Asparagus and Cancer

 I get some fun emails. This one I didn't research, but I might buy this -- histones, I know, are related with cell divisions. Eating asparagus won't hurt you, and might help, so I thought I'd pass this along...

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My Mom had been taking the full-stalk canned style asparagus that she pureed and she took 4 tablespoons in the morning and 4 tablespoons later in the day. She did this for over a month. She is on chemo pills for Stage 3 lung cancer in the pleural area and her cancer cell count went from 386 down to 125 as of this past week. Her oncologist said she does not need to see him for 3 months.

THE ARTICLE:
Several years ago, I had a man seeking asparagus for a friend who had cancer. He gave me a photocopied copy of an article, entitled, Asparagus for cancer 'printed in Cancer News Journal, December 1979. I will share it here, just as it was shared with me: I am a biochemist, and have specialized in the relation of dietto health or over 50 years. Several years ago, I learned of the discovery of Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. that asparagus might cure cancer. Since then, I have worked with him on his project. We have accumulated a number of favorable case histories. Here are a few examples:

Case No. 1, A man with an almost hopeless case of Hodgkin's disease (cancer of the lymph glands) who was completely incapacitated. Within 1 year of starting the asparagus therapy, his doctors were unable to detect any signs of cancer, and he was back on a schedule of strenuous exercise.

 Case No. 2, a successful businessman 68 years old who suffered from cancer of the bladder for 16 years. After years of medical treatments, including radiation without improvement, he went on asparagus. Within 3 months, examinations revealed that his bladder tumor had disappeared and that his kidneys were normal.

Case No. 3, a man who had lung cancer. On March 5th 1971, he was put on the operating table where they found lung cancer so widely spread that it was inoperable. The surgeon sewed him up and declared his case hopeless. On April 5th he heard about the Asparagus therapy and immediately started taking it By August, x-ray pictures revealed that all signs of the cancer had disappeared.. He is back at his regular business routine.

Case No. 4, a woman who was troubled for a number of years with skin cancer. She finally developed different skin cancers which were diagnosed by the acting specialist as advanced. Within 3 months after starting on asparagus, her skin specialist said that her skin looked fine and no more skin lesions. This woman reported that the asparagus therapy also cured her kidney disease, which started in 1949. She had over 10 operations for kidney stones, and was receiving government disability payments for an inoperable, terminal, kidney condition. She attributes the cure of this kidney trouble entirely to the asparagus.

I was not surprised at this result, as `The elements of materia medica', edited in1854 by a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania , stated that asparagus was used as a popular remedy for kidney stones.. He even referred to experiments, in 1739, on the power of asparagus in dissolving stones. Note the dates! We would have other case histories but the medical establishment has interfered with our obtaining some of the records. I am therefore appealing to readers to spread this good news and help us to gather a large number of case histories that will overwhelm the medical skeptics about this unbelievably simple and natural remedy.

For the treatment, asparagus should be cooked before using, and therefore canned asparagus is just as good as fresh. I have corresponded with the two leading canners of asparagus, Giant and Stokely, and I am satisfied that these brands contain no pesticides or preservatives. Place the cooked asparagus in a blender and liquefy to make a puree, and store in the refrigerator. Give the patient 4 full tablespoons twice daily, morning and evening. Patients usually show some improvement in 2-4 weeks. It can be diluted with water and used as a cold or hot drink. This suggested dosage is based on present experience, but certainly larger amounts can do no harm and may be needed in some cases. As a biochemist I am convinced of the old saying that `what cures can prevent.' Based on this theory, my wife and I have been using asparagus puree as a beverage with our meals. We take 2 tablespoons diluted in water to suit our taste with breakfast and with dinner. I take mine hot and my wife prefers hers cold. For years we have made it a practice to have blood surveys taken as part of our regular checkups. The last blood survey, taken by a medical doctor who specializes in the nutritional approach to health, showed substantial improvements in all categories over the last one, and we can attribute these improvements to nothing but the asparagus drink. As a biochemist, I have made an extensive study of all aspects of cancer, and all of the proposed cures. As a result, I am convinced that asparagus fits in better with the latest theories about cancer.

Asparagus contains a good supply of protein called histones, which are believed to be active in controlling cell growth.. For that reason, I believe asparagus can be said to contain a substance that I call cell growth normalizer. That accounts for its action on cancer and in acting as a general body tonic. In any event, regardless of theory, asparagus used as we suggest, is a harmless substance. The FDA cannot prevent you from using it and it may do you much good. It has been reported by the US National Cancer Institute, that asparagus is the highest tested food containing glutathione, which is considered one of the body's most potent anticarcinogens and antioxidants.

