My FAVORITE Supplement for Fighting Stress

Chronic stress can show up like abdominal obesity, pre-diabetes, headaches, muscle tension, insomnia, FEELING EXHAUSTED, or even stomach & reproductive issues.

When I see that stress is an OVERACTIVE part of your life, I start looking into why. HOW has your stress hormone, Cortisol, been affected?

Are you wired and unable to sleep, or sleepy all the time?

When are you the MOST tired in your day? How do you feel after eating?

These are just a few questions to start peeling back HOW the stress is affecting you.

Stress isn’t all-bad though. It protects us when we are in real danger, and helps us get things done, too.

The GOAL is to be able to WEATHER the stress in our lives a little EASIER.

There is a class of plant medicines that helps with this exactly.

They are called ADAPTOGENS. They help us build RESILIENCE to stress

My FAVORITE adaptogen is called Ashwagandha (Withania Somnifera).

It has been widely used in the Indian subcontinent for centuries.

I've been putting in in my smoothie.

It’s exciting to me to see that the research is catching up- to what this herb can do. It has been more recently studied for its effects on lowering anxiety, improving insomnia, low sex drive, weight loss etc. One study showed that 60 days of use helped lower stress levels by 44%. [1]

I’m going to be talking about a couple more of my favorite supplements for stress on Wednesday 5/30, 6:30 at True Rest Float Spa in Farmington Hills.

If you are done having stress run your life, I'll see you there.

[1] Chandrasekhar, K., Jyoti Kapoor, and Sridhar Anishetty. "A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults." Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine34.3 (2012): 255.

Sharma, Ashok Kumar, Indraneel Basu, and Siddarth Singh. "Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial." The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 24.3 (2018):

Dongre, Swati, Deepak Langade, and Sauvik Bhattacharyya. "Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract in improving sexual function in women: a pilot study." BioMed research international 2015 (2015).

Enjoy the Sun AND Keep your Skin Looking Younger

I don't know about you but I have been waiting for spring since Christmas. Now that the sun is roaring, let's talk about how to enjoy the sun and still give our skin a break! 

What's the big deal?

The sun’s UV rays damage our skin cells and cause mutations, which increases our ability to develop skin cancer. In addition, the sun ACCELERATES THE SIGNS OF AGING.

Use these 5 QUICK tips to enjoy the sun more safely. Your skin will thank you. 

1. Try avoiding direct sunlight from 11-3PM. 
   This is when the sun’s UV rays are a lot higher
    

2. Use tight woven cotton clothing if you need to be outside to act as a BARRIER, and its still breathable and light. 
    

3. Use a hat, that is WIDE brimmed. Our faces are exposed to the sun so frequently they need extra protection.
    

4. Use a high quality SPF and REAPPLY
    

5. This one technically isn’t SKIN related, but find sunglasses that use 100% UV protection OR UV 400 protection

Happy SPRING. 

 Be WELL 

What Does it Mean to be a Woman in Survivorship?

Nayana, a black girl with a swan-like neck and startling cheekbones is far too young for three years with metastatic lung. She looks at the ground and blinks twice.“I miss my eyelashes. Without them, I don’t feel quite….human,” she states.

Sarai,an older lady with a terrific will and metastatic breast, breaks down for the first time in the three years I have been treating her. Her voice soggy and bleak, she cries, “They took my breast and I gained all this weight in my stomach. I don’t feel like a woman anymore.”

Danae, a glossy manicured blond and mother of five young children, presents following bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction, “I can’t even look at them in a mirror, I feel betrayed by my body. I don’t even look at my husband’s face when we have sex.”

Irai, a Jewish nomad, writer and farmer, presents with suicidal thoughts following port placement. “My skin just sits all wrong, this thing makes me nauseous, it skeeves me out…like I am an alien or a robot. I can’t do this anymore.”

Laila, 42, newly married, with a recent diagnosis of BRCA positive ovarian cancer, following surgical debulking and bilateral mastectomy, looks straight ahead and cools the room with her quiet words, “I feel like I have failed him…what kind of wife can I be? It hurts to have sex, I have lost my hair, my breasts, I just don’t know what I can give him anymore.”

All of these women are survivors.

We run a survivorship clinic. Our work is to partner with our patients and their team to:

1. Protect our patients from acute and late term effects from treatment

2. Lower risk of recurrence and progression with cancer

3. Empower our patients to use Food and Natural Therapies to fight cancer

4. Support our patients in feeling optimally well.

But, when we talk about survivorship, from the first day of diagnosis through the balance of a person’s life, there are certain topics that just don’t get much play in oncology.

One of these is what we looklike when treatment is all said and done.

Part of why this conversation is so hard is it begs the question, What does it mean to be a woman?

From the time we are young, we are indoctrinated with a belief that:

What makes us beautiful, makes us female.

And

What makes us female, makes us worthy.

So when we are asked "What does it mean to be a woman?" for many of us, what we hear is, What Does it Mean to be Beautiful?

