Ayurvedic approach to cancer

The number of people dying from cancer continues to grow despite more than 30 years of intensive research, hundreds of billions of dollars, and the immense energy and care for millions of people who are working to defeat it.

The experience of cancer is the one that triggers fear deep. It seems mysterious, difficult to define, and formidable in it's cure.

The effectiveness of the ordinary treatment is shown very limited. Cutting the cells out does not usually solve the problem unless the cancer is small, confined, and possibly not aggressive to start with. Burning the cells with radiation is known to cause other cells to become cancerous in the process. Poisoning the cells with chemotherapy kills not just the cancer, but also the healthy cells, and often the patient.

Currently, oncologists are able to describe a number of factors that are correlated with a higher risk of cancer. Many industrial chemicals and household goods, most artificial foods and food additives, and various pollutants are known carcinogens. These are all certainly widespread and pervasive. For example, aspartame, the artificial sweetener principal in the diet sodas and candy is known to contribute to leukemia, among other health problems.

Unfortunately, even if these factors were found, the standard treatment is still highly concentrated on the destruction of the tumor rather than improving the health of individuals of nutrition and the environment.

While we understand that cancer is the natural result of a lack of physical, psychological and spiritual nourishment, our treatment focus will move from destruction to love.

The taste of love is the sweetness. Ayurveda describes the sweetness taste predominant in nutritious foods. Unfortunately, a large number of modern basic products that are not nutritious sweet taste and even toxic. Processed foods are the first thing to get rid of because of their inherent toxicity and lack of food. In fact, the treatment of refined sugar and carbohydrates are the preferred fuel of cancer cells.

Non-organic foods should also be avoided because of their low nutrient content and the presence of pesticides.

The largest food to provide the sweetness we seek is fat. In Ayurveda, the fat is called sneha, which is a synonym for love. The best sources are raw butter, coconut oil, pastures and fat of animals fed. Important additional grease includes high vitamin butter oil and cod liver oil (rich in vitamins A and D).

Avoid excessive oil consumption of omega 6s like corn, rapeseed, soybean, safflower and. (See article Omega 3:6 balance for details)

Otherwise, the emphasis should be on regular meals consisting of the entire food from animal and vegetable sources, following the guidelines for healthy digestion. The lacto-fermented foods are important (see sauerkraut) due to their high content enzyme that helps digest a protective layer that create cancer cells.

In general, I recommend the following nutrition guidelines set forth in Nourishing Traditions. These guidelines are based on healthy eating primitive peoples who have an excellent health and are free of cancer.

The most interesting herbs for the treatment of cancer is the mistletoe, commonly given by subcutaneous injection. It was first proposed for the treatment of cancer in 1920 by Rudolph Steiner, who founded the Society for Research on Cancer.

It is fascinating because it is so similar to himself cancer: a factory parisitic made semi-primitive cells that grow in all directions, without any regard for daily or seasonal cycles of growth. Mistletoe has been proven effective to selectively kill cancer cells while standardizing the immune response.

Based on the dominance of the Ayurvedic doshas and the type of cancer, herbs will be indicated:

* Vata/Colorectal Cancer/Tumors: Ashwagandha and other tonic herbs, especially prepared as a medicated ghee
* Pitta/Skin Cancer: Bitter herbs that purify the blood and the liver, such as manjishta.
* Kapha/Tumors/Lymphoma: Purifying herbs, such as the Ayurvedic formula triphala and guggul