A letter to Abbie on long-distance running with a J-Pouch...

Hi Abbie, I stumbled across your blog while looking up J-Pouch marathoners... and am wondering just how far you've gotten with your running since you wrote this piece.  I'm a J-Poucher since just after 9/11 when I had my rectum removed at Mount Sinai Medical Center on the Upper East Side.  16 months later, I moved to Mexico and am living here almost 12 years now.  I've run off and on since college in the early to mid 90s... I probably would have been a much more serious runner had I not injured my ileal-tibial band in college in 1993.  My uncle Henry (Dr. Carl Henry Nacht) was a top NYC Marathon runner until he was killed on the Hudson River bike path or the Riverside Park bike path (I don't know what it is actually called) by a drunken NYPD tow truck driver riding home with his wife after dinner in Chelsea... His death appeared in all of the NYC papers.  You can look him up as "The Bicycle Doctor"...  My younger sister Beth Rosenberg (also a marathoner) was invited to run with his # in his memory in the following addition of the Marathon that same year (2006).  Beth, an incredible marathoner and mother of 2 girls, was diagnosed with rectal cancer this past March and had immediate J-Pouch surgery that same month...  She's planning upon running marathons again.  But, there are significant question marks surrounding the endeavor.  

That said, I miss Central Park and especially Prospect Park.  Mexico's cities lack parks of their magnitude, especially for running.  Although I've made due...  I live in Guadalajara and began running seriously again this passed May.  During the process, I've encountered issues of "rectal" bleeding after surpassing the 30 minute mark.  Inquiring into the possible causes, I've come to believe somewhat greatly that it has something to do with ischemic "bowel"... although it could have something to do with pouchitis...  I belong to the J-Pouch.org and most of the J-pouch runners who experience the same bleeding and visit with their doctors, have mentioned that there is no visible change in their J-Pouch for explaining the bleeding... no pouchitis.  I stumbled across Ischemic Colitis on the Runners World website.  All this said, with all of my research on diet not directly related to running or the J-Pouch or my sister and my F.A.P./Gardners Syndrome I stumbled across Prickly Pear Cactus (Nopal) and mucilage as a cure for colitis or ulcers or chronic inflamation and started cooking with the Nopal Cactus.  Low and behold, the bleeding during the runs stopped.  Since May, I've changed from the cactus "Nopales" to ground flax seeds (to increase my HDL cholesterol etc) and they and their mucilage have worked even better than the cactus leaves...  (During a hiatus from the Nopales, I started bleeding again after 30 minutes and that bleeding stopped with the ground flax seeds)...  For the first time in 21 years since increasing my runs from 5.2 miles per day to 7.3 miles in one week when I injured my ileal-tibial band in 1993 I found myself running 6 miles, 5-6 days per week (a slow 63 minutes) without pain or injuries and without bleeding.  I just read "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall that takes place just north of Guadalajara in Copper Canyon, Chihuahua and found myself incredibly inspired, moved...  

I'm 45-years-old and in a very personal movement to finally encounter true health (against all odds with my FAP/Gardners that seems like a horrible ticking bomb) through a lot of research and reading and wishing I had had better conversations with my uncle long before he died to truly know how he experienced his running...  At the age of 27 while in medical school, he decided to run marathons, going from running his first mile to running his first marathon in 13 months to finishing his NYC Marathons and Boston Marathons in the top 100 (when the New York Marathon had 16,000 starters).  His best time was 2:38...  We would wait for him to pass (around the 22 mile marker) behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art... 20 + minutes after Bill Rodgers had passed... He would appear so relaxed, as if he was out on a 5 mile Central Park Loop warm-up; My aunt Mary Beth (also a Marathon Runner before she started having problems with a pinched nerve) would greet him with a hug and a kiss and run with him for a stint and then we would wait for him to appear at their apartment on West 83rd Street and then West 103rd/Riverside for the wonderful Marathon Party Mary Beth would organize for this incredible man... 

When I run, questions appear in my mind directed towards Henry... or Uncle Henry or Dr. Demento (great sense of humor for entertaining his little neices and nephews we once were) or Dr. Carl Henry Nacht... or now known as "the Bicycle Doctor"...  I wish I could ask him, now that maybe we share two distinct interests that didn't really interest me when he was alive: extreme running (he regularly ran the 50 mile Central Park Ultramarathon: 10 times around) and health.  Its kind of a one-sided series of questions... a silent and slightly sad conversation not really worth having with just anyone, since he wasn't just anyone, but someone who incredibly appreciated how his body worked and moved... For him, it seems that running was beyond personal, but spiritual.  The only way you can truly understand how it works for you is by connecting at a very deep spiritual level where somehow you should find the best answers.  If you don't have that friend or that family member or if you aren't that journalist like Christopher McDougall, you have only yourself for truly understanding how and where you are running.  And, I'm not sure if that always is enough... and why I'm curious how your running experience with the J-Pouch has evolved over the past 2 years, since now you've been given a challenge that I imagine no marathon runner has before they become a marathon runner.  In ways, it was a miracle for me to reach the 10km mark with absolutely no stress... seemingly no effort.  And now I'm thinking of reaching 21 kms (the un-thought-of half marathon).  But, reading "Born to Run..." more interesting than a marathon (that never interested me in my life), are the ultramarathons.  Why?  Because ultramarathons do not have an actual limit on distance or time-frame.  It's not so much about winning or about finishing a certain distance, but about being able to run seemingly forever.  To be able to cross states on foot (not as slow as walking) instead of on wheels; being closer to the country you are crossing...  more connected...  In a very strange way, the closest we can appear to flying... Riding a bike is not you flying, but the bike moving you, although you are peddling...  The plane motor is flying you from JFK to LAX, not you.  But, running an ultramarathon would be the equivalent of getting you there on the wings of your feet... Sounds crazy coming from someone who has never run more than 7.2 miles, let alone a half marathon or a marathon... especially a 45-year-old J-Poucher...  J-Pouching does not bode well for running over 4 hours straight with all the digestive and bathroom issues etc... let alone running over 1 hour... But, running well over 4 hours?  And what would happen to the J-Pouch if there was an issue of Ischemia?  What if you needed a bathroom urgently at any given moment of the run?  How would a J-Poucher eat for the run?  How would you plan your bathrooms and diet and sleep the night before?  What would you carry with you for eating during the run?  What about the hightened risk of dehydration for J-Pouchers?  And, I say in a strange and probably not understandable way at this point in my running, "who cares?"  

Why who cares?  Because in order to barrel past all of the extreme obstacles that make us so extremely different than all the rest of the people and these dreams seemingly unobtainable, in order to begin, you've really gotta say, "who eff'n cares?"  Because, truthfully, you are the only one who truly cares and truly understands what it all signifies for you... And, there must be a point where you must stop caring and you've just gotta give a shot...  Like living in Mexico without a colon and without a rectum and with a J-Pouch that makes such difficult living just that much more difficult.  And, truthfully, "who cares?  Let's just do it and see where we end up..:"  and that's why I'm intrigued by your experience...  

Ross

10k... and beyond?