Low-Carb Tea Cookies

I'm not a low-carb Nazi, but like to avoid sugar and wheat-based products because I feel it's healthier. My carbs tend towards vegetables and oatmeal. It's easy for me to slip into bad habits though, so every now and then I go back to being stricter. Here's a great recipe I made up because I was longing for something cookie-like. These cookies are sweet but not too sweet, plain, that go well with tea.

Low-Carb Tea Cookies

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sweetener*
1 egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla (vanilla makes everything better -- always use large quantities!)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup protein powder
2 cups ground almonds/almond flour
nuts, if desired

* For the sweetener I used 1/2 cup xylitol and 1/4 cup Splenda. You can combine these, Stevia, or other sweeteners as you please -- whatever works for you :-)

Oven 350F. Mix butter, sweetener, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add salt, protein powder, and almond flour and blend until smooth. Mix in nuts if desired. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough by small teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets, and bake 8-10 minutes until golden.

 Enjoy!

Boston Marathon

Horrific events on April 15th. Our prayers are with you.

April 15th

April 15th seems like a jinxed day:



Abraham Lincoln died on this day in 1865 after being shot on Good Friday the night before by John Wilkes Booth. It was just 6 days after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. One wonders how our country's reconciliation between North and South might have gone differently if Lincoln instead of Andrew Johnson had overseen Reconstruction: Johnson weakened the fragile union by encouraging Southern rebels, denying freed slaves any rights, and breaking rich men to redistribute wealth.



The Titanic sank early in the morning on this day in 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean while steaming from Southampton England to New York City. 1517 people were lost; the Titanic carried a lifeboat capacity of less than half of its total 2223 persons on board. Only 706 people, 31.8% of the total, survived. Titanic was the most modern and luxurious ship built at the time, and was thought to be unsinkable.



And of course, April 15th is tax day. OK, I won't go there.

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No, I'm not superstitious, and I remain full of hope even on this dark day.

Speaking of taxes, though, I will say this. I deeply resent this new "class warfare" that has overtaken our country, where we hear that "The Rich" must pay their "fair share" of taxes to diminish the deficit. "The Rich" already pay an amazing proportion of taxes, while many who receive credits and so forth end up paying none or very little. "The Rich" are not evil. For the most part, they have worked hard from moderate means to get where they are. Their activity fuels the economic engine in this country, both by the companies they own that produce jobs, and the goods and services they purchase that produce jobs.

We are ALL Americans, are we not? Even the Rich? I am so grateful to be in this country, where I and my children can aspire to be in this heady class. I hope these opportunities continue.

A Sad Obituary

Received in an email. According to the website Urban Legends Professor Olson didn't say this. Still, while the author is unknown I'm finding it provocative enough to post it today.

In 1787 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage."

The Obituary follows:

Born 1776, Died 2012

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning  the last Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Obama: 19 Romney: 29

Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 Romney: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million Romney: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 Romney: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Romney won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

The Old Woman and Her Pig

This is one of my favorite stories now that I remember from childhood. Doesn't it seem like life is like this? You want to do a simple thing, but to do it you've got to first do this, to do that, to do this...

Anyway, here it is! Enjoy.

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THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG.

Once upon a time, an old woman was sweeping her little house, when, to her great joy, she found a silver sixpence.

"What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I think I will go to market and buy a pig." So the next day, she went to market, and bought a nice little white pig. She tied a string to one of the pig's legs, and began to drive him home.

On the way, the old woman and her pig came to a stile, and she said,

"Please, pig, get over the stile."

But the pig would not.

Just then a little dog came trotting up, and the old woman said to him,

"Dog, dog, bite pig ;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the dog would not.

So the old woman held up her stick, and said,

"Stick, stick, beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the stick would not.

So the old woman gathered some bits of wood together to make a fire, and set them on fire, and then threw her stick into the fire, and said,

"Fire, fire, burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the fire would not.

So the old woman fetched a pail of water that was standing near, and said,

"Water, water, quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the water would not.

Then the old woman saw an ox coming; so she said,

"Ox, ox, drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go;
I see by the moonlight,
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and
a half ago."

But the ox would not.

So the old woman turned round, and saw a butcher, and she said,

"Butcher, butcher, kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight,
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and
a half ago."

But the butcher would not.

So the old woman took a rope out of her pocket, and said,

"Rope, rope, hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight,
It's long past midnight ;
Time pig and I were home an hour and
a half ago."

But the rope would not.

Just then a large brown mouse ran across the meadow, and she said,

"Mouse, mouse, gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight,
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and
a half ago."

"Yes," said the mouse, "I will if you will give me some cheese."

So the old woman put her hand in her pocket, and found a nice piece of cheese; and when the mouse had eaten it,

The mouse began to gnaw the rope,
The rope began to hang the butcher,
The butcher began to kill the ox,
The ox began to drink the water,
The water began to quench the fire,
The fire began to burn the stick,
The stick began to beat the dog,
The dog began to bite the pig,
And the pig began to go.