The answer has become, universally: youthfulness, long hair, long eyelashes, thick brows, radiant skin, symmetrical breasts, a small waist, white teeth, pretty nails. Someone to call me a wife, mother, daughter, sister.

And because these things, all at once, are difficult to sustain, they have become rings that we reach for, perpetually justout of reach.

A multibillion dollar industry gets fatter on our core belief by leveraging our need to feel worthy. That the standards are skittish and mercurial keeps the beauty business, IN business. I mean, big bottoms are in, then they are too too. Skin the color of baby powder is the height of fine and then the deepest bronze is deck. Windblown blond curls are on fleek, then Kardashian black, takes center stage. Thin and bony, is loish and in the same five-year period, a sinewy, masculine build makes the grade.

It can be a challenge for anywoman, as she moves through her life cycle.

But what of the Survivor?

When one is diagnosed with cancer, the shock catapults us into a fight for our lives. Quickly, almost gratefully, we accept “necessary losses”: our breasts, our nails, our hair, our uteruses…

We are expected to feel thankful to simply be alive, but when all is said and done and we look in the mirror, we are left feeling alone and bewildered as we seek to redefine our essential worth and choose to Live.

The American Cancer Societyhas been trying to start the conversation with its Look Good Feel Betterprogram.  This program partners thousands of beauty professionals with patients to teach them how to manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. The goal is to give women (and men), a way to feel normal, when “normal” no longer exists.

Margot European Day Spa, in Birmingham is looking to join this movement by bringing on aestheticians and massage therapists trained in treating survivors. The owner and founder of the salon, Margot Kohler, and salon director, Ursula Froehlich, have a personal commitment to making women feel beautiful from the inside out, regardless of their circumstance.

Kristina Juhas, with Eyedolize, also in Birmingham, is the first lash and brow specialist in SE Michigan to consult with survivors.

This is wonderful, and….there is still much more we need to do to truly meet the needs of any person who faces disability, loss, death.

Early last Spring, I was forced to consider a personaldiagnosis with a poor prognosis. 

I knew I would be offered surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. My body would become a testament to the deformity associated with diagnosis; no chance, short of Divine intercession, at cure.

I have failed to meet most of the standards society sets for being a “woman”.

I am not a wife. I am not a mother. I am complement in a male dominated field that requires a compromise in my emotional landscape. I am a business owner and a single earner. I am held to a level of professional conduct that rejects creativity and intuition. I am getting older and beginning to think about the changes I will face hormonally and metabolically.

I have lost one, and stand to lose, within the year, two more, of the only people that call me daughter

As a consequence, quite privately, I have cherished my “beauty.” I love my breasts and the color and texture of my skin. I have what we call in my communities of origin, “good hair.” (long and it does what I tell it to do) I have a nice figure, strong nails and bones, and I haven’t yet had to think about whether I am ready to give up my fertility.

As a patient, however, I had to consider my own “necessary losses”. Following a period of grief, I came to a quick acceptance for I am a person of faith and I believe that we are not our bodies, we are our souls. 

But truthfully, I wasn’t tested, because I thought I was going to die. One can face almost anything when death is imminent. The true test of my faith is Can I livefrom my Soul?

Living, I would have wanted my breasts, my lashes, my hair…All of It! And at the very least, I would want to know that beauty professionals who care about how to make me feel beautiful, exist.

I was cleared of the diagnosis of cancer, but I realized that to live with the anticipated losses would have forced me to redefine what made me a woman.

So began a conversation with myself about what makes me beautiful outside of my appearance and what others think of me. This has brought me into a fuller, more grounded version of myself.

I invite you to have the same conversation with yourself. It is entirely personal, individual and intimately yours…because what you decide makes you beautiful, simply has to be, just that…..yours.

I can tell you, what I see now:

For Nayana, it is her willingnessto be stand in the breach between living and dying and choose hope, her ability to stay in grace, all teeth in her smile, that makes her beautiful to me.

ForSarai,it’s that inspiredby the challenges that her grown son faces with gambling, she has begun a spiritualjourney to understand addiction, her commitmentto personal responsibilitya beacon for her family.

For Danae, it’s her devotionto her children, despite the fact that being a mother doesn’t come naturally to her...the drive to give everything she has, unselfishly, and quite consciously.

For Irai,it’s that she has opted out of surveillance and is living on a farm in Israel, where she runs through fields every morning until her lungs give out, her choice to be the revolution, to live outsideof the parameters that we as oncology professionals have set for her.

For Laila, it’s that she tells her story of what it means to be a wife in front of a room full of male medical students, one of whom may be quietly moved to be a better doctor, a better husband, a better son.  She is a livingtestament, her story, a prophecy.

A new definition, new words: willingness, grace, outsider, drive, personal responsibility...What I have come to understand is We are born female, but we become women.

Fertility Smoothie

Last week I shared with you the reason why I did my 3-day juice cleanse.  (SPOILER ALERT: I wanna be a mama!)

Today, I’m sharing my recipe for the FERTILITY SMOOTHIE that I’ve been drinking for the past few weeks.  Not only is it NUTRITIOUS and highly supportive for fertility, it’s DELICIOUS too!

