:: Chapter I ::
Yesterday at 10:30am I took an experimental cancer drug called DCA. The drug itself, Dichchloroacetate, has been around for decades, and has proved generally safe and effective at treating a rare childhood metabolic disorder in which mitochondria, the cells’ powerhouses, are dormant or stunted. DCA restores healthy mitochondrial function.

Another role of Mitochondria in the cell is to act as the regulator of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Mitochondria keep a constant vigil over their host cell and if anything too suspicious goes down, anything that would risk passing on errant DNA for example, mitochondria turn on the auto-destruct mechanism. In most cancerous cells, normal mitrochondrial function is suppressed, and apoptosis is brought to a halt. Decades ago it was proposed that restoring mitochondrial function might be an effective cancer-fighting strategy.

Enter DCA. The cancer world is aflutter with talk of the potential of this old, cheap drug with minimal side effects (*see below). There is currently a clinical trial being conducted for DCA (the first) in Alberta, Canada, testing its efficacy against several forms of late-stage cancer. Outside of the clinical trial, several forums and discussion boards have been started where cancer patients and their care-givers come to share information on DCA mechanisms, patient progress reports, and dosages. One interesting discussion point on the forums, is the relationship between DCA and caffeine. There is reason to suspect that caffeine potentiates DCA, allowing for a smaller dose of the drug to have a greater effect when taken in conjunction with coffee or strong black tea. I spent weeks researching what I could of DCA, tracked some down, and (given the results of my last MRI) decided to self administer.

I’m a big guy, and historically very drug-resistant. Despite this, and in the name of responsibility to myself, I opted for an especially low-dose. A paper produced by the Alberta clinical trial group cited (to clarify: cited, for their study, not recommended to anyone else) a dosage from between 10mg – 100mg per kilogram of body weight to initiate anti-tumor activity. I opted for 9 mg/kg, just below the lowest range, and then divided that dosage in half with intent to take part at the beginning of the day, and the remainder twelve hours later. With my mother at hand to verify dosages and watch my progress, I dissolved 4.5mg of the white powder into an 8oz glass of water and drank it. I waited about one half hour, and then began slowly drinking a cup of strong coffee. About thirty minutes later the world began dissolving. Read the rest of this entry »

Given the Dark Crystal reference in the last episode, and straying entirely from the subject of food and health, I thought I would take a moment to tell you more about artist Brian Froud. Froud is the English-born artist who is largely responsible for the sober beauty and other-worldliness of such films as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Artist, illustrator, and author, Froud has collaborated extensively with a certain Monty Python favorite, Terry Jones. Together Froud and Jones have produced such popular works of fantasy as “The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins,” and “Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book,” to name just two.

Am I a dork? Yes, sometimes. Here it is, my confessional, perhaps the first of many. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a raw juice movement sweeping the nation, as it seems to do from time to time. I remember my family briefly going through a similar craze when I was young. It seems to be a binge and purge business, there one minute, gone the next. This goes a long way toward explaining the impressive selection of juicers to be found in many suburbian rummage sale block parties.

Well, color me a bandwagoner, I’m hooked. For how long it will last, no one knows. Many folks in the raw food community are onboard already, such as Phillip, Heidi, and Kris, to name just a few. Last week I wrote about my favorite fresh juice, or more precisely, about its color. This week were showing how to make it. Without further ado, we give you The Director’s Cut.

The Director’s Cut:
2-3 large carrots, to taste
2 ribs celery
½ cucumber
½ green apple
1 small beet
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger

Since weve been slow posting this past week, were going to be sure to include a bonus recipe in this week’s edition of our mailing list, the Freshtopian. If you haven’t already signed up, just enter your preferred email address in the widget at the sites upper right corner. That issue will be coming out this Sunday, so be sure to tell all the neighborhood kids to sign up to receive the free recipe and secret decoder ring.

…no, there’s no decoder ring.

Tanja and I were sitting around a few weeks ago over a bottle of old crow and carp caviar, reminiscing about the [second] time she was on the television, on a show called Dream Home. The show is hosted by the charming and genuine Lisa Quinn, and is sponsored by Ikea. As you may have seen, Ikea (via Dream Home) gave our kitchen a storage solutions makeover. Tanja made such an impression, as she is prone to do, that she was invited on to Dream Home to prepare some dishes.

Suddenly, mid-reminisc, we realized that we hadn’t yet shared these videos with the viewers of Freshtopia.net! So finally, as promised, scavenged from the way-back machine…

Check out Dream Home episode 29, you’ll have to click on the “Easy Meals the Whole Family will Love” thumbnail on the left bar. For this Tanja made her Pumpkin Pie Soup and Relaxed Kale Salad, though the ‘relaxing’ got the axe in the edit room (see here for complete recipe).

Then stop by episode 35 and click on the “Holiday Dining Décor” thumbnail on left (not the “Delicious Deserts” thumb). You can see Tanja putting together a beautiful avocado-chocolate pudding with persimmon crème.

