Health related information and news from around the world.

As far as the medical establishment is concerned, chemotherapy—the use of drugs to fight disease—is an almost holy word. As a group, we doctors love to prescribe drugs. If chemotherapy led to good health it might be worthwhile, but we’ve been fed a bill of goods. Chemotherapy does not keep us healthy. If these drugs are as good as doctors claim, how come so many millions and millions of Americans are still afflicted with disease?

Chemotherapy, with its failed promises and often dangerous side effects, is a harsh reaction to disease that should never have occurred. And chemotherapy encourages us to neglect our health. Why take care of ourselves? All we have to do is run to a doctor and get a shot of the new wonder drug, right? Wrong! It was a wise person who said that if we threw all our medicines into the ocean, we’d be better off, but the fish would be in trouble.

“Dr. Fox, you’re not being fair. Lots of medicines are pretty good,” a patient argued the other day. Yes, some medicines work well. We will always need medicines and surgeries for those who do become ill or injure themselves. In some cases, the risk of side effects is outweighed by the compelling need for immediate relief. Most of us, however, most of the time, would be well advised to leave drugs to the fish.

Instead of relying on chemotherapy to treat disease, let’s adopt a new philsophy: Nutri-Prevention.

Nutri-Prevention relies not on drugs but nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates and amino acids (the building blocks of protein), to keep your immune system in shape. While chemotherapy makes your body the battleground that disease and drugs ravage as they struggle for dominance, Nutri-Prevention helps turn your immune system into a mighty shield against disease.

*156\80\8*

Now tighten up the muscles of your mouth. Grimace. Show your teeth, and tighten up the muscles around your mouth and the front of your neck. Tilt your chin up. Now, with your teeth still bared, open your lips as wide as you can. Hold them open, teeth clenched, as you also tighten your cheek and neck muscles. Teeth clenched, cheeks and neck tight, lips pulled open, hold these muscles tight while you count: one thousand … two thousand . .. three thousand . .. four thousand . .. five thousand … six thousand … seven thousand … eight thousand . .. nine thousand … ten thousand. Count slowly. Slowly relax your lips, jaw, cheek and neck muscles. Take in a deep breath through your nose, filling your lungs as you feel your diaphragm pulling down to open your lungs and make room for the air.

Hold the breath for a moment. Now let it go very slowly, taking at least five seconds to let it all out.

Take another breath. Fill your lungs. Feel your diaphragm pulling down to open your lungs wide. In your mind’s eye, see your diaphragm dropping down as your lungs fill.

Now repeat. Tighten the muscles of your mouth, clench your teeth and grimace. Tilt your chin up and tighten the muscles around your mouth and in the front of your neck. Hold that for a moment, then open your lips as wide as you tighten your cheek and neck muscles. Hold those muscles tight while you count, slowly: one thousand . . . two thousand .. . three thousand . . . four thousand .. . five thousand … six thousand … seven thousand . .. eight thousand .. . nine thousand . .. ten thousand. Slowly relax your jaw, lips, cheek and neck muscles. Take a deep breath in through your nose … a nice, deep breath. Feel your diaphragm pulling down to open your lungs wide. See, in your mind’s eye, your diaphragm dropping down as your lungs fill.

Hold the breath for a moment. Now let it out through your mouth very slowly, taking at least five seconds to empty your lungs.

Take another deep breath, filling up your lungs.

Hold it for a moment. Now let it out, very slowly. Take five seconds or more to blow it all out.

The muscles of your mouth and the front of your neck now feel light and relaxed.

*114\80\8*

MIXED SPROUTS AND RAISINS

Sprouted beans and peas are tasty, high in vitamin C, and add crunch to your foods. Buy mixed sprouts (or sprout your own), including mung bean sprouts, azuki bean sprouts, lentil sprouts, pea sprouts and radish sprouts.

Fill a small bowl with the mixed sprouts. Add raisins to taste. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds or chopped peanuts or almonds. Eat and enjoy. My son Barry likes to eat mixed sprouts and raisins with a small slice of low-fat mozzarella cheese and a piece of whole-wheat bread.

MIXED BEANS

Mixed beans, with or without lentils, can be eaten by themselves or as part of a meal. My wife Hannah always keeps a big pot of six or seven kinds of cooked beans in the refrigerator, ready to be heated or eaten cold as part of a salad.

How long it takes beans to cook depends on whether, and how long, you presoak them. To presoak beans, rinse them, and then place in a pot with about three times as much water as beans. Let stand for several hours. When my wife cooks beans, she puts them in a pot with three cups of water for every cup of beans. She puts the slower-cooking beans in first, adding the quicker-cooking ones a little later. The water is brought to a boil, the beans are added, covered, and left to simmer over a low heat. She checks the water occasionally, adding more if necessary.

*71\80\8*

Nature has packed an amazing variety of nutrients into the appealing packages we call food. When you look at an apple, you don’t think about the carbohydrates, fat, protein, fiber, calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin A, niacin, vitamin C and other nutrients it contains. You see and taste an apple.

As soon as you bite into the apple, however, you begin to “unwrap” the package. Chewing continues the process, which is completed by the enzymes in your mouth, stomach and intestines. Soon, the package is completely unwrapped. No longer an apple, it is now a collection of the nutrients that go into the making of an apple. It’s the ingredients, not the apple itself, that are absorbed into your body, and many of these ingredients are a big help to our “doctor within.” Others, however, are a mixed blessing, and some are outright harmful. Let’s look at the helpful ones first.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are indispensable tools for your “doctor within,” performing innumerable jobs in every cell of your body. They keep your bones and muscles strong, your skin clear and smooth. They also help fight cellular poisons, prevent unnecessary blood clotting, allow your brain to communicate with the rest of your body, heal wounds, fight bacteria and viruses, promote growth, form red blood cells and dispose of body wastes. You name it, vitamins and minerals are involved.

*27\80\8*