Niiman Ranch hormone-free meats

My boyfriend is a big carnivore. He's being patient about going to vegetarian restaurants with me, but patience can only go so far. And vegetarian restaurants with their surfeit of soy products, and seitan (which is wheat gluten -- a big no-no!) are not necessarily always going to be the best for fibroid-shrinkers, I have discovered. Also, after a month with no meat, I was just dying to have some, and figured that my body was telling me something.

So we went to a restaurant that features hormone-free meats, including those from Niman Ranch. Niman Ranch raises beef, pork, and lamb: http://www.nimanranch.com/control/main/
As a fibroid fighter, it's best to avoid meat as much as possible, but if you are going to have meat it MUST be hormone-free, because those hormones are what will make your fibroids grow.

We ate at Tanglewood Restaurant in San Jose, http://www.tanglewood.com/. Mmm, that lamb shank hit the spot and will last me for a long time till I will want meat again I think.

You can find a list of all the restaurants that use Niman Ranch products here: http://www.nimanranch.com/control/category/~category_id=Restaurants;jsessionid=1FBA19CB21B43DB3C1229CB580FB52C9.nrpus1
This is a good way to find restaurants that are likely to have fibroid-friendly food. Yes these restaurants are mostly in California. If anyone knows of other horomone-free producers and a list of restaurants they supply to, please leave a comment!

Ethiopian food -- great choice for fibroid shrinkers

I went out for dinner with a friend tonight to an Ethiopian restaurant. I have found eating out frought with challenges on my fibroid-shrinking diret. However Ethiopian cuisine is not only delicious, it's an excellent choice for fibroid shrinkers, for two reasons:
1. There are many vegetarian selections, including tasty dishes made with lentils and interesting spices
2. A key element of Ethiopian food is the tangy injera bread, which is made out of teff.

Never heard of teff? It's a gluten-free grain rich in protein and iron. In other words, perfect for fibroid shrinkers!

I had the idea of trying Ethiopian as an appropriate food when I remembered a nice conversation with a cab driver from Ethiopia several years ago. When I told him that I liked Ethiopian food, we had a whole conversation about it, during which he mentioned that because teff is iron-rich, Ethiopian women eat as much as possible of it after childbirth to help them regain their strength. Well, I haven't had a baby but anemic me certainly can use the iron!

This blog entry tells a lot about teff, although unfortunately I would not recommend her chocolate bread recipe for fibroid shrinkers except as a very special treat! http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2005/12/and-finally-theres-teff.html
(I just discovered this blog about gluten-free food, and enjoy her writing style, I think it's worth further exploring. Also she has a cookbook, Gluten-free Girl that sounds very good).

This site has the best teff recipes I have seen on the net: http://www.teffco.com/recipes.html.

The Cure Within

The New York Times Book Review today had an interesting review of a new book about the mind-body connection called The Cure Within.

A history of alternative medicine, it looks like a fascinating book. Not a how-too, but would be interested for all fibroid shrinkers, as so many of the techniques that seem to work for fibroid shrinking are alternative ones. Looks like something one could share with someone in ones life who is skeptical about alternative medicine.

Here's a link to the review: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/books/review/Groopman-t.html?ref=books

The 247-lb. Vegan

The Wall Street Journal had an article today with the same title as this post. Tells the story of NFL star Tony Gonzalez who switched to being a vegan. Particularly piqued my interest because my fibroid shrinking diet is essentially vegan. I plan to show it to my boyfriend, who I think still doesn't really understand why I'm not eating meat anymore. Seeing this big rugged sports star who has gone vegan and whose diet looks rather like mine I think will be helpful for my boyfriend.

I do have to say I relate to the part of his story when he first started being a vegan and was not eating enough protein. I'm feeling tired today and I think this may be part of my problem, I need to be more diligent about this I think. Protein is definitely the most problematic part of the fibroid-shrinking diet.

The article mentioned two books which I had not heard of, both of which extol veganism and have been popular recently, may be worth checking out especially if avoiding animal products is a new concept for you: Skinny Bitch (which I discovered has a related title Skinny Bitch in the Kitchen ); and The China Study.

burdock root for fibroids

In researching fibroid-shrinking substances, I came across burdock root. Here's one typical discussion. http://health.howstuffworks.com/burdock-herbal-remedies.htm

So when I visited the Japanese grocery store (see last post) I grabbed some premade kinpira gobo, a popular Japanese dish made with burdock root and carrots.