Enjoy the change of pace.
Oscar
Director, Freshtopia.net

1) Diet
2) Stress
3) Medication

These are the three factors that I believe led to my less-than-stellar MRI results of last week (significant tumor growth). I was going to bore you with details about how I botched my diet over the holidays (sugar, and lots of it, which cancer loves), how I’ve been taking on too many projects and jobs (and the related lack of sleep), and how cost and travel forced me to drop or skip some of my treatment. I tried writing this post three times, and couldn’t find a succinct point.
Here’s the fourth try.
Read the rest of this entry »

I know I just posted about food author Michael Pollan last week, but when I saw this short candid interview with him made by our friends at Cooking Up A Story, I couldn’t resist passing it on to you. I love Pollan. I don’t agree with everything he has to say about food (which makes me trust him more), but I love that he’s saying something. Getting people to talk about food and food issues is a patriotic act in a country whose population is 65% overweight; which leads to myriad health issues, which leads to a crumbling health system, which leads to higher tax burden through government programs (which I both resent and am tremendously grateful for, as they are partly responsible for saving my life). This brief interview and talk touches on a couple turning points in our nation’s conversion to Frankenfoodism. Pollan lobbies for simple food rationalism and awareness (such as, eat actual food, not chemicals and hormones, and know the difference), while promoting long-overdue advancements in agricultural methods and ideas in the process.

There’s much more to say about all of this, but not in this post. I know that I also mentioned posting the results of last Thursday’s MRI, and I will, but I need a breather for a couple days. The results were, well, less than encouraging. I know why, I expected it to be so, and there is much to say about this as well. Look for that maybe Sunday or Monday.

Health and Happiness,
Oscar

Our friends at Raw Food, Right Now just posted a thorough review of one small farm, Raw From The Farm, and the impressive variety of raw fare they offer. We happy to learn, and a bit embarrassed to admit, that they are located here in Oakland, California, Freshtopia.net’s home town, and we didn’t even know.

Raw From The Farm [RFTF] offers, among other things, raw seeds and nuts, sun-dried fruits, and sea vegetables. We were especially interested to learn that raw almonds were among their stock, given the recent mandatory almond pasteurization instituted in California. We had hoped to uncover how RFTF weaves their unpasteurized magic, but no one was in the office when we called. Hopefully we can provide an update soon, after we’ve had a chance to speak with them.

We were also happy to see that RFTF provides responsible packaging for their products; the shipping standard is a fully compostable and biodegradeable bag, with an alternative PVC and Plasticizer-free resealable plastic shipping bag. Raw From The Farm is a good example of a next-generation company. That is, a company designed to profit, yet framed around genuine beliefs. That attitude, and fearlessly unconventional prioritization is in short supply in today’s marketplace, and is worthy of supporting.

Oscar
Director, Freshtopia.net

143 million pounds of beef, much of which was destined for school lunch programs, was quietly recalled by the USDA on February 17th. This represents the largest recall ever of raw and frozen beef products, and constitutes almost half of all U.S. beef and poultry recalled since 1994.

The beef, processed by the Chino, California company Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., was processed using “downer” cattle. That is to say, cattle too sick or crippled to stand, a requirement for passing inspection. According to Rick Weiss, staff writer for the Washington Post, there is a reason so-called “downer cows” are not allowed into the food supply. They could very well have mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which is transmissible to humans. They are also covered in manure from being dragged and rolled, the E. coli from which has an unfortunate tendency of getting into the meat when these animals are then slaughtered.

The video that led to the scandal, including horrific animal abuses, was captured by an employee of the plant and released to the humane society. We’ll feature the footage below the fold. Warning: this video is as tragic and disturbing as it is important - view at your own discretion.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m growing to really love Michael Pollan. Among other things, Pollan’s seventeen minute TED Talk (above) takes us on a tour of the survival of the fittest, from a grass-eye perspective. Pollan, director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley, is probably best known for his 2006 book The Omnivore’s Dilema. Regardless of your views on omnivorousness, vegetarianism, veganism, Pollan gets people thinking deeper about food and where it comes from, and that is a true service to our surprisingly nature-starved culture.

Alas, you won’t find many fun graphics or sound effects, but if you’re a foodie and care about the world around you, you many find this interesting. This far-ranging talk covers ground from the human genome project to the sophisticated yet simply logical permaculture of Polyface Farms. You can check out some of the other TED Talks here.

Oscar
Director, Freshtopia.net

I don’t know why I’m only getting around to posting this now, it’s quite a treasure. A few months ago our resident Tanja-avatar-designer and most prolific video commenter, Steelee, told me about this post he had found on how to build a better mousetrap. The contraption is easy to build, effective, mouse-merciful, essentially free, and is more fun to watch than American Gladiators on ice.

The jist is this:
Read the rest of this entry »

This Valentines day, weve gone buck-rogers with a racy show about aphrodisiacs!
For the occasion weve concocted a pulse-pounding chocolate sauce chock-full of sensuous spices like maca, cayenne, and cinnamon to get you in the mood for love. Treat your sweetie, (or yourself!) and use it to top some of our fabulous nearly raw vegan ice cream from episode #0055, or if you live in New York City, grab some awesome raw vegan ice cream from Pure Food and Wine.
Feel the love!

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks largely to the inspiration of Heidi Ohlander and Philip McClusky, I’ve been on a bit of a raw juicing jag for the last week. This trend is going around at the moment and I’ve finally gotten on board, or at least am beginning to wade in. While many are going on an all-juice diet for a period of weeks or months, that is not my fate, there are too many other components to my cancer diet that I need to adhere to. In fact, this post isn’t even about juicing. It’s about the color of beets.

While I have been getting the charge associated with juicing, mostly I find myself drawn to the amazing colors I’ve been finding in the process. I come from an art background; I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and spent four years showing my paintings and sculptures before starting my own animation and video business. Yes, I actually made a living as a painter, believe it or not.
Read the rest of this entry »