YourBodyCode™ Online Official Blog

I was diagnosed with Adrenal Cancer in 2001 and after meeting with several oncologists who had never worked with this type of cancer I had the fortunate experience of being involved in a clinical research program at the University of Michigan.  I went through chemotherapy treatments as well as radiation and "experimental" injections.  I was then placed into remission in 2003.  Just 1 year later my cancer had returned and I again went through the same routine of chemo and the experimental injections.

After 6 months of a stronger chemo and different injections it came to the point where they wanted to take out my adrenals, which would leave me dependent on supplemental hormones, etc.  It was to the point where I could not physically receive anymore treatments, it was too risky and also found out that the cancer was now in my thyroid and my right breast.  Thyroid cancer is one of the side effects of the chemo I was being given.  That was the last straw for me and I was not going to go through any more chemo and did not want any type of surgery to where I would be dependent on synthetic hormones.  I already had an unbelievable cocktail of hormone supplements and pills that I would take every day (17 to be exact) and the treatments I was going through seemed barbaric.  I was so frustrated... I couldn't be a wife or a mom - it took every ounce of energy I had to be able to do homework with my children or sit down for a family meal (a meal that would never stay down long enough to get any nutritional value from it).
 
I had seen Amanda in the past, but this time I went in with my husband and together we made the decision to go full force with a cancer diet.  Michigan weaned me off of my pills and I stopped my chemo treatments.  This was a difficult journey, but worth every step!  Throughout my cancer I would have friends tell me about some "magic" pill or tell me if I just drank this antioxidant juice, my cancer will disappear.  Well there is no magic pill or special juice, but there is the ability for the body to be able to heal itself.
 
With the help and guidance of Amanda I was able to achieve just that - A healthy body!  I stopped all forms of synthetic injections and chemo and REALLY stuck to the diet that Amanda had put together for me.  Today I am cancer free in my thyroid and my breast.  This was achieved without chemotherapy or radiation, just diet and the support of Amanda, my wonderful family and faith in God.  I have 10% of my adrenal tumor left and have no doubt that it will be gone by the end of this year.  I continue to be in the clinical study through the University of Michigan and hope that I can be an example of how proper nutrition and a positive attitude can truly heal.
 
My family and I are forever grateful to Amanda.  She has an incredible knowledge of nutrition and the human body.  If it was not for the decision to see her and STICK to her recommendations I would probably not be writing this today.  Cancer is an awful thing and there are other answers besides the conventional chemo, radiation and surgery. I'm so thankful for what I've been through, this has been an incredible journey for me - it has given me the opportunity to make a difference.
 
Thank you Amanda!
 
Shannon Bedard

San Diego resident Carrie Wang, trying to lose the extra baby weight after the birth of her second child invested more than $100 dollars in the Wu-Yi Source Tea, a diet aid she found over the Internet claiming to shed more than 25 pounds in just a couple of months.
 
Click here to watch the video. Story reported by KFMB-TV CBS 8

Even though these diseases are different, they are treated very much the same as far as food enzyme to consume and avoid.
 
Diverticula are a pea or grape size protrusion in the intestinal wall. Without sufficient fiber to soften and add bulk, constipation will occur and stools are harder to pass.  This pressure creates weak points in the wall of the colon. Symptoms can be mild to chronic and usually are accompanied with sharp pain on the left side of the abdomen, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, bloating. Drinking a lot of water, and consuming adequate amounts of fiber correctly in the diet is the key to controlling this disorder.
 
Colitis can quickly turn into diverticulitis if not treated correctly. With colitis, the mucous membrane lining the colon becomes inflamed and develops ulcers which can cause bloody diarrhea, gas, pain, bloating and many times hard stools. When the colon muscles are working extra hard to move the stools, the mucous lining of the colon wall can bulge out into a pouch like projection called diverticula.
 
