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Dr. Ruth Heidrich
Known as the ‘other Dr Ruth‘, Ruth Heidrich is a six-time Ironman Triathlon
finisher, has held age-group records in distances from 100-metre dashes to
ultramarathons, pentathlons, and triathlons. She has completed 67 marathons
including Boston, New York, Moscow, Honolulu, has held three world fitness
records at the famed Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, named one of the ‘Ten
Fittest Women in North America.’ A graduate of UCLA, she holds a Master’s
degree in Psychology, and a doctorate in Health Education. She has also
lectured in this field at the University of Hawaii, Stanford University, and
Cornell University. Author of Senior Fitness, A Race For Life, The CHEF
Cook/Rawbook, she has an ‘Ask Dr Ruth’ column on her website, www.ruthheidrich.com
Here is her story in her own words.
I was 47 years old and believed I was as healthy as I could possibly be!
Talk about being positive, I thought I had it all! My career was taking off, my
kids were successfully launched, and I loved all the travel that my job provided.
I’d studied nutrition in college and ate what I was told was a very healthy diet,
lots of chicken and fish and low-fat dairy. I was in the best physical shape of my
life except for a little arthritis which I was told everybody gets by the time
they’re 30. I’d starting daily running at the age of 33 and found I loved it! So, at
this time, I’d been a runner for 14 years and had even run a bunch of
marathons.
What I didn’t know was that my life was about to be dumped upside
down. While in the shower that morning, I found a lump in my breast. I got
right in to see a doctor, but he just remarked, ‘Oh, you’re too young for breast
cancer.’ He did, however, order a mammogram, ‘just to be sure’, he said. The
results were negative—a false negative as it turned out—because of my dense
breasts, it didn’t pick up any abnormality. I was told to come back for yearly
checks. The next year, the same result. The third year, however, the lump was
now golf-ball sized and very visible! The doctor looked shocked and ordered an
immediate biopsy. The diagnosis: infiltrating ductal cancer, an invasive cancer
that had already spread, indicated by ‘hot spots’ in my bones, a lung tumour,
and elevated liver enzymes!
I was so stunned and disbelieving that I got second, third and even fourth
opinions. Each doctor confirmed the findings, and as for my prognosis, none
could tell me whether I had three months, three years or what, just that it was
‘not good.’ They all recommended the standard chemo., radiation and
tamoxifen. I could not believe my body betrayed me in such a manner! I was
doing everything I was told were all the right things to be healthy.
I was slated for chemotherapy but dreaded going down that path—but
terrified not to. I started searching for alternatives, any kind of help, anything—
I did not want to die! That was when I found a tiny three-line newspaper item,
‘Wanted, women with breast cancer to participate in cancer/diet research
study.’ I was sure that my ‘healthy’ diet (and I’d been told by the oncologist
that my diet had nothing to do with my breast cancer), so I thought this would
help prove it one way or the other. I ran to the phone and was put right through
to Dr John McDougall. I was so shocked to get him in person that I was
sputtering, trying to tell him that I’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer. He
said, ‘Get your medical records and come down to my office right away.’
After I got there, he was looking over my lab results. ‘Hmmm,’ he said.
‘What now?’ I was thinking. Another shock when he said, ‘You know, with
cholesterol of 236, you are at as high a risk of dying of a heart attack as you are
the cancer.’
I was literally stunned by the deception of my body and what was
happening—cancer, arthritis, and, now, heart disease? I was a marathoner, for
goodness sake! These things don’t happen to people like me! What is going on?
Dr McDougall said, ‘Don’t worry, all of this can be reversed and avoided.
Change your diet, and you’ll lower your cholesterol, lower your risk of heart
disease, and reverse the cancer. And, in order to show that it’s the diet that’s
responsible for these changes, you must not have any chemo. or radiation.’ Wait
a minute, I thought, undergo chemo. and radiation or change my diet? If Dr
McDougall is right, and I saw the research that supported his claim, I’d be crazy
not to go with the diet! ‘OK, what do I do?’ Dr McDougall said: ‘It’s very
simple—eliminate all animal foods and oils from your diet. Your diet will
consist of plant foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes.’
No ‘transitioning’ for me—in less than two hours, I was vegan! I found the
diet amazingly easy to follow. I already loved brown rice, whole grain breads
and oatmeal; I just had to replace the chicken, fish and dairy with vegetables
and fruit, and throw out all the oils.
My body responded immediately. The next morning I discovered I’d been
constipated all my life but never knew it. I now know what ‘normal’ is, thank
goodness!
When I returned to the oncologist, I told him what I was doing. He
responded by saying that diet had nothing to do with my getting breast cancer
and I couldn’t possibly get enough protein, calcium, and essential fatty acids. I
made a mental note to check that out with Dr McDougall. In addition to the hot
spots in my bones, I was having serious bone pain that medication could not
relieve. A month later, those hot spots had significantly receded, and within
three months, they were gone, as was the bone pain. The chest X-rays, however,
to this day, still show an encapsulated tumour in my left lung. It hasn’t grown
in 29 years, and my liver enzymes are now normal.
The oncologist had no explanation for the findings and told me further
that my new diet couldn’t have any effect on the cancer, and that I was taking a
risk in continuing to refuse chemo., radiation, and tamoxifen. Back to Dr
McDougall I went! I was reassured when he again showed me the dismal
results of chemo. and radiation plus data indicating I’d get plenty of all the
needed nutrients.