But what time the old woman and her pig got
home, you, nor I, nor nobody knows.

I Did It

This weekend, specifically Saturday March 30 2013, on Easter Vigil I joined the Roman Catholic Church.

This has been a long struggle. Growing up I was progressively a nominal Presbyterian (ie as a kid my mom brought me to services here), a skeptic (I never QUITE moved to the atheist camp, but was so for practical purposes), a Christian (after a year's worth of investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Jesus), a Lutheran (more sacramental than Presbyterian, plus my husband was Lutheran), a Missouri Lutheran (stricter and more conservative than the ELCA), and finally, as of Saturday, a Roman Catholic.

The hardest switch for me was to move from skeptic to Christian, a wrestling match with God in which I was quite angry for a long time. However, moving from Protestant to Catholic has been almost as difficult. An observer would have seen nothing -- my going about my daily life -- but inside two sides violently fought. I'd grown up believing that Catholicism was one step from voodoo, idolatrous and with sketchy theology. Conversations with an old friend, plus the support of another long-time friend, snuck past my prejudices to examine what, exactly, the Catholic Church believes.

I found that the Catholic Church was established from the beginning of Christianity. While there have been many problems, and famously during the early 1500s when Luther rightfully protested the Church's avarice and thus catalyzed the Reformation, still the Catholics have carried through the store of Christian scholarship and the practice of the faith. The two pillars that built Protestantism -- Sola Fidei, Sola Scriptura -- are not secure, as I'd always believed.

Little by little the ground for my resistance wore away.

Sola Fidei -- even Protestants recognize that someone going for an altar call when he's twelve, followed by a lifetime of non-Christian emphasis, is probably not a true conversion. Even though the Holy Spirit does the work, man's spirit must cooperate in order for conversion. The fruits of someone's life indicate what sorts of beliefs the person holds. In 1999 a Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification between Lutherans and Catholics agreed on the saving interaction of *faith* and *works*.

Sola Scriptura -- it came down finally, for me, to the issue of apostolic succession. As a scientist I learned to value the majority opinion over maverick interpretations. Yes, the maverick may be right -- look at Copernicus -- but in general, the group rules. Luther, for all his brilliance, almost singlehandedly decided what should and should not be included for worship. He wished to throw out books of the canon, and did throw out some of the sacramental understandings of Church worship. Within a generation at least four distinct understandings of Protestant Reformation schismed: Luther (Real Presence); Zwingli (not Real Presence); Calvin (predistination) and Knox; and Wesley who founded the Methodist Church. The English divide over Henry VIII's wives and the Anabaptists were also mixed in there. In present day there are over 10,000 Protestant denominations, each believing they are correct. So much for Sola Scriptura, since the interpretations of even basic doctrines (baptism, communion) are hopelessly noncompatible. I concluded there is a need for an authority to interpret our faith. I recognized that the Catholic Church was the only one that makes that claim.

Praying to Saints -- Although Protestants are not specifically taught this, the ones I know generally believe in an *impermeability* between heaven and earth: those in heaven cannot see what is going on on earth. In contrast, Catholics DO believe in *permeability* that saints see what we're doing on earth. We are surrounded by a cheering cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12). There is communion of saints: those in heaven with those on earth (Apostles' creed). Mary is a special case of a saint.

*Prayers* to saints are made in the sense of the Old-English definition: a request. "I pray thee listen" asks the person to listen, but is not a summons to a deity. Just as someone may ask a friend to pray for them, Catholics *pray* to saints as a request for them to pray for the person and pass this request onto God. Mary is not a goddess or co-deity, but rather the Queen Mother in heaven who also petitions God with requests she passes on from persons on Earth. Protestants, not believing saints can see us, have trouble with this concept.

Many wish to say that Jesus was a good man with profound teachings etc. etc. but nothing more. I respect this view but would like to add that if you are here, dig deeper into the life of Christ and the understandings of the Christians. You may be surprised. These studies changed my own life.

The Easter Vigil itself was long and beautiful. I was fortunate to be surrounded by those I love: my husband, our two children, and my parents. My sister in law and her husband who both converted last year were also there; my sister in law was one of my sponsors. Christa, a scholar who works for the archdiocese, was my other sponsor. She kindly agreed to work with me since I enjoy theological scrapping. Joining the Church that night there were twenty of us. Half were baptised, and then we all came forward to be confirmed in the Church. Finally, the Eucharist, the Real Presence. Lutherans believe in Consubstantiation in which God is present in the host, but Catholics believe that the host is transubstantiated. After studying John 6 I understand and agree with this interpretation, so could accept it with a clear conscience. It was an awesome thought.

I still smell the Chrism with which I was anointed. This is exciting.

Thank you for celebrating with me as I embark on a new phase.