Day Ten: I Made a Chart

I feel dirty. I love Dr. Pepper and that makes me feel like a naughty boy. At least, now it does after today's nutritional lecture. Many of you have so nicely commented that I should write a book someday. I think I could write a couple dozen with the H-Bomb of knowledge that was dropped on my head this morning and the events that occurred afterward. And while I'm sure 3.7 of you would find it simply fascinating, I'm only going to ask the rest of you to suffer through the Cliff's Notes version today. Deal? Ok great.

To begin, I'd like you get familiar with this handy chart I created. Go ahead, take a look, I'll wait.

Ok, so this graph represents couple of different things that we learned today. The vertical value can represent any number of things: animal protein consumed, money spent on healthcare, amount of fat in the diet, etc. The basic gist is that in America, our lifestyle and diet is very unhealthy and we develop and die from cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, ovary and pancreas much more than any other country on the planet. Other countries, whether it be due to cultural preference or poor economic status, have diets low in meat and enriched grains while high in vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Makes sense, but what does this have to do with cancer? Well let me tell you!

Animal protein has a growth effect on the human body. This is why we need it from milk when we're babies and why you don't see any vegan bodybuilders. However, we don't really need it so frequently, or even at all as adults. Eating any animal protein causes the body to produce IGF-1 which is our natural growth hormone. It tells your body to start cranking out new cells and inhibits the natural functions that allow old cells to die off and be replaced. This is bad, because as adults we don't really need to grow any more and as a cell gets older it has a much greater chance at mutating when it divides. Mutated cells that replicate and don't die are called cancer. Keep the process going long enough, add in some other factors like a suppressed immune system from a crappy lifestyle and soon enough you've developed a tumor. It's just that easy!

So why don't we all have cancer? Well, we kinda do. According to research, every single one of us will develop cancer 8-10 times during our lifetime. The main difference is that for most of us our immune system will destroy the cancer before it becomes a problem.

During today's lecture, Dr. McCarty showed us what the absolutely ideal diet should consist of. Whole fruits and veggies, beans, whole grains and pasta. Foods that have not been enriched, like white bread or rice. These should be enjoyed with a few cups of coffee each day and rounded out with 1-2 glasses of wine or beer. That's pretty much it, and seems pretty inline with what common sense tells you after taking a hard look at our over indulgent American diet. So why is coffee good for you? Caffeine inhibits adenosine, a molecule that cancer cells use to turn your immune system off. Pretty cool huh? Also, and these are rough, but you should avoid milk, even non-fat, protein powders, hamburgers and any foods high on the glycemic index that will cause your insulin to spike. Insulin multiplies the effects of hormones in your system and insulin spikes cause a blood sugar crash, making you hungry more quickly. And lastly, cooking any kind of meat causes the creatine inside it become a powerful carcinogen called heterocyclic amines that are capable of causing all kinds of cancer.

Pretty grim stuff, yes? Sounds like our only hope is to become vegans and let the cows and chickens have their own island nation so they can live happily ever after. Of course back here in Realityville, we like to eat cows and chickens and have a bowl of Cap'n Crunch in the morning. Those of us that need to make a change are going to cut some of these things out completely and eat the rest in moderation. This is what Krissy will do. Some changes will hurt. I'm gonna miss my puffy Cheetos and Spaghetti-O's and my kids will eat more oatmeal and drink less pop, but otherwise you can eat pretty well and not have to wolf down meat at every meal.

There are a ton of other details I'm glossing over from today but you can see the exact same presentation we received today at Oasis's research page. Minus Dr. McCarty talking of course. I think it's important for everyone to step back and think about how they eat and live, and decide what is most important to their happiness and well being.

Wow, that was a lot of words, and I haven't even told you about the rest of our day. If you're up for an extra long post tonight then I'll keep going. Ok, here goes. After the lecture we joined a large group of this week's new arrivals and headed down to El Yogurt for lunch. Afterward we had a quick and encouraging meeting with Dr. Cecenas, followed by the bill for three month's worth of Krissy's nutraceuticals totaling just over $2200. These include laetrile injections that I'll have to give to her three times a week. Then our phone rang and it was Bruce, asking if we'd like a ride down to the beach and if he could take our picture for a DVD they are putting together. We haven't had a chance to see the sun set over the ocean yet, so we agreed. We were greeted downstairs by their friend Carlos, who is also a minister and provides literacy classes for the underprivileged children in a poorer neighborhood not far from here. He raises money for these projects by taking folks from the hospital down to the beach by pedi taxi, basically a cart he pulls on his bicycle. It was a lot of fun, we rode down to an overlook by a small lighthouse on the beach and watched a stunning sun set into the horizon, casting hues that even my colorblind eyes could appreciate. Bruce snapped a few pictures of us and we were carted back to the hospital for dinner. I tipped Carlos with everything I had in my wallet and wished him well, and Krissy has plans to visit the children he helps on her next trip down here.

During dinner I helped Brian bring trays of food up to their room since Michelle was still receiving her treatments and couldn't get out of bed. While there I noticed he was reading George R.R. Martin and is a fellow fantasy/sci-fi and comic book fan. I divulged my geeky passions for such things and left them to enjoy their meal. Funny the things you learn about people by accident! We wrapped up the evening at a healing session with Bruce and Vicky in the chapel. We attended this last week and only Krissy and I showed up. Tonight there were about twelve of us. It was probably the most beautiful and enriching hour I've spent here at Oasis. Everyone here for treatment was anointed and then prayed over by Bruce, Vicky and their companion. I think we spent the entire time in tears of joy and thanks. By the end, each person in the room had a bond with one another that didn't exist before, and I'm once again so thankful to have had Bruce and Vicky in our lives. Some people are good people, but these two radiate goodness and spread it to everyone they touch.

Well I think I'm about spent for the evening, that was much more than I had originally planned to type. For those of you still reading, you will receive a commemorative Lanza Star of Spiffyness for your efforts. You will only need to send in three proofs of purchase along with $2.74 for shipping & handling and this fine badge of honor can be yours! G'night!