Will Ip
In early 2021, I noticed my stomach not feeling normal. It felt akin to ulcer-type sensations. After the encouragement of a friend to get it checked out, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I followed the advice and treatment of traditional health care professionals (including dietary recommendations) yet the ulcer-type symptoms continued along with other unpleasant ones. It was then that I was fortuitously introduced to Hanna. I hold Hanna’s professionalism and service delivery with the utmost regard. She is highly knowledgeable and logical in her approach to vetting out and assessing the oceans of information (and misinformation) out in the wild regarding nutrition and health, providing ample sources of evidence-based resources to satiate curious and skeptical minds. As such, I wished I had engaged with professional health coaches earlier in my life. After a few weeks of implementing her diet plan for me, I am about 99% free of the ulcer-type symptoms and normalized bodily evacuation functions. She is highly responsive and generously available with regard to communication and follow-up. My consults and interactions with her have only solidified my sentiments that she is a sincere, genuine, and caring human being as evidenced by her demeanor and provisioned content during our communications as she is an empathetic listener validating my thoughts with consideration before providing me her professional guidance.
Jessica Threinen
I would encourage anyone who is or has a loved one who is fighting cancer to work with Hana. She is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about being healthy both, during and after defeating cancer. I really believe she is the best of the best. When my family and I felt hopeless about the doctor’s prognosis on my father's life (12-18 months max- and only if he could handle the extensive chemo and radiation that would only help to prolong but not save his life) we turned to alternative options. Hanna was there with support and advice, and she was so positive. Well, sure enough, we are at the end of the 18 months, dad was never sick during treatment, he has been feeling great overall, and surprising us all he went back to work full time. He continues to follow the regime Hanna suggested and is continuing to beat the odds. His cancer, although very aggressive and the terminal has not progressed, and doctors encourage him to continue "whatever it is he is doing!" My family and I cannot thank Hanna enough for her skill and expertise. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, we are forever grateful. You are an absolute angel!
Carol Gazda
Wayne had brain surgery for his glioblastoma on January 1, 2016. His prognosis was 18 months. He has a few issues unavoidably caused by the surgery but is happy and healthy with Hanna's help. She gave us a guide for his diet and physical well-being that has supported his ability to keep cancer at bay. We will keep on with this valuable guide and are grateful for her ongoing help. It is my pleasure to share how much you've made a difference in his life!!
Travis Feeney
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer for a second time, I went through an intense regimen of chemotherapy. After two years of recovery, I finally found out just how badly the chemotherapy hurt my body. After a year and a half of trying to get back to my fitness and ideal weight, to no avail, nothing that I use to do was working. After consulting with my family doctor and coordinating with my oncologist, they advised me to go on a plant-based diet. Plain and simple. I called Hanna Rakowska, who is one of my closest friends and a Registered Nutritionist. The dietary change was initially very overwhelming, but I wanted my health and happiness for the long foreseeable future. I knew I had to do it and commit to this change.
Rudy Pospisil
I was born and raised in Vancouver, and have been a firefighter for 30 years. I have cycled around the world following the rules set by Guinness, setting a few world records. I recently completed two full Ironman triathlons and swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I hope you will find my story not only interesting but may change or possibly even save your life.
After 20 years as a firefighter, I got my first cancer. Ten years later, I contracted cancer again. Both were attributed to my occupation. I saw Hanna during my second cancer treatment, explaining what my diet consisted of at work: hamburgers, steaks, giant greasy pizzas, take-out, and fast food- there was no time for fruits or vegetables.
I wanted other firefighters to be aware of the link between diet and cancer, so I set out on a journey to raise money for a cancer charity by cycling around the world to help others and spread the word to firefighters around the world about diet. It took me ten years to complete my 29, 000 km journey. In the beginning, I could only ride maybe 30 or 40 km a day but as time wore on and I started eating the specific foods Hanna suggested should become more common in my diet, I turned became a finely tuned machine. I was 50 years old and cycled 100 to 200 km per day. I rode mountains, deserts, and jungles and geared my diet for the terrain and distances. I ate whole foods prepared by myself and never ate store-bought frozen or processed foods. I increased my magnesium and potassium intake, and my blood pressure was at the level of a 20-year-old athlete.
After I finished my journey, I found that a healthy cancer-fighting diet was not as complicated as people think it will be. I only ate fresh whole foods that I prepared. I also avoided red meat and processed foods.
I wish I had changed my diet when I was 20 years old. I likely would have avoided the battles I had with cancer. But I have turned that experience into a story and an upcoming film to try to inspire others to live a healthy, fit life with a good diet based on whole foods. Because your doctor likely isn’t going to tell you that!
Leah Avery
I was first introduced to Hanna shortly after starting my breast cancer treatments. I was in pretty rough shape. Fatigued, in pain, with inflammation throughout my body. I had digestive issues, sleep issues, and was stressed and anxious. Hanna got me back on track to a balanced state of health. Within the first 4 weeks of following the individualized plan she put together for me, I could already see and feel improvement. My pain and inflammation levels from the chemo decreased and became manageable, my energy levels increased, my bloating and heartburn resolved, and my digestive issues improved greatly. My stress and anxiety became almost nonexistent. I was able to complete all my chemotherapy appointments on time because my blood work stayed within the normal range. I also lost my post-chemo weight faster than I had prior to these dietary and lifestyle changes. The weight came off within one week as opposed to three weeks after previous chemo sessions. After a few months on the plan, I had very few issues anymore. When it was time to prepare for surgery, Hanna created another plan to get my body strong and ready for surgery, and then again another plan for post-operatory recovery. My radiation treatments went well with only little reaction and I healed quickly because I was taking care of not only my external but also internal health. Hanna has been a tremendous help. Her dietary and lifestyle recommendations are a big part of what got me through treatments as well as I did. She is an absolutely wonderful person to work with and I look forward to continuing to work with her toward my greater health during my continued recovery.
Sebastian Shaw
I am totally grateful. I am seeing physical progress on the new diet. My energy levels are improving and I also lost less hair during my latest chemo with the new diet in place. The swelling on my abdomen is also getting back to normal again. I have fewer digestion problems now. And, I am feeling pretty much back to normal, where I don't need any medication anymore, such as my water pill.
Julie-Anne Keefe
I found Hanna through social media as I was looking for nutritional guidance to help heal my body and balance my hormones after cancer treatments and surgery. Not knowing how to navigate the abundance of information out there on healthy eating, I was excited to find someone who was extremely knowledgeable and truly cared about helping me in my journey to a healthier life. Hanna listened to all my concerns and went right to work on helping me incorporate the best foods to heal and strengthen my body. When you go through cancer at a young age, it’s hard to find someone who completely understands what you’ve been through physically, mentally and emotionally. Because Hanna had been through cancer before, I totally trusted her expertise and knew she was using evidence based information to back up all her recommendations. I make her recipe for the ultimate cancer fighting smoothie every day and have been using everything that she taught me to live a cleaner, healthier and more balanced life. She was a pleasure to work with and I couldn’t be more grateful to have met her! Thank you Hanna!!
