Stop Cancer with Phytotherapy: With 100+ Anti-Cancer Recipes

Copyright © 2014 Benjamin & Esther Lau.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-4810-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4812-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4811-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014914849

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/05/2014

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

A Synopsis

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1   Why This Book?

Chapter 2   Beginnings of Cancer Research

Chapter 3   More Basic Nutritional Research

Chapter 4   Adventist Health Study

Chapter 5   Cancer Immunology Made Simple

Chapter 6   Healing Cancer From Inside Out

Chapter 7   Observational Research

Chapter 8   Toxic Environment

Chapter 9   Toxic Lifestyle Habits

Chapter 10 Toxic Diet

Chapter 11 My Nutrition Research

Chapter 12 Phytotherapy – Crux of the Matter

Chapter 13 The Reverse Diet

Chapter 14 The Recovery Diet

Chapter 15 The Right Diet

Chapter 16 Why Buy Organic?

Chapter 17 Conclusion

Kyra Kaya, The Third Author

Recipes for Life

Appendix

References

DEDICATED

TO

ANNA H. WANG, RN

This book is dedicated to Esther’s 103-year-old mother whose zest for life and whose avant-garde foresight led her to nutritional and health practices which are only now being confirmed by science. For half a century, she served freshly extracted juices to the residents of her 50-bed nursing home in Illinois, and even today she still drinks her two cups of carrot juice every morning. Amazingly, her thinning white hair is now being replaced by a thick new growth of black hair! Always enjoying learning, she learned to crochet shortly before her 100th birthday – an activity she enjoys daily. A recent physical exam revealed a remarkably healthy woman with all the indices of an individual half her age. And it is to this living monument of sound nutritional and health practices that we lovingly dedicate this book.

"This is a great book for you.

It is very true.

It tells you how to get well,

And make you happy and swell!"

Unedited poem by Kyra Kaya, 8-year-old

great granddaughter of Anna H. Wang

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For a period of more than three decades, I have had the privilege of working with a good number of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and colleagues whose findings are included in this book. I wish to acknowledge the following individuals: Moses Adetumbi, PhD, George Javor, PhD, Padma Tadi-Uppala, PhD, Jeff Tosk, PhD, Robert Teel, PhD, Lin Li, MD, PhD, Takeshi Yamasaki, DVM, Christopher Marsh, MD, James Woolley, MD, Daila Gridley, PhD, Brian Wong, PhD, Clifford Herrmann, PhD, Jian Qian, MD, Yu Wang, MD, Chok Wan, MD, PhD, Roger Hadley, MD, Gary Barker. MD, Robert Torrey, MD, Dick Koobs, MD, PhD, Herbert Ruckle, MD, Jerry Rittenhouse, MD, Paul Lui, MD, Tomi Botolazzo, MD, Robert Myers, MD, James Slater, MD, Douglas Wong, MD, Amber Buz’Zard, PhD, Nagatoshi Ide, PhD, William Chu, PhD, Ted Masek, MD, Ernest Ngo, MD, Judy Johnson, MS, Erben Bayeta, MS, Vandana Shah, MS, Peck Ong, MD, James Kettering, PhD, Charles Winter, PhD. Heidi Ngo, MD, and Becky Wang, MD.

I wish to acknowledge the financial support for my research from the Chan Shun Research Fund for AIDS and Cancer (Chan Shun International Foundation, Burlingame, California).

My sister-in-law Ruth Liu, EdD, has spent many hours to read and polish up the book manuscript, for which we are most grateful. Finally, I want to thank our publisher for doing a superb job in making this book available to the public.

A SYNOPSIS

We propose a new paradigm to stop cancer, using a novel therapy called phytotherapy or plant-based nutrition:

Phytotherapy is the most advanced immunotherapy based on our own research.

Phytotherapy is the safest chemotherapy as it has no adverse side effects, again based on our own research.