WHAT do I put into my fertility smoothie and WHY?

This recipe is adapted from To Make a Mommy’s recipe.

Ingredients:
1 ½ c. almond or coconut milk
1 c. leafy greens
½ banana (frozen or fresh)
½ c. berries
1 tsp maca
1 T ground flaxseeds
½ scoop Green Vibrance
1 scoop collagen peptides
60 drops of Dong Quai Root

I’ve been making and drinking this smoothie for breakfast for 6 days a week over the last few weeks.  I’ve tweaked it a little and tried different versions to suit my taste buds and I invite you to do the same.

For the coconut or almond milk, you can substitute for any non-dairy milk that you have on hand, like flax or hemp milk.  Rotate the greens that you’re using weekly.  My favorites are kale and spinach, especially when it’s fresh picked from my garden.  I added in the banana for a little natural sweetness, but you could substitute 1-2 pitted Medjool dates instead.

The berries are very high in antioxidants.  I buy a large bag of frozen organic berries from Costco and it lasts a couple weeks.

Maca is a root superfood from South America.  It is considered an adaptogen, meaning it helps us adapt to stress.  It helps boost libido, increases fertility, and balances hormones.  Look for gelatinized maca like this one here.

Flaxseeds provide an extra boost of fiber, as well as healthy fats, which is needed to support fertility.  Store your ground flaxseeds in the fridge so that the healthy fats do not go rancid.

Green Vibrance is a greens superfood powder that contains ingredients like wheat grass, oat grass, spirulina, chlorella, and so much more, which are full of antioxidants and immune boosting, anti-inflammatory properties.   Remember to store it in the fridge or freezer to maintain freshness.  

Collagen is a protein found in the bones of animals like fish and cattle.  It helps support healthy joints, bones, hair, skin, and nails.  Amino acids in proteins are necessary building blocks for all the cells in our bodies, including developing fetuses.  My favorite is this one by Vital Proteins.

Dong Quai, also called female ginseng, is a Chinese herb that helps balance estrogen levels, enhances fertility, and can help reduce anxiety.  This herb cannot be taken during pregnancy or while nursing, so be sure to discontinue use as soon as you start to try to conceive.

It’s important to meet with a nutritionist or doctor before starting on your fertility journey so that you can discuss your nutritional status and how to best support you during this exciting time.

What do you usually put in your smoothies?

Be sure to send us pics of the smoothies that you make!

The Best Way to Make Grocery Trips MUCH easier

It's Friday afternoon. Your stomach is giving you that all-too familiar grumble.

You open the fridge, and there is…. nothing.

Your produce and snacks for the week are either gone or too old.

SIGH.  If you are like me, the end of the week is a little bit of a danger zone.

It’s the start of the weekend so you naturally want to eat out more while seeing friends etc.

AND on a practical level, there is nothing left that is appealing. 

Is it just me- or am I the only one that is SO much less motivated to go to the grocery store as the week winds down?

So my latest solution?

Get produce or groceries delivered TO ME… on Thursdays.
 

 
Why NOT take advantage of automation and save myself time, energy, and probably money (eating out all the time is expensive!).

Maybe you aren’t sure if you really want someone else to pick out your fruit etc.

Or you are worried about cost. Its true- it’s a HUGE luxury.  

I had these same concerns, and am here to report that I have been pleasantly surprised.

If you want to give it a shot, here are some options for you!

1. Door to Door Organics (click the link for a special referral code!)
This is a weekly subscription, that you can try and totally customize.

I have been appreciating the restocking of fruit.

Above is the link to my referral code. $5 delivery fee for orders under $75.

2. Meijer
If you are looking for more than just produce, getting a membership with Shipt is a great idea.

Membership is for 1 year and you can get free delivery for groceries over $35!

This isn’t automatic- but it saves running around the whole store! You can even do all of your shopping without leaving your couch.

Give it a try! And let me know what you think!
 

More than Just a Juice Cleanse

Some of you may have seen part of my 3-day juice cleanse journey from Drought last month via Facebook. 
 
I SURVIVED, despite my husband, Kevin, bringing home pizza on the first day (I was literally drooling). 
 
It was challenging.  I felt hungry, a little irritable, and had some digestive issues, but what got me through was my reason for doing the cleanse.
 
Why did I choose to do this 3-day cleanse? 
 
Cleanses can be great to reset your system, detoxify, and give your digestive system a break.  I did the cleanse as a way to start my fertility journey.  I’ve always wanted to be a mother; losing my mom at such an early age has made me want to give my future children everything I missed and didn’t get.
 
There are so many things that we don’t have control over in this world, so as a woman who’s trying to get pregnant, I want to make sure that my body is the safest and healthiest home it can be for my future baby.  I want to do everything in my power to prevent possible birth defects and ensure a healthy pregnancy.  Overexposure to toxins, such as lead, mercury, lithium, and certain medications prior to and during pregnancy may have an impact on fetal development.  Toxins can also leach into breast milk and get passed along to the baby.   
 
