Dying on Schedule - Cancer and choices

... DYING ON SCHEDULE
 
An astounding feature of the standard high pressure sales job for cancer treatment is when the doctor in his godlike fashion delivers that Wagnerian pronouncement that the patient has X years to live. Very sorry to have to tell you this but you probably have less than a year… Hard to understand why most people would still want to follow any advice from someone who has just told them that. Because what the doctor is saying here is that according to our best estimates, using our best available technology, drugs and procedures, our experience with patients who have what you have puts your life expectancy at …
 
Defies belief that most people just roll over and comply without any objections whatsoever. Social Darwinism at work again.
 
What a more logical, thoughtful individual might perceive from such a death sentence is that hey, this guy is telling me what will likely happen if I stick around and do what he says. Time to roll. Time for me to start looking around for a second opinion and see if I can’t find out about some other solutions to my situation that have a little sunnier outlook. Like a cure for example. Or survival. Somebody somewhere must have some better information than this for my little problem – it’s a big world out there.
 
And this is the type of initiative that leads people to investigate natural cures, programs that don’t include words like terminal and palliative and side effects and expiration date and cell death.
 
Alternative: the standard sheeplike compliance usually ends up as a self-fulfilling prophecy – they die on schedule.
 
...CHEMOTHERAPY: AN UNPROVEN PROCEDURE
 
How can that be true of the #1 cancer treatment in the U.S. for the past 50 years? The plain fact is, no legitimate scientific studies or clinical trials independent of the companies selling chemo drugs have ever proven chemotherapy’s effectiveness, except in a small percentage of very rare types of cancer. For solid tumors of adults, the vast majority of cancer, or anything that has metastasized, chemotherapy simply doesn’t work.
 
If one is going to even begin to look at the legitimate research regarding the failure of mainstream cancer therapies, all that initial research was done by Ralph Moss, and elaborated very clearly in his two books The Cancer Industry and Questioning Chemotherapy. Even though they were written in the 90s, the fundamental objections to the philosophy behind chemotherapy are timeless. Cancer therapy has simply not advanced in the past 20 years enough to make Moss’ work anything but essential reading for learning about the ongoing problems with mainstream cancer treatment. Moss didn’t really continue his research at that level after that initial effort, but these two books remain as landmarks in the field.
 
When he was researching his first book, Dr Moss uncovered the shocking research of a German epidemiologist from the Heidelberg/Mannheim Tumor Clinic, named Dr. Ulrich Abel. This Dr Abel did a comprehensive review and analysis of every major study and clinical trial of chemotherapy ever done. His conclusions should be read by anyone who is about to embark on the Chemo Express. To make sure he had reviewed everything ever published on chemotherapy, Abel sent letters to over 350 medical centers around the world asking them to send him anything they had published on the subject. Abel researched thousands of articles: it is unlikely that anyone in the world knows more about chemotherapy than he.
 
The analysis took Abel two years, but the results are astounding: Abel found that the overall worldwide success rate of chemotherapy was “appalling” because there was simply no scientific evidence available anywhere that chemotherapy can “extend in any appreciable way the lives of patients suffering from the most common organic cancers.”
 
Abel emphasizes that chemotherapy rarely can improve the quality of life. He describes chemotherapy as “a scientific wasteland” and states that at least 80 percent of chemotherapy administered throughout the world is worthless, and is akin to the “emperor’s new clothes” – neither doctor nor patient is willing to give up on chemotherapy even though there is no scientific evidence that it works! – Lancet 10 Aug 91 [35]
 
No mainstream media even mentioned this comprehensive study: it was totally buried.
 
.... LAST CHANCE
 
You just found out you got cancer and want to go holistic? Fine. You’ve got one chance. Go for it 100% – diet, detox, supplements, major cardio exercise, eliminate all negative input. Starting this minute.
 
You can’t have one foot in each world. It’s either holistic or mainstream – no middle ground.
 
Conventional therapies are so damaging and powerful that to pretend like their monstrous side effects can be easily repaired by holistic methods — that’s idiotic. The body is not a car. So if you want to go holistic do it. But if you want to go mainstream, which is what usually happens, then just do it, but don’t pretend everything is going to be fine when you come out of surgery or chemo or radiation if you just take a few MegaHydrate, etc. This is big business, big money for them — they’re not going to let a couple hundred thousand dollars just waltz out the door. So stop wasting energy thinking you have to learn enough to convince these geniuses that they may be wrong, and there may be another way. It’s not in their professional DNA to even consider an alternative, and definitely they have spent zero time researching alternative treatment. People who choose the holistic path seriously inform themselves, make up their minds, then they unplug their phones and just do it.. That’s the real choice here.
 
Too much work to learn all this? Fine. Forget the whole thing – just write your will and party out, like ol’ Warren. Because if you got cancer in the first place, it’s likely you’ve been overdrawn in the self indulgence department for a long time. Your only chance is to sprint from morning to night, doing every single thing possible to detox your blood, bring more oxygen to the cells, boost your immune system, and generally try and make up for all those years of abuse. Don’t have the energy? No problema – my regards to Elvis.
 
In his master work, Quantum Healing, Deepak Chopra [23] says that remissions of cancer in “terminal” patients have one thing in common: a major shift in attitude or consciousness.
 
The internet is overwhelming with promises of holistic cures for cancer. Trying to do all of them together would probably be enough to kill a horse, even though they’re natural approaches. Choose the program that make the most sense to you, that you have access to, and whose representatives give you a feeling of confidence and trust. Then really try the method – do it the exact way the experts tell you, with consistency, focus, and follow-through. Since you’re a patient, be patient.
 
Don’t just give it your best shot; do whatever it takes – 150%. And daily visualize wholeness and completeness of your entire body. Do the deed.
 
The time is going to go by anyway.
 