Phytotherapy is a non-invasive surgery. It can eliminate cancer without the scalpel, based on our own research and clinical observation.

This book tells you how to Stop Cancer. You may be told that there is no other way than through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. But we offer for the first time phytotherapy’s triple action capable of stopping a deadly killer disease taking more than 600,000 lives every year in the United States.

Phytotherapy is immunotherapy. A plant-based diet provides thousands of phytonutrients that feeds the immune cells and enhances their functions. Our own research clearly demonstrates that the immune system is the body’s best and only bullet-proof defense against cancer.

Phytotherapy is chemotherapy without the adverse side effects. Phytochemicals (plant chemicals) have been shown to selectively destroy cancer cells while non-toxic to normal cells. Most of the current patented chemotherapeutic drugs destroy both the cancerous along with the healthy cells – that is, they kill and weaken every cell indiscriminately. However, phytochemicals can provide dual functions – selectively killing only cancer cells while supplying nutrients to enrich normal cells.

Phytotherapy is a non-surgical surgery. In our animal studies and clinical observations, plant chemicals have been shown to cause cancer/tumor to fall off from the body naturally without a scalpel.

We are living in a most momentous time, unparalleled in human history. We are winning the war on cancer through the use of a plant-based diet. Phytotherapy has finally emerged as the long-waited breakthrough. Its significance impacts many lives saved, relationships restored, and future dreams realized.

Indeed we are a fortuitous generation. We can no longer ignore the importance of nutrition and lifestyles in fighting cancer. This is precisely what propels us with an urgent message that what we eat and how we live can prevent, arrest, and reverse cancer. Our only desire is to share with you what we have learned so that every man, woman and child can control his/her own destiny living cancer-free.

Simple Solutions in a Nutshell

If you have cancer or someone you know of has cancer, here are some brief guidelines you may wish to incorporate immediately:

1. Stop eating all animal products and processed foods as these promote cancer growth.

2. Eat an unprocessed plant-based diet with thousands of phytochemicals that destroy cancer cells and strengthen immune cells.

3. Go to sleep every night before 10 pm.

4. If the tumor is small, sit tight. If the tumor is large, you may opt to have it surgically removed.

5. If it is too difficult for you to do it on your own, you may consider spending some time to learn how to change your diet and lifestyle habits in a wellness center (see appendix).

Take time to consider all your options. Do not rush into any hasty decisions. A cancer diagnosis can be an impetus towards healthier living in which one can experience the best years yet to come!

PREFACE

Are we close to finding a cure for cancer?

The number of cancer survivors has increased since the 1970s when President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act. Yet cancer remains a complex disease too canny to be eradicated anytime soon.

Unless and until we make some changes!

Many years ago, I (Esther) recall in my mother’s kitchen often hearing that familiar hum of the juicer spewing out carrot and other vegetable juice. Next would be the splish-splash sound of the fresh juices filling the Mason jars. Then armed with the precious cargo, my mother would faithfully begin her round of deliveries to those facing the ravages of cancer, some of whom were reeling with the dreaded verdict of their doctors: There’s nothing more we can do.

My mother’s care and compassion fueled her loving service to others, as she daily drove across town often combating the severe Illinois winters. Along with fresh juices she graciously extended comfort to the despondent and hope to the hopeless.

One such recipient was a massage therapist diagnosed with advanced stage of breast cancer who resigned herself to impending death. But to the utter amazement of family and friends, rather than closing down her life, she re-opened her massage business and enjoyed many happy, productive years far beyond her doctor’s prediction.

Being young, foolish, and skeptical at that time, I would defiantly challenge my mother with, Mom, I’m getting my master’s degree from UC Berkeley, and I know there’s no such magic in carrot or any other vegetable juice! But undaunted, she nevertheless presented us our wedding gift – a heavy duty juicer. This I promptly stored unopened in my bottom kitchen cabinet, never to be touched until….

Your son has lymphoma!

