Welcome to the Rethinking Cancer Newsletter #17
As our world swirls toward the vernal equinox (and not a moment too soon for those who have endured extreme winter weather north of the equator, not to mention, extreme weather everywhere!), a few heads up:
- Check out our reconfigured Resource Page. We’ve listed articles by topics which should make finding things much easier. Come back often, as we’re always adding new material.
- Coming soon! a Video page featuring footage of expert speakers from the F.A.C.T. Cancer/Nutrition Conventions, TV programs, special events, etc. Meanwhile, you might want to visit our Audio page, where we’ve added many new sound files.
- And, parlez-vous français? Rethinking Cancer by Ruth Sackman has been translated into French and should be in French bookstores in a week or so. A French distributor may also be making the DVDs available in stores and other venues in the next few months. Will keep you posted!
In the meantime,
To Your Health!
Foundation for Advancement in Cancer Therapy (F.A.C.T.)
P.S. Reminder: the gift book is still available with a DVD purchase! As always, thanks so much for your support and don’t forget to sign up with us at Facebook and Twitter to get weekly updates!
New Lymph Node Study — Progress, Sort of….. by F.A.C.T.
There’s been much hoopla in the press lately about a study which, according to the New York Times, turns standard medical practice of the last 100 years on its head! Researchers found that some women with early breast cancer (about 20% of all breast cancer patients) do not need a painful procedure that has long been routine: removal of cancerous lymph nodes from the armpit.
In our view, this is an advance from just routinely yanking out lymph nodes without regard for the severe and permanent side effects, but, sadly, the basic thinking about cancer and how to treat it has not fundamentally changed. READ MORE.
Posture Affects Health and More
by Lloyd Percival
Everybody knows, but doesn’t necessarily put the knowledge into practice, that good food, moderate exercise, adequate sleep, low stress, etc., are important to good health. Most of us, however, are unaware of the importance of skeletal alignment, otherwise known as good posture. READ MORE.
Where Have All the Honey Bees Gone?
A new documentary, Vanishing of the Bees, unravels the mystery of why billions of honey bees have been disappearing from hives across the United States. The film follows a group of U.S. beekeepers hit by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which first struck in 2004 and made U.S. headlines three years later. Countless bees would suddenly vanish, leaving an empty hive but few bodies. While all the causes of this disaster are yet to be established, strong evidence suggests a link to Bayer’s insecticide imidacloprid. Watch the trailer and take action.
Halvah — A Veritable Calcium Cake!*
1 ½ cup hulled, preferably organically grown, sesame seeds
1 tablespoon (or to taste) maple syrup or raw honey
about 4-6 tablespoons distilled water
1. Put sesame seeds in a blender. Grind to as fine a powder as possible, stopping a few times to stir up from the bottom to make sure all seeds are ground.
2. Transfer ground seeds to a bowl. Mix in maple syrup or raw honey until well distributed throughout. Add enough distilled water (usually 4-6 tablespoons) to form a loaf.
3. Refrigerate a few hours to firm up before slicing. Keeps at least a week in the refrigerator; much longer frozen.
Variations: add to the mix raw carob or cacao powder or, for some crunch, chopped raw walnuts or pecans.
*Sesame seeds are a superior source of the macronutrient calcium, which is vital for so many body functions. This halvah recipe uses hulled sesame seeds because the taste is closer to the traditional Middle Eastern dish. Hulled seeds contain 110 mg. of calcium per 100 grams (about 3.5 oz.) dry weight, which is a considerable amount.
Unhulled sesame seeds, however, are far richer in calcium, upping the calcium content to 1160 mg. per 100 grams which is higher than in any other food! You may want to try making this recipe with the whole, unhulled seeds. It will take a bit more grinding in the blender and the taste is different than regular halvah, but you may like it and what a calcium punch!
Not a Trivial Question
Q. What is the origin of the phrase “open sesame”?
A. Sesame seeds are one of oldest known cultivated plants in history, going back at least 4,000 years to the Indian subcontinent, Babylon and Assyria. The ancients were intrigued by a certain magical quality: when ripe, the sesame pods burst open at the slightest touch! Scheherazade, the legendary Persian queen and storyteller, is credited with the first use of the phrase when she provided Ali Baba with the magic words, “Open Sesame!” to instantly open the cave, a robber’s den, in her exciting tale, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” The phrase caught on, becoming part of our modern vernacular. Examples abound:
* Open Sesame, a 1960 album by Freddie Hubbard
* Open Sesame, a 1976 album by Kool & the Gang
* Open Sesame, a 1987 album by Whodini
* Open Sesame, a 1990’s children’s television series compiled from Sesame Street
* Open Sesame, a 1992 single by Leila K
* Open Sesame, a 1997 children’s book by Tom Holt
* Open Sesame, a 2004 album by Shaft
As well as:
• Open Sesame Grill — a Lebanese restaurant
• Open Sesame Dentistry — specializing in dentistry for kids
• Open Sesame Door Systems, Inc. — remote control doors for the handicapped
• Open the Sesame — Asian home cooking
• Open Sesame 2.1.01 — free software downloads
“Open Sesame” reminds us that anything is possible! Long live sesame seeds and our childlike fascination with magic and Nature — ties that binds us to the past and to all humankind! And that’s not trivial!