Copyright MMX
 
see entire chapter at
http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/cancer/To-the-Cancer-Patient/

Refined Sugar - Article Written by 1910 Medical Doctor

Diseases Caused by Sugar Poisoning

By George M. Gould, M.D. of Ithaca, N.Y.

First Published in MEDICAL REVIEW OF REVIEWS - July, 1910

Here's an article written in 1910 that predicted the problems Americans would have with high sugar, refined flour diets.

It has lately been urged, and from a medical standpoint, that everyone could eat any amount of sugar, saccharine foods, candy, and starchy foods, not only without harm to health, but with positive physiologic advantage. In view of the five hundred millions of dollars said to be expended annually in sugar by the United States, and in view of the little known---probably more suspected---as to the evils and causes of the prevalence of diabetes, such nonsense should need no argument to make its fallacy evident.

Almost every second store and shop in our villages and cities is a candy store, and common sense and common observation knows well enough the morbid results. Out of the American debauch in candy and sweets, breakfast-foods and sugar, wheat-cakes and molasses, we shall later have to win our way to health and good dietetic sense with painful experience.

The exacting questions, of course, remain: As to long-continued morbid habits of diet, especially in the case of children and city-dwellers; with the sedentary, in those with weakened nervous and nutritional systems, when coexisting with other diseases, or in the cases of other active and co-operating causes of disease.

For several years it has been growing clearer to me that many patients do not get well because they live too exclusively on sugary and starchy foods. With greater activity and the resisting power of youth, children exhibit the morbid tendency by excessive "nervousness." denutrition, ease-of-becoming ill, and by many ague and warning symptoms. I have asked the parents of such children to stop them in their use of all sweets, and most starches and almost immediately there was a most gratifying disappearance of the "nervousness," fickleness of appetite, "colds," and vague manifold ailments.

In another class of patients it was this way: There was only an incomplete disappearance of those symptoms generally due to eyestrain or back strain. With the correction of eyestrain, for instance, there was a sudden disappearance of the chief complaints, but followed by a provoking return of some of them. There was only, say, a three-fourth of non-cure remaining to torment. In such cases I exact a promise that for one or two months sugar and sweets shall be absolutely discontinued, and of the starches, the least possible use (no potatoes, surely)---a little toasted brown bread only, for instance.

How many patients have blessed me for the suggestion, and have traced to the continued rules, their reinstated health and enjoyment of life. Those who have learned to recognize the value of such hygienic preventions of disease will test the suggestion; those who observe only the organic end-products in aberrant physiology and morbid function. Fashionable pathology concerns itself only with terminal disease, apparently oblivious of pathogenesis, and most of all, careless of the early and slight origins which led to mortem and post-mortem. It is left to chance and to faddism to make scientific the infinitely more important function of prevention.

But the evil effects of sugar-drowning will sometimes be recognized as still more important and varied than I have said. Among others, I have had two cases in which it was clear that a too exclusive or an exaggerated diet of sugary foods was a cause of epilepsy. The first was that of a boy of nine years of age in which correction of eyestrain brought no relief of both petit and grand mal attacks. Then by diligent inquiry I learned that the boy (who was morbidly nervous...almost insanely active) ate no meats, eggs, vegetables, etc., and lived, practically, on "cakes," a little breakfast food, etc., with enormous quantities of sugar, syrups, etc. Recovery followed a diet list which excluded the sweets.

Another patient, aged fifty-five, has been having many petit mal attacks for thirteen years, with occasional, typical grand mal seizures. He was a watchmaker, and wearing no correction of his compound hyperopic astiginatism. I found that he ate sweets inordinately, which, upon being interdicted, the attacks immediately grew less in number and severity, with no major ones, and the rare minor ones scarcely noticeable, until they disappeared and there was a return of hope, a zest in life; as he enthusiastically says, he "Feels like a new man now." In consideration of his age, the results are noteworthy.

Achieving Peak Performance

Achieving Peak Performance Starts Today

This article isn’t just for elite athletes, although it will apply to them as well. Regardless of your age, you can achieve amazing physical strength, stamina and endurance. There are cultures throughout the world that are active well past the century mark, and you can do the same by understanding three basic principles.

First, we must understand that an active lifestyle today is the only way to achieve a healthy tomorrow. Forget the past and get a second job. That job is exercise and you need to show up for work every day. Pick a time and make it a daily routine.  What you do isn’t what is critical, doing is what is critical; walking, jogging, tennis, hiking, yoga, rebounding while watching TV, racquetball, weights, biking, etc.

Second, for your body to perform, it needs proper nutrients. What you do or do not put in your mouth every day is the key! Water is the single most important thing you put in your body. Think of every mammal on the planet. What do they drink after mom’s milk? Water. Humans are the only exception and this puts us at a severe disadvantage. Chronic dehydration is rampant in this country and soda, energy drinks, coffee and milk are all part of the problem. Your body can not, and will not, perform without proper hydration to the tissues, muscles, glands and organs. 

Making proper food choices is the biggest problem in America today. This chemical laden, over processed, nutrient devoid stuff we call “food” sitting on supermarket shelves and at fast food joints is destroying the foundation of our culture, and our bodies. If this is what you choose to eat exclusively, don’t expect a highly active, pain free, disease free life into your hundreds. As a Naturopath, it makes me sad to see how many people are living in pain, debilitated by so many issues that are completely preventable. Many people will get away with this for a short period of time, but it always catches up to you. There is a reason is America is one of the most diseased and crippled industrialized nations in the world.

You have choices.  For optimal performance the body needs enzyme rich, fresh fruits and vegetables. It craves water, whole grains, and foods fresh from the garden. Grow your own garden, shop at the local farmer’s markets or buy organic produce. This food brings life and your body will thank you for it.

The third and most confusing principle is proper supplementation. Supplementing is critical today because of the aforementioned destruction of our food supply and the honest fact that we are going to consume some of these processed foods from time to time. We will start with the basics and move up to more advanced options.

 Minerals are the foundation for everything that happens in your body. You can’t move a muscle, blink or lift anything without minerals. People are very focused on vitamins these days, which are important of course, but it’s time to shift our thoughts to the importance of minerals. Athlete’s drink electrolyte minerals for a reason. Please understand that you have options for great mineral supplements without the sugar and artificial flavors and colors in most commercial electrolyte drinks. Calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium are all critical for optimal performance. Quality minerals come from natural food sources - don’t fall for cheap synthetic versions in most stores. A short list of nutrient dense, high mineral foods include marine phytoplankton, chlorella, spirulina, sea vegetables (kelp, dulse, nori, wakame), royal jelly, bee pollen, sea salt, himalayan pink salt, herbs (nettle, ginkgo, horsetail, maca, goji berries, ashwagandha and shilajit), raw cacao and aloe vera.

When it comes to minerals and bone health, you may be surprised to learn that consuming calcium should not be your focus. Silica, magnesium and potassium are all more important for building strong bones. Silica is the building block for bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and other tissues. The reason America has poor bone health is from poor diet and acidic foods like dairy and soda, not from a calcium deficiency. This acidity causes your body to leach calcium from your bones to keep you alive.

After building a mineral foundation in your body, the next focus should be on anti-oxidants. There has been a lot of buzz regarding the importance of this class of nutrients, and rightfully so. Oxidative stress is a natural byproduct of physical activity, and this can be offset with the right foods and supplements. Slowing the oxidative process is how we slow aging, wrinkles and the breakdown of glands and organs. Your richest source of these invaluable nutrients is found in medicinal mushrooms (reishi, chaga, cordyceps), astaxanthin found in red algae, chlorella, spirulina, sour red grapes, good fats (coconut, flax, sunflower, sesame, evening primrose, avocado) and quality vitamin C sources (NOT ascorbic acid) like camu camu, amla, goji berries and acerola cherries. In addition, there is a product on the market, using only minerals, that makes anti-oxidants work 500% more efficiently, a perfect addition to your new program. A wide variety of quality fruits and vegetables is critical to having adequate anti-oxidant levels in the body as well. 

The final level of achieving peak performance is the understanding and use of adaptogenic tonic herbs. When the Russians were dominating the Olympics, they were taking herbs, not steroids. This gave them a unique, and legal, advantage over the competition. These herbs have been consumed as foods in cultures around the world for centuries, a key to their longevity and graceful aging. A short list of these herbs include ashwagandha, astragalus, rhodiola, fo-ti, schisandra, reishi, cordyceps, shilajit and jiao gu lan. Working with an experienced herbalist can help you to find the right combination suitable to your goals.

Your body was created to move and to function perfectly. You have the choice to age quickly or to age gracefully. You are only as healthy as the decisions you make every day.

Vaughn Lawrence, Spirit of Health

Weight Loss

The Truth about Weight Loss

I am going to give you the truth when it comes to weight loss.  I’ll never forget when I heard on the radio about a missionary who went to Africa and one of the locals asked, “Is it true that people pay money to lose weight in America?”  I used to be overweight, gaining a good 60lbs right out of college sitting at my first desk job.  There is an epidemic in America, but it can be solved.  It takes education and intelligent choices because there are a lot of factors working against us like giant food companies, the fast food industry and clever advertising.  Read below for some quick tips that are either free or almost free.  

Tip #1 – Less is More.  The human body is amazing.  You think your job is tough?  Try working overtime, permanently!  This is what our body has to do with the constant barrage of food thrown at it.  The body will spend up to 90% of its effort trying to digest.  This leaves 10% for tissue repair, cell regeneration, immune system, cardiovascular health, lymphatic system, etc.  Eat smaller portions.  80% of each meal should be veggies and the remainder either a grain or protein.  For supper, eat like a beggar.  Your body wants so badly to cleanse, heal and repair while you are sleeping.  Give it a chance!

Tip #2 – Sugar makes you fat!  Stop drinking soda, including diet, and you will lose 10-15lbs the first month, guaranteed.  We are the only mammals on the planet dumb enough to drink anything besides water after nursing.  Stop drinking milk.  It will you fat AND has the added benefit of giving you osteoporosis.  You think a food designed to turn a 50lb calf into an 800lb cow in less than a year is good for you?  People are so scared of eating fat.  Fat will never make you fat, unless you eat man made, chemically altered fats found in fast food and packaged foods.  Eating almonds, fish, avocados, olives and olive oil, coconuts and coconut oil, butter and yes, even lard will never make you fat.  This is the biggest mistake people make.  You need fat for health.  Low fat diets were the worst disaster ever in the history of weight loss programs.  You need good fats for endurance, metabolism, hormone production and to remove fat soluble toxins from your body.  Many toxins store in fat cells.  

Tip #3 – Sometimes extra weight is water weight.  Get to know these three herbs; plantain, nettle and parsley.  Drink these as a tea, take powdered forms or buy them fresh, juice them, or eat them on salads.  These herbs will flush excess water weight off your body in a hurry.  

Tip #4 – Feed your thyroid.  It’s the master metabolism gland and it goes wacky all the time because of the world we live in today.  Here are the basics that will heal your thyroid; good fats (coconut oil best for thyroid), grounding technologies (earthing pads), quality iodine (kelp, black walnuts) and removing heavy metals from your body.

Tip #5 – Balance estrogen.  Stubborn fat.  Heard of it?  You do everything right but can’t lose the last 10-15lbs?  Having worked with both men and women for many years, yes ladies, it is more challenging for you, sorry.  If you are estrogen dominant, which is very common these days, you need to focus on this concern.  There is too much to go into here, but my classes on hormone balancing are free on my website. 

