Recommended foods and supplements to help protect your health and Counter the Effects of Radiation

A balanced body can heal itself … but it needs your help. It’s important to pay close attention to the foods and dietary supplements you consume. Here’s why. Diet and your body’s susceptibility to radiation are closely entwined. Radiation and pollutants destroy vitamins A, C, E, K, several N vitamins, essential fatty acids, calcium and neuro-hormones. If your body lacks calcium, potassium and other nutrients, it will more readily absorb the radioactive elements that are similar in structure to these nutrients.

Your best bet is to eat natural, fresh, organic (as much as possible) unprocessed foods, avoiding white sugar, red meat, refined wheat, caffeine and homogenized milk. Here is a list of widely recommended foods and food supplements that can help to balance your body chemistry. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it will give you a good starting place.

Protective Supplements

• Calcium/magnesium The New England Journal of Medicine reported that calcium may prevent precancerous cells from becoming cancerous. It also protects against strontium 90 (similar structure to calcium) and other radioisotopes. 

• Vitamin A or beta carotene This vitamin manufactures antibodies, maintains and protects mucus membranes and protects the thymus gland, the master gland of the immune system. It helps guard against tumor formation and cancer, as well as reverse the aging process of the skin caused by ultraviolet light.

• Vitamin C + bioflavinoids & rutin A protective dose of between 500mg and 2,000 mg can counteract toxins and radiation.

• Coenzyme Q10 This substance protects against many chemicals and radiation, offering immense benefits to the immune system and retarding the aging process. Sufferers of heart problems, high blood pressure, angina and obesity often find this substance to be helpful in managing symptoms. Natural levels decline with age; therefore, supplementation is needed.

• Vitamin E Vitamin E neutralizes harmful free radicals and protects delicate membranes.

• Zinc Zinc helps strengthen the T-cell-producing thymus gland. Aim for 50 to 100 mg daily, available from grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.

• Selenium Selenium fights cancer and protects against carcinogens by helping to produce a free radical scavenger called glutathione peroxidase.

• Proanthocyanadins (Grape seed extract/Pycnogenol) Considered to be one of the most powerful antioxidants or free radical scavengers, grape seed extract helps counteract stress, pollution and radiation

• DHEA The most dominant hormone in the body, DHEA is considered the “Fountain of Youth” hormone because it can help extend life span. DHEA helps counteract the negative effects of stress, boosts the immune system, regulates blood cholesterol and lowers blood pressure. It rebalances the hormones in the body, especially during menopause, slows the production of free radicals and inhibits the growth of cancers and carcinogens. A good food source of DHEA is wild yams.

• Melatonin This valuable cancer-inhibiting hormone is often used to replenish the levels of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that affects the sleep cycle, fertility and the immune system. It’s often used to prevent and counteract jet lag and can rebalance the pineal gland after electric field exposure.

Protective Foods

• Chlorophyll-containing foods: barley grass and chlorella. Chlorophyll closely resembles human blood and is used to cleanse, detoxify, purify and heal many conditions. It retards bacterial growth, detoxifies heavy metals from the body, increases wound healing, detoxifies the liver and other organs, deodorizes the body, removes putrefactive bacteria from the colon, aids healing of 11 types of skin diseases, relieves ulcers, gastritis, pancreatitis and other inflammatory conditions, helps heal gum diseases and inhibits radiation and the metabolic activation of many carcinogens. Many studies have reported the protective effects of chlorophyll on irradiated animals.There are pure chlorophyll supplements available if you don’t like to eat grass or algae. Better yet, try one of the following whole foods, all which are excellent sources of chlorophyll and other essential nutrients.
• Barley (wheat) grass is a totally balanced food. It contains all of the nutrients required for life: vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other proteins (amino acids), essential fatty acids and chlorophyll. Barley grass has thousands of living enzymes (a special protein). Enzymes are nature’s biological catalysts that initiate all the chemical transformations in the body. Over 3,000 enzymes have been identified. They are required for every transformation in the body - digestion, cell respiration, bodily movements, thinking processes, detoxification, cancer control, fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism, etc.The normal daily amount of barley grass is 1-3 teaspoons (1 tsp = 2 grams). If you choose wheat grass (juice), start with one ounce daily and gradually increase to four or six ounces.
• Chlorella is a green freshwater micro-algae which has even more chlorophyll than barley (wheat) grass plus 55-65% protein with 19 amino acids, including all the essential ones. It’s an excellent source of beta-carotene, vitamins B-l, B-2, B-3, B-6, B-12, pantothenic acid, folic acid, biotin, PABA, inositol and vitamin C. Vitamin B-12 is especially important for vegetarians who may be deficient in this vitamin. Chlorella has more B-12 than liver. It also contains important minerals - iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, sulphur, iodine and trace amounts of manganese, sodium and chlorine. Chlorella comes in a small pill form which may be more palatable to some people.

