Breast Cancer Insanity

There's nothing better than checking my email first thing in the morning and reading an article about another young girl deciding to remove her breasts because she is trying to prevent breast cancer. 

Allyn Rose is on the left

Astounding: Miss America contestant will have both breasts removed, and she doesn't have cancerOriginal Source

Allyn Rose, 24, has announced she'll have a double mastectomy after the Miss America pageant is over.

She doesn't have cancer.

"If I were to win [the contest]...I would have this incredible platform to speak to my generation..." Rose said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Rose has been making the rounds of media outlets, announcing her intention, promoting what can only be called the medically-assisted culture of self-mutilation.

Read Mike Adams' devastating article about the new study showing mammograms produce vast over-diagnosis of non-existent cancers, leading to cut-burn-poison treatments.

http://www.naturalnews.com

The case of Allyn Rose goes even beyond that. She has received no diagnosis of cancer. This is now a growing trend: precautionary mastectomies.

In Rose's case, it's about a marker, called Wiskott-Aldrich, which signals a very rare immune disorder, almost always found in boys.

Rose has been called a carrier. She is without symptoms.

But because this marker is said to run in her mother's family, because her mother died at a young age, as a result of breast cancer, and because, we are told, breast cancer "runs in her mother's family," Allyn Rose has decided to have both her breasts removed.

Medical literature claims a high correlation between this Wiskott-Aldrich marker and cancers. But breast cancer specifically?

The director of the Wiskott-Aldrich foundation, Dr. Sumathi Iyengar, told the Washington Post's Reliable Source there was only some anecdotal evidence pointing to a possible connection.

I spoke with Dr. Iyengar and she was much more emphatic, stressing there is "no evidence" proving a link between the Wiskott-Aldrich marker and breast cancer.

On this basis, a healthy young woman of 24 is having both her breasts removed; she has been hailed as a hero; and she will go on the road and function as a promoter for her cause.

Naturally, Allyn Rose is working with the Susan Komen Foundation, notorious for its propaganda about the need for mammograms and "early diagnosis" and treatment.

What message will Rose be sending to young impressionable girls who want to gain status, recognition, and praise? The answer is obvious. Suddenly, popularity and acclaim are just one surgery away.

Major media outlets are playing along, of course. Where are the medical reporters raising objections? Nowhere.

Jon Rappoport
Original Source 

WTF??? Does no one see how horribly messed up that is? The Susan Komen Foundation should be shut down and everyone arrested for promoting this absurdity. This poor (by poor I mean stupid) girl is getting her breasts removed because she thinks it will prevent her from getting cancer. Nothing, aside from lifestyle changes will prevent anyone from getting cancer! If she has an impaired immune system she should start juicing. She's only 24. Ugghhhh! 

I hope she doesn't win Miss America for the sole reason that if she does she's going to start spewing her garbage about how every young girl should get a double mastectomy before she is even diagnosed with breast cancer. 

I'm done with my rant. Have a nice day!

Anxiety Level: ORANGE

On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being insanity, I've been around a level 7 lately. It's a combination of my overflowing to-do list and drinking regular coffee instead of decaf, and not regularly physically exerting myself. Luckily (for everyone else) only my nails and cuticles have been effected. Which brings me to my super important topic of today.

I am going on record as saying I AM COMPLETELY DONE BITING MY NAILS AND CUTICLES. 

I took a look at my toe nails the other day and was like Wow! I have really nice toe nails. (Thank God I don't have an insane urge to bite them!!). Then I looked at my nails, which right now look like a hyena was gnawing on them, and was thoroughly embarrassed and fed up. I could have really nice nails if I could just keep them out of my damn mouth.

So the task at hand is to cognitively train myself to believe I am not a nail biter. Stressful situation or not, I am not a nail biter.

I know I'm not curing cancer with the information I'm talking about, but it might make me a little less neurotic and therefore improve my quality of life.

Does anyone else have any tips that helped them stop???

P.S. I've tried the pepper nail polish- nothing. I actually like pepper.

I need sleep!

So in lieu of the fact that everyone in my life is getting sick right now, I am in serious "I NEED SLEEP" mode. Sleep is the one thing that if I let myself go I will get sick. And it is just not an option for me right now. SO last night I slept for 11 hours. And tonight I am planning on doing the same. Coincidentally, I just saw this article from Dr. Mercola on common sleep mistakes that people make.

