How A Vegan Diet Helped A Man Conquer Cancer

Chris Wark

everydayhealth.com

On New Years Eve 2003, I woke up in a hospital with athird of my colon gone and a diagnosis of stage 3 colon cancer. I was 26 years old. I had been havingabdominal pain for the better part of the year and being the stereotypical macho man, I put it off, thinking it would get better.

But it didn’t.

Eventually the pain became so intense that I found myself balled up on the couch every night after dinner. Time to see a doctor.

After a misdiagnosis and inconclusive tests, I was sent for a colonoscopy. Surprise! There was a golf-ball sized tumor in my colon. Two days later, a biopsy confirmed I had colon cancer. I was in shock. How does a 26-year-old end up with a cancer that almost never occurs in people under 50?

I was told the cancer had to be removed before it spread, and they rushed me into surgery. On the operating table the surgeon discovered that the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. The next day they informed me that I would need 9 to 12 months of chemotherapy as soon as I recovered from surgery.

Hospital Junk Food

Several things happened in the hospital that got me thinking. The first meal they served me after removing a third of my large intestine was the worst elementary school cafeteria food imaginable: a Sloppy Joe. What am I, 10? I hadn’t eaten in three days, but could still only get down a few bites. I couldn’t understand why they thought it was okay to feed junk food to a cancer patient.

Like any post-surgery patient, I was concerned about doing anything that might mess with my newly stitched-up guts, so I asked the surgeon, “Are there any foods I need to avoid?” He said, “Nah, just don’t lift anything heavier than a beer.” Not the advice I was expecting.

During my recovery back home, I thought about what my future would look like, and when I thought about chemotherapy, I was conflicted. Instinctively, the idea of poisoning my way back to health did not make sense. I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t know what else to do. So I did what most people do when they are desperate. I prayed. My wife and I sat down on the couch and prayed together. I asked God that if there were another way besides chemotherapy that He would reveal it to me.

Two days later, a book arrived on my doorstep, sent to me from a man in Alaska whom I’d never met, a friend of my dad. That book was written by a man who claimed he had healed his colon cancer nearly 30 years prior using only nutrition–a raw vegan diet and tons of juicing, especially carrot juice. I knew it was the answer to my prayer.

Skipping Chemo in Favor of Raw Fruits and Veggies

I began to read and research the known causes of cancer and learned that environmental toxins, an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, and stress were all key health-destroying factors. I realized that my nutrient-deficient diet of processed food, fast food, junk food, and factory-farmed animal productswas poisoning and polluting my body. I also came to understand that my thoughts, attitudes and emotions were toxic as well.

As I researched chemotherapy, I discovered that it was much worse than I had been lead to believe. Chemotherapy temporarily reduces some cancerous cells in the body, but my research showed that it could also destroy the immune system; make cancer stem cells more aggressive; cause secondary cancers; cause permanent damage to the brain, liver, kidneys, lungs, heart; and would likely make me infertile.

That’s when I decided against chemotherapy. I chose to overdose on nutrition instead, giving my body everything it needed to repair, regenerate, and detoxify. I immediately adopted a raw vegan diet, eating only fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, and drinking eight glasses of fresh vegetable juice every day.

Backlash From My Friends and Doctors

To my surprise, my decision to go vegan was not well received by many people close to me. An oncologist told me I had a 60 percent chance of living five years with conventional therapies, which didn’t sound much better than a coin toss. I asked him about alternative therapies. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “There are none. If you don’t do chemo, you are insane… And I’m not saying this because I need your business.”

to read more: everydayhealth.com