• Miso Made from naturally fermented soybeans, rice or barley, miso is a superior source of usable whole protein, aids digestion and assimilation, is low in fats, has a wonderful salty flavor, promotes health and helps neutralize environmental pollution including radiation. The reason for Miso’s protectiveness is not really known. It was observed that the Japanese who ate miso everyday did not die from radiation-induced cancer after the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The observed effect of miso as a cancerostatic agent was further confirmed in a recent study in Japan.

• Fermented (Lactic acid) vegetables and juices Lactic acid fermented foods possess medicinal properties and can help in the biological treatment of many conditions, including cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, kidney and liver diseases, and digestive disorders. Sources include sauerkraut, beets, carrots, green and red pepper, beet tops, Swiss chard and celery.

• Cultured (fermented) milk products: yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, unprocessed cheese. Longevity studies indicate that groups of people who use cultured milk products in their diet live longer. Real yogurt is made from fresh whole (unhomogenized) milk with billions of living friendly bacteria, a minimum of honey or fructose and perhaps some real fruit. Yogurt, kefir and other fermented milks contain an unidentified substance that lowers cholesterol. Yogurt is an excellent substitute for ice cream in milk shakes and smoothies. Use it on potatoes instead of sour cream. Make your own salad dressings with yogurt, honey, vinegar and spices. These products also contain friendly bacteria, such as lactobacillus acidophilus and other strains that perform valuable duties in your colon. These bacteria colonize the colon and evict unfriendly, dangerous bacteria and other organisms from your colon. These bacteria also synthesize germ-destroying antibodies in your colon.

• Cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnips, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower and greens such as kale) This family of vegetables contain substances that inhibit breast and colon cancer cell growth. Cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables also contain dithiolthiones, a non-toxic group of compounds that have antioxidant, anticancer and anti-radiation properties. Sources include dark, leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, romaine, endive, chicory, escarole, watercress, collard, mustard and dandelion greens), dark yellow and orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkins, winter squash) and fruits (cantaloupe, apricots, peaches, papayas and watermelon).

• High-fiber foods: whole grains, fruits and vegetables Epidemiological data suggests that a high-fiber diet protects against large bowel cancer perhaps for several reasons. It dilutes bowel carcinogens, decreases colon transit time and changes the composition and metabolic activity of the fecal flora and certain carcinogenic substances in the colon. That’s why it’s healthier to eat whole grains containing the bran and the fiber, as well as whole fruits and vegetables instead of their processed, partitioned counterparts.

• Foods containing a natural vitamin A such as lima beans, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes, onions and spinach, fruits (mango, grapes, avocado, pears, oranges, plus the white under the peel and pulps, apples plus seeds and skin, strawberries), all unsprouted seeds (especially sunflower, sesame and pumpkin), all nuts (especially almonds and cashews), leafy green vegetables, carob and teas from fruit blossoms and leaves (peach flowers, strawberry leaves, cherry flowers, apple blossoms), and all grasses, such as wheat and barley. The vitamin A analog, abscisic acid, is found in large amounts in the grasses, seeds, nuts, legumes, mature leaves and fruits listed above and in the apricot pit. The body makes abscisic acid in vivo (inside) from raw carrot juice and raw liver.

• Sesame seeds – raw, ground (tahini) or in capsules Sesame seed oil contains a substance called Complex T, the primary effect of which is to increase blood platelets - a must for fighting infection. If you don’t like pills, just eat raw sesame seeds or tahini. In addition to Complex T, sesame seeds contain valuable essential fatty acids (EFAs) that are important workers in the immune system.