Those chilling words from the surgeon struck a terror in my heart! Just that morning 13-year-old Danny had undergone an elective surgery to remove a nodule under his chin – merely for cosmetic reasons. My husband Ben had assured me that the nodule was due to infectious mononucleosis from a few months ago, nothing serious.

But the surgeon’s words shocked me back to reality: I have arranged for him to start chemo tomorrow. With that, he swiveled around and marched out of the room.

Wait, wait, what did he say? Lymphoma? Chemo? Tomorrow?

My mind whirled, my heart pounded. I had to sit down, so I dashed down the hall to the empty waiting room, collapsing on the couch.

O, God. No! No, please. A torrent of tears streamed down my face. "Lord, don’t you remember? This is the child that we had prayed for, for six years," I sobbed.

How cruel life seemed! I had just finished reading a heart wrenching story about a mother losing her teenage son to cancer. In fact, few years ago, I had tried to comfort this very mother shortly after her tragic loss.

"Please don’t take my son too. Can You hear me???" I couldn’t breathe. I felt faint….

Of all days, Ben was in Los Angeles, two hours away, for a meeting. What should I do? What could I do?

Finally, I stood to my feet. With firm resolve, I uttered an audible No! No chemo tomorrow. I need time….

After enduring two interminably long hours, I heard Ben bounce jovially into the hospital room with his usual boisterous Hah-lo! But, one glance at my face froze his smile as I quickly relayed the doctor’s verdict.

No, it can’t be! It must be a wrong diagnosis! With that, he headed to the nurses’ station where he read the pathology report and then consulted his pathology professor and a senior resident. After a few more phone calls, he bounded back into our son’s room and asked, Ready to go home, Son?

With cautious optimism, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least, no chemo tomorrow!

Our first brush with cancer, fortunately, turned out well. Lymphoma was a misdiagnosis, as pathology reports from other labs in Southern California concurred with Ben. But what about the millions of people who have not been so fortunate?

Three decades have passed. Cancer rages on!

INTRODUCTION

You have cancer…. Three chilling words. Three cruel words. Yet with unleashed power, they deliver a devastating blow, taking more than 600,000 lives every year in the United States alone. The incidence of cancer is escalating at an alarming rate! Something must be done.

Over 1.6 million new cases of cancer are being diagnosed annually in the U.S. Furthermore, despite advances in modern technology and treatment, over a half-million people die each year from this dreaded disease.¹ In fact, the annual death rate from cancers is roughly one-third of the number of new cases diagnosed. But for those suffering from stomach and colon cancers, the mortality rate stands even higher, at 50 percent; and for those with liver, pancreas and lung cancers, it may even be over 80 percent!

The Cancer Project of the PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) estimates that one out of every two men and one out of every three women in the U.S. are at risk for cancer. The most common type for men is prostate cancer, while breast cancer is the most common type in women.² Breast cancer has increased significantly in the past 50 years, from 62,000 new cases in 1960 to over 200,000 in 2010 – more than a three-fold increase!³ Other types of cancer also show a steady annual increase. Why is there such an increase? I will tell you why in later chapters. Once you know the causes, you are in a better position to understand how to prevent and maybe even reverse the cancer.

Not only is the problem exploding exponentially here in the U.S., but globally, cancer is also growing at an alarming pace. An estimated 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005 and 84 million people will die in the next 10 years if action is not taken.⁴ The World Health Organization warns that new cancer cases worldwide are predicated to jump from 14 million in 2012 to 22 million every year within the next two decades.⁵,⁶ By the year 2020, approximately 15 million new cases will be diagnosed, and 12 million cancer patients will die.⁷

Such statistics are troubling at multiple levels, one of which is the effect upon the current health care crisis, an enormous challenge facing our country. Health costs have escalated to the point of no return, unless drastic changes are made.