So what is the truth about weight loss?  You are in charge.  Period.  Many people just don’t have the drive or motivation to do it.  The truth is - there is no magic pill, special program or new technology.  Stop looking for it.  Take charge of your life.  Advertising has convinced us that a super duper product will save us.  We are here to educate you and help you.  There is no power in a weight loss pill.  Knowledge is power.  Your mind, determination and strength will restore your health.  There are tools available to help you in this journey, but only you can take the first step.

-          Vaughn Lawrence, Spirit of Health

Candida and Fungal Infections Support Network

Welcome to your support network for candida and fungal issues:  This is an introduction to some of the issues we will be dealing with in this support group.  I also would like everyone to read this in detail to get a foundation of some basic principles.  We will go into much more detail within the upcoming classes, all of which will be videotaped and posted for free on the internet.

I have developed a protocol for dealing with candida.  This is the combination of my knowledge, and different programs by well respected natural healers, all of whom have clinical experience in dealing with and overcoming candida and fungal infections.  Kansas City NEEDS this information badly, so let's get started and spread the good news!  -  Vaughn Lawrence

1.  Bacteria/Candida/Fungus is EVERYWHERE
-  Trillions of organisms live symbiotically with us.  They are on our bodies, in every breath we take, every plant and animal we touch and on every doorknob, chair and item of clothing we wear.   There is a reason we have an imbalance of these organisms in our body.  We should not be scared of them.  We should stop trying to kill and destroy them with antibiotics.  We need to learn about and understand them.  The body is very good and well adapted at dealing with these issues.  You will never get rid of a candida problem by "avoiding" candida. 

2.  Rarely is someone a "victim" of candida
-  If you have a candida overgrowth in your body, it is there for a reason.  It will not happen in a healthy person.  It is a "clean-up crew."  It cleans up debris and garbage in our body and bloodstream.  It is trying to deal with some type of major infection or toxicity in your body.  It will be there to fight a disease process or condition.  This could be AIDS, cancer or some other type of major immune system battle.  This may be from heavy metal exposure like mercury or aluminum, or an infection in your gallbladder, liver or intestinal tract.  This is why many people go on candida diets, feel better, than the problem comes right back when they come off the diet. 

3.  Candida is easy to get rid of, unless it is embedded deeply in your body
-  If you stop feeding the yeast organisms, and follow a very simple protocol of herbs and cleansing, you can knock this out in 2 weeks or less.  HOWEVER, if the underlying reason of why it is there is not found or addressed, it will very likely come back!

4. You can feel better in 2 weeks, but it may take months to fully heal
-  We know people are always looking for the quick fix.  When you have been suffering for a long time, feeling better is a great first step.  Many people don't know how great they can possibly feel!  But once the candida is cleared, we still need to continue to cleanse and build the organs and glands of the body, especially in more serious cases.

Upcoming Classes

- Intro to Candida and Fungal infections
- Protocol to eliminate candida from the body
- FOOD - Understanding best foods to eat or avoid.  Basic food combining principles. 

- Long-term solutions to cleansing and healing the body
- Food sharing and recipes, demo on making fermented foods

Your in Health,

Vaughn

Mcdonald's bailed out by government!

McDonald's got hundreds of millions in bail out money

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A Fed-bailed out burger joint.
I'm not lovin' it.
Yesterday the long-awaited Fed bailout data was released. For those interested in perusing it, you can find it here in all of its .xls- and .csv-formatted glory.
Since 2007, Bernake has been working overtime handing out US taxpayer dollars to banks, corporations -- and many foreign entities and even the Republic of Korea. He gave away $3 TRILLION!  Goldman Sachs would have gone bankrupt without the help.
What you may not have heard is that even McDonald's was bailed out -- to the tune of $203 million. The Fed bought up some toxic debt of the food giant because hey, we all know that McDonald's bottom line is crucial to the American economy.
Meanwhile, all those homeowners who were the subject of predatory loans, and whose paperwork the banks failed to handle per the law -- they're out of luck and won't get a dime.
But at least their burger is further subsidized by the government, making it easier to keep eating their way into cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
Then they're on their own once again, to deal with the government-bloated predatory "health care" system.
Only in America.
Watch Dylan Ratigan report:

Healing Cancer - Option #6 - Essiac Herbal Tea

The Truth About Essiac

Rene Caisse and her Herbal Cancer Treatment, ESSIAC

Authentic, Original Essiac Tea Formula Documentation

 

 On a fateful day in 1922 Canadian nurse Rene Caisse happened to notice some scar tissue on the breast of an elderly English woman.  The woman said that doctors had diagnosed her with breast cancer years before.  However, the woman didn't want to risk surgery nor did she have the money for it. 

The English woman had met an old Indian medicine man in the 1890s who told her that he could cure her cancer with an herbal tea.  The woman took the medicine man's advice, and consequently she was still alive nearly thirty years later to pass on this herbal remedy to Nurse Caisse. 

 

About a year later, Rene Caisse was walking beside a retired doctor who pointed to a common weed and stated:  "Nurse Caisse, if people would use this weed there would be little cancer in the world."  Rene later stated:  "He told me the name of the plant.  It was one of the herbs my patient named as an ingredient of the Indian medicine man's tea!"  [I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse]  The "weed" was sheep sorrel.  In a 1974 letter to Dr. Chester Stock Rene Caisse stated:  "Who in the world would ever think to find a solution to cancer in a common meadow?"  [THE ESSENCE OF ESSIAC, p. 127]

 

In 1924 she decided to test the tea on her aunt who had cancer of the stomach and was given about six months to live.  Her aunt lived for another 21 years, cancer free.

 

Rene Caisse (pronounced "Reen Case") later gave the tea to her 72-year old mother who was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the liver, with only days to live.  Her mother recovered and lived without cancer for another 18 years.

 

In the ensuing years Nurse Caisse refined and perfected the original "medicine man's" formula.  She tested various herbal combinations on laboratory mice and on human cancer patients.  She eventually reduced the tea to four herbs:  burdock root, sheep sorrel, slippery elm and turkey rhubarb.  She called the formula Essiac, which is her surname spelled backwards.  [Read "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse" for more details.]

