Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

Before I talk about food, a quick: Vitiligo Update It still pisses me off that the hyperactive immune system that attacks my own pigment cells just let cancer sail right on through. Enough rant. Since my cancer diagnosis, my vitiligo has just exploded. It's spread from knees and elbows to legs, face and neck. It bothers me more now. Picture from 2009 Hands now  2016           The growing spread of vitiligo Treatments Topical steroids weren't working and while Latisse (the eyelash drug) worked on one spot above one eye, it does not seem to be helping with the other spot above the other eye. There is a pulsed light treatment I have yet to try, but before I go that route, I want to try the food route. Food as Medicine I've blogged previously as viewing Food as Fuel , the next step is to view food as medicine with the potential to heal some ailments. I've read a couple of books, It Starts with Food and The Paleo Appr...

Funny how a simple adjustment in perspective can make all the difference. I know that when most people hear "diet" they assume "eat less" or "calorie reduction". As a cancer survivor, I've had to learn a lot more than I'd like about food, nutrients and supplements - all with the intent of reducing risk of recurrence - that is what "diet" is to me. Food to help me reduce the risk of cancer because I cannot do anything about my genetics, but I can control my diet.  I've blogged about the foods and cancer risk reduction previously here: I'd rather be eating hot wings and fries . For me, like most everyone, I try to eat healthy most of the time, but do eat more rubbish than I should. What about, instead of thinking of eating food for pleasure, perhaps I should think of food as fuel for my body. So if I was making a recipe, I'd want to get the best ingredients I could (within reason). That change in perspective, is helping...

This is the second "Cancer by the Numbers" post, the first was about blood counts . We have been trying to eat organic fruits and vegetables as much as we can, to reduce the pesticide levels we injest. I will publish another post about cancer and food, but for now I thought I'd share the cost of organic vs not organic based on a quick poll of my local grocery (HEB).  We had cut out meat prior to my diagnosis of cancer (ever since reading The China Study ) so perhaps the decline in spending in meat is offset by the more pricey organic items! The graph below shows the increase, as a percentage of the non-organic price, that I pay for common items that I buy. While the actual dollar amounts may not be significant individually, I can tell you that I really feel it on my grocery bill when I buy blueberries! If you feel you want to buy organic, but want to spend the dollars on those items where it makes a difference, take a look at the  Environmental Working ...

Before I went on my trip back home to Trinidad in April, my doctor told me that my cholesterol was too high, even though I am underweight for my height (or perhaps that is exactly why I have high cholesterol?) Anyway, I was supposed to go back to the doctor after I had..ahem..modified my diet. Well, if you look at the pictures of the food I ate while in Trinidad, you'll understand why I haven't been back. (Thanks to Teddy, my brother, for finally sending me the pictures.) I'm not sure how long the strategy of not going back to the doctor will work, but so far, I've been doing well using that approach. A nd here we have the very versatile doubles - good for breakfast, lunch and dinner; which is how often I tried to eat them. Made from flour that is fried with curried channa (garbanzo beans) inside and some pepper. What it looks like on the inside, revealing said channa and pepper. A bit of trivia - it used to be two separate baras making the doubles, now some ve...