In 2010, taxpayers paid nearly $2.6 trillion for healthcare services, a tenfold jump from 1980.⁸ Over 17% of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) is spent on health care – much more than any other nation. Yet despite the enormous spending, how tragic that our country has lower life expectancy rates and higher heart disease, and cancer rates than other civilized nations.⁹

Now with the health care crisis in this country fueled by the escalation of cost not only in dollars, but also in non-productivity, disability, and death – something has to be done. The obvious solution is a paradigm shift that is long overdue. Rather than incurring the exorbitant costs (financial, physical, emotional) of treating a disease after the fact, why not prevent it in the first place?

Neal Barnard, MD, president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), recently stated that 80 percent of cancers are influenced by controllable circumstances, including diet. He further admonished, The link between diet and cancer is too big to be ignored and it is more critical than ever that you and your loved ones have the resources available to learn how your diet can play a key role in the prevention of cancer. And, if cancer is diagnosed, that the foods you eat can increase your chances for survival.¹⁰ In this book I’ll elaborate in more details these points made by Dr. Barnard.

When I visited China 30 years ago, China was one of those few countries in the world with relatively low incidence of cancer. Today, there is a 30-fold increase in breast cancer and colon cancer compared with 30 years ago. Why is there such a significant increase? I will tell you a little later. Meanwhile, I would like for you to think of some of the things that may be responsible for such increase—think about what are differences today in China compared with 30 or 40 years ago.

Who doesn’t long for a healthy life, filled with meaning, joy, and exuberance, shared with those we love? Is there anything we can do to increase our chances for this kind of life? Is there anything we can do to decrease our chances for illness?

The answer is yes. While much in our lives is not in our control, there is still much that is in our control, and it is in these arenas where we can learn to make wise choices that can not only decrease our chances of getting cancer (and a host of other diseases) but can also increase our chances for vibrant health. In this book we want to emphasize that diet and lifestyle modification can help to prevent, arrest, and reverse cancer!

According to Dr. Richard H. Carmona, Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), 75% of the expenditure for health care is spent on diseases that are totally preventable. A staggering 40% of all cancer deaths is preventable.⁴ Simple lifestyle changes could decrease cancer risk by 38% for breast cancer, 45% for colon cancer, and 47% for stomach cancer.¹¹ Dr. Carmona suggests that we ought to pay people for staying healthy.¹²

We believe that cancer is predominantly a lifestyle disease – the way we eat and how we live. Eighty to 90 percent of all cancers are linked to our poor dietary practices, smoking, and exposure to environmental toxins. Today an ever-increasing body of research supports the role of lifestyle in health and disease, but the pioneering researchers faced severe opposition to their published data.

In the 1980s, the lone voice of Dr. Dean Ornish, contrary to then-current medical wisdom, declared that heart diseases can be reversed with diet and lifestyle modifications.¹³ Understandably, such a claim was not well received by the medical community or the lay public.

Then another trailblazer, surgeon Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, from the renowned Cleveland Clinic, found similar results through his research – that a strict plant-based diet, regardless of amount of exercise, could reverse coronary heart disease.¹⁴

In recent decades, the works of Dr. Neal Barnard and others found that diabetes can also be reversed with a plant-based diet and proper lifestyle.¹⁵

Thus begs the question: If heart diseases and diabetes can be reversed, can cancer also be reversed through diet and lifestyle? The answer is yes. Exciting news indeed!

In his landmark nutrition research, Dr. T. Colin Campbell clearly demonstrated that certain foods can turn cancer on and off.¹⁶ In other words, each individual can potentially influence his or her destiny in the prevention and reversal of cancer!

Interestingly, Dr. John McDougall, another pioneer in nutrition research and practice for more than four decades promoted a plant-based diet along with healthy lifestyle for the prevention and treatment of diseases. And pinpointing cancer, Dr. McDougall states that Most knowledgeable people now believe that our rich American diet is an important factor in causing cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, and other organs.¹⁷

Thus, substantiated by compelling scientific data, we now know that just as heart disease and diabetes can be reversed through diet and lifestyle, cancer too can be prevented, arrested, and reversed by diet and lifestyle modification.