Sometime when I have more time, I'll just buy the root and make some myself. Here's a good basic recipe http://japanesefood.about.com/od/vegetable/r/kinpiragobo.htm and here is a spicy one http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Web%20Recipes/KinpiraGobo.html.

It's sometimes possible to find kinpira gobo served at Japanese restaurants, but not so often because it's a down-home kind of food rather than fancy restaurant fare.

Here are some other burdock recipes I plan to try!

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Web%20Recipes/Burdock%20Turkish%20Style.html

http://consciouschoice.com/2001/cc1402/cooking1402.html
http://www.familyherbalremedies.com/burdock_root.html

http://botanicadventures.org/recipes/recipe-immune_sys.html

You may not need to go to a Japanese market to get burdock root, I have also seen it at my local Whole Foods.

natto for fibroids

Any web search using the word "fibroids" will surely turn up references to various enzyme supplements which purport to dissolve them. I'm curious about these but they are rather expensive, and also I have read that they are not good to take if you have anemia, which I do currently. Furthermore, since I am taking some strong herbs from my acupuncturist, I am reluctant to take other supplements.

However, I noticed that a key ingredient in many of these supplements is nattokinase, the enzyme in the Japanese fermented soybean food natto. So it occured to me, why not just eat some natto as part of my diet? (similar to my strategy with cinnamon, tumeric and lycopene, mentioned in other posts)

I used to live in Japan, and natto was always a food I avoided. It's the food that non-Japanese all hate, and it's a big joke among Japanese that foreigners dislike it so much. The problem is two-fold. First, it has a strong odor. Second, it's quite slimy. But hey, I need to get rid of these fibroids so I decided it's time to make peace with natto.

I found some organic natto in a Japanese food store near me. It comes in a pack of three small styrofoam packs, each holding one portion. I discarded the soy and mustard packets included, and instead decided to try something I saw on the internet posted by another fibroid shrinker -- barbecue sauce! I cooked some rice, put the natto on top, and then drowned with 3-4 tablespoons of barbecue sauce. Covered up the natto smell and sliminess, and made it downright palatable!

Here's a nice page telling all about natto and its health benefits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natto
Here is a more specific page that talks about how nattokinase works against blood clots, specifically the fibrin that forms them. http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/nattokinase.html
The key thing to realize here is that fibroids are also made of fibrin.

You can find natto in Japanese markets, such as Nijiya (http://www.nijiya.com/storeInformation.asp), Mitsuwa (http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/eindex.html) and Uwajimaya (http://www.uwajimaya.com/locations.html).

If you do not read Japanese, you may need help locating the natto -- it will be in the refrigerator section, and the packages usually say natto on them somewhere in English but not always prominently. You will definitely want to get some help determining which of them are organic, I noticed that this was in the English in some cases but not all.

quinoa for fibroids, and a delicious slightly decadent recipe

One of the biggest challenges in the fibroid shrinking program has been coming up with recipes that avoid fibroid-aggravating foods (dairy, meat, gluten, refined sugards etc.) yet are not too time-consuming to make, have sufficient protein, and taste good. Especially pleasing my boyfriend's palate is a bit challenging.

One thing I have been cooking a lot of is quinoa. It cooks quickly and unlike most grains has complete protein. I also find it easy to digest. This is a nice page outlining quinoa's health benefits: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=142

I have seen a lot of information mentioning quinoa as a good choice for fibroid shrinkers. For example, it is high in lignans which seem to be helpful. http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/06dec11studies02.html

The problem I find with quinoa is that it is not really that tasty. I find that it needs a pretty strong flavoring with it to make it palatable.

One way I have been eating it is to cook it up, then mix in a bunch of tomato paste. This makes it tasty, and tomato paste has a lot of lycopene which is also helpful for fibroids (will explore in another post). With a green vegetable on the side, it makes a nice quick meal.

Also here is the recipe that worked for my boyfriend. He had some blackberry chocolate sauce he had created, made from some wild blackberries we picked last summer. It contains chocolate and sugar which are not the best for fibroid shrinkers I admit, but also has a lot of blackberries which are good, so overall probably works out somewhat neutral.

I chopped up an apple and a pear and boiled for a few minutes in 3/4 cup water. I then added another 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup white quinoa, and about a 1/3 cup of the chocolate blackberry sauce, and a generous dash of cinnamon (see yesterday's post). Brought to a boil, then reduced and simmered for about 10-15 minutes until all the liquid was absorbed. Put some more of the sauce on top and then served. Really delicious and passed the boyfriend test. I served this for breakfast but it could be a dessert too.

