Ruth Heidrich, Hawaiian Athlete and Breast Cancer Reversal

For my first 47 years of life, everything went well. I felt perfectly healthy. I ran daily for 14 years, including three marathons, and ate what I considered to be a very healthy diet, with plenty of lean chicken, fish, and low-fat dairy.

What I didn’t know was that cancer was growing in my right breast; that is, until it grew to the size of a golf ball. When the lump was detected I was rushed off to surgery to have it removed. Recovering from the surgery, I was given the bad news: The tumour was malignant. Later, the doctor informed me that the cancer had spread throughout the breast and into my bones and one lung. The prognosis did not look good. While paging through the newspaper during my recovery I saw a call for volunteers for a breast cancer study involving diet. I signed up.

After meeting with Dr. McDougall in 1982 as part of that study, I left his office with instructions to follow a low-fat, vegan diet. That diet changed my life. I am now cancer free. Since my diagnosis three decades ago, I have completed the Ironman Triathlon six times, run 67 marathons, won more than a thousand racing trophies, and been declared “One of the Ten Fittest Women in North America.” At age 74 I had a “fitness age” of 32. I’ve even written a book about my recovery: A Race for Life: A Diet and Exercise Program for Superfitness and Reversing the Aging Process. ²