Conquer Cancer through a Healthy Lifestyle

Many of you know the difficulties my family has been through in the last year with losing my Aunt Cheryl to lung cancer. I feel being in the tough situation we were all in, we have grown closer as a family in many ways. We also have started to educate ourselves more on cancer and ways to try and live a healthy lifestyle. Please read the guest post below from Jillian McKee on “Conquering Cancer through a Healthy Lifestyle.”

Bringing a wealth of personal and professional experience to the organization, Jillian McKee has worked as the Complementary Medicine Advocate at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance since June of 2009. Jillian spends most her time on outreach efforts and spreading information about the integration of complementary and alternative medicine when used in conjunction with traditional cancer treatment.

Conquer Cancer through a Healthy Lifestyle

Cancer is a devastating disease that causes pain and grief for many people and their families.  There are over 100 types of cancer that can affect the body and unfortunately doctors are discovering more types of cancer each year.  Whether you were just diagnosed, receiving treatment, or in remission, it is a difficult path for the patient, family, and friends to endure.  Each type of cancer, whether its mesothelioma canceror breast cancer, presents their own complications to your health.  Alongside receiving intense medical treatment and emotional counseling, nutrition is just as important to your well-being as both of the other aspects of cancer management.The reason nutrition is so important during cancer treatments is because the disease attacks your appetite and can cause you to eat less.  In addition, cancer has the ability to change your tolerance for different types of food that you are used to eating.  This results in a potential loss in valuable vitamins and minerals, which are needed to help sustain a healthy immune system and keep your strength and energy intact.  This is why you need to focus on eating a proper diet while receiving treatments. Also, your body will be prepared to absorb the impact of treatment-related side effects and most importantly will aid in the healing and possible recovery of the disease.  The definition of a proper diet involves getting enough fruits, vegetables, and proteins, which will provide you with valuable nutrients needed to sustain your body.There are four main areas to focus on when trying to maintain or start a proper diet while in cancer treatments. They are protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water. Protein is essential to aid in repair of body tissue and is key to supporting your immune system. Cancer patients need more protein then usual to accommodate the weakened body because of the effect of radiation therapy or chemotherapy.  Some good sources of protein are fish, poultry, milk, eggs, mixed nuts, or soy foods.Carbohydrates are the next source of food in your diet and are vital in helping you maintain your energy levels through the day.  The amount of carbohydrates that you need vary depending on your age, sex, and body type, but your doctor will be able to give you a good estimate of how much you need daily.  Some excellent examples of high carbohydrate foods are: fruits, vegetables, breads, grains, and cereal.

Vitamins and minerals are the next source of nutrients needed in your diet and these are essential to continued growth and strength of your internal organs. Usually, a good daily multivitamin or supplement will provide your daily-recommended dosage of nutrients.  Finally, and the most important part of your diet is water.

Water is your lifeline and is vital to your overall health and body efficiency.  Cancer patients will get dehydrated fast throughout all of the treatments, so keeping the body hydrated is important.  Neither of the first three nutrients will matter if you’re not getting enough water, as your body will not function properly unless you’re hydrated.

Cancer is one of the worse events that can happen to anybody.  With the proper attention to your body’s needs, it becomes a more manageable disease to overcome and to eventually continue to live a full and wonderful life. With support from your doctors, family members, and combined with a healthy diet, you can conquer this disease.

Link to article: Conquer Cancer through a Healthy Lifestyle

Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/jillian/

Please share these words with anyone you know who might be suffering from the dreadful disease of cancer. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle, hopefully cancer will be more maintainable in the patient’s life. 

Make your own cleaning products

After my Aunt Cheryl passed away, I started thinking about cleaning products differently. My Aunt Cheryl was a “cleaning lady” for almost 40 years. That was her career and not only that, her passion. She loved to clean and felt fulfillment after doing so. Now I know where I get it from! Anyway, the products that my Aunt Cheryl used were the typical ones you would buy at Wal-Mart, Target, the grocery store, etc. I don’t think she was much into reading the labels because she knew these products got the job done. She liked the smell of them and felt like they really did a nice, thorough job cleaning tubs, toilets, sinks, kitchen floors and much, much more. Once my aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer, my family all asked if it could have been from all of her years as a cleaning lady? Of course, doctors can’t say  yes or no, but they can of course say..”Well, maybe.”

Here is a very moving picture of my Aunt Cheryl on my wedding day. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make it to the wedding…

After my Aunt’s diagnosis and us speculating her cleaning lady days and the cancer, I immediately started thinking about my own health and how I could be an advocate for it when it came to using cleaning products. This meant, I no longer wanted to use harsh chemicals to clean my house and wanted to come up with a way to create cleaning products that still got the job done but didn’t jeopardize my health and well-being. I did some research and always heard how vinegar is a great, cheap cleaning product. You can purchase a large jug of it for a dollar and some change – pretty sweet. Also baking soda is inexpensive and can be combined with vinegar to create a cleaner. I also add a touch of lemon oil, peppermint oil or lavender oil. Now these are a bit more expensive, $6.59 at the health food store, but you need only 10 drops or so and it will last you for months or even a year. That’s not so bad. Read on for the recipe…

Homemade Cleaning Product:

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces vinegar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 18 ounces of water
• 10 to 12 drops of lemon extract (could use lavender, peppermint or other oil of choice)

Directions:

1. Pour 6 ounces of vinegar into squirt bottle.
2. Add baking soda.
3. Slowly add water – fizzing will occur.
4. Give the bottle 10 to 12 droplets of extract.
5. Shake a bit and ENJOY cleaning!