1. Using the snooze button. While a few minutes more in bed may be tempting, using the snooze button could backfire as interrupted sleep can increase your fatigue. GUILTY!
2. Irregular sleep schedule. A regular routine of going to bed and getting up around the same time each day will help promote better sleep, while constantly interrupting your schedule can easily lead to insomnia and fatigue. GUILTY!
3. Taking long naps during the day. GUILTY!
4. Eating sugar before bedtime. Sugar alters the chemical balance in your body, which can contribute to impaired sleep. UMM...SOMETIMES...
5. Drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages too late in the day. GUILTY!

Since I am in the middle of a crazy work schedule right now, I have found it really hard to maintain taking care of myself. I haven't worked out consistently in like a month, I've barely been juicing, and I've been eating out a lot. But the one thing I know I need to stay on top of is my sleep.

Giving thanks that I don't have to cook on Thanksgiving

In honor of the Thanksgiving dinner that I will not be cooking this week, I will present to you some short Mark Bittman videos of some really simple, delicious, and healthier alternatives to mashed potatoes and stuffing. *Disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with mashed potatoes and stuffing. This is what I would be cooking if I was having dinner at my house. One of these days...

Braised Turkey

Herb Stuffed Duck

Layered Vegetable Torte

Butternut Squash Salad (raw)

Braised Artichokes

Walnut Torte

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Daily Yoga

That's me... just kidding! Maybe someday

I recently fell off the workout wagon and it is starting to show. I'm not gaining weight, but I'm not sleeping as well as I do when I work out regularly, and I've been waking up with seriously stiff muscles in my neck and back. This usually happens every year when we are under the time pressure of get-everything-setup-before-Thanksgiving-or-we-won't-be-selling-Christmas-trees.

I recently bought a hot yoga package which I am trying to find the time to use, AND I just realized that there is a workout channel on On Demand. DUH!!!! I can just do yoga in my living room! So that's what I'm doing everyday from now on. I'm going to do at least 20 minutes of yoga every day.

Today was my second day doing it... I'll keep you posted!

I love bibb lettuce

Since discovering how much I love bibb lettuce salads with other kinds of lettuce just don't compare. I probably wrote about this before, but the best way to make a salad with bibb lettuce is just add dressing. The second best way is what I'm about to tell you. I discovered it on the menu at my FAVORITE restaurant/bar/nightclub over the summer and I just made it myself.

I'm not exactly sure how they make the apricot vinaigrette so I winged it:

• handful of dried apricots (organic, unsulfured)
• raw apple cider vinegar
• raw olive oil
• water
• bibb lettuce
• Gorgonzola cheese
• walnuts

1. Soak the dried apricots in water overnight (they will take their original shape when done)
2. In food processor, add apricots (including water from soaking), oil and vinegar, blend.
3. Toss lettuce and dressing in bowl.
4. Top with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (organic) and crushed walnuts.

AMAZEBALLS! While the dressing is not exactly the same, it gives a similar sweet effect. This is definitely one of those things I could eat every day.

One thing about nuts. EAT THEM! (unless you are allergic) They are packed with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. There is nothing wrong with eating fat if it comes from the right source! Right source- fruits, vegetables, nuts. Wrong source: hydrogenated oils, fried foods, candy bars, etc. You get the point.  

And I'm eating my second bowl right now. 

It's about that time...

It's the start of Christmas season again. Maybe not for all of you, but we are starting to set up the stands so we can start selling the Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. Just another one of the many random things I am involved in. For those of you who were reading last year, I am extremely busy this time of year so naturally one of the things that falls off is how often I can cook.

I got a little ahead of the game and prepared a few things so that I don't have to eat fast food on the road for the next 8 days. I'm going to bring my handy-dandy green juices along with me, some fruit, and the fruit nut bars that I made!!! I used to get these from Lisa (and if you are in Monmouth County, NJ I highly recommend her if you want raw foods but don't have the time to prepare or don't know how).

I have been meaning to call her (Lisa if you are reading this... I need to order some things from you!!!) but I keep forgetting, so in lieu of her fruit nut bars I tried to make my own. I had a bunch of dried fruit and nuts hanging around. I have no idea how she makes them so I winged it.

Here's what I put in (although I'm pretty sure any dried fruit/nut combination would work):

• raw almonds
• raw cashews
• raw macadamia nuts 
• raisins
• dates
• water

All you do is put the combo in a food processor, chop until super fine consistency, add a little water so the mixture balls up, spread out on a baking sheet into one big square, refrigerate overnight. I'm not sure if you are supposed to score them before or after. I didn't score them before so I'll let you know how it goes. 