 

Rene Caisse devoted over fifty years of her life to treating hundreds of cancer patients with Essiac.  So effective were her treatments that in 1938 her supporters gathered 55,000 signatures for a petition, amongst other petitions, to allow Rene Caisse to continue treating cancer patients.  A bill was introduced in the Ontario legislature to (allegedly) "authorise Rene Caisse to practice medicine in the Province of Ontario in the treatment of cancer and conditions therein".  Due to the machinations of the medical establishment, the bill failed to pass by just three votes. 

 

However, Rene Caisse made her views known regarding this bill which would set up the "Royal Cancer Commission" to investigate all possible cancer cures.  She told the press:  "The people of Ontario will be paying a group of men to develop something that was developed and discovered 15 years ago.  I have developed and proven a cure right here in Bracebridge, and I am running a clinic where hundreds of cancer sufferers are being treated and helped.  Why then should I be asked to give my formula over to a group of doctors who never did anything to earn it?"  [CALLING OF AN ANGEL, p. 59.]

 

WHAT DID DOCTORS SAY ABOUT RENE CAISSE'S TEA?

 

Rene Caisse operated her cancer clinic under the supervision and observation of a number of doctors.  Based on what those doctors saw with their own eyes, eight of them signed a petition to the Department of National Health and Welfare at Ottawa, asking that Nurse Caisse be given facilities to do independent research on her discovery.  Their petition, dated at Toronto on October 27, 1926, read as follows:

To Whom It May Concern:
"We the undersigned believe that the 'Treatment for Cancer' given by Nurse R.M. Caisse can do no harm and that it relieves pain, will reduce the enlargement and will prolong life in hopeless cases.  To the best of our knowledge, she has not been given a case to treat until everything in medical and surgical science has been tried without effect and even then she was able to show remarkable beneficial results on those cases at that late stage.
"We would be interested to see her given an opportunity to prove her work in a large way.  To the best of our knowledge she has treated all cases free of any charge and has been carrying on this work over the period of the past two years."

Initially, Rene was not aware of the control that the medical/pharmaceutical establishment had over governments.  After the petition was delivered to the National Health and Welfare Department, she was continually threatened with arrest until she finally withdrew from public view.  Unlike Nurse Caisse, the medical establishment was more interested in making money than in helping people.  Essiac was cheap.  It could cut into the lucrative profits from radiation, chemotherapy and surgery--treatments that often do more harm than good.  Essiac is non-toxic.  Rene said, "Chemotherapy should be a criminal offense." 

                                                 

The story of Rene Caisse's struggle to make Essiac an official cancer treatment was told by Dr. Gary Glum in his book CALLING OF AN ANGEL:  ESSIAC, NATURE'S CURE FOR CANCER.  In a telephone conversation Dr. Glum stated that people who take Essiac on a regular, preventive basis do not get cancer.  Dr. Glum interviewed JFK's personal physician, Dr. Charles Brusch, who stated:  "I know Essiac has curing potential.  It can lessen the condition of the individual, control it, and it can cure it."      

 

Dr. Ralph Moss was appointed to the Cancer Advisory Panel that evaluates alternative cancer therapies for the government.  On his web site and in his book CANCER THERAPY, Dr. Moss points out that each of the herbs in Essiac has been scientifically shown to contain anticancer substances.  In his "Cancer Chronicles" [www.ralphmoss.com/essiac], Dr. Moss notes Essiac's rising popularity by comparing Essiac's low cost to a $150,000 bone marrow transplant. 

 

ESSIAC--MORE THAN JUST A CANCER TREATMENT

 

Dr. Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin became interested in Essiac and even offered Nurse Caisse research facilities to test it.  According to Rene, Dr. Banting stated that "Essiac must actuate the pancreatic gland into normal functioning".  Even today diabetics are using Essiac to improve their condition and many have gone off insulin entirely.  (For more information on diabetes and Essiac read the Dr. Marijah McCain interview.)

 

Essiac has become widely known for its remarkable ability to boost the immune system and detoxify the body.  Many people who drink Essiac tea regularly report feeling healthier with less incidence of colds and flu.  Burdock, for example, has a well-established reputation for detoxification and support of the liver and organs of elimination.  To read about additional benefits of Essiac, CLICK HERE to read the interview with Dr. Marijah McCain.

 

BURDOCK ROOT

(Arctium lappa)

 

For centuries burdock root has been regarded as an effective blood purifier that neutralizes and eliminates poisons from the body.  Burdock contains a volatile oil--especially in the seeds--that is eliminated through the sweat glands, taking toxins with it and alleviating skin problems.  Burdock contains niacin, which is known to eliminate poisons from the body, including radiation.  Burdock also supports the bladder, kidney and liver and has been said to dissolve kidney stones.  It also contains an abundance of minerals, particularly iron.  Studies have shown anti-tumor activity in burdock.  Japanese scientists have isolated an anti-mutation property in burdock, which they call the "B factor".  The Japanese grow burdock root for food as well as medicine.  A memorandum from the World Health Organization revealed that burdock was active against HIV. 

 

SHEEP SORREL

(Rumex acetosella)

 

Rene Caisse isolated sheep sorrel as the main Essiac herb that caused regression of metastasized cancer and reduction of tumors.  She used the whole herb including sheep sorrel roots.   Dr. Ralph Moss points out that sheep sorrel contains aloe emodin, a natural substance that shows significant anti-leukemic activity.  Sheep sorrel contains antioxidants, is diuretic and has been used to check hemorrhages.  Sheep sorrel is a traditional food of native cultures and is still served in fine restaurants along with other sorrels.  CLICK HERE for more information about sheep sorrel.