After injuring myself almost 2 months ago, I finally decided upon terminating the 2nd 5km loop of Metropolitan Park where I run here in Guadalajara.  Since I injured the tendon that runs on the outside of my right ankle, I've been running differently; shorter strides, not so heel to toe as had been my form since College and without any need for pushing myself.  Just head up, back straight, mind relaxed, enjoying the experience and the scenery.  While recuperating/running 3-4 days per week in Tangamanga Park in San Luis Potosi in August, I didn't have to run any specific course or begin or end at any given point.  I didn't even have to do a 15 minute warm-up walk...  I didn't have to beat a former time or extend the run beyond what I ran the day before.  I just had to appreciate the run...  

When we returned to Guadalajara, and to the hills of the Metropolitan Park, I just let my body decide how it would run and basically ignored where I had left off before being injured: a few meters from completing a 10k...  5-6 days per week.  I ran 40 minutes and completed the run where I was completing it back in early June.  The following day I only ran 24 minutes, but was fine with that... Something else was occuring that kept me relaxed about my "performance". I noticed with the shorter and more effortless strides, I was reaching certain milestones much quicker, even though I felt I was running much slower (which was not the case).  Another thing is that I read "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall the prior 3 days and realized that after injuring myself in July I had changed my stride in a form that I was running almost exactly how McDougall explains the Tarahumara and the best ultramathonists run in order to cover so much ground with minimal fatigue and minimal stress.  

Yesterday I completed 8kms for the first time since mid-July and thought that it wouldn't be too much to ask of myself to stretch the run another 2...  Today the run began very slowly. In fact, I wasn't concerned about anything.  But, when I was approaching those 8kms I thought that I should see what would happen if I continued onward... 2pm, height of the day's heat and direct sun, like being on the beach... running without a shirt and feeling a slight burn.  But, truthfully, I found the heat envigorating.  There was absolutely no fatigue, almost no pain.  My breathing was near minimum... at least for not burning glucose (glycogen) stored in the muscle and just burning fat...  Nearing the 10k mile marker the tows of my right foot started aching (clearly that shoe isn't designed ideally for my toes) and I thought, "if I were in a marathon, I could do another 3 sets of these two laps of the park if not for my toes..."  My body was totally relaxed.  But, I wondered just how difficult it would be to run a marathon having toe pressure problems...  In the end, I finished the 10k in a slow 67 minutes.  Yesterday I had run a relaxed but fast first mile in 8.5 minutes and the 6th mile a little less than 1 minute slower.  The average mile was 10 minutes.  Today I ran the first mile in 11 minutes and the 6th in just under 10 minutes.  The average mile was 10.8 minutes.  The first and the 6th miles are the same stretch I always compare.  It's my favorite part of the park; the back end far away from the park goers that is 1 mile of rolling hills with pine forrests and lined with Eucalyptus trees.  When I ran from heel to toe, I used the 6th mile for basically sprinting.  When everything was working, I felt like a gazelle.  But, now I realize that running from heel to tow may not allow me to run longer distance or for an extended period of my middle-aged life, since it will cause injury.  Plus, it doesn't enable for running faster and it is an inefficient energy spender.  

I've never dreamed of running a marathon.  But, now the dream is to be able to run as long as I wish... As long as that is what the body was truly made for...  Our joke today is, one of us says, "Hey, I'm heading out to Veracruz in moment..." and he, she or I put on our running shoes or sandles and hops out the door for making that 500+ mile journey running...  If that's what our bodies were built for.  It remains to be seen...  

My next goal is to duplicate the 10k runs.  And I'm not talking about runnign a half marathon one day when there is a competition here...  The almost 10k runs were 5-6 days per week.  How about running a half marathon 5 days per week... one day.  Why not?

It took me 11 years to figure out how to reverse the obesity process.  Without worrying about fat or calorie counting, and with what seems like very little effort over the prior 6 months, I'm seeing an abdomin/chest reflected in the mirror that I believe I was seeing 20+ years ago.  It's delightfully surprising... And, there seems to be no reason that it would not continue in this direction.  So, why not one day be able to run as far as my mind desires?

More thoughts on epigenetics

It is hypothesized that if the environment can modify gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms, it may contribute to autoimmune disease in a genetically predisposed person.  And genetic damage has been demonstrated in different dietary situations.  It is therefore possible that epigenetics may play a role in the recent increase in celiac disease prevalence -- Peter H.R. Green, M.D. Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

Keeping this in mind and keeping in mind that Celiac Disease, FAP and Gardners Syndrome are genetic diseases that take place in the same region of the body, the digestive tract and moreso sharing the region of the small intestine, although FAP displays itself more intensely in the large intestine and rectum, you can extrapulate from the idea of epigenetics that what can happen with the villi of the small intestine in Celiac Disease can also happen with the mucous membrane (and later on the polyps) of the colon and the rectum.  So, if we know what in our diet may put us in a greater risk of a certain gene expression typical of something we inherited, then it should be worth while removing that certain something from our diet in order to reduce that risk.

For Celiac Disease, gluten is the risk factor.  For cancer, glucose is risk factor.  

As you may have read in what I wrote yesterday, I had been experiencing peripheral neuropathy or carpal tunnel syndrome from my right shoulder to my right hand.  In the past it caused extreme discomfort driving, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty writing or typing and threatened my ability to paint.  I believed the issue was a form of repetative movement work injury that may have begun with the gourmet cupcake business in Xalapa, but was exacerbated by working the frappe machines in the coffee bar the past 7 years.  However, as I mentioned yesterday, removing the simple carbs from my diet in March (which includes all wheat products), I removed the peripheral neuropathy--carpal tunnel syndrome.  I knew that excess glucose in the blood stream caused inflamation of the nerves and could result in destruction of the myelin sheath that protects the nerve fibers.  In fact, the second problem that presents with Alcoholics (since Alcohol is the sugar that enters the blood stream the quickest and reaches the liver for metabolism in less than 30 minutes, since it is the only thing that enters our mouth absorbed by the stomach, other than Aspirin), after "craziness" and before diabetes--which presents itself before cirosis of the liver, is peripheral neuropathy.  However, at the time, I believed that my sugar intake was very low after leaving the gourmet cupcake business behind in April 2007.  What I wasn't understanding is that my diet heavy on white rice, bread and corn and wheat tortillas over-compensated for the lack of sweets or sugar in my diet.  

That said, Dr. Green of "Celiac Disease; a hidden epidemic" explains that the way to rid his patients of peripheral neuropathy is to remove gluten from their diet (gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley and rhy).  If the only gluten product a person places in their mouth is beer, that is enough to trigger off celiac disease or the lesser gluten intolerance and peripheral neuropathy.  You may have noticed that I will mention wheat products before mentioning gluten.  The reason being that many people are not only affected by gluten in wheat, but other proteins or fibers in wheat.  In fact, it is possible to have problems with wheat without having problems with gluten, just as it is possible that people with problems with dairy products may not be lactose intolerant but casein (milk protein) intolerant.  Since humans are the only mammals on the planet that consciously drink the milk from other animals, and well after infancy, I would suggest that it is logical that if you have a problem with dairy products, maybe you should remove them from your diet be it for lactose intolerance or not...

In thinking about my comment about a tendency towards a diet low in sweets and sugar, in Gary Taubes' book "Good Calories, Bad Calories", investigating dietary roots of metabolic disorders that lead to late 20th century epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, alzheimers and cancer, a group of scientists studying the effects of sugar on obesity in England mentioned, "most obese people when asked mention that they lean towards eating sweets on a regular basis (they have sugar or carbohydrate cravings).  If any of them say that they don't crave sweets or carbs, rest assured they drink a ton of beer!  You may say, 'but beer isn't sweet!'"  No, but it is full of sugar in the form of malt."  