Some other ingredients I didn't think about until after: shredded coconut &dark chocolate chips!!!

These are great to-go snacks and you can make a huge batch of them and they last for a really long time when refrigerated.

Healing Cancer World Summit

I wrote about this about a year ago, and I think it's so important that I'm going to let you know about it again, because the Healing Cancer World Summit is running it's second annual event right now.

This summit focuses on "alternative" medicine doctors, cancer researchers, and cancer survivors. I put alternative in quotes because many of the views of these doctors are the opposite of the main stream views on cancer treatments. However, I believe that the views of these contributors are the new "main stream" treatment of cancers. 

Here is the post where I summarized last years' Healing Cancer World Summit contributors, and here is the link where you can sign up to hear this years' contributors. If you or someone you love are facing a cancer diagnosis or battling a cancer, this may be the most important information you will be exposed to. 

I'll tell you what (and I've said this before), if I were to be diagnosed with cancer I would 100% be looking for an "alternative" treatment to the conventional cancer treatments: surgery, chemo, and radiation. That is how strongly I believe in what these doctors, holistic practitioners, cancer survivors are promoting. 

Knowledge is power. I would love to hear your opinions about all this, positive or negative.

Soup of the Day

Since I got back, I've been trying to use our veggies from the garden. Over the weekend I made a delicious soup with Swiss chard from the garden. I was a little nervous because I don't usually start soup with water, but I didn't have any chicken to make stock with or any veggie stock, so water it was!

• 3 cans cannelloni beans
• 1 lg bunch Swiss chard
• 5 links pre-cooked sausage
• 2 lg sweet onions 
• 3/4 stock pot of water
• 6 cloves chopped garlic
• dried herbs: thyme, sage, garlic, white pepper, sea salt, rosemary, thyme

1. fill pot w/ water, chopped onions, garlic, all herbs, chopped sausage.
2. bring to boil for 30 minutes
3. add beans, simmer for 2 hours
4. add Swiss chard, simmer for final 30 minutes

It took longer than I thought because I started with water. It takes a while for all of the flavors to meld together, but it's worth it if you have the time. If not, use prepared stock. I also cooked egg noodles and added them into the individual bowls topped with Parmesan cheese. It was surprisingly amazing! That was the first time I cooked a soup like that, and got a few compliments from my mom and some friends that were staying over. (Patting myself on the back)

Next up! Either black bean chili or chicken soup!

Back in NJ

Well, I finally made my way back to New Jersey. I got in 2 a.m. Friday morning and was never so happy to be home. It is so weird that almost 2 weeks ago I left and everything was normal. I came home to gas lines that were hours long, barely any stores open, most people still without power, and many that had lost everything. My family and I were fortunate to not have any damage, and I was lucky enough to come home to a warm apartment with electricity, cable, and internet.

My heart goes out to those who were less fortunate. I wish everyone a safe and speedy recovery. It will take a while to get back to normal, but we will. It's NJ. We don't have the reputation we do for no reason.

On the brighter side, I thought I would be eating canned food for a while, but low and behold I found some goodies in the garden. I didn't think we would be harvesting veggies into November, but lucky us!

Stay strong New Jersey!

Judging the Competition

While at Whole Foods I picked up one of their fresh pressed raw juices. While it didn't taste anything like ours and had different ingredients I would like to comment on a something. I really should be comparing WF juice to our Recipe #2, however I don't have any more here in my hotel room, and there isn't much difference in the color between the two.

If you notice Raw Generation juice is darker than the Whole Foods juice. That means more greens! When you are drinking a green juice you want it to be dark green right? Notice the number of  dark green ingredients in each!

Whole Foods Ingredients:

• apples
• spinach
• cucumber
• celery
• parsley
• lemon
• lime
• ginger

Raw Generation Ingredients:

• wheatgrass
• kale
• spinach
• collards
• Swiss chard
• apples
• lemon

And the color difference... both in frosted bottles.

When you are buying green juices, look at the ingredients. A lot of the juice companies that are popping up pack majority of the bottle with fruits/vegetables that put off a lot of juice like apples, cucumber, celery. While we use apple juice in our recipe #2, half of the bottle is filled with juice of 5 dark greens leafy vegetables: wheatgrass, kale, collards, spinach, and Swiss chard. 

Whole Foods juice: $5.45 (2 greens)

Raw Generation juice: $4.99 (5 greens)

There you have it! You get more greens with Raw Generation juices.