My Interview of The Natural Cancer Girl

I met Diane Paradise through National Speaker’s Association. Our paths crossed again when we attended a social media class led by our entrepreneurial friend Elmas Vincent.

Diane, a 15-year, four-time cancer survivor, has dedicated her life to encouraging, educating, and empowering others to be their own cancer superheroes.

Diane’s wake up call
Being told she had an incurable cancer left her wondering how she could create a quality life for herself. After dissatisfaction with conventional chemotherapy and radiation she turned to Naturopathic medicine and integrative health care because it allowed her to maintain a quality of life the other treatments did not.

In 2001 with a diagnosis of stage 3 incurable lymphoma, Diane decided to look into the natural options. When she brought these options to her doctor to discuss them he told her. “you’ll be dead in 12 weeks” with a finger pointed in her face.

Those six words ended up being medicine she needed to hear. “You know it was the best thing,” says Diane. “If anyone tells me I can’t do something, I say, Watch me!”

The journey with Naturopathic medicine taught her what she needed to know to get and stay healthy with the disease. She learned how to improve her diet: how to eat more whole foods, what to eliminate from her diet, and how to make healthier choices when dining out. "My social life was a big part of my life. At first I had no idea how I could eat with my friends and stick to my healing diet," says Diane. "It was the holistic nurse who taught me how to eat within my nutritional means."

Diane also learned that it wasn’t just her food choices that were making her sick; it was also the environment she grew up in. She was a sickly child and was exposed to high levels of copper from the treated lumber her father used in his woodworking shop. It was her ND who discovered that her copper levels where three times higher than normal and the link between that and the type of lymphoma she developed.

Finding your ah-ha in life's uh-ohs moments
Diane’s aha moment was when she realized that toxicity came in many forms: stress, work, chemicals, toxic food, and even certain people. “So often when I coach, I hear and see the negative impact that certain people have on my clients and their healing process. During our time together my job is to help them recognize the toxic relationships and determine how to change them. It’s interesting to see how people’s health improves when they remove the toxic influences in all areas of their lives.”

Diane cancer’s recurred in 2005 and then again in 2008. She has journeyed the last two years with active cancer and remains faithful to the holistic lifestyle and naturopathic medicine. If you saw her you would never guess that she has or has had cancer.

Passing it on
Diane now shares what she has learned with others and inspires people to take an active part in their own healing process. She speaks to groups (hence the connection to National Speakers Association where I first met her) and offers her services as a life coach to help people remove the toxicity in their lives so that they don’t have to go through what she is going through and has been through.

The hero lies in you!
Diane is starting a non-profit organization to educate the general public about the power of Naturopathic medicine and holistic living for cancer care. Her long term goal is to provide funding for those who can’t afford natural treatments. She has created her courage-based comic book superhero, Natural Cancer Girl, to convey her message of hope and strength for others. “I think the whole idea of the superhero is really about being empowered on this journey instead of just letting it happen to you and being a victim of the disease.”

Discoveries in alternative medicine
Diane was interviewed for a PBS special called “Discoveries in Alternative Medicine.” The segment, produced by the American Health Journal in California, aired for the first time on April 22, 2009, in Orange County, California. Diane, who is the former spokesperson for the New York Association of Naturopathic Physicians, has appeared on several radio shows and in newspaper articles, including The New York Times. Food photos: Rachel Albert-Matesz, 2010 & Sandy Dawson

Diane hosts her own radio show on WeB9CancerTalk on Blog Talk Radio. You can find out about her speaking engagements, services, and story by visiting her website and her blog.

The cure is the kitchen
Diane attributes a great deal of her recovery to improving her diet. Toward that end she wanted to share what she’s learned about diet with others. After Diane’s friend Sandy listened the radio show where Diane interviewed me (Chef Rachel) about what I do, about my book, The Garden of Eating, and how to eat a Produce-Dominated Diet, she approached Diane about having a cooking party with a group of friends in one of their homes.

You made it easier
“When people think about changing their diet and lifestyle it can seem daunting,” says Diane. “You showed us how easy that change can be just by implementing certain routines in our weekly schedules, such as shopping twice a week and cleaning and prepping all or most of the vegetables at once.”

Diane and Sandy liked my motto,“Shop ahead, chop ahead, and cook ahead so you always have healthy food on hand when hunger strikes!”

Bonus points
Diane says,“It was a bonus to learn proper knife skills and how to cut things like bell peppers in short order. The hit of the party was the Creamy Carrot Soup with coconut milk and ginger. One of the guests exclaimed, ‘I don’t like cooked carrots.’ Two bowls of soup later she was a fan."

Diane, who is normally not a salmon fan says, “I loved the dish Rachel made with grilled salmon  bellies.” Teeccino was another big hit. “I don’t normally drink coffee and I love it. It was also great to discover coconut milk as an alternative to milk and cream. That was a big deal for me because I can’t eat dairy. The chocolate Dipped Date Nut Truffles you left me with were also amazing.”

Photo right: Diane Paradise (left), Chef Rachel (me! center), Sandy Dawson (right). Photo credit: Diane's husband, Jeff.