 

SLIPPERY ELM

(Ulmus rubra/fulva)

 

The inner bark of the slippery elm tree is well-known for its soothing and healing properties.  It reduces inflammations such as sore throat, diarrhea and urinary problems.  It has been regarded as both a food and medicine.  Dr. Moss noted that "slippery elm contains beta-sitosterol and a polysaccharide, both of which have shown [anti-cancer] activity.

 

 

TURKEY RHUBARB ROOT

(Rheum palmatum)

 

Turkey Rhubarb has been shown to have anti-tumor activity.  It is diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and has been used extensively to relieve constipation.  It is medicinally more potent than garden rhubarb root and is more palatable.  CLICK HERE for more information about the rhubarb root in Essiac tea. 

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR*

 

Due to the ever-increasing popularity of Essiac, numerous entrepreneurs have jumped on the Essiac bandwagon with their own four, six, or eight-herb products.  Unfortunately, Rene Caisse was very secretive.  She never published the formula and it appears that she experimented with different herbal combinations.  Therefore, it is understandable that there would be controversies over who has the correct formula or the best product.  Curiously, ESSIAC didn't become a trademark name until several years after Dr. Glum published the Essiac recipe.  Yellow dock or garden sorrel is sometimes substituted for sheep sorrel.  Imported turkey rhubarb may be irradiated, fumigated or both.  So how do you know if you are buying the real, unaltered Essiac? 

 

Many people become confused about Essiac tea after visiting various web sites with conflicting information.  Unfortunately, Rene is not alive today to remind people that it's all about "helping suffering humanity", not money.  As Rene stated in "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse", "respect and love of our fellow man are more important than riches."  Sheila Snow, author of THE ESSENCE OF ESSIAC and co-author of ESSIAC ESSENTIALS and ESSIAC, THE SECRETS OF RENE CAISSE'S HERBAL PHARMACY, knew Rene Caisse personally and fortunately obtained a great deal of documentation to dispel much of the confusion about Essiac tea.  Sheila Snow has passed on the Sheila Snow Fraser Essiac Archive Collection to Mali Klein, author of THE ESSIAC BOOK, 2006.

 

 

Essiac is truly a multi-cultural phenomenon.  So here are the plain, non-commercial facts: 

 

1) Essiac marketers often claim that Essiac is an Ojibwa Indian formula.  In "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse" Rene Caisse referred only to "a very old Indian medicine man" without naming any specific tribe.  Sheila Snow and Mali Klein have researched this issue extensively from the Essiac Archives and found that "There is absolutely no evidence to support the popular assumption that he was a member of the Ojibwa tribe.  There were six different tribes living in Northern Ontario at that time, including Algonquin [Anishinabeg], Cree, Cherokee, Huron, Iroquois and Ojibwa as well as the refugees from other tribes in the United States, who were fleeing north of the border from the Indian wars."

 

2) Turkey rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) is native to China and Tibet, not northern Ontario, so it appears unlikely that it was a part of the original medicine man's formula of indigenous herbs in the late 1800s.  Even today turkey rhubarb has still not established itself as a wild herb of North America [North America was originally called Turtle Island before the European Invasion and subsequent Holocaust].  "The [Turkey] rhubarb rhizome official in the British Pharmacopoeia, 1914, must be collected in China and Thibet.  English-grown rhubarb is inferior to the official rhubarb in medicinal qualities."*  Even the 1931 edition of A MODERN HERBAL reports that "We still depend upon Northern China and Thibet for Rhubarb."* In Rene's Caisse's "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse" she stated that the original formula came from an "old Indian [who] showed her certain herbs growing...in the the wilds of Northern Ontario."  So far I have not seen any evidence that the Chinese herb Turkey rhubarb was growing in the wilds of Northern Ontario in the late 1800s.  It is quite possible that Turkey rhubarb may have been an Asian-sourced modification made by Rene Caisse in her efforts to refine the formula. 

 

It has been suggested that Turkey rhubarb could have been purchased in Canada in the late 1800s but Rene Caisse specifically stated that the "old medicine man's" herbs were growing "in the wilds of Northern Ontario", not purchased.  Rhubarb first appeared in North America in the late 1700s but only as a garden plant.  Rhubarb does not have the invasive potential that burdock and sheep sorrel do as it needs to be planted and tended as a garden vegetable.  Therefore, it is unlikely that it would have somehow naturally established itself "in the wilds of Northern Ontario" in the first 100 years of being introduced to North America.

 

However, there is an edible plant that is mistakenly called "wild rhubarb" that is indigenous to Canada.  When cooked, the juicy, bright red stems that appear soon after the snow melts resemble rhubarb.  However, it is does not belong to the same genus as Rheum palmatum or Rheum officinale, but rather to the Polygonum genus.  It is known by many names in many places as Knotweed, Bistort, American Bamboo (though not a bamboo either), Heartweed, Smartweed, Snakeweed, Serpentgrass, Lady's Thumb, Water Pepper and, of course, "Wild Rhubarb".  "The delectable member of the family known as Polygonum bistorta thrives in the dry tundra of Alaska and northern Canada, even north of the limit of trees where Polygonum viviparum is also to be found.  Extremely common in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, on the long McKenzie River and its tributaries as far north as the tree line, is the P. alpinum, which is more usually known there as Wild Rhubarb."  [Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Bradford Angier]  This is a plant that could have been part of the original "old medicine man's" recipe for the English woman with breast cancer.  It is then conceivable that either the English woman or Rene Caisse switched to the true rhubarbs from Asia as a substitute--Or perhaps Rene Caisse didn't realize the difference between the native "Wild Rhubarb" and Asian/European rhubarb and she may have always used true rhubarb.  After all, she was a mainstream medicine nurse, not an herbalist.  The term "wild rhubarb" has even been applied to burdock and yellow dock, so pin-pointing the exact genus and species of this particular herb is difficult at best.  There are many different plants that have similarities to rhubarb.  Western Dock (Rumex occidentalis), for example, is also called "Indian rhubarb" [TRADITIONAL PLANT FOODS OF CANADIAN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, p. 225].  Nurse Caisse also used "Rheum officinale" which is often called "Indian rhubarb" because it came from Asia by way of the trade route through India.  Unfortunately, Rene was so secretive about the Essiac formula we will probably never know the whole story.  CLICK HERE for more information about "Turkey rhubarb" and "Indian rhubarb".