• Sea vegetables and their products Sodium alginate, a nonnutritious extract from Pacific kelp used to bind and detoxify heavy metals from the body (such as lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.) and agar, used as a thickening agent instead of gelatin or corn starch, will protect the human body from radiation effects. They also reduce absorption of strontium 90 by 50-80%. Kelp and dulse, excellent natural sources of iodine, help protect against radioactive iodine, found mostly in milk. When the diet is adequately supplied with organic iodine (as in kelp), radioiodine is not as readily absorbed by the thyroid or the ovaries. Kelp contains 150,000 mcg of iodine per 100 grams (32 ounces). The RDA of iodine is 150-200 mcg. A reasonable daily dose of kelp would be 1-2 teaspoons of granules or 5-10 tablets. Other high iodine foods include: seafood, beef liver, pineapple, eggs and whole wheat. Note: Taking kelp as a source of iodine is much safer than drinking iodine or eating potassium iodide, which can be especially dangerous for pregnant women and can cause allergic reactions. Iodine (inorganic) is toxic because of its tendency to combine with protein. That’s how it destroys bacteria (a protein). When you put iodine into your mouth, it combines with the protein there and in your stomach or wherever it goes. This causes irritation or worse. Also, sudden large doses of iodine in humans with a normal thyroid may reduce the synthesis of thyroid hormone.

• Bee and flower pollen Pollen is an excellent food containing all essential amino acids, vitamins A, D, E, K, C, bioflavanoids, B-complex (especially pantothenic acid and B-3) and 27 minerals. Research has proven pollen to be beneficial in treating several diseases. Dr. Emil Chauvin (French Academy of Science) discovered bee pollen was beneficial in treating anemia (increases red blood cells and hemoglobin), chronic prostatis, constipation, flatulence and colon infections, especially diarrhea. Dr. Peter Hernuss at the University of Vienna’s Women’s Clinic conducted a study involving 25 women with inoperative uterine cancer. All received radiotherapy. The 15 who took 20 grams of bee pollen three times a day tolerated the radiation much better than the ten who took no bee pollen.

• Essential fatty acids, GLA and EPA EFAs are essential for proper functioning of the immune system and protect against cancer. Food sources include flax seed oil, evening primrose oil and certain fish, particularly salmon.

Special Teas

• Pau d’arco (also called ipe roxo, la pacho, taheebo and bowstick tea) is an herbal tea from the inner bark of two trees that grow in the warmer part of South America (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, etc.). Many South American doctors use a therapeutic tea from this herb to relieve pain and treat many conditions including leukemia and other forms of cancer, infections including yeast and other fungal conditions, skin rashes and many other ailments. Dr. Theodoro Meyer of the Universidad Nacional of Tucuman, a province of the Argentine Andes, studied taheebo’s chemical composition and found a substance called xyloidin, an antibiotic capable of killing viruses. Dr. Prats Ruiz, M.D., of Concepcion, a city in Tucuman province, reported blood profiles of patients with leukemia before and after treatment with taheebo to document the efficacy of taheebo in treatment of certain cancers. Clinical details are provided by Professor Carlos Hugo Burgstaller in his book on the medicinal flora of Paraguay and Argentina, La Vuelta a los Vegetables (Buenos Aires, 1968). This tea was widely available in many health food stores until news of its anticancer claims became widespread. There is now an FDA effort to prohibit its sale in the United States. It has already been taken off the Canadian market to be “reclassified as an over-the-counter drug” because of the healing claims made for it. FDA approval of a drug for a specific use takes 8-12 years and costs about $56 million (1982 estimate).

• Saffron tea. Contains colchicine, a substance that has been used in the treatment of leukemia. It also lowers uric acid (high in those who have a tendency towards gout and/or cardiovascular disease).

• Thyme tea. Often used as a remedy after x-rays. Just steep one tablespoon of thyme per pint of hot water for 20 minutes, then cool and strain.

• Black tea (containing tannin) and honey. Used for radiation protection in China.

Information for this report was excerpted from Fighting Radiation and Chemical Pollutants with Foods, Herbs and Vitamins, by Steven Schecter, N.D., and Radiation Protection Manual, Lita Lee, Ph.D.