One of the greatest single reasons for the devastating cancer toll is ignorance – what causes cancer, how to prevent it, and how to treat it. Knowledge is power, and with knowledge, you can make informed choices. And that is the purpose of this book – to empower you to actively participate in your own health and wellness and to provide you with life-enhancing tools. Because the human body has amazing healing ability, we propose a total program that encompasses the physical, mental, and spiritual components to enable the body to heal itself.

The remainder of this book focuses on:

• The basic and clinical cancer research conducted by the author as well as by other reputable researchers; plus observational research data collected around the world.

• The role of the immune system in cancer prevention and recovery.

• Factors that contribute to cancer;

• The prevention and reversal of cancer through the 3-R Diet and the Newstart® lifestyle program.

The underlying message of this book is that regardless of one’s choice of treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, a combination of treatments or no treatment), most important of all is to:

• Stop doing the things that make you sick.

• Start doing the things that will make you well.

CHAPTER 1

WHY THIS BOOK?

There must be a logical answer on how to stop cancer. Allow me to say right here in the beginning that phytotherapy is the answer. In this book we will share with you our own laboratory research along with observational studies for supporting this thesis.

We know that all of us may have a few cancer cells in our bodies at any given time. But not everyone develops cancer. Why? Because we are each endowed with an incredibly amazing powerful defense mechanism called the immune system. Our immune function, particularly the type called the natural immunity (described in Chapter 5), has the capability of destroying cancer cells upon contact. That is, if our immune system remains strong.

Early in my research career using animal models, I studied surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and nutritional therapy for treating cancer.¹,²,³ I also used crude extracts of garlic, several Chinese medicinal herbs, and other phytochemicals (plant chemicals). I discovered that all the different modalities were effective in controlling cancer in the experimental animals. However, I found that phytochemicals turned out to be most effective. Let me explain.

We know that quite a number of chemotherapeutic agents used for treating cancer were originally derived from plants. When they are purified, most chemotherapeutic agents carry serious side effects. When I used the crude extracts from plants, I discovered that they were as effective as the chemotherapeutic agents in killing cancer cells. But with one notable difference: the crude extracts showed little or no side effects while patented chemotherapeutic drugs were quite toxic to the animals! That was an important knowledge I gained in my early research career.

There are three well-known causes for cancer: chemical carcinogens, radiation, and microorganisms, particularly viruses. All of them can enter into our normal cells and cause their DNA to mutate or change into cancer-prone cells. However, small numbers of cancer-prone cells are readily destroyed by our immune cells, such as macrophages and natural killer cells both of which are members of the natural immunity my associates and I studied a great deal in our laboratory. That is good because our immune cells are powerful and vigilant in protecting our bodies from invaders!

Cancer development goes through three stages: initiation, promotion, and progression:

1. Initiation: In this stage, an agent enters a normal cell, gets into its nucleus and changes its DNA, and turns this cell into a cancer-prone cell. Rather than following the normal growth pattern, it goes berserk as it continues to produce more cancer-prone cells, finally growing a small tumor or a colony onsite.

2. Promotion: At this juncture, the small colony/tumor feeds on special nutrients (promoter food) that make it grow and extend to the adjacent area.

3. Progression: Finally, the tumor grows wild and spreads to distant areas.

Immune cells can easily rid the cancer-prone cells in the initiation stage but may not be so easily in promotion and progression stages because of the blindfolding and cover-up tactics employed by cancer cells. But do not get disheartened. Let me hasten to tell you that our numerous studies have now shown that phytochemicals can actually abolish all three stages of cancer development, meaning they can stop initiation, promotion, and progression, detailed in Chapter 2.

What is blindfolding? It’s a war-like tactic, an escape mechanism, used by cancer cells to protect themselves from the attacks of the approaching immune cells. How do the cancer cells blindfold our immune cells, such as natural killer cells and macrophages? They spray them