It was during all this turmoil that I happened to see the Ironman Triathlon
on TV. I was awe-struck and thought, ‘I’ve got to do that!’ I saw the 2.4-mile
swim, the 112-mile bike, and then the 26-mile marathon. I knew I could handle
the marathon and thought just adding swimming and biking would be a piece
of cake! Then it hit me, I’ve got cancer and, besides, looking at all the young
bodies, at 47 I’m way too old to do this. I then realized what an opportunity I
was being given: diet does affect cancer and I can show people that you can do
one of the toughest races in the world on a vegan diet and, at a relatively
advanced age to boot! I got excited at the possibilities and joined two running
clubs, got a swim coach, took a bicycle repair course, and was obsessed with
training in all three sports. Training daily, I could see amazing progress in my
speed and endurance. What’s more, I was enjoying my workouts, gaining
confidence that I could attain one of the most ambitious goals I’d ever set for
myself—to be an ‘Ironman’!
I did have to dig deep, however, as I was challenged like I’d never been
before! Crossing that finish line of my first Ironman, I experienced indescribable
feelings—a mix of joy, empowerment, exhilaration, and total fatigue! I could
not have gone another step!
Since my diagnosis in 1982, I have completed the Ironman six times, run
67 marathons, have won nearly 1,000 gold medals including eight gold medals
in the Senior Olympics, won the title of ‘One of the Ten Fittest Women in North
America,’ and have a fitness age of 32, although chronologically, I am 76.
Because of the history of osteoporosis on both sides of my family, I tracked
my bone density and found significant increases with each test. I was obviously
getting enough calcium on this diet. I was also very pleasantly surprised to
discover that my arthritis disappeared and I could stop taking Naprosyn,
(Aleve, or naproxen), the drug prescribed for my arthritis that I was told I
would need to take the rest of my life. My joints today not only are not arthritic,
but I actually do my own little daily triathlon as part of my regular training!
How about that? A 76-year-old triathlete! I never thought my life could take
such a positive turn and am thankful that I found out, in time, the dramatic
impact diet has on our health!
Regarding the rationale for avoiding any kind of oil, the healthiest foods
are whole foods with little or no refinement or processing. Taking a whole food
like corn, olives, etc. and extracting and concentrating the natural oils from
them, represent the extreme in processing, leaving 100 per cent calories from fat
and is certainly not helping in the battle of epidemic obesity in this country. As
for the touted omega 3s in fish oils, it’s far better to get them from the source.
Fish do not make omega 3s; they get them from the sea greens, and we can do
the same, either from sea greens or any of the many other sources such as leafy
greens, walnuts, and flax seeds.
We also know that a low-fat (ten per cent calories from fat) diet lowers our
risk of heart disease, most cancers but especially breast cancer, stroke, diabetes,
and many other of the common Western afflictions. The substantiating citations
for all this is in my book, Senior Fitness.
Here’s what I now eat.
Breakfast
Served in a large bowl, lots of greens for the base: mixed organic greens, 1
stalk kale, 10 or so sprigs of parsley or cilantro, half a mango, 1 large banana,
and half dozen large, seeded globe grapes. Top off with 1 rounded tablespoon
of B12-fortified nutritional yeast, and 1–2 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses.
Because I eat this after my daily workout, this is served late and I eat no
midday meal.
Supper
Lots more greens for the base: mixed organic greens, 3–4 broccoli florettes, 1
stalk of kale, 1 stalk of celery, a quarter head of green or red cabbage, 1 large
carrot, half a red (or orange, green, or yellow) bell pepper, half a large field
tomato, half a sliced yam or sweet potato, raw. On top of this, add to taste,
prepared salsa (mild, medium or hot), 1 tablespoon of regular mustard, 1
tablespoon of flax seed, freshly ground, a general sprinkle of curry powder,
and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
Dessert
A base of blueberries (fresh or frozen, depending on availability and
season)—usually 1 cup, plus about 8–9 prunes, topped with a handful of
walnuts, and a liberal sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
Snacks
For those times when the hunger pangs strike, I eat carrot or celery sticks,
grapes, dates, and in the evening, plain air-popped popcorn.
You’ll see that my diet consists mainly of raw foods. Raw is better than cooking
as cooking does reduce the vitamin content of the food but this is not absolutely
essential—the essential thing is to cut out the oils and to go to a plant based
diet. For me it is just more convenient to eat the foods raw—and actually I
prefer it.
From"25 Survivor Stories", a free e-book , courtesy of Jonathan Chamberlain Download it here
http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/cancersurvivors1.pdf
DR. RUTH: A LIVING LEGEND
At 79 years young, Ruth Heidrich, Ph.D., is a seasoned raw vegan Ironman (or as she likes to say, “IronLADY”) Triathlete. She is the winner of more than 900 trophies, 6 Ironman Triathlons, 8 Gold Medals in the U.S.Senior Olympics, and 67 marathons including Boston, New York, & Moscow. Named One of the Ten Fittest Women in North America, she is also a breast cancer survivor and author of A Race for Life,Senior Fitness, The CHEF Cook/Rawbook, and her most recent book, Lifelong Running: How to Overcome the 11 Myths of Running & Live a Healthier Life.
