News from Marlene M. Marcello

Greetings!
February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period.I agree with my ancestors, the Romans,that winter is a "down time" to prepare for the advent of spring.So let us spend time this month "cleansing and purifying" for the lighter foods and more outdoor lifestyle in the spring months!

Welcome to The Rays of Hope E-newsletter! We connect you with research, information, and practitioners in the nutrition and holistic health communities. We strive to be a powerful connection and resource for holistic practitioners, medical professionals, and everyone interested in holistic practices and plant-based nutrition.

Our goal is to "better your life" by connecting you to the world of integrative health.

We invite you to send us your stories about your illness and/or recovery, feedback on this newsletter or any general ideas you might have for us. We also invited holistic health professionals to express their views and promote their studies. RAYS OF HOPE is published monthly.

Lastly, check out our blog for frequent updates, news and stories.

Peace, love, and good health.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:

Diabetes Book

Gordon Saxe, MD, PhD
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Family & Preventive Medicine
Cancer Prevention & Control Program, at the University of Calfornia at San Diego.

Dr. Saxe's research focuses on the role of diet and lifestyle in cancer prevention and treatment, specifically whether dietary modification (increased whole cereal grains and vegetables, decreased saturated fat), reinforced by stress management training, can attenuate progression of biochemically recurrent prostrate Cancer.

I Interviewed Dr. Saxe at the Health Classics Conference last November in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA.

Marlene Marcello: Good morning. Welcome, Dr. Saxe. I loved your lecture last night. I really enjoy sharing this time with you and interviewing you. Please tell readers how you got involved in the practice of medicine, how long you've been doing it, and how you learned about the role of nutrition.

Dr. Saxe: Thanks, Marlene. It was sort of an unusual and somewhat circuitous route that started shortly after college, about 1981. My dad was diagnosed with cancer at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where I had grown up, and he was told by his doctor, Patrick Walsh, who was considered perhaps the world's foremost urologist, that his urinary tract cancer had already spread beyond the primary location, it was in the lymph nodes, and that essentially meant that it had probably spread elsewhere in the body, and therefore the prognosis was not very good.

Dr. Walsh told us that he might live for a year, something like that! I was a brash young man, and I wasn't going to take that sitting down. So I started investigating everything I could find out about my dad's cancer, and about cancer in general, about conventional approaches and alternative approaches. And I spent a lot of time in the bowels of the Johns Hopkins medical library just reading and reading, and going through microfilm - this is before they had desktop computers - and just getting my hands on anything I could to help me have a better understanding of something that could help my dad.

One thing I came across that really struck me was an article in the the Baltimore Sun, about a doctor who had in the course of picking up hitchhikers on the New Jersey Turnpike, stumbled across several men, who he allowed to help him with the cancer that he was suffering from. His name was Tony Sattilaro, and he was the president of Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia. He had Stage 4 prostate cancer, had already had treatment for it, but nothing was helping. It had spread throughout his bones, and he had it in his ribs, his sternum, and his brain. His prognosis was very, very poor and he knew that. And he was in great pain at the time that he picked up the hitchhikers.

It turns out that these weren't any old hitchhikers. They were chefs at a natural food restaurant in Boston, and when they observed the pain that he was in, and they asked about what was going on with him, he told them, very matter-of-factly, "I'm dying of prostate cancer," to which they rather flippantly replied: "Well, you don't have to die, Doc. Cancer is easy to cure." And he went on to explain to them that no, in fact, it was the second leading cause of death and a very difficult and intractable disease in many cases.

But there was something that was infectious about their optimism, and they dragged him into a health food store in downtown Philadelphia. They told him about a few things to buy, brown rice and this and that. And he basically got directed by them to start taking meals with a family in Philadelphia who cooked this way, and the family had him come to dinner, and then would prepare a lunch for him the next day.

So he started changing his diet, figuring he really had nothing to lose, and nothing else was going to get him better, no conventional treatment would work for him anymore. So a few weeks after starting to take meals with this family-and they were cooking macrobiotic food - in the middle of the night he was reaching over for his pain medication and he realized he didn't need it! He wasn't having pain, and he had been on narcotic medication round the clock for some time before that. So it was quite a surprise to him.

For the complete interview with Dr. Saxe please go to my blog,
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FOOD CONNECTION:

A DELICIOUS RECIPE FROM MY FRIEND IN MAINE,
MEG WOLFF

SQUASH & CARROT GINGER SOUP

Marlene McKenna

- 1 medium winter squash
- 6 large carrots
- 1 medium onion
- 1-inch piece ginger
- 4 cups water to cover veggies
- Sea salt, or tamari, to taste
- Oil, if desired

Sauté onion in oil or water for 1-2 minutes. Cut up squash and carrots and add just enough water to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Add a small pinch of sea salt. Cover, lower flame/heat, and simmer 30 minutes until squash is soft.

Mash squash with a potato masher right in the pot or use a food processor to puree. Add another pinch sea salt (or teaspoon of tamari) and simmer 7-10 more minutes.

Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley and a little grated ginger. For more information, go to www.megwolff.com

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MIND-BODY CONNECTION:

Dr. Dean Ornish Lifestyle Program

An important component of the Dr. Dean Ornish Lifestyle Program involves opening one's heart to one's feelings and to inner peace using a variety of stress management and relaxation techniques:
stretching, meditation, deep breathing, progressive relaxation, and Imagery

These techniques are much more than simple strategies to help us cope with or manage stress. They are designed to increase our awareness of what is happening inside us - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Increasing our awareness extends our capacity for control over what is happening within us. As a result, we are better prepared to recognize the symptoms of stress and make changes before we develop unhealthy conditions such as heart disease.

A number of the practices described here are derived from the ancient system of yoga. They have been popularized in recent decades by medical researchers, psychologists and others who have rediscovered their benefits. Yoga is not a religion. It is a system of powerful tools for achieving union, and healing, within us, with others and with a higher force. In this sense, yoga techniques not only calm the body, but also are a means of healing the sense of isolation that can lead to stress and illness.

Please visit www.pmri.org for Dr Dean Ornish and his Lifestyle Program.

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Personal Connection:

A SURVIVOR'S JOURNEY: MILENKA "MINA" DOBIC

My friend Mina Dobic is an oustanding example of courage and strength, facing the challenge of a terminal diagnosis. This is her story and her contact information which she very generously allowed me to publish.

Mina was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1942. Aprofessor of Linguistics and World Literature for 30 years, she was involved in radio programs in her native country for 11 years. In 1987, Mina was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Stage IV with metastases to the liver,lymph system and bones, and given two months to live.She declined her doctor's recommendation for chemotherapy and radiation and after researching other possible treatments, she adopted a Macrobiotic diet and lifestyle.

Six and a half monrth later, she was cancer free! Mina became very committed to Macrobiotics and after studying at the Kushi Institute in Becket, MA, she became a Macrobiotic Teacher and Counselor. She has been an active and energetic healer, and she started the first macrobiotic support group for cancer survivors in Hollywood, CA. Mina authored a book about her cancer and recovery, "My Beautiful Life" and produced along with her son a documentary video entitled "With Love, Mina."

For more information about Mina, visit her website at www.minadobic.com or email her at minadobic@gmail.com

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To order my book, When Hope Never Dies, or schedule a consultation, go to www.medmacro.com .

Sincerely,

Marlene M. Marcello
MedMacro Integrated Health