Hepatitis C Survival

A Survival Guide for Everyday Life

When one is faced with the prospect of living with the hepatitis C virus for the rest of their life, it can be devastating on a psychological level. One of the main reasons for this is that it is difficult to deal with uncertainty, especially when you feel powerless to change anything your self. Well it does not have to be like this because you have the ability to protect your body from this virus to a very significant degree, even if the virus remains in your body. In my experience as a medical doctor, I like to condense things down to vital strategies and for any chronic illness and/or infection these are –

• Make it show results within 4 to 6 months
• Make it achievable for busy people
• Keep it simple and basic, as most people are not capable of making or willing to make huge changes to a diet and/or lifestyle that they enjoy
• Keep it affordable especially for those on a budget
• Keep it honest with realistic expectations

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Nutritional Medicine is your best strategy

Protect & Repair your liver with Nutritional Medicine

Thank God that the liver is able to repair and regenerate itself because this is what enables many hepatitis C sufferers to completely turn their life around. Because of this amazing design feature of the liver, there is always hope. It is important to understand that the chemotherapy of Interferon/Ribaviron is designed to eradicate the hepatitis C virus. This chemotherapy does NOT directly help the liver; in other words it will NOT improve liver function or promote liver repair. Thus even if you have used or will use this type of chemotherapy, it is foolish to disregard the power of nutritional medicine.

Nutritional medicine can effectively improve liver function and stimulate the regeneration of new healthy liver cells, as well as repairing damaged liver cells. We have many testimonials from hepatitis C patients who have achieved this using our simple and easy strategies. This is evidence based medicine, as there is a huge amount of research that shows that the use of specific herbs, vitamins, minerals and foods can improve liver function. Of course you should always seek guidance from a professional Naturopath or doctor before trying anything, and remember you can always contact our service via email or telephone.

Vital survival strategies for Hepatitis C sufferers

A 38-year old man with hepatitis C phoned our American office in Phoenix Arizona during October 2003 and complained to one of our naturopathic doctors that he found our approach to hepatitis C too difficult. He was genuinely upset, as he wanted to improve his health quickly, because he had a very high viral load count and a virulent genotype. He had the typical dilemma of whether he should take chemotherapy or not, in view of the awful side effects he was sure to endure, as well as the slim chances of success he was given because of the nasty genotype he had. So he wanted to try nutritional medicine first to see if he could avoid the chemotherapy. However he found the dietary strategies in the Liver Cleansing diet Book, too strict, rigid and foreign for his lifestyle and tastes. He also thought that he would have to take 10 different tablets/supplements to improve his chances of success, and he was unable to afford the cost of this. No wonder he felt angry, confused and powerless!

So here is my reply to this relatively young man, who in all probability faces a lifetime living with the nasty hepatitis C virus.

• You do NOT have to make sweeping or huge changes to your diet and/or lifestyle – only a few vital changes/additions are required
• You do NOT have to take lots of different expensive supplements or products
• You will see results within 4 to 6 months, which will manifest in an improvement in well-being and energy. Many of our patients will achieve a reduction in their liver enzymes within 4 months, which translates into an improvement in liver function.

The vital strategies which you need to follow are –

1 . Include salads in your diet.
Made with fresh raw vegetables such as tomatoes, shallots, sliced red onion, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, endives, radicchio, celery, red radish, avocado, shredded cabbage, carrots and beets and grated horseradish, ginger etc. You can use a dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and/or lemon and lime juice. Try to have a salad 4 to 5 times a week, or ideally every day.

2. Make yourself raw vegetable and fruit juices regularly .
Ideally you should do this everyday, however even if you make raw juices only two to three times a week, you will see tremendous benefits. Raw juicing is vital – you will need a juice extracting machine, which is a worthwhile investment.

A basic juice to improve liver function can be made with equal parts of –

• Apple
• Carrot and/or beet root
• Cabbage of different colors – one week choose a purple-red cabbage and the next week choose a green cabbage.

It is even better to use different combinations of vegetable and fruit juices and for delicious and powerful healing recipes I recommend that you get my book titled “Raw Juices can save your Life”

Reduce or avoid the use of –

• Alcohol
• Coffee
• Sodas and diet pop

Some people will find that these substances upset their sense of well-being, whilst in others a small to moderate intake of coffee and/or alcohol produces no adverse effects. It really is a trial and error thing. Do not drink more than 2 alcoholic drinks daily and ideally, do not drink alcohol every day. Heavy smoking of cigarettes will weaken your immune system compromising its ability to fight the virus.

Things you do NOT have to do

You do not have to –
Become vegetarian and you can enjoy red meats, pork and poultry. It is advisable to eat only fresh lean good quality meats and poultry. Try not to consume excess amounts of preserved meats such as pizza meats, jerky, salami, provolone, sausages, hot dogs or hamburger meats, as these are often high in unfriendly bacteria.

You do not have to –
Follow the Liver Cleansing Diet unless you want to, as some people will find it does not suit their tastes and/or lifestyle. You will find more recipe ideas in my book titled “The Healthy Liver & Bowel Book.”

You do not have to –
Become obsessive about using organic foods and/or produce or avoiding all fast foods. It is important to enjoy life and the stress of trying to be perfect will weaken the immune system and make you more likely to blow your new found good habits completely. Many people with hepatitis C have financial problems and cannot afford to purchase expensive organic foods and indeed this is not necessary. As long as you purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and consume these regularly you will achieve the desired result in improving your liver function and immune system.

You do not have to –

Purchase an expensive juicer – if you are on a budget, a basic juice extracting machine will do the job very well.