I’m choosing to mother my baby even before he or she is conceived.  I’m choosing to be an advocate for my baby’s health.  I’m choosing to be a safe haven, a nest, and the best mother I know how to be.
 
The 3-day juice cleanse was so much more than just drinking juices and abstaining from food.  It was the start of my journey into motherhood.  It was starting to become the mother I always wanted to be and didn’t get to have.
 
Cleanses aren’t just for fertility, they can also be used to jump start a diet change, for weight loss, to reduce inflammation, to help prevent and fight cancer, and so much more.  Before starting a cleanse, it’s important to talk to your nutritionist or doctor to see if it’s appropriate for you.
 
Next week I’ll share my fertility smoothie recipe, so stay tuned!
 
Have you done a juice cleanse before?

*Drought is one of my favorite companies for juice cleanses because it’s a local company, the juices are cold-pressed, organic, and are stored in glass bottles (that I love to reuse).  Their juices are filled with detoxifying and revitalizing ingredients like kale, beets, carrots, lemon, and ginger. 

Because I love them so much, AIM has teamed up with Drought to provide you with a 10% off coupon code.  Use code AIM at online checkout to get the discount off your first 3 orders.*

How to CHEAT When You Are TOO Tired to Cook

It’s the end of the week. You are tired.

Maybe its been a long day or you are just not motivated to cook tonight.

Buddy’s pizza is calling your name.
But you know you aren’t going to love how you feel afterward.

This is REAL LIFE. Real life is filled with times like this- where healthy eating and weight loss feels a bit like a chore.

You know that your body needs it, though. So what CAN you do?
The answer is:
Learn how to cheat. And do it as cleanly as possible.

Having some go- to things at the grocery store that ARE already prepared or take minimal work is always a good idea.

Of course, I don’t mean to make this an every night kind of thing. But we all have our times of lowered energy and needs for simplicity.

Here are 3 examples of good “go-tos”

1. Qrunch- Organic Quinoa burgers.
You can find these at the frozen section of Meijer (or at most health food stores). They are free of eggs, soy, gluten and corn. You can top with a little marinara, any sauce you want!

As you can see in the picture, I sometimes eat it with some sautéed frozen eggplant- also from Meijer.

2. Spaghetti- Edamame sytle. By Explore Cuisine
It doesn’t get easier than pasta. These are made from edamame so each serving has something like 20 grams of protein. I got these at Costco, but they are available at most health food stores.

I use spaghetti sauce organic from Trader Joe's. Any sauce is ok! Read labels to make sure there is no “cane sugar” in the ingredients.

3. Smoothies- If you have seen me in the office, you know I love Costco! I love how accessible they make organic berries.

If you are craving something sweet or nee something quick as you run out the door, try throwing together a smoothie!

½ cup frozen wild blueberries
½ a banana
1 tsp almond butter
2 handfuls of greens
Trader Joe’s Organic Pea protein
water to blend

What do you cheat with?

If you are feeling low energy for longer periods of time, mention this to your doctor. Make sure you are getting all your hormones tested, too.

A Simple Tip to KEEP the WEIGHT OFF This Summer

Usually, I have really good intentions at the grocery store. I always buy vegetables and stock up on some of my healthy staples. Lately, somewhere between paying for these good intentions and storing them in my fridge for the next week, I am suddenly throwing them all out because I was too _____ (fill the the blank) to make them. 

What has changed? Well, I’ve been living with loved ones who have very different eating preferences than I do (as I am sure you are too!). In the haze of moving and adjusting to my new life changes, I am suddenly finding myself eating things I would rarely eat... several times a week. 

We have all been there, right? in a similar situation or just in a place where eating healthy has lost its "shiny" newness and we are lacking inspiration. 

WHY do we eat poorly when we know what is so much better for us?

Simply put, will power alone isn’t enough. It wanes and fatigues and can only focus on a few things at once. it is SO much easier to eat what is out there. What is ready to go. 

So how did I break out of this rut?

I rearranged my fridge so that what is easy to see are the things I wanted to eat. 

So I put left overs, fruit I wanted to consume that day, hummus etc in tupperware right where my eyes first go. It is far from rocket science, but it is amazing how much more inclined I am to reach for the things I want. See the picture of my toddler saying she wants broccoli? I see options!

Of course, I am not asking you to abandon your crisper drawers ( high humidity for veggies and low humidity for fruit, please!). What I am saying is - bring these fruits and vegetables out of hiding the night before you want to eat them. Wash and place them right where your eye line is. I know- its different than what the family is used to- but trust me, totally worth it.

If you struggling and still need more ways to restart your weight loss and/or healthy eating, keep an eye out for the other tips I’m going to share next week. Oh, and of course, make sure someone is taking a good look at all your hormones so that you aren’t fighting an upstream battle.

Until next week!

Handling Change and the Journey Back to Center

Lately, life has been constantly shifting for me and I have allowed my health to take a back seat. Sound familiar? If I tell you that the last several months have included a cross-country move, buying and selling cars, buying a house (without seeing it!), the trappings of life with a toddler, and both my husband and I starting new jobs, you can understand how that may have happened.

