100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (93 page)

be there, I will never be free of it.
And if that was not enough to really wind

me up for a good cry, I added,
Shawn may as well go and find himself a healthy

woman.

I called my cousin Lil, intent on stepping the ole pity party up a notch,

but to no avail. Rather than wallowing along with me, Lil said, “Oh, stop

your boo-hooing. Forget the chemo flashback and pretend you are shooting

up heroin or something!”

So, I ended up spending the entire weekend in the hospital, hooked up

to IV antibiotics, and pretending that I was shooting up heroin, so as to

avoid another episode of the dreaded chemo flashback. I did learn an

important lesson from this experience. Cancer was not just a temporary

disruption in my life. Even though my treatments had ended, the road to

recovery was a long one. I just had to remind myself to not get discouraged.

Your cancer journey does not necessarily end

when your treatments end. Be prepared for

setbacks along your road to recovery.

HEALTH TIP #92

And as I Always Say, “The Road to Recovery

Is Paved with Garlic”

I
don’t
always
say that, but I do love garlic, and I’m sure a lot of you have

started to include more of this odoriferous (that means “smelly”) bulb

wherever you can in your diet because you’ve heard of the health benefits.

The Greeks knew garlic was special, as they would feed it to their athletes

Perk #92: Skipping the Line at the ER

393

before Olympic games. (I wonder if that’s Michael Phelps’s secret weapon?)

But it’s just recently that we are uncovering the science behind just how

amazing these beautiful white cloves really are.

Garlic is in the Alliaceae family along with its cousins leeks, shallots,

and onions. It is the substance
allicin,
which is contained in great quantities

in garlic, that is responsible for its incredible antioxidant properties. In fact,

science is discovering that the allicin in garlic is the most potent antioxidant

producer there is. Antioxidants prevent oxidation from occurring at a cel-

lular level. Oxidation is the breakdown of cells, causing system disease,

aging, and cellular death.

The allicin in garlic breaks down into more than twenty different sul-

fide compounds (chemicals that contain sulfides) and each has particular

benefits.

A recent Canadian study revealed one of the sulfides produced is
sulfunic

acid.
Sulfunic acid is an extremely potent antioxidant. The allicin found in

garlic decomposes very rapidly, thereby releasing an enormous amount of

this acid that acts at an amazing speed in your body.

“The reaction between the sulfunic acid and radicals is as fast as it can

get, limited only by the time it takes for the two molecules to come into

contact. No one has ever seen compounds, natural or synthetic, react this

quickly as antioxidants,” stated the lead researcher on the team.

Good news for those of us who want to prevent cancer, heart disease,

and getting old. (Okay, you’ll still get old, but you’ll look good doing it.)

Note: To release the most allicin out of your garlic, let it rest for fifteen minutes

to one hour at room temperature after it is peeled or crushed before adding it to

recipes—something not many of us do. Garlic used in cooking is very healthy, but

eating it raw in recipes gives you the highest level of cancer-fighting benefits.

Along with the production of sulfunic acid, garlic also causes our

bodies to produce more of the natural substance
hydrogen sulfide.
Elevated

levels of naturally produced (your body actually
makes
this stuff) hydrogen

sulfide also act like regulators that relax the blood vessels, promoting

healthy blood flow to all areas of your body and promoting healthy blood

pressure.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

Boosting hydrogen sulfide production has also been shown to reduce

the incidence of certain cancers, including breast, prostate, and colon.

It has also shown some promising effects on heart muscle tissue.

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that injecting

hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to

heart muscle caused by a heart attack.

Garlic is best used as a fresh bulb. The studies on garlic pills is cloudy

as it has not been verified that the amazing benefits of fresh garlic can be

harnessed once it is ground into pill form.

To get the health benefits of garlic, you should eat at least two medium-

sized raw cloves a day—that’s two of the little pieces that come out of a

whole bulb. Because the allicin is released as soon as the garlic is peeled,

the health benefits of jarred cloves, while still present, are not as potent as

fresh. Garlic stored in water at room temperature loses half its allicin in

six days, and garlic stored in vegetable oil loses half its allicin in less than

one hour.