Responses to "Epigenetics and FAP/Gardners Syndrome" on the Facebook FAP groups

Tracy wrote: I do agree that a change from the "modern" diet could change the growth rate of polyps. The foods you mentioned cause inflammation, the drugs used to reduce the growth of polyps is Sulindac and Celebrex, which reduce inflammation. It makes sense, however it's difficult for many to change your lifestyle.


My Response: As for Sulindac, it is an NSAID. I was prescribed it by that same beloved doctor DeCosse. And, yes, he was beloved. A wonderful person for my sister and I; head of surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital in Manhattan when we had our first surgeries; transfered across the street to New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center. However, Sulindac is an NSAID. And NSAIDS cause major inflamatory problems in the Duodenum of the Small intestine, that leads to problems for those with Gardners (if there truly is a difference). Today, denied by the American Medical Association in 1996 when Beth was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, associated with FAP is Pancreatic Cancer, Bile Duct cancer, Gall Bladder Cancer, Duodenal Cancer and Adrenal Cancer... all centered around and connected to the Duodenum that in Gardners Syndrome (or without it) developes duodenitis caused by NSAIDS (Sulindac, Ibuprofen)... And about decreasing the sizes and the number of polyps in the rectum, stomach, or the small intestine, Beth never had many and they disappeared with the removal of her colon. I had a ton, and that bled sporadically between the age of 13 (when I had my colon removed in 83) and the age of 32 (2001) when I had my rectum removed and my Ileum converted into a J-Pouch... But, I NEVER DEVELOPED CANCER, although I have had cysts, a ton of skin tags, an increasing number of lipomas and osteomas, while, my younger sister Beth the sugar-holic hummingbird or bumblebee gym obsessive marathon-runner, has developed cancer twice; rectal cancer this past March... The "experts" say that fat, excess of calories, over-eating and laziness causes obesity. My wife and I (due to my research into my health and certain health issues based within my FAP/Gardners/J-Pouch experience), removed wheat products and most simple carbs (with the exception of some fruit and a few teaspoons of sugar in our coffee) from our diets in March. In turn, for the first time in 8 years, we de-regulated our fat and protein intake... and each of us has lost exactly 15kgs/34 lbs ignoring increase in muscle mass... I went from a size 40 pant-size to almost a 34-pant size in those same 6 months. I mention this detail unrelated to FAP/Gardners because it is an ode to the so-called scientific experts in human metabolism... Is it science or is it a pandering to the various industries co-related with related chronic diseases plaguing "Americans" and the world that has bought into U.S. dominated health/medical dogma/policy and the American multi-nationalist sugar industry/food industry/pharmaceutical industry? And, of course, the Canadian, French and German Pharmaceutical companies have the same vested interests in preventing the scientific, medical and nutritional truth from filtering down towards the lay public. No, this is not a PETA movement for Animal rights or is it an organic health movement against Monsanto, or an environmental-ecological movement against fracking or so-called "chemtrails"... In fact, it is not a movement at all. It is just useful information that may help you to better manage your life, your health (and that of your family and friends) and your personal economy. What anyone does with any information ultimately has only to do with the individual. The consequences are extremely personal... The benefits are equally personal.


Bernard wrote: Read on methylation. It's too easy to become confused with all this when we don't have a degree in molecular biology.


My Response: I've read about methylation regarding my issue metabolizing histimines... I also don't have a degree in molecular biology... I didn't take that route 25 years ago, nor that of alternative nutrition (if there was an actual so-named field)... My father was the valedictorian of his Brooklyn College graduating class and a Fullbright Award recipient to Purdue University and became an Opthalmologist... However, he died suddenly of cancer of the colon that metastacized rapidly to his liver a year after opening up his medical practice. Now, had all of this scientific/medical/FAP/Gardners history (between 1973 and 2014) passed before his mind and eyes, maybe he would have been able to do something about this (for his older brother, my 3 cousins and my sister and I, along with his grandchildren and grand nieces and nephews carrying this gene). But, he didn't live to be able to do that and I didn't study nutrition, medicine or the various related sciences that (with adequate funding) would help us... But I do observe, think, read, listen and analyze much and my conclusion is that there is another possible avenue.


Maria wrote: I wonder if that's the difference in my family.. My daughter and I eat organic grown fruits and vegetable along with fish and chicken...no red meats we don't have a sweet tooth. No soda pops.gluten free diet.... The list goes on to what we don't eat! I guess you could call it a purest ? I just feel like I was dealt a bad deal .. So what can I do to help level the playing field.


My Response: You may want to look into the amount of refined carbohydrates in your diet... In the blood stream, bread, pasta, potatoes, corn, rice and sugar is the same: glucose. I've grown to believe that it isn't so much an issue of red meat or organic vs conventionally grown or bred produce or animals as much as it has to do with how much glucose ends up in your blood stream, hence a decrease or an increase in insulin and how much fructose goes to your liver. Granted, if we could all be guarranteed 100% organic, the better! The question isn't what caused the cancer, since you won't ever know; could be any of so many factors that you can't truly prevent, like living hundreds of miles upwind New York City in the upper Hudson or Connecticut river valleys in the Adirondacks, Berkshires, White or Green Mountains where you would think the air was cleaner, although it is not... So, move to the New York metropolitan area where maybe the density of microwaves or radiowaves or electrical currents probably are associated with increased levels of radiation and/or development of cancer cells... But, if the only food cancer cells survive and thrive upon is glucose, and we can live without glucose, then why not consider just how much glucose our diets provide to our blood stream? Maria, you were dealt a playing card... a deal... And maybe you were given a very difficult challenge. Remember the book published about Jim Morrison titled "No One Gets Out of Here Alive"? It's true. We were given a different challenge. And maybe we were offered the opportunity of looking at things differently than others born without FAP/Gardners... The question is "what are you willing to do?" I don't have solutions. And I have a feeling that no one has solutions, not even God (if we want to get into that)... Maybe it isn't about solutions but about how you live while you are alive. And it isn't about how often you are able to eat good tasting food and about truly filling your stomach, but about if you are truly eating in a way that is truly healthy for your body. Another idea: our bodies struggle for surviving under all types of circumstances, even if it seems that we were given a gene that seemingly acts as a premature self-destruct button... The gene is yours and it is your body's although both you and your body truly wish for surviving and for not dying until the very ultimate moment. Did you know that all cells have built into them a cyanide pill, a suicide code for when something goes wrong within their genetic structure...? It is called "programmed death" or cell apoptosis... With cell division, the cell has the option of suicide when they have divided in a way that will harm the health of the greater organism, better known as Maria. This harmful cell division is called a cell mutation, otherwise known as cancer. Normally, the newly formed cancer cell will commit suicide. But, not all cells perform the apoptosis and you have the beginning of a cancerous tumor, if the cell is able to feed itself adaquately... We've gotta turn this thing on it's head and see what we can do. And maybe stop waiting for the inevitable appearance of the Grim Reaper. And maybe there is nothing we can do for ourselves within this situation. But, maybe there is something we can do or help others do for the following generations... Maybe there is nothing we can do and we should just accept the cards dealt us. But, for some reason, it seems that we don't accept those cards, meaning that maybe we should continue working on this... It's genetic. But, maybe it's not only about genes...