We all face this in some way. No one is immune to life’s unique set of challenges for us. Something knocks us out of center and it is a constant journey to come back. Sometimes the return is quick and fairly painless. Other times, it requires more energy and some real pain.

I’ll tell you, this one has been longer and more painful than I expected. I want to skip this part and fast forward to building a community and just get to the "fun parts" of life here. I’m realizing that is not the point. These experiences are here to teach me: lessons about managing my time, lessons about so much more.

One of my teachers once told me that these experiences are very similar to the practice of yoga. Say- when you start to hold Warrior II pose. At first, you feel the pinch of uncomfortable-ness and you confront your own resistance. As the instructor tells you to “use your breath and breathe into the pose”, half your mind is SCREAMING to stop, the other half lets you stay there. It shows up. You hold on, beads of sweat rolling down your back and you can feel the tension ease in certain parts and hold tight in others.

Change is like that, too. Our brains are screaming for the uncomfortable-ness to stop. The practice comes when we use our breath to relax into the pose. That does not mean that we aren’t going to feel the stretch or that it suddenly becomes easy. It just means we know we can experience it and come out on the other side. We have to keep showing up to learn the lessons, though.  

Through my BIG move, I have learned so much.  In fact, some easy tips that I can’t wait to share with you like how to eat out and be healthier. I learned how to simplify and automate parts of my life, cheat with food prep, and how to practice mindfulness and get back to some basic self care when it’s the last thing I want to do. But that’s too much for today… I’ll save that for next week.

What is your current Warrior II? Are you relaxing into the pose?

Living With Loss

Working in cancer means I stand by people who have lost. Lost their identity, their hair, their eyebrows, their eyelashes, their breasts, their uteruses, their ovaries, their prostates, other abdominal organs…Lost their sense of security, financial stability, marriages, libido, ability to enjoy sex, friends, their jobs.

I don’t think I could do this work well if I, myself, didn’t lose. And lose I do.

In just one year, I have lost two pregnancies. Almost exactly one year apart. The first was a son. I was well into the pregnancy. His name was Solomon. He had a baby registry, and an application in with Montessori. I saw him in my arms, I heard his baby laugh.

The second miscarriage happened earlier, at almost 10 weeks. Her father told me she was a girl. She may have been. I had thought to name her Kulsoom. She had nothing of this world yet, but I loved her too.

Grief is a strange thing, it happens in circles and in cycles. We don’t know the pain is still there and then it is.

It is an organic thing, a beast of it’s own pace. Like a Chinese New Year’s Dragon, it snakes around the corners of one’s mind. We forget it is there, then all of a sudden, with a note from a song, a certain smell, or just nothing at all, it’s bearing down on us, a thousand eyes, tongue flapping, the color of blood and promise.

For this reason, I think a physical ceremony (ies) is so important. Ceremony helps to anchor grief, give it a space and a structure, so something so alive can be something you dance with rather than are overtaken by.

Solomon was old enough that I was able to have a funeral. I had his body cremated, I purchased a heavy brass urn that fits in the center of my palm. I signed a death certificate. I have his ashes. I intend to take them to Mauritius and lay them on grave of my grandfather. I have not yet. I am not ready.

Kulsoom’s heart stopped beating almost 9 weeks ago. I have been at a loss since of how to grieve her. How do you grieve someone so small, someone you cannot bury or burn? Until a couple of days ago, I just sat, in a shallow pool of pain, dull, shocked, ashamed and…hiding.

The other day, I stumbled onto a yin yoga class. Yin yoga is a series of floor postures that a toddler would do with ease, focused on opening the pelvic area. The postures are held for 4-5 minutes and the goal is to breathe through the “healthy discomfort” that you feel, and allow for an “energy shift” there, at the root of your natural self.

I had no intent of doing yin yoga, I am not yogi or athlete of any kind. I thought I was showing up for something else. But there I was, and so I joined the class. And very soon, just laying on the ground, in a hip opening posture, I found myself weeping.

Not gracefully, or quietly, in a yoga-like fashion. Shoulders shaking, weird whimpering noises, weeping. The teacher literally brought me a roll of toilet paper. As everyone else went about doing these simple, basic postures, with decorum, I snotted and hiccupped and cried through the whole thing.

Thankfully, no one stared. And I stayed.

As the class went on, I noticed something happening, a “C” shaped hole opened, in the center of my chest, and all this pain that seemed to be stored in my pelvic area, felt like it was literally pouring out, from there to my mouth.

When I say I could feel it, I mean I could feel it. From my ischium, lapping over my right iliac crest, down to my pubis, pirouetting over my belly button, skimming the base of my 11th intercostal space, toe tapping over my xiphoid, ringing my trachea, filling the back of my throat and slipping out over my tongue into the space around me. A Chinese dragon.

This thing had movement, a beating heart, and was as much a part of life as it was a part of death. It was in and of me, but also not mine at all. And because it is animate, it needed a space to come through. This thing was grief.

