Meal Replacement Bars: Formulated to be a meal substitute, these bars typically contain 300 to 400 calories. These are not snacks. Check out the calorie content and the nutrient density of a bar. When looking for a meal replacement, set the bar high. Look for those that contain whole food ingredients such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruit – preferably organic. If ingredient names are unpronounceable or their true identities are unknown, take a pass on that product. To be of nutritional benefit, a bar should contain at least 5g of protein and at least 3g of fibre. Always watch the amount of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar a bar contains. This is especially important for those with health concerns such as high blood pressure or diabetes. High sugar content can rapidly elevate blood glucose in diabetics. However, bars that contain protein and fibre allow blood glucose to rise gradually and safely. Avoid bars that contain as much saturated fat and sugar as a candy bar. Meal replacement bars, when eaten occasionally, are a convenient, portable way to ingest an optimal amount of nutrients rather than skip a meal or resort to fast foods.

Energy Bars: Also known as sports bars, energy bars were created to improve the endurance of athletes, such as marathon runners, cyclists, or cross-country skiers. Many of these bars provide a big hit of carbohydrates. Bars that contain extra carbohydrates may benefit an endurance athlete but aren’t necessary for the average person. Some energy bars are high in carbs; others are high in protein. Strength training demands extra protein; tuck a bar in your gym bag for a post-workout snack. Look for bars that contain less than 200 calories; the goal is to boost nutrient intake and provide a balanced source of energy, not replace a meal. Avoid bars that list high-fructose corn syrup on the ingredient list.

Source: May 2010 Issue of Alive Magazine. Article by Ellen Niemer

An Observation...

What does it mean when you see a full "new patient" orientation group every week in the cancer ward? It means people are getting sick. And more frequently. Not cool.

It also means that, even in a society as advanced as ours, we are still doing something wrong. Basic nutrition and well-being are so so important in prevention and treatment, my friends. Now is the time for change.
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Wellness Wednesdays

#7 Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients: Labels list ingredients by weight, and any product that has more sugar than other ingredients has too much sugar. Complicating matters is the fact that, thanks to food science, there are now some forty types of sugar used in processed food, including barley malt, beet sugar, brown rice syrup, cane juice, corn sweetener, dextrin, dextrose, fructo-oligosaccarides, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, sucrose, invert sugar, polydextrose, turbinado sugar, and so on. To repeat: Sugar is sugar. And organic sugar is sugar too. As for noncaloric sweeteners such as aspartame or Splenda, research (in both humans and animals) suggests that switching to artificial sweeteners does not lead to weight loss, for reasons not yet well understood. But it may be that deceiving the brain with the reward of sweetness stimulates a craving for even more sweetness. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#8 Avoid food products that make health claims: This sounds counterintuitive, but consider: for a product to carry a health claim on its package, it must first have a package, so right off the bat it's more likely to be a processed rather than a whole food. Then, only the big food manufacturers have the wherewithal to secure FDA-approved health claims for their products and then trumpet them to the world. Generally, it is the products of modern food science that make the boldest health claims, and these are often founded on incomplete and often bad science. Don't forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to contain transfats that give people heart attacks. The healthiest food in the supermarket - the fresh produce - doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging. Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign they have nothing valuable to say about your health. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#9 Eat your colors: The idea that a healthy plate of food will feature several different colors is a good example of an old wives' tale about food that turns out to be good science too. The colors of many vegetables reflect the different antioxidant phytochemicals they contain - anyhocyanins, pholyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids. Many of these chemicals help protect against chronic diseases, but each in a slightly different way, so the best protection comes from a diet containing as many different phytochemicals as possible. Source: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

#10 No such thing as "microwave-safe" plastic!: So we've finally woken up to the fact that microwaving plastic baby bottles is plain tantrum-worthy. Not only does estrogen-mimicking bisphenol A (BPA) leach from polycarbonate plastic during regular use, but studies have found that one zap in the microwave can cause as much leaching as 60 to 100 rounds in the dishwasher. Kind of erodes your confidence in the whole "microwave-safe" label, doesn't it? Especially when you find out that no one regulates the term. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in the fall of 2008, lab-tested 10 plastic food containers for microwave leaching, they found even plastics Nos. 1, 2 and 5 had BPA leaching. These included frozen food trays, microwaveable soup containers, and plastic baby food packaging. What? Isn't BPA only in No. 7 polycarbonate plastic? Guess not. Stay safe and follow these tips: 1. Never microwave food or drinks in any plastic. Period. 2. Never microwave or heat plastic wrap. 3. Don't put plastics in the dishwasher. Heat (including hot water from dishwashers) boosts leaching from purportedly dishwasher-safe polycarbonate, so who's to say your dishwasher-safe plastic won't leach when someone decides to test that too. Source: Ecoholic: Home by Adria Vasil

#11 Red Wine: Red wine contains many polyphenols, including the celebrated resveratrol. These polyphenols are extracted by fermentation; hence, their concentration is much greater in wine than in grape juice. Since they come from the skin and seeds of the grape, there are not nearly as many in white wine. The methods used for preserving wine protect it from oxygen, which means resveratrol is not exposed to rapid oxidation as it is in grape juice or raisins, which have lost most of their polyphenols. Resveratrol acts on genes (called sirtuines) that are known to protect healthy cells against aging. It can also slow the three stages of cancer development - initiation, promotion, and progression - by blocking the action of NF-kappa B. Because resveratrol also acts as an antiangiogenic, like thalidomide it can interfere with fetal development. This is one reason to avoid alcohol (even red wine) during pregnancy. Resveratrol supplements should also be avoided by women who may become pregnant. Recommendations for use: These results are observed with concentrations similar to those obtained after consumption of one glass of red wine a day. (More than one glass daily should be avoided, since it may lead to an increase in cancer.) Pinot noir, originally from the damp climate of Burgundy, is particularly rich in resveratrol. Source: AntiCancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

** I should note that NF-kappa B, especially for MM patients, is BAD NEWS BEARS! I don't really want to get into the details because this post would never end, but you can go to Margaret's Health Blog (there is a link on the side of the home page), and read more about it. She has a PLETHORA of knowledge in regards to this subject (and many, many others), so I encourage you to at least take a look :) **