Maria wrote: No refined Carbohydrates all the above is not on our diet. Organic to keep pesticide out of our body.


My Response: Ok... I guess I'm confused about, "I wonder if that's the difference in my family..." and "I just feel like I was dealt a bad deal.." The difference in your family as compaired with families of your siblings or your cousins? and that you've improved the experience of you and your daughter and regardless of what you've done for yourselves, it's still a bad deal? I imagine you've helped yourself and your daughter level a little bit of the playing field. Two years ago when I published on the Gardners Syndrome and FAP group walls the idea of doing what you and your daughter are doing, I received a very hostile attack as if I were an outsider who does not understand or believe their sufferings... And some people mentioned the diets and exercise regimes of their family members that should have changed the personal trajectories if what I was saying was correct. But, you didn't respond hostily attacking me. In fact, you said that you appreciated what I wrote. But, somehow, somewhere within your question I wonder if you also feel that nothing truly has helped or maybe your and your daughter's dietary lifestyle has helped. I do wonder if anyone knew about the issue with refined carbs... But, you do. I would think that within your personal and intellectual experience you would find my comments redundant... In the time that you've been living organic, refined carb-free and without red meat, have you and/or your daughter experience additional FAP/Gardners related health problems? Or do you feel that you've pretty much been able to control things but suffer from the suspicion/fear/concern that you aren't out of the storm yet and are just looking for a better guarrantee of a safe and healthy future?

Maria wrote:  My sister smoked and ate whatever... Fast foods, junk food... Sweets, other family members with the same FAP/GS as my daughter and I, yet we are doing and have been doing better. Some say we have a lesser degree of the disease, I'm wondering if it's the life style we have chosen that has helped us. I've seen others and noticed their poor eating habits and lack of activities. And question to myself if that hasn't added to an already compromised genetics.

I responded: And I feel like a Whoopie Goldberg in the 80s saying, "you go girl!" Now, how do we determine who got it better or worse. I say I got it worse than everyone else in my family in my generation. But, Beth developed cancer twice. I say the difference is her diet. However, keeping the mind open and considering just how much exercise she's done over the years and that she is a very competative marathon runner, one can also ask if her exercise would have burned all the glucose in her blood before it reached the cancer cells. But, if you read about cancer cells and glucose metabolism, you could be starving to death and they would be quicker at grabbing the glucose than the non-cancerous cells, as explains why during the end phase of terminal cancer the patients are ematiated; because the cancer grabs all of the glucose and the body has metabolized muscle cells for energy... The terminally ill cancer patient has consumed their muscle mass for survival... I'm sorry you are subjected to these responses (that can be interpreted as strange accusations, instead of applauses and petitions for assistance) by your family...

Maria wrote:  My youngest is fine.. She's just turned 30 with no sign of disease in sight. My other daughter the oldest is 36 and has the beginning of GS small desmiod tumors in her abdomen three years after her colostomy. Stomach cancer. Yet they are all coexisting. I'm having my Colon removed in ten days. My sister an nephew died years ago. Cancer threw out the body. My brother liver cancer and his son undergoing chemo. So we are in the same family, full siblings, with the same disease. They're if not dead, in a life threatening situation. We all live in the same state. My brother is very active... Much more than me. But he eats whatever he wants. Fast food, cake, candy. I now have one of my sister in laws, coping my diet... After going to the doctor for a check up. She has high cholesterol, and her thyroid is hyper something.

I responded:  I'm amazed in light of everything, all the information and all of the genetic FAP/Gardners inheritance in your family, that it has taken so long for you to have your colon removed... The previous science on FAP is that colectomy before the age of 40 is the necessary precaution for preventing mortality in 95% of the FAP/Gardners population. Granted, today we know that 30% of the FAPers present after the age of 50. That said, it seems to me that your family carries the "typical" FAP/Gardners gene... When were you diagnosed with Gardners? Recently or way back when? and/or why would you wait so long to have the surgery... or, why is the surgery necessary now and not before? Were you diagnosed a long time ago and were able to keep things at bay with your diet or was did the polyps recently appear?

Cynthia Wrote:  Other meds to reduce polyp growth include fish oil and turmeric, both anti inflammatory. Also people with fap from other countries don't have the same rate of colon cancer as us. It's still high but in Asia, think it was just china actually but not certain, colon cancer rates were 70% but stomach cancer was much higher in fap patients there than here. My dr pointed out that other non dietary factors might play a role but I think these discrepancies are worthy of further study.

I responded: Udo Erasmus suggests omega 3 fatty acids for increasing HDL cholesterol and decreasing risk of cancer. In his book, "Fats that heal, Fats that kill", he mentions that a certain biochemist or micro-biologist developed a technique for ridding the body of malignant tumors mixing milk protein (casein) with flaxseed oil, which is very high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The reason she didn't mix the flaxseed oil with cream or milk was because of the high sugar content (lactose). With her research discoveries in the 1950s, she was effectively blacklisted by all of the German research programs and universities because she refused to heed the desires of her department chairperson who also controlled the university laboratories when he offered her a chain of Pharmacies in exchange for her renouncing her research on Omega 3 and cancer. Why? Because his research was on inventing industrial vegetable oils, margarines and vegetable lard, all very high in Omega 6 fatty acids, in excess cause extreme inflamation. His research was being funded by the industry that was about to boom in the following two decades after Ansel Keys came out with the saturated fat/cholesterol/heart disease hoax in the 1950s... Not only was the department chair being funded by these companies, he was rewarded a large number of shares... As for Turmeric... it is considered the #1 natural anti-inflamatory in the world. Second would be Prickly Pear Cactus Paddles (Nopales in Spanish). Asian Indians should not have high rates of inflamatory diseases due to the presence of turmeric in their cuisine if not for the extremely high consumption of wheat products and rice amongst all the rest of the refined carbohydrates in their diet.

Epigenetics and FAP/Gardners Syndrome

Epigenetics is a term coined in 1942 that describes changes in the expression or behavior of a gene caused by environmental factors...  quoted from "Celiac Disease; a hidden epidemic" by Peter H.R. Green M.D. (Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University).

What caught my eye is the claim that the DNA of the gene remains the same.  What changes due to environmental factors is the gene expression.  Environmental factors refers to what is placed in the environment of the region concerning the specific gene, such as smoke inhalation and lung cancer etc.  

Do you remember when I suggested to the FAP or Gardners Syndrome groups that maybe FAP/Gardners could be avoided if the parents raise their children with a very different and strict "non-modern" diet?  That maybe it is the changes in the food industry such as technology, preservation techniques, coloring, flavorings and sudden greatly increased access to certain types of foods that caused FAP/Gardners Syndrome to become an issue?   Remember how angry the other FAPers/Gardners Syndromers became?  as if they need to live their status of uncurable and helpless victims...

And it didn't matter that I am also a "sufferer" of FAP/Gardners.

But for some reason I've decided to take a more proactive stance within my health issues.  And, yes, I know that all my work and learning may result in no changes and I may develop a fatal FAP/Gardners Syndrome--connected illness tomorrow.  