I am not enlightened enough to understand grief and loss in it’s entirety. But I have begun to make yin yoga a part of my grieving process and am hoping that as I give grief a concrete way to dance with me, I will not only lay my babies to rest but move through my losses rather than storing them.

I don’t think one can live and not lose. Finding a way to live with loss means finding a way to accept, to dance, to flow, to bend….not to break. And maybe, as we do this, we learn to welcome our tears, our grief, our pain because it means that we are alive, we are connected, we loved….and so we are.

Cancer Fighting Diet: Part III

If you followed us during Part I & II of our series on What is a Cancer Fighting Diet, you know that WHAT and HOW much you eat matters (see Part I &II posts). We can now discuss the impact of PROTEIN SOURCES.

Your body breaks down dietary protein into amino acids which are then used as building blocks for all the cells, muscles, and tissues in your body.

So what Protein Sources should you be eating on a Cancer Fighting Diet?

In short, cold water fish, legumes, soy, nuts, and seeds.

Shifting from a diet that focuses on animal proteins, like beef, chicken, and pork, to one that focuses on cold-water fish, beans, legumes, soy, nuts, and seeds has been shown to be cancer preventative. 

Animal proteins, like beef, contain higher amounts of saturated fat, which have been linked to an increased risk of prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers1.  Along with containing these fats, animal proteins are also highly Inflammatory. Inflammation increases the rate at which cells are growing in the body, making it harder for our immune systems to catch cell mistakes.  It’s when these mistakes get passed on that cancer develops.

 A lot of processed meats, including bacon, lunch meats, and sausage, also contain carcinogens like nitrites and nitrates.  Processed meat intake is associated with increased breast and prostate cancer risk (2,3).

The Omega-3 fats found in cold-water fish, on the other hand, are anti-inflammatory.  The antioxidants and fiber found in legumes and soy have additional cancer-fighting properties.  For example, the isoflavone genisteinfound in soy has been shown to reduce the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) level in localized prostate cancer patients (4).  Increased fiber intake has been shown to reduce risk for colorectal and prostate cancers, improve lipid status, and lower blood sugar levels (5).

Including the right types and amounts of protein in your diet is important for optimal wellness.  It’s crucial that you meet with a nutritionist who specializes in oncology to guide you on the most comprehensive cancer-fighting diet and help you with the transition to a plant-focused diet.

Please call us at (248) 798-2942, and allow one of our board certified nutritionists and natural medicine doctors work with you to use nutrition to fight cancer and live the life you desire.

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1Giovannucci, E., Rimm, E.B., Colditz, G.A., Stampfer, M.J., Ascherio, A., Chute, C.C., & Willett, W.C. (1993).  A Prospective Study of Dietary Fat and Risk of Prostate Cancer [Abstract].  Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 85(19), 1571.

2Pouchieu, C., Deschasaux, M., Hercberg, S., Druesne-Pecollo, N., Latino-Martel, P., Touvier, M.  (2014). Prospective association between red and processed meat intakes and breast cancer risk: modulation by an antioxidant supplementation in the SU.VI.MAX randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43 (5), 1583-92.  Doi: 10.1093/ije/dyu134

3Sinha, R., Park, Y., Graubard, B.I., Leitzmann, M.F., Hollenbeck, A., Schatzkin, A., & Cross, A.J. (2009).  Meat and Meat-related Compounds and Risk of Prostate Cancer in a Large Prospective Cohort Study in the United States. American Journal of Epidemiology, 170(9), 1165-1177.  doi: 10.1093/aje/kwp280

4Lazarvic, B., Boezelijin, G., Diep, L.M., Kvernrod, O., Ramberg, H.,… & Karlsen, S.J. (2011). Efficacy and safety of short-term genistein intervention in patients with localized prostate cancer prior to radical prostatectomy: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase 2 clinical trial. Nutrition and Cancer, 63(6), 889-98.  Doi: 10.1080/01635581.2011.582221

5Fechner, A., Fenske, K., Jahreis, G. (2013). Effects of legume kernel fibres and citrus fibre on putative risks for colorectal cancer: a radomised, double-blind, crossover human intervention trial.  Nutrition Journal, 12-101.  Doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-12-101

Balance and Body Image

For those of you who follow my posts, it’s no secret that I struggled with an eating disorder in the past.  Even though I am no longer anorexic, I still struggle with my relationship with food. I’ve been overweight and underweight, never truly feeling happy in my own skin. 

And then here it comes, each year, “Swim Suit Season”, and those negative voices inevitably rear their pesky heads:  “My cellulite will show…I’m not in perfect shape yet…I’m pale…I’m not confident enough…she’s prettier than me…”

I had the blessing of celebrating my anniversary and milestone birthday in Greece this past month. As I shopped for a bathing suit, I took my “voices” with me.   After each suit, I would look in the mirror and put myself down.

It took a conversation with Dr. Roy to realize that no one has ever said those things to me. These were all MY own thoughts- nobody else’s. I had just said them silently for so long, they felt like someone else, something real.