Would not recommend this for every day, but a nice treat that works in some good nutrition along with the dose of chocolate!

cinnamon

Cinnamon is an herb that is said to be good for fibroids, used in both Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Here is a page that discusses the properties of cinnamon, which include improving pelvic blood flow. http://www.herbalist-alchemist.com/HA%20News/march.htm

Although I am getting an herbal formula from my acupuncturist, I also am trying to incorporate anti-fibroid herbs into my diet whenever possible. Cinnamon is one example. This morning for breakfast I cut up an apple, spread the pieces on a cookie sheet, sprinkled heavily with cinnamon, and baked for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. This gets some cinnamon in my diet, is easy, and also is a way to eat a healthy fruit that is cooked. And delicious!

Partner Yoga

Yoga is an excellent contribution to a fibroid-shrinking plan, as it combines exercise with stress management and breathing, and can be helpful in getting energy flowing in the pelvis. I plan to write about it more later.

My boyfriend has been going with me to yoga on Sundays, but he had a meeting today so we didn't have time. Instead he pulled out a partner yoga book that he had on his shelf, The Joy of Partner Yoga, and we did some things from that in the time that we had.

Just had time to do a little but I was very impressed with the book, it was non-intimidating but sufficiently challenging, and had lots of emphasis on breathing. It was both relaxing and fun.

There was also a belly massage that looked like it would be good for the fibroid shrinking program, plan to try it in the future!

hiking

Went hiking yesterday, an excellent relaxing exercise that fits in well with the fibroid shrinking plan.

Noticed that I had much more energy than the last time I went hiking which was about a month ago. Seem to be making progress!

a good reference page on fibroids

This page gives an excellent overview of the alternative medicine view of fibroids. I'm basing my treatment plan on this kind of thinking.
http://www.usenature.com/article_fibroids.htm

QiGong for fibroids

As part of my schedule of classes, I signed up for QiGong. This is an exercise similar to Tai Chi that is based on Chinese medicine principles. It's supposed to be relaxing, and it's also supposed to energize the Chinese medicine meridians, both of which I think should be helpful for shrinking the fibroids.

The class I am taking is Wild Goose QiGong. Here is a description: http://drhuqigong.com/art_whatis.htm. Notice it mentions energy flow in the torso, sounds good for fibroids!

I had the second class session tonight. Indeed doing the exercises makes me feel energized and like things are flowing energy-wise. However I found last week that I had trouble doing them on my own, so I bought the DVD from the teacher to help me practice at home. This is it: Wild Goose QiGong I

I think this is an excellent addition to my fibroid-shrinking regimen. I am not sure how widely available QiGong classes are outside of California (where they seem to be popular) but using the video might be worth trying for fibroid shrinkers.

There are also various other QiGong videos and booksavailable, they might be worth checking out too.

Chinese medicine view of fibroids

While looking for any evidence of a link between chrysanthemum tea and fibroids for my last post, I stumbled upon this excellent discussion of how Chinese medicine views fibroids. Scroll down to the "etiology" portion to see a description of the three causes of fibroids in the Chinese view -- mental depression, improper diet, and pathogenic factors. I've had all of these at some time or another during the past five years! Also excellent discussion of the various herbs used to treat fibroids.
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/fibroids.htm

chrysanthemum tea

Since fibroid shrinkers are supposed to avoid caffeine (too much stress on the liver), I asked my acupuncturist if he recommended any particular herbal tea. One he suggested is chrysanthemum. It's not specifically a fibroid shrinker, but it supports the liver which is an important organ for fibroid shrinking. Also I told him that lately my eyes have been bothering me, and chrysanthemum tea is good for that.

I have found this tea surprisingly addictive, and am craving it every morning. I can't start my day without it!

I had some trouble finding organic chrysanthemum tea that was just chrysanthemum and not some mix of chrysanthemum and other things. Here's where I got mine: http://www.teasetc.com/details.asp?prodid=0504&cat=5
This is loose, for those of you who really want teabags you might want to try this instead:
Stash chrysanthemum tea bags

Here is some more information about chyrsanthemum tea:
http://www.chinesemedicineinfo.com/chrysanthemumtea.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemum_tea

If you are seeing an acupuncturist, you should check with him or her to make sure that this is appropriate for your individual condition. But I am enjoying this tea so much I thought I would share it with all of you.

Mindfulness Meditation for Stress Reduction

I had my first session tonight of the Mindfulness Meditation for Stress Reduction class that I am taking at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. http://www.pamf.org/mindfulness/

Although I had never heard of it before I ran across it by accident searching the net, evidently this is a famous course that is taught across the country at many medical centers. It was originally created at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, by the founder of their Stress Reduction Clinic, Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Several things about it appeal to me. I need to do something about how I respond to the stress in my life, and it sounds like this course is really chock-full of techniques. Also it's tailor made for people who have part of their stress coming from a medical condition, and whose medical condition possibly is a result of stress (which may be the case with the fibroids). And most appealing, it works -- a bunch of clinical studies have been done that document that this course gets results. So this isn't just any meditation course, it's the Cadillac of meditation courses!

The class description I gave you the link to above is not very detailed, here are a couple of others that give more details about this approach:
http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn

We're really just getting started with the course so it's hard to talk about results yet but it looks like it's going to give me a lot of good input. It is a big commitment though -- it's expensive and we have to do homework every day, optimally 45 minutes worth!

In case you want to try this on your own, we got as a text Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living and a CD Guided Mindfulness Meditation.

Although I can't find any very specific information, lots of people mention that meditation is helpful fibroids, we'll see!

belly dancing to shrink fibroids

Tonight I went to my weekly belly dancing class.

Belly dancing is fun, great exercise, sexy and evidently can be a fibroid shrinker. It's no accident that it originally developed as a fertility ritual. If we think of fibroids the way holistic medicine practitioners do -- as the result of stagnant energy in the pelvic area -- what better way to un-stagnate that area than to shake your hips vigorously!

Here's an excellent article on belly dancing an fibroids, with some nice success stories.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8125-1007423_1,00.html

Here's an article that more generally explains why belly dancing is good for you, including helping to re-balance hormones. http://www.gildedserpent.com/art33/KetiFitness.htm

And here's another article that outlines the benefits of belly dancing. http://www.health24.com/fitness/Exercises/16-1339,42836.asp

I used to take belly dancing a long time ago and am enjoying getting back into it again. It's something I had been planning to do again but always seemed to put on the back burner -- the fibroids have inspired me to put it on the front burner (wish I had done it sooner).

Belly dancing is offered at many health clubs and community centers, or through private lessons. It should be easy to find classes in your area by typing "belly dancing" and the name of your city or area into google.

Also there are some great DVDs out there that you can use to practice at home.
There are over a hundred on Amazon.com! belly dance videos on Amazon
I have this set and really like it: Discover Bellydance DVD set

It's a lot more fun if you use a hip scarf with little coins sewn on -- making them tinkle is motivation to shake those hips!
Hungry Hip Scarves, Economy Imperfect

Shake shake shake those fibroids away!

ignore the title of this book!

As mentioned in my plan, I am trying to devote a day to working on emotional issues that may be related to my fibroids -- many of the things I have read talk about how fibroids are energetically stuck stuff like negative emotions. As part of working on this I've decided to go back and read and work with a book that was really helpful to me in the process of looking for a man in my life -- another time when I had to make a change in how I was dealing with the world.

Even though it's not directly about fibroids, I think that this book is an excellent one for helping to think about one's emotional patterns and things that may be getting in the way of moving forward in life. In particular it has excellent exercises and meditations. I also like how it's very positive about how you can make big changes in your life if you put your mind to it. Thus I mention it here as it may be of interest to all fibroid shrinkers. And if you happen to be still looking for the love of your life, it can help with that too.

However, please ignore the absolutely horrible title! I feel like I have to hide this book, lest anyone see the title and laugh at me: Calling in "The One": 7 Weeks to Attract the Love of Your Life. But please believe me, it's very well-written and thought-provoking. Worth checking out!



I'm going to be starting with my coach in the beginning of February, in the meantime I am trying to finish up things I started before, this one of them.

blackstrap molasses

Doing research on the internet I found several sites talking about the curative powers of blackstrap molasses for fibroids, including testimonials of people who shrank or got rid of them by using it. I thought what the heck, I’ll try anything, and anyway it’s high in iron and I had gotten anemic recently due to heavy periods. So I've added it to my regimen.
I’ve been taking 3 tablespoons a day for the last few weeks.

This week I had my period for the first time since starting my fibroid-shrinking regiment, and my blood loss is a lot less than usual. I almost can’t believe it, it’s so different. I wasn’t expecting my new regimen to have an impact so soon. Is it the molasses working?

And why would molasses work anyway? It’s hard to understand from what’s on the web exactly why it’s supposed to work, from what I can tell it may be because of the iron and the other trace minerals that it is rich in, also it evidently helps alkalize your body which acts against the fibroids. (I plan to write about alkalinization later in another post).

The molasses is cheap and easy and tasty (I mix with hot water and have it instead of dessert with each meal). You need to get specifically unsulphured blackstrap molasses, and like everything else it's best that it be organic.

Here are a couple of links talking about using blackstrap molasses to help fibroids. http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/fibroids.html
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/molasses.html

If there is a good health food store or Whole Foods near you, then you can get it there. In case there's not, you can order it from Amazon.com, here's a link:Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Molasses, 32-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

my battle plan

After much research, here is the fibroid shrinking battle plan I have created for myself:

1. Radically change my diet, eliminating foods that tend to aggravate fibroids and increasing ones that will help fibroids
2. Acupuncture and abdominal massage treatment once weekly
3. Take Chinese herbs prescribed by the acupuncturist
4. NAET treatment once weekly
5. Take homeopathic remedy prescribed by the NAET practioner
6. Exercise at least an hour a day, including one Qi Gong class and one belly dancing class per week
7. Take a Mindfulness Meditation course
8. Work with a coach to help me reduce the stress in my life and cope with the emotional challenges of this battle, and also to help me clear out some old mental/emotional baggage that on a spiritual level may be conspiring to keep the fibroids in place
---> between the meditation course and the coach, I plan to spend an hour a day working on mental/emotional issues
9. Daily castor oil compress
10. Lots of foot massages from my boyfriend

I also have some other things I plan to try and to weave into the plan later as needed, including myofascial release therapy, reiki or medical Qi Gong, and aromatherapy. But there is only so much I can do at once, and I think the ten items listed above are going to keep me plenty busy!

In my later posts, I will talk more about each of these -- why they are things that should help with the fibroids, what they are, and how you can try them.

I'm going to particularly have a lot of posts about diet, as this has been a huge adjustment for me but from what I have read has the potential to make a very significant difference.

my story -- me and my fibroids

I'm declaring war on my fibroids, and invite all of you to join me in my quest. My goal is to get rid of them naturally, so that I can avoid surgery.

In this first post I will share a bit about me and my fibroids, as background to what I am going to be posting to this blog.

I'm 43 and after many years living a life not unlike a character from Sex and the City (except with a lot less sex in my case!) I have finally met Prince Charming and recently we have been talking about the M word.

I was first diagnosed with my fibroids nearly 4 years ago. Since then I have tried various different natural/alternative techniques, but in hindsight the people I was working with were not always the most qualified and in one case may have done more harm than good. Also I was busy with a lot of other things, most notably my job as a globe-trotting consultant and desperately trying to locate Prince Charming. Getting rid of my fibroids was frankly not my first priority.

I recently went to a new gynecologist who asked me about my personal plans and I told her that things are moving in a positive direction with my boyfriend and that even though I'm no longer a spring chicken, I would like to try to have children. She said, ok then, let's check out how you look on the fertility front. She first checked my estradiol and FSH, which came back excellent especially for my age.

Then she did an ultrasound on my fibroids, and that was the bad news. There are three. One is 5 cm and outside the uterus, large but not such a problem. Then there is a 5 cm one on the inside of the uterus, and a smaller one opposite it. My uterus is distorted and the fibroids are taking up a lot of the interior surface area. Their position is a big problem from two perspectives. First, right now it would be difficult for an embryo to implant itself on the wall because the fibroids are in the way, and second it would be hard for it to thrive because it wouldn't be able to get enough blood flow and there isn't enough room in there either. And also where they are means that they are not amenable to surgery, because if they were cut out there wouldn't be much uterus left.

My gynecologist suggested embolization, and I looked into it but there are a lot of risks if you are thinking you still might want to have kids. And besides surgery is scary. At the same time, I found a lot on the web about alternative ways to shrink fibroids. In particular, this study (http://www.healing-arts.org/mehl-madrona/mmfibroids.htm) offers some compelling proof that alternative approaches can work.

So I've decided to make a really big push, an all-out attack on the fibroids. It's time for them to go. And the things I am going to try to get rid of them are going to help my life in other ways too that I've been needing -- reducing my stress, getting back in shape, losing weight, etc.

According to my research on the topic, there are many things that one can do. And I intend to try them, to the hilt! At first this all felt overwhelming and confusing, but now I feel like I have things sorted out and have a good battle plan. After putting all this effort into creating a plan, it seems a shame to have it only benefit myself. So thought I would write this blog to share what I have learned and am learning with others. Please cheer me on in my quest to get rid of these damn things. And hopefully you will find some information that will be helpful to you!