Ever since my sister Beth was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer in 1996, and I first began researching what I could find on the internet about FAP/Gardners Syndrome, I've understood that the supposed "experts" in the supposed field knew so so so little about what happened with FAP/Gardners Syndrome and what issues would appear later for us.  I also realized that as those "experts" learned more about FAP/Gardners, they also learned that they knew so little about the realities of the issue.  But, since we are such a small percentage of the population that offers very little to no lucrative investment opportunities for the Pharmaceutical industry, little money will be "donated" for increased and adequate research into better understanding what FAP/Gardners truly consists of.  

As I mentioned two days ago, Beth is a "sweet tooth" and I am not.  We are brother and sister.  Unlike Sheri, Beth and I inhereted the gene for FAP/Gardners Syndrome.  My gene seemingly expressed itself more than hers.  However, to this date, until her doctors and her scientific friends tell her that the expression of her cancer probably was caused by her elevated consumption of sugar/refined carbohydrates, she will ignore anything I write; first of all because I am not a doctor or scientist; second, because she doesn't read.  So, of course she must maintain blind faith in science, doctors, medical technology and pharmaceuticals. It's a very convenient marriage:  Until death do we part! 

To this date I have not developed cancer.  However, I was the first member of our generation to have preventative surgery for removing my colon.  I've also had my rectum removed.  In this day and age it is easier to have surgery than to change to a very socially unpopular diet that would exclude you from social circles since you would be perceived as a rain on the parade or a wet blanket...  If you don't drink beer or mixed alcoholic beverages, fruit juice or soda, you have no role in bar where your friends go to socialize and you are boring.  If you don't eat refined carbs, you won't find almost anything to eat on most restaurant menus.  People will be offended if you reject most of the food they offer at their parties thrown in their homes...  And you will become exhausted explaining why you can't eat the cake or the spaghetti or the pizza or the hot dogs or the rice or the ice cream or the tortillas...  and it will not be worth it asking for the ingredient list of all the food items that supposedly weren't manufactured with gluten or other aspects of wheat or with fructose or with the rest the simple carbs or with transfats...  Who of your friends or family will appreciate the pressure of trying to develop a menu that considers your needs?  Truthfully, this diet for preventing the development of uncontrolable cancer or what are being called Chronic Diseases of Civilization (Diabetes, Alzheimers, Heart Disease, Auto-immune diseases, Cancer) is much more socially difficult than that of vegetarianism.  With vegetarianism, the vegetarian (although possibly extremist) can drink alcohol, drinks of very high sugar content, cakes/pastries, snacks/hors d vours and just has to select from the table what does not consist of animal protein/animal fat...  Gelatin is animal protein.  Cheese is a combination of animal fat and animal protein...  The Vegan in the party will become incredibly relieved upon my appearance within the situation/discussion, since the focus will be taken off why they don't eat meat and they will suddenly stop being called a rabbit that only eats lettuce, because they eat the pasta, rice, bread, pastries, sauces, alcoholic beverages and sweetened drinks.

Epigenetics...  If you truly care about your health and you truly want to change your current situation or your level of risk... if you want to prevent, instead of later on frantically seek for a cure watching all of your money disappear etc...

But, what I've noticed is that the obese and overweight... 

with various related health issues along with what they see in their reflection in the mirror or their reflection in the minds of others or what they experience shopping for clothes, fruitlessly/obsessively exercising (if they have the energy for the exercising), or with another unsuccessful dieting attempt as my mother could attest to...

... don't want to stop eating the things that make them "happy" and/or socially acceptable or popular...

Just as my sister would not wish to think about what I wrote/shared with her back in March and April.  The gravity of her situation isn't worth changing certain habits, such as the habit of not reading...

Our beloved doctor DeCosse, supposed expert in the field of FAP/Gardners Syndrome in the 1980s shared with us information that turned out to be down right incorrect, such as removal of the colon removes most of the risk of FAP related cancer... and that high fiber diets decrease the risk of colorectal cancer...  He also prescribed anti-inflamatory medication (NSAIDS) used with diabetics for decreasing polyps that lead to duodenitis (a horrible risk factor for those with Gardners that leads to a whole slew of cancers-- now connected with FAP -- in that region of the body) For 60 years since Ansel Keys began the Fat-Cholesterol theory of Heart Disease that led to the belief of Cancer and Diabetes also being caused by saturated fat intake, Cardiologists, Endocrinologists, Nutritionists and Oncologists have been pushing their clients to low-fat/high carbohydrate diets as the obesity rates, diabetes rates, cancer (breast, colon, prostate) rates, alzheimers rates, and heart disease rates have sky-rocketed at the same time that exercise rates and the exercise related industry profits (such as gym memberships) have also sky-rocketted... this massive increase in obesity and metabolic disorders couldn't possibly be due lack of exercise... and it has become abundantly clear that it is not related to fat consumption that greatly decreased at the same time.  So, ask yourself what is being ignored.  What is it that you are not being told and why not?  What is missing in the equation?  Is it possible that there is another missing link with the issue and risk of FAP/Gardners?  

Environment. 

I am certain that Beth does not know about Epigenetics, which is an extremely valid scientific/medical field.  I'm certain my mother doesn't know about Epigenetics either, nor do most of the "victims" of FAP/Gardners Syndrome.  If she did (if they did)... Maybe she would change her mind about her preconcieved notions and possibly her very own personal experience.

What if they read a little bit about what Epigenetics suggests?

It doesn't remove the reality of their genetic difference; uniqueness... That they are special...  But, it would offer other avenues for addressing the issues of the future... maybe not for them, but for their children who will inherit the gene...  But, it would require that they take responsibility for much of the work and not leave all the work to the so-called specialists, hospitals and the insurance companies...

Remember, the gene remains the same.  But, environmental factors may cause a change in how the gene expresses itself.

What if you have FAP/Gardners and the environment you place within your body on a daily basis maintains a certain homeostasis that causes the gene for FAP/Gardners to NOT EXPRESS ITSELF?

Or is it that you can't live with what makes you different from others; hence, special?

Cancer cells feed on glucose, have many more insulin receptors than normal cells, and with a diet of readily accessible glucose, multiply extremely rapidly; much more rapidly than do normal cells.  How do you prevent this rapid multiplication?  You starve the cancer cells by restricting the flow of glucose in your blood stream.  Don't worry.  Your cells find energy just as easily from fat and then from protein; they'll continue thriving.  But your cancer cells will cease to multiply (removing the immediate risk) and/or they will die.  The issue isn't with preventing cancer, since we certainly have cells mutating every day.  The issue is with the development of cells becoming tumors and moving to other parts of the body (metastacizing)...  A cancer cell is like an atom. A tumor is like a molecule.  Just as atoms don't have to construct molecules, Cancer cells don't have to equate to tumors, meaning that cancer cells don't have to equate to illness or to death...  

But, if your lifestyle and your so-called 21st century "liberty" and the economy of the industries (sugar, wheat, corn, industrial vegetable oils, prepared foods, alcoholic beverages, farmaceutical) that couldn't give a damn about your health (especially that of your children) or your economy is more important than your health and, especially that of your children... continue as you are.  But don't complain about your situation, your experience, no more woe is me, especially tomorrow.  

Because you do have other possibilities, alternatives.  And you can become proactive, if only for you and your family...

Low Carb at 6 months... or

I must remind myself how I stumbled across the idea of removing from our diet refined carbs (simple carbs), since I wasn't looking for a weight loss program.  Actually, I believe that I was believing for quite a few years that being overweight was a mid-life trap caused by a decreased metabolism... or the inability to lose weight no matter how much exercise one performs beyond the age of 38 etc...  But, that actually isn't true.  For at least a year and a half I was experiencing varying hypothyroid-like symptoms and wondered if hypothyroidism was connected with FAP/Gardners Syndrome.  I could also say that maybe the varying symptoms weren't only hypothyroid-like but could have been varying aspects of malnutrition caused by the short-bowel-like syndrome of having a J-Pouch or the subsequent lack of a colon, rectum and Ileum; hence decreased absorption of some B vitamins and the possible lack of production of Vitamin K and other nutrients by the pro-biotic bacteria that would have existed in my rectum and colon...

Let me tell you, writing this stuff bores me.  But, I guess I must continue.

At least two years ago I began investigating Thyroid issues due to lack of energy although I eat very consciously healthfully.  During my research I stumbled across Chris Kresser's website where he explains that hypo-thyroidism is very difficult to diagnose and very easy to mis-diagnose and that there are other issues that may mimic hypothyroidism.  One of them greatly caught my eye which was cortisol dumping caused by sleep disturbances.  If you tend towards going to bed well after midnight or if you tend towards awakening various times per night for whatever reason, your adrenal glands respond by dumping cortisol in the blood stream.  Elevated cortisol levels cause the blocking of the T3 hormone produced by the Thyroid Glands which leads a lowered metabolic rate (lowered energy production by the cells).  Although your Thyroid Glands are functioning healthfully, you effectively experience hypothyroidism that cannot be diagnosed and will not be overcome with thyroid medication...  Cortisol is also related to the "fight or flight" response to emergencies.  So, another function of cortisol is to restrict the arteries in order to raise blood pressure, which offers a momentary increase in activity.  Although no one seems to think about the true meaning of hypertension when speaking of the health issue, you should automatically think that the person with high blood pressure or hypertension is a person more hyper-reactive and tense than a person with normal or low blood pressure.

Just a side thought: does increased intensity running a business or managing a career cause hypertension or does hypertension cause increased intensity?  Would it be useful for a business owner to be closer to hypotension than hypertension?  When you normalize the hypertense person's BP isn't it true that they feel a bit sluggish and tired...?

Ok.  I've been diagnosed with hypertension.  I am much more intense and concerned or observant and attentive to detail and responsibilities than my hypo-tense or almost hypo-tense brothers-in-laws who seemingly worry about nothing...  However, I do live between 4,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level the last 11.6 years after living my first 33 years of life at or near sea level.  Altitude changes greatly increase risk of heart attacks due to increases in blood pressure.  For instance, I normalized my BP in Guadalajara (elevation 5,138 feet) in June and July after spending a month in Aguascalientes (elevation 6,194) where my BP had risen again after being in Guadalajara 2 months.  However, while working in San Luis Potosi (Elevation 6,070) this past August, almost 1,000 feet higher than Guadalajara, my Diastolic BP rose about 25 points while my Systolic BP rose between 10 and 15 points...

All of this said, living with a J-Pouch and before removing wheat products especially and almost all other simple carbs, I almost never slept the night through without being repeatedly awakened by the need to go to the bathroom...  Earlier I had mentioned that Chlorophyll water at night greatly helped me sleep the night through from August 2013 until some time in 2014.  But, for some reason or another, it stopped being affective.  More affective has been the lack of wheat products that cause great inflamation in the small intestine and increased flow of the equivalent of a nasal drip...

Cortisol also functions to block insulin absorption; meaning that glucose is not used for energy metabolism.  Instead it is converted into triglycerides and stored in the adipose tissue; explaining weight gain or lack of weight loss although fat intake and is lower than normal and exercise is daily and normal.  Blocking insulin absorption also leads to increased levels of insulin in the blood stream causing the blocking of the release of fatty acids from the adipose tissue and increased lack of energy.
For at least a year and a half I was trapped between the concern of the very real possibilities of why I didn't lose weight and why I had lack of energy although I ate very consciously and exercised regularly:  1) Age and automatic decrease in metabolism; 2) Hypothyroidism; 3) Cortisol dumping.

After reading Chris Kresser's piece on hypothroidism, Cortisol dumping became incredibly obvious, since my J-Pouch related sleep issues were incredibly real and frustrating.  However, a year later, between August and February, my sleep improved so much and the symptoms continued that I realized that it couldn't be the Cortisol... and I began the investigation again.

I went back to the issue of hypothyroidism and read some information that greatly surprised me that I hadn't seen it before.  In February after working in Leon, my extremely uncomfortable peripheral neuropathy/carpal tunnel syndrome became much worse with much less repetative work related movements involving my right arm and right shoulder.  Plus, my vision decreased and I experienced a rare mental fogginess--decrease in reaction time and memory impairment.

In the list of hypothyroidism symptoms were peripheral neuropathy, mental fogginess, memory problems, vision problems and constipation.  I mention constipation because that was something I never experienced with the J-Pouch in 12 years and something that began occuring since December; aiding in sleeping the night through.  

So now I decided to go to an endocrinologist and have my thyroids checked once and for all.  Just one look at me, the endocrinologist gave me a very low-fat diet and various laboratory tests to have done and suggested I attend to the diet for a month before having my thyroids and other levels checked right before returning to his office.  It was clear that he didn't believe the issue was with my thyroids.  I looked at his diet maybe once or twice and buried it somewhere, took the tests at a clinic the following day and continued my research.  Actually, I returned to Chris Kresser's website to see what else he says about Thyroid Issues and somehow stumbled across various testimonies by formerly fat or obese people who had entered a Paleo (low-carb) diet...   And was intrigued that all of them said that the weight loss was easy, with little exercise and that increase in energy was astonishing.  I'm sure they said other things.  But, truthfully, it doesn't really matter.  

(I had no idea that Kresser was all about what seemed like a fad diet-club, not very different from calling yourself vegan or 100% raw foods, although his research information is incredibly informative; I use him for his research and not for his support of the Paleos, which I believe is a type of clique/club based upon anthropological fantasies about what we may or may not have eaten 15 thousand years ago, dictating that one eat or not eat a certain way because they belong or they don't belong; not so much about health, although the health benefits can be incredibly substantial.  I don't have to call myself something and remove beans or apples or or or from my diet in order to eat truly healthfully and prevent diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers, obesity or metabolic syndrome).

At the very same time as stumbling across these intriguing testimonials on Chris Kresser's website, the New York Times published a study by a bunch of international doctors/scientists claiming that heart disease and arteriosclerosis were not caused by high levels of cholesterol from animal products but by triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol from carbohydrates.  I started investigating about the issue with refined carbs and also the effects of wheat products on the small intestine and auto-immune system (hypothyroidism is also a great side risk) and decided it was worth the trial, especially after reading the surprising NYT artical.  