IBS also known as spastic colon can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract also known as reflux, because it can affect from the mouth to the colon. As in the above two conditions, food greatly affects the pain threshold. The normal muscular contractions of the digestive tract become irregular which interferes with the normal movement of food and bowel movements. This in turn leads to the accumulation of mucus and toxins in the intestines. This in turn can cause an obstruction in the digestive tract, trapping gas and stools and causes bloating, pain and constipation.
 
Foods to avoid with these conditions would be: alcohol, caffeine, carbonated beverages, red meat, citrus fruits, apples ( apple sauce is fine), grapes, melon ( watermelon is fine), corn, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, white potato (red potato is fine), tomato (white or purple are fine), onion, peppers, cucumber, chocolate, white refined simple carbohydrates and sugars, fried foods, spicy sauces, all dairy products ( use rice milk or almond milk), nuts & seeds (almond butters are fine), and any food additives such as sorbitol, sucralose, mannitol etc. In initially bad cases in any of these conditions, wheat can initially be eliminated and put back in once the condition is under control. Eat Papaya every day it aids in healing and digestion as does peppermint (not the candy).

By studying the diets of 52 normal-weight adults and 52 overweight or obese adults, researchers found that normal-weight adults ate more fiber and fruit each day than their overweight and obese counterparts.
 
"These findings suggest that the composition of a diet, especially low dietary fiber and fruit intake, play a role in the (development) of obesity," concludes the study team in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
 
For all study subjects, Dr. Jaimie N. Davis of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and colleagues determined the dietary amount of 60 food items using a food frequency questionnaire, assessed physical activity levels and determined percent body fat. All of the subjects were about the same age and height.
 
Davis' group found marked differences in the dietary habits of the two groups. The overweight and obese subjects consumed more total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, and less carbohydrate, specifically dietary fiber and complex carbohydrate, than normal weight subjects.
 
The differences in diet composition "may have played a vital role in promoting or preventing obesity," they write. Normal-weight adults consumed an average of 33 percent more dietary fiber and 43 percent more complex carbohydrates daily than their overweight and obese counterparts. Dietary fiber and complex carbohydrate intake were inversely related to body weight and "most strongly" to percent body fat.
 
Compared with normal-weight subjects, overweight and obese subjects consumed about one less fruit serving daily, which may partly explain their lower fiber and carbohydrate intake. There are several mechanisms by which dietary fiber may reduce the risk of weight gain or obesity. Dietary fiber, for example, slows digestion, prolonging that "full" feeling and foods high in fiber are usually low in fat and calories.
 
"The public is still attracted to popular weight-loss strategies that emphasize decreasing carbohydrate and increasing fat and protein," the study team notes in their report."  Although there is evidence that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets produce substantial weight loss in the short-term, to date there are no long-term studies that examine the effects of these regimens."  While there is no magic formula for weight loss, in the current study, "dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit were associated with lower body fat stores in adults," Davis told Reuters Health. "These results suggest that increasing dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit in an individual's diet should be an important part of dietary interventions," the researcher concluded.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 15.7 million people in America have diabetes and it is considered to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. If Diabetes is not properly controlled, it can lead to many other disorders such as heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, edema and infections with the skin, lungs, feet and mouth.
 
There are two different types of diabetes:
 
Type 1 where the individual is insulin dependent your body produces no insulin and usually starts at an early age. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
 
Type 2 which is non insulin dependent, and usually starts a little later in life but can affect any age, usually starts pertaining to diet.
 
In type 2, the pancreas produces a small amount of insulin, yet not enough to fuel the cells. Medication is used in both 1 and 2 to combat resistance the cells may have to what little insulin or none that there is in the bloodstream.
 
With type 1 diet can greatly help you lesson the amount of medication needed, but you will always need some medication. With type 2 in most all cases, with diet, you can eliminate medication altogether. Always check your blood sugar levels with meals, when on the correct diet for this disease, you can easily drop to a very low blood sugar level if you do not monitor your medication and that may run the risk of falling into a diabetic coma. Diabetes requires eating little and often through the day, putting a protein with each meal and correctly balancing your day with complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats.