Amy Likins, a yoga teacher, holistic nutrition and wellness coach and the owner of the new organic Farm To Table restaurant, remembers vividly the day her dad was diagnosed with cancer. “ I felt like somebody just pulled the earth out from under me,” she relates. Likins teaches her students to be in the moment and ride the wave of experience, so when she surrendered to the reality of what was happening, she realized that she had been preparing for that moment for several years. Then, at the tail end of her studies in holistic nutrition, she had been learning what to do to prevent and reverse disease using a whole foods diet and lifestyle.

 

Likins remembers learning about overconsumption of congesting- and acid-forming foods as a primary cause of most degenerative disease like cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Foods like conventionally raised meats, dairy, grains, sugar, processed foods, sodas, alcohol and coffee can add a burden to the body’s systems, causing them to clog up and malfunction and getting in the way of health and wellness

.

Likins says, “Through juicing, we are able to give the body a rest from the work of digestion and assimilation and provide it plenty of easy-to-absorb antioxidants, phytonutrients vitamins and minerals to support the body’s ability to first eliminate the excess toxins and burdens that are preventing it from being healthy, and then to also support the continued functioning of the new cells.”

 

In Likins’ dad’s case, they provided his body with nothing but the best fuel to help support the healthy cells and help keep them safe from cancer, as well as protect his body from the harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which often increase the chances of developing a secondary cancer.

 

The diet Likins helped create for her dad focuses on 100 percent low-glycemic whole foods, with lots of fresh vegetables and greens, salmon and other fish and organic chicken, along with healthy fats like coconut oil and olive oil as the mainstay. Additionally, sea vegetables, essential oils and other whole food supplements were assigned to help his body heal. Generally, with cancer and other major illnesses, there is a need for more nutrients because the body has both higher demand and a weakened ability to absorb the nutrition that is coming in. Blending and juicing the vegetables allows for the greatest access to the nutrients and an easily absorbable source of nutrition.

 

Although it was still a long journey through treatment and recovery, the family is certain that their attention to diet and refusal to compromise on quality was a big part of why he did so well. Now, more than three years later, her father is cancer-free. Her dad has adopted many of the changes in diet they made during his treatment as a part of his new, more balanced and healthy approach to life. Amy encourages him, “Now that you are free from the disease, we need to keep it that way.”

 

Her dad frequently helps out at her juice bar and the farmers’ market these days. Other permanent lifestyle changes he’s made include eating organic food and whole foods as much as possible, increasing his fruit and vegetable intake by including a green juice, or what he calls a greenie; a drink made of blended fruits, vegetables and greens in the Vitamix, on most days, and has recently started including wheatgrass as a healthy addition to his new lease on life.

 

 

Likin spends her days teaching others about healing their bodies and minds naturally, using a whole foods diet regular cleansing, yoga, meditation and a holistic approach to life as her tools. Find her at the Synergy Organic Juice Bar and Café.