My thyroid and thorax tests came back normal.  My blood sugar levels were surprisingly high for me...  Meaning that my insulin levels should have been high too.  Although my diet was basically low fat or low animal fat, my triglycerides cholesterol and triglycerides continued being high.  This was the end of February.  A few days later during the first week of March I constructed the new diet parameters, never looked at the endocrinologist's starvation diet plan, repeated the blood and urine tests again right before visiting the doctor a month later and noticed that my triglycerides had dropped greatly along with my VLDL cholesterol.  I had also lost around 9 pounds that month.  The endocrinologist was greatly surprised and asked me how his diet went.  I responded that I ignored it and developed my own, explaining what I read in the NYT and my subsequent investigations and asked if he was aware of these findings, that he respond affirmatively, although he will NOT be mentioning to ANY of his patients as is or will be the case of all pharmaceutical drug salepeople labeled doctors.  Before we left his office he suggested writing me a prescription and said, "although your work is very impressive and your Triglycerides have dropped dramatically, how about my prescribing you a medication that will speed up the process and remove the rest in one month?"...  Margarita says that "Doctors must justify their positions by prescribing medications"... I immediately went home, jumped on the internet and investigated this drug steeped in contraversy for half a decade and never returned to the Endocrinologist's office...  

February 28th 2014 I weighed 95.5 kgs/215 pounds and wore pants with a waist size between 38-40 inches...  I wasn't running since the strange fatigue I experienced a year and a half earlier.  Instead Margarita and I walked briskly normally for around 50 minutes and sometimes up to 80 minutes. The distance was around 3 miles per day.  

By mid May, I had lost about 15 pounds with the same limited exercise regime, mixed with run-walks... I didn't want to have the same experience of a year and a half earlier.

Mid May is important because we had just returned from working a month in Aguascalientes where I noticed that my Peripheral Neuropathy/Carpal Tunnel Syndrome had been non-existent, although the work was incredibly intense.  I also noticed that the lack of sleep mixed with intense heat and intense stress did NOT lead to what we all too well know as lack of sleep hang-over...  Margarita mentioned the same thing.  And also part of Margarita and my shared experience was the incredible physical resilience and mental clearness that was not affected by physical exhaustion during the super intense month.  

Mid May is even more important because I decide to dedicate the following 2+ months to an exercise challenge.  I decided to convert the brisk walks and the run-walking into pure running and see where the lack of simple carbs would lead me, always keeping in mind how I injured my ileal-tibial band as a vegetarian running at Hampshire 6 days per week at least 4 miles per day.  This time around I would run 3 days and rest one, increasing my time or distance gradually and trying to prevent injury by not increasing the distance more than 10% per week. Granted, in the first week I incremented from 9 minutes or 1 mile to just over 20 minutes.  

Before injuring a tendon on the outside of my right ankle due to stress from uneven ground caused by intense erosion damage in the park where I run (this summer rains have been incredibly intense here to this date) here in Guadalajara two weeks before leaving for one month of work in San Luis Potosi, I had come within a few hundred feet of running 10kms/6.2 miles/63 minutes 5-6 days per week. Keeping in mind increased muscle mass, by the first week of August or 5 months after changing my eating style, I had lost 25 pounds or 5 pounds per month.  After a running hiatus for 2 weeks, I began running again 35-38 minutes 3-4 days a week while working in San Luis Potosi.  The runs were light and relaxed considering that the beautiful Park Tangamanga lacks the muscular challenge of the rolling hills of the Metropolitan Park in Guadalajara.  Before returning to Guadalajara September 4th, I had dropped another 7 pounds and all of my clothes hung on me as if I had become a cloths hanger...  and I was now wearing 34-36 inch pants.  I put those measurements because I could fit into a 34, but for my muscular thighs, since as you must know, most shorts and pants are designed or sold towards men without ass or thighs...  For the first time in who knows how long, I'm seeing an adolescent-style abdomin and torso attached to a 45-year-old head... DAMN IT!  

AND, in San Luis Potosi I may have upped my sugar intake to up to 40 grams (10 teaspoons) or maximally 160 calories; 2 cups of coffee with 3 teaspoons of sugar and 2 large glasses of limewater with flaxseeds and another two teaspoons each of sugar.  There were days of two bars of dark chocolate for before and/or after the run and days when I didn't drink limewater or more than one cup of coffee with milk and sugar...  However, all my days in San Luis Potosi were accompanied with a diet high in unregulated saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, animal protein, beans, coconut oil, avocados, fruit and vegetables, especially romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions and chiles...  So, those 160 calories in refined carbohydrates constitute easily less than 5% of my daily calorie intake...  if you believe calorie counting is so important.  

In 6 months I had lost 34 pounds or just over 5 pounds per month, ignoring real weight loss that somehow would consider gain in muscle weight.  I had gone from weighing 215 pounds to weighing around 181 pounds.  Mind you, I still wish for dropping another 22 pounds, which would bring me to 159 pounds.  Truthfully, I don't know if that is possible or recommendable, although I am 5'6" tall.  

On another note:  Since beginning the consumption of ground flaxseeds in July, I haven't seen another drop of blood in the toilet after a run that surpasses 30 minutes.  In fact, today I ran a somewhat fast (for me) 40 minute/4 mile run and saw no red in the toilet.  

And yet another note:  The hand is comprised of a bunch of small bones.  I had noticed a long while back that one of those small bones near the wrist of both of my hands towards the side of the thumb rose above the line of the other bones... like a small bump.  However, after losing most of the excess fat on my hands (at least that's what Margarita believes, although I don't see myself as ematiated and my hands look the same with one exception), I noticed yesterday that the bone bump on the left hand is much more visible.  Looking closer, I've concluded that it is a cyst or another lipoma... Fortunately, if it continues growing, it will not affect wrist movement or the tendons of my thumb and pointer finger, since it is situated well between the two.  I will be considering surgical removal if it continues growing though...  

The only complaint I have about the results of our low-carb lifestyle change is that I'm not looking at the face I see in photographs taken of me 11 years ago.  Margarita says that it is because my hair has lightened greately.  Plus, it continues thinning gradually, although my legs have developed a very nice increase in dark hair and it seems that my eyebrows have thickened enough to stop calling myself "assface".  In San Luis Potosi, Luis's mother repeatedly exclaimed to me, "You look so much younger!"...  (Luis is a friend of ours from Guadalajara who has a clothing manufacturing company and sells in 3 of the 4 fairs we work).  I wish I saw what she sees.  But, having a body that is approaching the appearance of a member of a college Greek wrestling team is a bit intriguing, especially at the age of 45...

Maybe we should reconsider how we've been living our lives and how we wish to spend our hard-earned money and how we wish to die...

It's funny the things that enter your mind while performing mundane tasks such as grinding flaxseeds...  It was the vague image of a Vermont or New Hampshire town I may have been passing through with my mother and Joe or my mother and Bruce or with Sue or with Michelle or with Randi...  But, for some reason I thought of that ski trip with my mother and Joe to Attitash in New Hampshire returning to Rhode Island and eventually to Branchburg.  Everytime we made a pit-stop for gas or something else, I jumped out of the car and called Francesca... I remember having become horribly impatient with their slowness to continue down the road and I started walking... However, aside from the walking, what struck me while grinding the flaxseeds was how I "spent" at least $250 on my mother's phone card calling Francesca in New Jersey that weekend...  When the phone bill came the following month my mother was livid...  And I ignored her.  Looking back 29-30 years, I completely understand how my mother should have felt.  I can't imagine what the others with us during the trip thought... Or I can imagine that too...  I was miserable and I imagine I made the others miserable who were near me.  But, I didn't want to be there.  I wanted to be nearer Francesca.  Or I was living a projection upon myself of how I would have felt had she gone away for the weekend... and I couldn't relax and accept having "done" that to her.  Ethics of a 16-year-old boy... who didn't appreciate having been left behind, which translates in not wishing that for his girlfriend...  I believe greatly in "do unto others as you would wish done unto you"... and I didn't want to do unto Francesca what I wouldn't wish for myself... Not knowing that she may not have suffered a moment my being away on a weekend ski-trip...