It helped me to remember that other people may judge what I look like, but I can’t control their thoughts, I can only control mine.  In beautiful Greece, who cares that I’m not perfect? Who cares that I’m not a Victoria’s Secret model?. After a little push from Dr. Roy, I put my one-piece bathing suit in a drawer and packed a string bikini for my trip. When I tried it on, I smiled the first smile while looking at myself in the mirror in a bathing suit in a really long time. 

You know what? In Greece, the only one that was paying attention to what I was wearing was my husband and it felt freeing. My husband tells me I’m beautiful pretty regularly, and all that matters is that he loves me, inside and out, not anybody else. (He smiled too, by the way.) We celebrated our 4th anniversary, and as we walked on the beach along the Sea, I heard….silence in my head.

For the most part, I follow the gluten free, dairy free, pesco-vegetarian diet that I prescribe to many of you, but like you, I’m also human.  On vacation, I drank beer and wine.  I ate French fries, bread, cheese, and Belgian waffles.  I enjoyed dessert too. 

But I also ate a lot of salads, fresh veggies, seafood, fruit, fresh juices, and hummus.  I brought Macro Bars and matcha with us to have for breakfasts and packed our dinners for the overnight plane ride. 

Developing a healthy relationship with food is critical to all of our health journeys and I am starting to finally come to a place where I no longer feel guilty for eating things that may not be as healthful as long as I know I’m nourishing my body with nutritious foods most of the time. 

Life is all about balance and it’s not worth it to feel deprived all the time.  Life is too short to completely limit yourself.  You’ll drive yourself crazy.  Not only do we get nourishment from food, we also get a feeling of joy, home, comfort, and enjoyment.  So enjoy your food and join me in finding balance.

Dr. Roy: Why Did I Choose to Work in Cancer Care?

The summer before I started medical school I read, One in Three: A Son’s Journey Into the History of Science and Cancer by Adam Wishart and was struck by the poignancy of the title. It refers to the number of people who will be diagnosed with cancer and Mr. Wishart’s belief that we need to stop talking about the disease in hushed tones as it becomes something "to live with rather than to die from."

I felt a flame light inside of me. I wanted to be on the frontlines of something that affected so many. I also knew that in such a conservative field, natural medicine was an uncharted frontier. To matriculate into one of the 6 hospital-based fellowship programs in integrative oncology, nationwide, I had to be the best: jump higher, run faster, work harder. And so I did.

After my clinic shifts were over, long after everyone else had hit the bars, done with patient care, I would sit in the basement library of the hospital in my scrubs and pull complicated “cases” from medical records.

Over a thermos of coffee, I would curl up in a chair and read a chart from beginning to end. On a blank sheet of paper, I would map out their health story, I would find the connections, where did it all start, how would it end, do we intervene, what is the most comprehensive and targeted intervention possible.

I graduated from medical school in 2010 and that year, was the only candidate in the nation to be accepted to Cancer Treatment of America’s Eastern Regional Medical Integrative Oncology Fellowship in Philadelphia.

Last year, my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. He lived in a small country off the southeast coast of Madagascar where I spent much of my childhood. He was a strong man, a proud man, short in stature, muscular, straight back. He was distinguished.

Quiet, stoic, prayerful, he loved me like I was an angel but he never said it, only showed it. It was in how he looked at me when I came down to breakfast, how he held my hand in the city capital, how he turned a bitter eye towards anyone who criticized me openly. My grandfather was the only person I saw who lived a life completely consistent with his values.

The medical system in my little less-developed country is mostly broken, largely rudimentary, specialty care is almost non existent. There is no palliative care. He died in the most undignified manner possible.

Until my grandfather’s diagnosis, I was one of the lucky few for whom cancer was an opportunity. An opportunity to work with people doing the hard work of living well or dying well. This work humbled me. Every patient was a gift of grace and courage and I truly believe that this work, gives my life, meaning.

Since his diagnosis, my work has become something different…in each one of my patients now, I see my mother, who is haunted by her failure to save her father, my aunt, who was in grace as she let him go, my grandmother who walked with him in life and walks towards him after his death…I see it all.

For me it’s not so much a choice to work in cancer care, as a calling. We bear witness daily…this disease can be a brutal thing, but it is also an opportunity to bring those of us who have it and those of us who work with it, closer to the person that God intends us to be, because it forces us to acknowledge that this physical world that we hold so tightly to, may not be the one we actually live in. It humbles us, it keeps us learning, it keeps us curious.

And now, for me, it is an opportunity, to give to others what I wish I could have given to my own family. 

What is a Cancer Fighting Diet: An Introduction

Hippocrates once said, “Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine thy Food.” But he lived at a time where there was no genetically modified, low fat, no fat, zero calorie “foods” mixed with modern pesticides and herbicides. He was right; when we make the radical shift from eating highly processed nutrients to Real Food, it can have a dramatic impact on our health. But does that apply to cancer? Can what we are putting on our forks really be that powerful? That medicinal?

