Planting a garden could save your life. 

30 year-old Mioyo Shujaa certainly thinks so.  When she was diagnosed with uterine fibroid tumors in 2009, the doctor told her surgery was the only hope.  Two months later, Shujaa left her job and health insurance behind, “For me, the diagnosis was a wake-up call.  I felt that years of poor nutrition, stress at work and never feeling like my time was my own were wreaking havoc on me – physically, mentally and spiritually. ”

Shujaa and her partner, Burt Vera Cruz, became determined to not only shrink Shujaa’s tumors, but to transition into a life that they loved loving.  For Vera Cruz, establishing a more organic lifestyle was all but critical,  “Having the ability to nurture yourself and  feed yourself natural, organic food s that are free of chemicals eliminates your reliance on a system that is increasingly dependent on fossil fuels and creating more pollutants.”

The couple began growing heirloom vegetables in paper cups in their Los Angeles apartment in the fall of 2009.  Several harvests later Shujaa reports an increase in her overall health and a decrease in the symptoms and size of her fibroid tumors, “I don’t plan to go to another hospital again for the rest of my life.  I believe that the human body is naturally capable of maintaining health and warding off diseases when free of toxins and unnecessary stress.”

Unfortunately, chronic diseases appear to be on the rise-especially in the United States.

According to a 2007 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute, 1 in 2 Americans will suffer from some form of cancer in their lifetime. 

50 years ago the occurrence of cancer in the US was 1 in 300. 

 In 1928 the late German researcher and physician, Dr. Max Gerson, believed he’d found the cure for not only all cancers, but for most chronic and degenerative diseases – organic vegetables. 

Before his death, Dr. Gerson claimed to have cured hundreds of patients through an herbal detoxifying regiment and nutrient-rich organic vegetable juices.

Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, cofounder of the Center for Integrative Medicine, concurs that 5 or more servings of organic vegetables per day is an essential part of the anti-cancer diet. 

The NCI estimates that the numbers of new cases of cancer will more than double by 2050.  The key to avoiding this fate, it seems, could be homegrown.