But, what about my mother's phone card?  That's a strange enigma.  Kind of like pinning down the actual year and age of that event...  I imagine I was 16-years-old...  Or, more probably I was 15-years-old.  I wasn't working yet.  I started at the age of 15 turning 16 and worked that winter for Mr. Saydek's laboratory glass blowing plant around the corner...  Or was that the following winter right before I started driving?  

In any case, I certainly didn't understand the value of $250+ and what it took for my mother to earn them and what other bills they could have paid.  And, yes, I am sure that I could have invented a whole bunch of justifications for why she should pay for my telephone obsession with Francesca; living a "life" waiting for a permanent profound and committed relationship with someone who will not leave or disappear...  Beware of the things you wish for...

When I committed to Margarita in the Spring of 2003, I vowed that I wouldn't return to the U.S. until she could enter with me legally.  I haven't set foot out of Mexico since August of 2003 when we visited Guatemala for renewing my tourist visa...  

But it's been a good life for me... here with Margarita.  And I don't waste money on useless phonecalls to her...  But, truthfully, it's been a very constructive marriage...  

When I thought of the name for this thought process, I was thinking that I had better things to do than write about the fallout of loss obsession... such as continuing my research on what foods cause the dumping of insulin in the blood stream and the subsequent affects upon metabolism and health...  

The issue of Diabetes Mellitus may not only be about elevated glucose in the blood stream (consumption of refined carbohydrates), but it may be further exacerabated by elevated consumption of protein.  Too much insulin is the problem; not just high proportion of carbohydrates in your diet.  Since the pancreas responds to both the injestion of carbohydrates and protein by dumping insulin into the blood stream in order to move the glucose and the amino acids into the cells for energy (glucose) and for construction/repair (amino acids), over-consumption of glucose and protein will lead to over-secretion of insulin and over time, the cells develop an intolerance to insulin and the glucose (instead of being converted into energy) is converted to triglycerides and stored as fat...  However, stored fat is not energy, causing hunger and increased food consumption (in this case, typically carbohydrates), leading to increased secretion of insulin and increased cell intolerance to insulin and less glucose entering the cells. 

You may say, "but, why doesn't the body burn the stored fat for energy?"

Aside from being one of the main hormones responsible for metabolism of energy (sending glucose into the hungry cells), insulin was created for protecting us from starvation during difficult winters and times of famine.  As long as insulin is in the blood stream, fatty acids stay put within the muscle cells and adipose (fat) tissue; meaning that all energy metabolism is from glucose.  However, between meals, especially between dinner and breakfast, when the level of insulin in the blood has dropped, the fat cells break down the triglycerides and release the fatty acids into the blood stream for being consumed as energy by other cells in the body...  

The problem with Diabetes Mellitus is that the Pancrease is functioning and dumping insulin into the bloodstream.  However, the cells are blocking its entrance; meaning that glucose nor fatty acids are being burned and organs begin failing, and energy levels decrease, while hunger increases, sending more glucose into the bloodstream.  

Glucose damages nerve endings leading to peripheral neuropathies and blindness.  Excess triglycerides (overwhelmingly from refined carbohydrates) transported in the small VLDL cholesterol molecules clog veins and arteries leading to heart disease/arteriosclerosis/kidney disease, varicose veins in the legs (leading to tissue death leading to gangrene leading to amputations), aneurisms and strokes.  Excess glucose in the bloodstream also contributes to AGEs that cause the drying of the tear-ducts like the hardening of arteries, leading to AGE-formed catyracts/brittleness of the cornea and blindness in 1 in 4 diabetics...  

But, what concerns me most about insulin (original with carbohydrates and now also with protein) is that cancer cells have at least 30 times more insulin receptors than do healthy cells...  Why? 

Because cancer lives off glucose.  

My younger sister and I both inhereted my "father"'s gene for Familial Poliposis/Gardner's Syndrome.  I supposedly got it much worse judging by the polyps blanketing my rectum and large intestine, my benign cysts, osteomas, lipomas and skin tags...  

My younger sister is bumble bee or a hummingbird and is a sugar addict.  From an early age, I generally avoided sweets and never had her incredible energy level.  

By the age of 15 Beth had 9 cavities in her mouth.  But the age of 45, I had had only 1 cavity...

Beth developed Thyroid Cancer at the age of 26 and Rectal Cancer at the age of 43.  I've never had cancer...  

But it's not just about a sweet tooth. It's also about being a carbohydrate "addict"...  And thinking about what is called liquid lightning sugar (alcohol), at the age of 16, Beth could down a liter bottle of Absolute Vodka in almost one gulp and just the smell of alcohol at the age of 21 would make me feel nauseous.  

No one wants to hear this stuff...  Maybe they would prefer I return to obsessing about Francesca or Anya or Joey.  And, yes, it was a great waste of time, energy and money.  But, I'm still alive.

At any time you could have a cell or a few hundred thousand cells splitting into mutated cancer cells instead of their committing their supposed programmed suicide when something goes wrong genetically.  You have cancer.  But, as long as those cancer cells haven't yet multiplied sufficiently for forming a visible and diagnosable tumor, your immunological system still has the opportunity for destroying the cancer...  You may very well have cancer at this moment and the next moment no...  

It really doesn't matter what caused the development of cancer... it could have been so much from something in the water or in the vegetables or in the air or in the paint or in the plastic containers you use to guard your left-overs or the Zip-lock bags or the cans of tomato paste or or or or MONSANTO...  or my father's genes...  It may be all of the above.  It may be you are ticking bomb and you must die some given day.  However, maybe your incredibly "intelligent" and sophisticated organic "technology" of your body has taken care of the problem today or yesterday...  

But, what if some of your cells (your cancer cells are also yours; they aren't outside invaders like viruses or bacteria, although bacteria doesn't invade, it is transported into your body, probably by unknowing you....) changed and became malignant and escaped the view of an oncologist or overwhelmed your immunological systems and were supplied by an incredible supply of glucose in the bloodstream?

Look...  if you still have your eyes open...  There is a cure for cancer that is more affective than chemo or radiation therapy.  And it's incredibly logical:  Starvation. 

Not starvation of you, but of the cancer cells.  What do they eat?  Glucose and nothing else.  Decrease you injestion of carbohydrates until it is guarranteed that you aren't leaving an excess of glucose in the blood stream...  Truthfully, you don't need carbohydrates for living.  Your body metabolizes fat and protein for energy in the absence of glucose.  Plus, fatty acids and amino acids are used together for building tissue and cell membranes.  Amino acids are what hormones (including insulin) are comprised of.  Glucose?  Energy.  Nothing more...

So, why not work towards preventing the cancer horror and decrease your refined carbohydrate intake?

Did you know that women with Diabetes Mellitus have a 200% increased risk of developing breast cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer?

Blood sugar and insulin levels have also been connected with rectal cancer and colon cancer. 

Maybe we should reconsider how we've been living our lives and how we wish to spend our hard-earned money and how we wish to die...  

Just as there are more important things than the time spent or not spent with a girlfriend, there are more important things than being able eat another slice of pizza or apple pie... tomorrow