 

Since the modern North American diet of over-processed foods can cause chronic constipation which can promote cancer, the addition of turkey rhubarb in the formula appears to have been a wise one.  One of the first benefits that I noticed when I first began drinking Essiac tea was that my bowel movements normalized.  After drinking Essiac tea for four years, I embarked on a thorough colon cleanse and discovered that my colon was already clean from daily use of Essiac tea.  Several well-known American herbalists believe that 80 to 95 percent of all illnesses are due to unclean colons.  Turkey rhubarb is now being grown commercially in North America, and that may very well be due to the ever-increasing popularity of Essiac tea. 

 

3) Burdock and sheep sorrel are not native to North America.  It appears that both burdock and sheep sorrel were brought to this continent from Europe by early settlers who then passed on their knowledge of these two herbs to the local tribes.  Burdock and sheep sorrel eventually spread throughout North America where water was sufficient.  Unfortunately, they are often referred to as invasive "weeds".  Rene Caisse indicated that sheep sorrel was one of the original herbs, so it appears that sheep sorrel had migrated to "the wilds of Northern Ontario" before the 1890s.  Burdock could have also established itself in Northern Ontario by then.

 

4) Slippery elm is the only Essiac herb native to North America. 

 

In spite of the numerous, conflicting claims as to what the original Indian "medicine" man's formula was, no one has yet offered any verifiable evidence to settle that issue.  Some claim it was a four-herb formula while others claim it was an eight-herb, six or seven-herb formula.  Many of these claims state that turkey rhubarb was one of the original herbs, which did not grow "in the wilds of Northern Ontario".  Rene Caisse did experiment with a number of herbs and changed the formula through time.  It does appear that she gave different Essiac tea formulas to different people to try to find the best one.  She also appeared to "thrive on intrigue" to throw people off the trail to guard her secrets.  [See THE ESSIAC BOOK by Mali Klein].  Therefore, it is easy to see why so many people are marketing different versions of "Essiac" tea, all claiming to have the right one.  However, she finally settled on her four-herb formula before she died.  This four-herb formula was demonstrated by Rene Caisse and untold cancer patients to be an effective, health-giving remedy that has stood the test of time .  However, Mali Klein, now the custodian of the Sheila Snow Fraser Essiac Archive Collection, reveals more untold stories, more Essiac mysteries, and sheds new light on the Essiac phenomenon in THE ESSIAC BOOK.    

 

The only person Rene Caisse trusted to help her make Essiac tea was her best friend, Mary McPherson.  Mary had worked alongside Rene since the 1930s and knew the formula by heart.  According to Dr. Gary Glum, Mary had promised Rene never to reveal the formula to anyone.  The Essiac formula might never have made it into the public domain had it not been for Dr. Glum.  He purchased the formula for $120,000 from one of Rene's former patients.  Dr. Glum could have kept the formula secret and become very wealthy selling bottles of Essiac.  However, he unselfishly released the formula into the public domain in 1988.  At first he offered the formula on a video tape that he advertised in his book, CALLING OF AN ANGEL, but the feds unlawfully seized the tapes before he could sell very many of them.  He then gave out the formula and recipe free of charge to anyone who mailed him a request for the Essiac formula.  

 

When Dr. Glum met Mary McPherson in Bracebridge, Ontario and told her what the Essiac formula was, she was more than a little surprised.  According to Dr. Glum, Mary eventually revealed the formula in 1994 because it was no longer a secret, and she wanted to end the controversy over the Essiac formula before she died.  Therefore, on December 23, 1994 the "Essiac" formula & recipe was officially entered into the public domain with the recording of Mary McPherson's affidavit.

 

In "I Was Canada's Canada Nurse" Rene Caisse stated one reason why she wanted to keep the formula secret:  "I wanted to establish my remedy, which I called ESSIAC or my name spelled backward, in actual practice and not in a laboratory only.  I knew it had no bad side affects, so it could do no harm.  I wanted to use it on patients in my own way.  And when the time came, I wanted to share in the administration of my own discovery."

 

Another reason why Rene kept the Essiac formula secret was that she didn't trust people to make it properly and she thought that it would be altered.  For example, several years after Dr. Gary Glum published the four-herb Essiac formula and gave it away free of charge, Canadian talk show host Elaine Alexander marketed an eight-herb formula, which included the four herbs that Dr. Glum published.  Her marketing campaign proclaimed that Essiac's "new name was "FLOR ESSENCE" [R].  She subsequently died of cancer.  Even today a common misconception still exists that Elaine Alexander's formula is Rene Caisse's authentic Essiac formula.  However, Mary McPherson's recorded affidavit settled that controversy in 1994.  This eight-herb formula appears to be Dr. Charles Brusch's own formula, not Rene Caisse's Essiac formula.

 

Furthermore, it appears that there were unethical activities made in the marketing of Elaine Alexander's and Dr. Brusch's formula.  Claims were made that Dr. Charles Brusch knew the formula.  However, researchers Sheila Snow and Mali Klein stated in their book THE SECRETS OF RENE CAISSE'S HERBAL PHARMACY (p. 13):  "Considering Sheila's 16 years' association with Dr Brusch and his wife, and examining the evidence of the letters exchanged between them and with Mary McPherson, we must conclude that we do not believe that Rene ever gave Dr Brusch the Essiac formula.  Therefore we must question any subsequent claims by people associated with Dr Brusch as having access to the original Essiac formula."   Rene Caisse told Sheila Snow:  "I didn't give it [the Essiac formula] to Doctor Brusch and I'm not giving it to anyone else."  [THE ESSIAC BOOK, p. 74]  It also appears that Dr. Brusch's name was forged on false documents.  Dr. Brusch's wife, Jane, stated:  "I am infuriated over all the different things I am hearing.  I can't believe that so many people are using Charlie's name and the things they are coming up with -- old signatures etc -- requests for peoples' records and histories -- all lies.  I turn all these over to our lawyer -- I am dumbfounded."  CLICK HERE for more information about this situation.