Garlic is delicious in main dishes like veggies and

pasta, but it also works equally well in snacks like hum-

Use garlic to

mus. If you’ve never had hummus, you’re really missing

keep evil
and

out on a wholesome snack that is healthy
and
delicious.

illness at bay.

Made from chickpeas, it has the consistency of peanut

butter and can be used as a spread on sandwiches, as a

dip, or in wraps.

Here’s my favorite recipe for hummus. Traditional hummus contains

tahini, a sesame paste, but tahini is not a normal staple of most kitchens,

so I omitted it. If you happen to have some tahini lying around, you can

throw in 1 tablespoon and add 15 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 0.5 gram of

protein to the nutritional content of a serving size.

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395

GARLIC-Y HUMMUS

YIELD: ABOUT 2 CUPS

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed,

or 2 cups cooked chickpeas

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

(dried flakes won’t work here)

11/2 tablespoons extra-virgin organic olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed (let it rest for 15 minutes

after it’s peeled to get the most allicin!)

Dash of cayenne pepper

Dash of black pepper and sea salt, to taste

Directions:

If your chickpeas are not cooked, soak overnight and simmer in water 11/2

hours or until tender. (Note: soaked and cooked chickpeas contain no BPA,

but canned may.)

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and combine until

creamy and smooth. Add some water if it’s too thick. It should spread like

peanut butter.

Use cut up celery, baby carrots, red peppers, raw summer squash, pita

bread, or crackers to dip. This makes a great spread for sandwiches or in

wraps.

Either eat together with your loved ones or use caution (or breath mints)

with close contact.

NUTRITION PER 1/4 CUP:

Calories: 65; Fat: 3 grams; Protein: 2.5 grams; Fiber: 2.5 grams

Perk #93

Eavesdropping on the Ward

T
here I was, months after my cancer treatments had ended, back in the

hospital battling off an infection in the area of my incision (FYI, there

are no perks of having infections). I’ll admit, I am not one to share my

living space with strangers. So anytime I had to stay in the hospital, I opted

for a private room. Since this particular stay was an emergency, however,

there were no private rooms available so I was forced to stay on a ward

with the common folk. I know . . . I know . . . Beyoncé would never put

up with that, and I seriously considered writing a stern letter to the hos-

pital administration.

The interesting thing about sharing a room with three other people is

the false sense of security that they get thinking that the thin curtain sur-

rounding their beds (falling one foot short of the floor) provides any sem-

blance of privacy. So while lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, I overheard

some doozies of conversations! Here is a sampling:

Conversation #1

Woman:
I don’t want the IV type of chemo; I want the pill. Mavis took the

pill, and she didn’t even lose her hair. I’ll just tell the doctor to give me the

pill. I’m sure it’s all the same.

Man:
Now, Mother, don’t be hasty. I’ve heard that if you eat lots of corn

niblets while you are on chemo, your hair will grow back all yellow and

curly. Just think, you won’t have to get your hair dyed or permed anymore!

(An actual conversation between a woman in her seventies and her son)

Conversation #2

Woman 1:
IF SOMEONE DON’T GET ME SOME #@%#% DRUGS SOON,

I’M GONNA BLOW THIS PLACE UP!

I 396 J

Perk #93: Eavesdropping on the Ward

397

Woman 2:
Calm down, Shelly. It is your own fault. If you hadn’t been so

drunk last night, you never would have fallen and broken your arm in the

first place.

Woman 1:
I’VE BEEN HERE FOR NEARLY TWELVE HOURS AND IF I

DON’T GET OUTTA HERE SOON I’M GONNA STRANGLE SOMEONE

WITH THIS @^%$**^ IV CORD!

(Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that conversation happened between

two nurses. However, I was a bit loopy from the drugs, so it could have been

a patient and her friend.)

Conversation #3

Woman:
PPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT-tut-tut-toooooooot!

Me:
Excuse me, lady, but that curtain does not stop noises from crossing

over to my side of the room, nor does it stop smells!

(As an update to the corn conversation, another cancer survivor told me

that the only thing she could keep down during her chemo treatments was

creamed corn, and her hair NEVER grew back. I think it is safe to conclude

from this one isolated case study that while eating corn niblets causes your

hair to grow back yellow and curly, eating creamed corn causes permanent

baldness. I cannot stress this enough people: eat NIBLETS!)