A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures
in the doctor’s book.

~ Irish Proverb

Keeping a sense of humor in the face of a serious illness like cancer often is the best antidote to depression and hopelessness. Both of my parents died from cancer within a few short years of each other. Those years are a hash of hospitals, surgeries, protocols, decisions, hospice and terrifyingly real moments of mortality peppered with our family’s genetic brand of relentless humor. Until my mother was unable to speak in her last few hours, she was making us all chuckle with her charming and witty cracks.

Out of the four of us siblings, my sister Lisa (GD Lisa) and I have been the foodies and natural health freaks, but of course we got that from our father, who was WAY ahead of his time making us drink protein smoothies back in the late 60s! He wore copper on his wrist to help with his arthritis, took us (or me anyway) to a chiropractor, was the first to learn about and grow low-acid tomatoes, and argued vehemently against drinking cows milk — all back when these were pretty radical ideas.

So, one of my ways of coping with their illness was to research healthy alternatives and natural remedies for what they were going through. My father was gone within 8 months of his diagnosis, but my mother despite the prognosis and odds against her, was determined to stick around a bit longer. I remember bringing my Champion Juicer there and making her juice pretty much every day and I had gotten a recipe for Essiac tea, which was supposed to work miracles on certain types of cancer. It was difficult to get the ingredients and the instructions were very specific, but she swore that this tea gave her the last couple of years beyond what the doctors had prepared us for, which she had some quality of life. I’d like to believe these things helped her in some way, at least they didn’t hurt her, but for sure it helped me feel like I was able to do something and not feel entirely useless.

Keep in mind all of this happened 20 – 25 years ago, when there wasn’t such easy access to information. Today there are so many online resources for every kind of imaginable support and information! Wading through the minefield of misinformation is a daunting task, so my humble advice is to look to trusted sites and recommendations from people you know who can verify things.

Getting a diagnosis of “Cancer” today isn’t has fatal as it used to be, but we’ve still got a long way to go. I suppose with all this free-access to information, it seems like there is far more cancer occurring than ever before… or maybe there is? I do believe there are more environmental hazards compromising our health in general, but when you get the information I do every day about the chemicals we are exposed to and how many of them are carcinogens, it’s hard not to believe we are poisoning ourselves.

[bctt tweet=”excellent healing #plantbased mineral broth. #vegan #health #cancersucks #chemosucks ” username=”TheGreenDivas”]

So when my older sister (not GD Lisa) was diagnosed with breast cancer — for the second time — I had to wade through my emotional history from my experience with our parents and realize things are much, much different now. Unlike our parents, her protocol involves heavy chemotherapy, BUT the prognosis is excellent. Yea! However, in case you didn’t know, chemo sucks. Your body basically becomes the battlefield where toxins invade to eradicate and destroy tumors and cancer cells. Nobody wants to be this battlefield.

My dear sister is not really a health nut, but she is amazing in her strength and determination. She is surrounded by a network of people who love and support her and she’s doing what she has to do with grace and a great sense of humor.

One of her friends appeared with a book, The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson.

Of course at this stage of the game, her appetite sucks, but her need for nutrition is critical, so we’re keeping it super simple. I tried the Magic Mineral Broth, which is a plant-based mineral broth offering a lot of the nutrition that is depleted from chemo and needed for recovery. It is easy to make and freeze in small batches and it tastes great! Please watch our 1 GD Minute video tutorial to see how easy it is to make this plant-based mineral broth, and then see the written recipe below:

Here’s a 1 GD Minute video tutorial on our version
of this excellent plant-based mineral broth

what you need

NOTE: I personally believe that food like this recipe can be super healing if we minimize any potential chemical residue from chemical pesticides and fertilizers, especially since we will be keeping the skins on everything in this recipe! PLEASE BUY ORGANIC INGREDIENTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE! 

6 unpeeled carrots cut in larger pieces

2 unpeeled yellow onions quartered

1 leek cut in 3 or 4 pieces

1 whole bunch celery cut 3 or 4 times

4 unpeeled red potatoes quartered

2 unpeeled Japanese or regular sweet potatoes quartered

1 unpeeled garnet yam, quartered

5 unpeeled garlic cloves but in half

1/2 bunch fresh parsley

1 8″ strip of kombu (AKA kelp, is important for it’s mega mineral contribution)

12 black peppercorns

4 whole allspice or juniper berries

2 bay leaves

enough filtered, clean water to fill 12-quart pot with all the goodies to about 2 inches below rim

1 teaspoon sea salt

what to do

Wash all the veggies thoroughly, including the kombu.

Cut accordingly and toss in your big pot.

Put everything except the salt into the pot.

Cover with lid and bring to a boil.

Then remove the lid and lower heat to low and simmer for 2 – 4 hours (for more intense flavor, longer is better).

Add water if necessary.

Strain out all the veggies and things.

Salt to taste.

Please check out our YouTube channel to see short, funny and useful 1 GD Minute videos with recipes and DIY tutorials. Here’s a recent one…

And if you want to learn more about the content of this video, please read the corresponding post!