 

Every herbal formula has its own synergy and therefore creates a specific effect.  Rene Caisse spent her life refining the formula with her hands-on research.  No one else has done such extensive research on Essiac tea.  The formula below was the final formula that she settled on after more than fifty years of experimentation and research with real cancer patients.  Rene Caisse stated:  "If it works, don't change it."   [ESSIAC ESSENTIALS, p. 84]

 

THE FORMULA

 

The following formula and recipe for Essiac (in italics) is a word-for-word transcription of the Essiac formula from the affidavit which Mary McPherson filed with the Town of Bracebridge.  CLICK HERE to view a certified true copy of Mary McPherson's two-page affidavit.  The formula below is also the one which Dr. Gary Glum released to the public in 1988 when he published CALLING OF AN ANGEL:  ESSIAC, NATURE'S CURE FOR CANCER. 

 

Essiac

 

6 ½ cups of burdock root (cut)   (upper left)

1 pound of sheep sorrel herb   powdered  (upper right)

1/4 pound of slippery elm bark   powdered  (lower left)

1 ounce of Turkish rhubarb root    powdered  (lower right)

 

Mix these ingredients thoroughly and store in glass jar in dark dry cupboard.

Take a measuring cup, use 1 ounce of herb mixture to 32 ounces of water depending on the amount you want to make.

I use 1 cup of mixture to 8 x 32 = 256 ounces of water.  Boil hard for 10 minutes (covered) then turn off heat but leave sitting on warm plate over night (covered).

In the morning heat steaming hot and let settle a few minutes, then strain through fine strainer into hot sterilized bottles and sit to cool.  Store in dark cool cupboard.  Must be refrigerated when opened.  When near the last when its thick pour in a large jar and sit in frig overnight then pour off all you [can] without sediment.

This recipe must be followed exactly as written.

I use a granite preserving kettle (10 – 12 qts), 8 ounce measuring cup, small funnel and fine strainer to fill bottles.

 

ADDITIONAL TIPS & INFORMATION

 

The preparation of Essiac is as important as the formula itself.  Essiac is a decoction, not an infusion.  An infusion is what people make when they put a tea bag in a cup of hot water.  Generally speaking, an infusion tends to extract vitamins and volatile oils.  A decoction is used to extract minerals, bitter components, etc. from hard materials such as roots, bark or seeds by boiling for a few minutes and then allowing the herbs to steep for several hours.  Entrepreneurs often sell Essiac imitations in tincture form (herbs in alcohol) or in gelatin capsules; neither form is Essiac because Essiac is a tea and, more specifically, a decoction that must be made in a certain way in order to achieve the kind of results that Nurse Caisse was demonstrating. 

 

People often substitute stainless steel for an enameled pot and lid.  The main concern is not to use an aluminum pot.  Also, be sure not to use unfiltered, chlorinated water.  The formula above can be reduced to 1/2 cup of herb mix to one gallon of water.   [Optional:  Dr. Glum suggests adding 2 or 3 cups of extra water to replace water lost through evaporation during boiling.  Also, the dry herbs will absorb water as well.]   After boiling for ten minutes, let the tea steep about 12 hours.  Then heat up tea to steaming, but not boiling.  (Do not boil twice.)  The remaining pulp can be used for healing poultices. 

 

Don't use cheese cloth to strain Essiac.  Likewise, do not use a kitchen sieve that has a very fine mesh as this may filter out the slippery elm.  Slippery elm gives the tea a slight viscous consistency when poured.  If you do not notice this "slippery" consistency after refrigerating your tea, you may be using a sieve that is too fine.  Don't worry about herb particles in your Essiac; they will settle to the bottom of the jars.  Some people drink the Essiac dregs (particles that settle on the bottom), others don't.  Some people give the Essiac dregs to their pets or farm animals as a health food.  Many people have reported the same or similar health benefits with their pets that humans are reporting.  The dregs can also be used topically as a poultice.

 

It is best to refrigerate the Essiac tea as soon as it has cooled.  Discard the tea if mold appears on the surface or if the tea does not taste right.  CLICK HERE to learn about dosage.  

 

Make sure that the sheep sorrel you use is the small, wild variety of sheep sorrel and not a substitute like yellow dock or garden (French) sorrel.  Imported turkey rhubarb root could be fumigated or irradiated.  Many Essiac merchants are unaware of the quality of their herbs.  The best way to insure that you're getting true Essiac is to grow the herbs yourself.  This puts you in control of product quality and takes out the commercialism.  Burdock root is harvested in the fall of the first year.  Slippery elm bark is wildcrafted or organically-grown and is easy to buy. Turkey Rhubarb is the only herb in Essiac that cannot be wildcrafted in the US.  The Chinese use six year old turkey rhubarb roots for maximum potency.  EssiacUS.com usually has some Essiac herb seeds.

 

*Quotes about Turkey rhubarb are from A MODERN HERBAL, first published by Jonathan Cape, 1931

The article above was written by Lanny Messinger, the original webmaster for this web site, who is now retired.

"We all have the right to benefit from Essiac because no one can stop us making it, no one can stop us taking it and no one can stop us deciding how and when we're going to do it."  [THE ESSIAC BOOK by Mali Klein, 2006] 

The Essiac tea in the snow on a foggy January morning (picture above left) was made using the Essiac formula given above.  Compare the tea color in this picture to the tea that Rene Caisse herself holds in her hand in this YouTube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k_nW-b-XmQ.

- Dr. Vaughn