Most of what we read and see out there has little or poor evidence behind it. There are, at this time, only three clinically evidenced features of a cancer fighting diet. The first one is to eat less.[i]

Studies show that calorie restriction has a significant impact in reducing inflammatory markers that play a role in carcinogenesis, or the development of cancer[ii]. For you, that may mean switching out your plate for a slightly smaller one. It could mean incorporating short term fasts one day a week. It is critical that you partner with a team you like and trust to design a cancer fighting diet that is right for you. 

Each person’s cancer, body, stage in treatment, and nutritional status is different, so a plan needs to be tailored to your needs.  For example, specialized, prescribed, short term fasting during chemotherapy has strong animal data that it reduces side effects[iii] but in contrast, fasting during radiation is contraindicated with treatment.

Periodic, individualized short term fasting during survivorship may lower risk of recurrence[iv] but is contraindicated with patients with insulin sensitivity, a common condition associated with steroid exposure during treatment.

What we eat matters.  And the best way to think about it can be this, When we put something in our mouths, we are either fighting disease or feeding it.

Call us at (248) 798-2942, and allow one of our board certified nutritionists and natural medicine doctors work with you to use nutrition to fight cancer and live the life you desire. Wildflower Wellness, a holistic nutrition practice specializing in complementary support before, during and after cancer care recently partnered with Dr. Roy & Dr. March at Associates of Integrative Medicine to help teach our patients to shift their focus from what looks like food to real food.

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[i] Hursting SD, Smith SM, Lashinger LM, Harvey AE, Perkins SN. Calories and carcinogenesis: lessons learned from 30 years of calorie restriction research. Carcinogenesis. 2010;31:83–89.
[ii] Al-Wahab Z, Tebbe C, Chhina J, Dar SA, Morris RT, Ali-Fehmi R, Giri S, Munkarah AR, Rattan R. Dietary energy balance modulates ovarian cancer progression and metastasis. Oncotarget. 2014;5:6063–607.
[iii] Brandhorst, Sebastian, et al. "Protective effects of short-term dietary restriction in surgical stress and chemotherapy." Ageing Research Reviews (2017).
[iv] Periodic, individualized short term fasting during survivorship may lower risk of recurrence by reducing BMI and modifying other risk factors (Fontana, 2016; Harvie, 2013) 
5Fontana, L., Villareal, D.T., Vas, S.K., Smith, S.R., Meydani, S.M., Pittas, A.G.& Holloszy, J.O. (2016). Effects of 2-Year Calorie Restriction on Circulating Levels of IGF-1, IGF Binding Proteins and Cortisol in Nonobese Men and Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.  Aging Cell, 15, 22-27.

Learning and Growing From My Health Scare

I recently had a health scare that made me question some of my choices and reflect on my past. 

I went in for my annual exam a couple weeks ago and a physician assistant concurred that she felt a lump in my breast.  I had felt it a few weeks before, but I wasn’t sure what it was or what it meant.  Because of my family history of breast cancer, she instantly referred me for a mammogram. 

As soon as I got into my car, I called my step mom to tell her the news and immediately started crying.  I was terrified.  I always knew that I had a higher risk of breast cancer, but I thought, “Can this really be happening to me at 29?!”

I had been on the other side, I had been the one that was left behind, but this was a whole new perspective.  During the days between my appointment and my mammogram, I kept thinking about who I would be leaving behind if this lump was cancer.  I thought about my step mom who had stepped in when my mom passed.  I thought about my brother and nephew who had just moved back to Michigan.  I thought about my new practice and my work with you. It was hardest to think about my husband, Kevin, a man who is always positive and supportive.  How could I put him through this pain?  What about our plans to have children?

As the days passed I began to reflect on what I am empowered to do in the face of this disease. Am I doing as much as I can to live a purposeful and healthy life?  The answer was, “No, I am not.”  So I began meditating, praying, hugging my husband more, and letting myself feel my emotions instead of burying them.  I tried to be more present. I spent time with my family. My father and I had always struggled since my mom passed, and he reached out to me, we connected a little more.

We see patients daily who have to face choices about what to do for care. I began to walk down this road for myself and my family and think, “What would I choose if I had cancer?”  The answer that came to me was, “Everything I possibly could!”  Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, naturopathic medicine and complementary care for side effects, supplements, Reiki, meditation, massage, yoga, exercise, mental health counseling, nutrition, acupuncture, IV therapies, aromatherapy, chiropractic… anything and everything because I do believe in our mission statement, “to provide truly holistic cancer care that considers the therapeutic impact: nutrition; mental, emotional and spiritual work; intimacy; healing touch; movement and other modalities, have in the battle against cancer.”

I would not let this defeat me. There’s still so much I want to do, see, and experience.  I don’t want to leave anyone behind.

The ultrasound and mammogram day finally came (10 days later) and luckily there were no abnormalities detected. It was just a lump.  I felt a wave of relief and started crying again. I felt grateful that the results were negative, but I also felt grateful that it brought me closer to an understanding of what my mom went through and gave me a glimpse of what you, my patients go through.