Here’s what we made (most of recipes can be found in The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook:

• Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut Milk & Ginger
• Grilled Cumin & Mustard Rubbed Steak
• Grilled Mustard Rubbed Salmon Bellies
• Roasted Onion, Sweet Pepper & Spring Green Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Lemonette Dressing
• Fennel & Sea Salted Brown Rice Crisps
• Apple Apricot Compote with Nutmeg Ice Dream & Chocolate Sauce
• Teeccino Herbal Coffee Alternative with dairy free milk alternatives (recipe below)

Both Sandy and Diane have since made several of the recipes from the party. Sandy made the Creamy Carrot Soup and brought it to work for people to try. Diane made the soup, baked Fennel & Sea Salted Brown Rice Crisps, Lemonette Dressing, and Roasted Vegetable Salad. She plans to make the spice rubbed steak for company this weekend.

Both Diane and Sandy have received emails from participants thanking the two for inviting them for having me (Chef Rachel) in to show them how to make healthy foods taste great. One of them exclaimed, “It’s exciting to learn about eating healthy and living a whole foods lifestyle from someone who’s doing it.”

Rachel's Recipe for Brewing Teeccino Herbal Coffee

What is Teeccino Herbal Coffee?
Teecino, a caffeine-free coffee alternative, looks like coffee, but is made from herbs, roasted chicory root, carob, dates, and nuts that are roasted and ground. It looks and cooks like coffee but contains no coffee beans or caffeine. It contains 3 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of fiber per cup for a total of 15 calories. It provides 65 milligrams of potassium to give your body a natural energy lift, and 365 milligrams of inulin to enhance your digestion and improve elimination.

Some people use this product to wean themselves off of coffee. The Teeccino web site offers a painless method to help you kick the coffee habit: blend Teeccino with your regular coffee and gradually increase the amount over a period of two to three weeks while reducing the amount of coffee grinds. I have recommended something similar for many years using roasted chicory root and roasted dandelion root, available in 1-pound bags from Frontier Co-operative.

Where to find Teecccino Herbal Coffee
 Look for it on the coffee and tea aisles of natural foods stores, the health foods section of supermarkets, and online. It comes in 8.5 once and 1 pound cans, 1-pound bags, and a sample-size envelope in a variety of flavors: Original, Vanilla Nut, Hazelnut, Almond Amaretto, Java, Mocha, and Chocolate Mint. The company also makes a Maya Caffé, Maya Chia, and Maya Chocolate Herbal Coffee, which includes roasted ramon nuts for a robust dark roast coffee flavor. 

How to store Teeccino Herbal Coffee
Store Teeccino grinds at room temperature. Teeccino won't go stale at room temperature like coffee because it doesn't contain coffee oils. Just replace the plastic cap on the can after using it, and it will last for at least 2 years. Note: Brewed Teeccino can last up to five days in the refrigerator making it easy to drink iced Teeccino in the summer.

Does Teeccino contain any gluten? 
Although Teeccino contains barley, an independent laboratory at the University of Nebraska that specializes in gluten testing found no detectable levels of gluten in Teeccino. Although gluten is present in barley, it most likely does not extract out of the barley using conventional coffee brewing techniques. Gluten is not extracted by boiling water although it can be extracted using ethanol alcohol, which of course is not present in Teeccino. The company regularly has Teeccino tested at the University of Nebraska’s Allergy Testing lab where it has had no detectible levels of gluten found at 10PPM. 

To view the lab report click here

Better brewing
Although each can of Teeccino Herbal Coffee comes with complete brewing instructions, I recommend that you disregard the instructions on the package. Brewing the product in a drip coffee makers, French press pot, or espresso machine produces to a weak beverage and increases the cost per cup. You still need to measure out the amount of Teeccino Herbal Coffee you use with my method, only the brewing method changes.

I find I get the best flavor and strongest brew and my students and friends like this beverage best when it is brewed using one of the following methods:
1) Brewed for at least 20 minutes in an electric or stove-top percolator with or without a coffee filter. If you use a filter make sure it is made from unbleached paper or use an eco-friendly permanent Gold filter.
2) Wrapped in cheesecloth, tied with kitchen twine or un-waxed dental floss, placed in a pot of filtered water, brought to boil, then covered and simmered over medium-low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.

Note: After the initial brewing, I made a second pot using the same grinds but only half as much water. The two batches can be mixed together if you like. Refrigerate leftover brewed Teeccino, then reheat portions as desired. It will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator with no loss of flavor or nutritional value.

Adjust quantities of Teeccino to your own preference
Just as with coffee, some people like it strong while others prefer it weaker. Experiment by making several cups of Teeccino at different strengths to find the amount that you like best. Use a ratio of  2 to 3 teaspoons of Teeccino herbal coffee alternative per cup of water. If the batch you make tastes too strong, simply dilute it with additional water.

Serve Teeccino anyway you enjoy coffee.
Try it black or with milk, non-dairy milk, coconut milk, or half-and-half if that’s how you normally like your coffee. Taste the Teeccino before you add any sweetener. It has a naturally slightly sweet flavor from dates and figs, so you may not need additional sweetener. Instead of sugar, try honey, or for a calorie-free herbal sweetener, try a stevia tablet or a few drops of plain or flavored stevia extract liquid (vanilla and vanilla creme are my favorites).

Teeccino info and recipe excerpted from The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces by Rachel Albert-Matesz (Planetary Press, 2008).