Good Old General Sherman

I loved American History, but I'll have to admit I needed to brush up on General Sherman.

Oh yeah, the Northern general who went through Southern towns like Alanta, GA and burned them.

I know I'm considered a Northerner, I guess the war between the states isn't quite over yet, according to some, but I can't say I'm super proud of that part of General Sherman's career.

In my opinion it was enough just to win the battle, he didn't need to burn down the rest of the town, too.

But... as I said, my history is a little fuzzy on him, so maybe I'm judging him a little harshly.

You may wonder what this has to do with my diet.

It has to do with the bile.

General Sherman bile, to be more precise.

You see, healthy or not, your liver produces bile.

Doesn't it sound like I know what I'm talking about?

I'm really not sure that I do, but it sounds good, anyway.

Back to Bile.

Once the bile is produced, the liver sends it through your body to gather toxins.

In a healthy body, the body that eats the perfect diet, the bile attatches to soluble fiber and exits the only way food should exit the body.

There is a problem, though.

Most of us don't get near enough soluble fiber in our diet.

Since the bile can't exit, it takes itself plus the toxins it has collected and heads back to the liver.

The liver isn't excited. You see, it wants to make new bile, not recycle the old with the yucky toxins.

But it does, because livers apparently are amazing, and do this.

Even livers have their breaking point, though.

They start to protest when the bile becomes "General Sherman Bile."

Doesn't that just sound like it has to be bad?

So, apparently, I have "General Sherman Bile" currently residing in my body.

The bile is trying to fight the war against toxins, but General Sherman is burning some things up along the way. :-)

My nutritionist is determined to oust General Sherman out of the South.

(And by the way, I misquoted her. She gave me no guarantees that the tumor would shrink. She just said she has had a lot of success, but only God knows the outcome. So true!)

Here is her plan.

Beans are her number one weapon to send G.S. running. You see, Beans are the number one food in insoluble fiber. You only need 2 cups to get the 15grams you need a day.

If you were to do it with fruit you would need 30 cups.

Vegetables at least 15.

So, back to beans.

Oh it's beans, beans, beans, that make me feel so mean, on the farm..... on the farm....

Sorry, don't quite know where that came from. It has been popping into my head randomly over the past few days.

You see, I have to eat 1/2 cup of beans 8 times a day.

I have yet to achieve this.

Four days ago I loved beans.

Today if I passed a bean on the street I would probably avert my eyes and put my hands in my pocket.

We are not on the best of terms these days.

But... I have a secret weapon, there is this nifty little thing called Psyllium husk that comes in two pills that can be substituted for any and all servings of my beans.

Four days ago I didn't think I would need it.

Tomorrow I will be at the store at nine if I am at all able.

But why insoluble fiber?

Bile can't resist it.

It is like a young couple who are dying to get married.

The bile sees the fiber, falls madly in love, marries it without a second thought, finds himself superglued to the fiber for life. He can't get back to the liver if he tries because fiber can't penetrate whatever walls it needs to penetrate to get to the liver.

Your bile is literally flushed away. :-)

And the liver rejoices because now it can make new bile and General Sherman is gone forever.

There are alot more reasons why getting rid of the bile is important, but I can't type it here cause it just takes too long.

On to the next part of the diet.

NO SUGAR.

Not just desserts. No fruit, no juice, no jam, no jelly, no maple syurp, nothing artificial, nothing natural, NOTHING!!!!!

Why? Cancer feeds on sugar. It loves it.

I can see why..... I love it, too. :-(

You cut sugar, you starve cancer. It's that simple.

So.... I'm cutting sugar.

It's not having fruit that is the hardest. I adore fruit.

And then it's four cups of vegetables a day.

Three servings of efficient protiens. Like eggs and meat, any kind of meat.

And... one clove of freshly minced garlic four times a day.

I am so paranoid that I will smell like a garlic clove in a few days.

Very paranoid.

I chew parsley after I quickly swallow my minced clove, and no, I don't chew it, it just washes right down.

I can't wear any fragrences, wash with scented laundry detergent or soap.

So....

If you smell garlic in the area, look around, it's probably me wearing my new perfume,

"Garlic' ala stink"

I am also required to wear a scarf 24/7.

And I did check this out on the internet.

It is cutting edge cancer research. (Not the scarf) called hyperthermia thermal treatment.

They are raising body temperature along with chemo and radiation and finding it helps get rid of the cancer faster.

My nutritionist said that if she could, she would put my body at 104 for a sustained period of time, closely monitered, of course.

But she can't, so... scarf, warm clothes, heating pad on my tumors whenever possible, and 3/4 of a gallon of hot water a day.

Lest you feel sorry for me, aside from the beans, it really isn't a bad diet.

My sister Rae, who is studying to be a nutritionist, told me, aside from needing a little more fat, it is almost perfect. Except for all the beans. A normal, non cancer person, doesn't need so much insoluble fiber.

And a normal person could have fruits and dairy.

I'm not normal at the moment.

Cancer is one of the defining factors of my life.

But that's ok. :-)

I will have my pills to swallow tomorrow.

Beans and I can renew a casual acquaintance. :-)

And General Sherman, I am looking forward to saying,

"Goodbye, forever!"