This edition first published in 2015 by Conari Press
an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
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Copyright © 2012 by Mike Herbert
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Originally published in 2012 by Mike Herbert as The Chemotherapy Diet, ISBN: 978-1475171235.
ISBN: 978-1-57324-675-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
Cover design by Jim Warner
Interior Design by [email protected]
Printed in the United States of America
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to courageous cancer patients everywhere—and their heroic caregivers.
There is hope.
Contents
PART ONE Chemotherapy Is Only Part of the Healing Process
PART TWO The 5-Step Chemotherapy Diet Program
Step 1: Change Your Thinking and Develop an Attitude Focused on Healing
Step 2: Detoxify to Promote Healing from the Inside Out
Step 3: Eat the Best Foods to Create a Healing Chemistry in Your Body
Step 4: Supplement Your Diet Correctly to Support the Healing Momentum
Step 5: Exercise and Rest to Speed the Healing Process
PART THREE Recipes: Eating Healthy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, BIBLIOGRAPHY
Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.
Nido Qubein
Introduction
I am writing this book because when I faced a cancer crisis of my own, I could not find a book that would give me solid, reliable information fast enough.
Here is what happened. Out of the blue, my partner, who seemed to be enjoying perfect health up to then, was diagnosed with Stage IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The disease was both virulent and aggressive, advancing daily throughout his body's lymphatic system and threatening to attack his internal organs.
After we got over the shock of an impending death sentence, we began to sort out what needed to be done. Both of us are confirmed natural healing advocates: I am a naturopathic doctor; he has written a book and scores of articles on alternative healing methods. By temperament and by training, we leaned toward seeking a cancer cure outside what is considered “conventional” medical procedure. But, mainly because of the cancer's rapid progress, we opted for traditional cancer treatment under the direction of a traditional oncologist.
We understood that choosing conventional treatment over some of the new alternative, complementary, and integrative approaches probably meant chemotherapy and radiation, maybe even surgery. These are the standard weapons used by allopathic (conventional Western) oncologists in the “war against cancer.”
We also suspected that this arsenal of medical chemicals, especially in the case of chemotherapy, probably would be effective in attacking the cancer, but might not be helpful beyond that. I knew that chemotherapy is designed to kill cells in the body and will stop rapidly dividing cells from multiplying. That is what it will do. What chemo will not do is make a person healthy.
Overnight, I became both a full-time caregiver and nutritional researcher. I was highly motivated to find out how to help my partner stay alive. Because the cancer was advancing rapidly, I closed down my practice and put myself back in graduate school, with myself as the only student—as if I was working on another doctoral degree in naturopathy, this time with a specialization in staying healthy during chemotherapy.
So, we entered traditional cancer treatment—sometimes referred to as “the cancer treatment system”—but with our eyes wide open, looking for every opportunity to balance the destructive work of the chemo chemicals with constructive, life-boosting foods and supplements.
As my research progressed, I began introducing natural healing practices into my partner's personal anti-cancer program. The first order of business was to radically alter what he was eating. He had always been a careful eater, but the new
