Dr. Joe Schwarcz, McGill University
Drinking milk may raise your risk of breast cancer, says Montreal science writer Dr. Joe Schwarcz, pointing to a recent study from California’s Loma Linda University. While the evidence thus far on the breast cancer link has been conflicting, Loma Linda’s study “does ring some alarm bells,” Schwarcz says, in a column published today in the Montreal Gazette. Continue reading
Texas A&M’s Dr. Robert Chapkin lends his voice to the plant-based movement.
Over the past decade, many researchers studying anti-cancer mechanisms have focused on the intersection of diet and chronic inflammatory diseases, cancer included. The bottom line is becoming clear: Continue reading
Got milk? Got prostate cancer?
Psst, men–and all of you who care about men, growing boys or your own hormonal balance. How’s your DHT? That’s the powerful male hormone driving adolescent acne, then early hair loss, then later in life, Continue reading
“Again with the onions,” you’re probably screaming. Continue reading
While everyone else is taking to alcohol this Cinco de Mayo, dare to be different with an anti-cancer alternative: frozen matcha-ritas. Here’s the messipe:
Boston College biology professor Dr. Thomas Seyfried
May 2018 update: The answer to my question at the end of this post is “Yes it seems that you can get into ketosis on a plant-based diet.” Check out Miriam Kalamian and her “Keto for Cancer” book here. Long overnight fasts seem to be a good way to kickstart the process. Lupper, anyone?
For more on the metabolic approach to managing cancer, start with this very short summary of the New York Times’ recent piece. Talk with your oncologist and share Seyfried’s most recent article . Ask your oncologist to contact Seyfried at thomas.seyfried@bc.edu.
Dear Senator,
Meet the Moses of the metabolic movement, Dr. Thomas Seyfried.
For an overview of cancer as a metabolic disease, start here.
Cancer cells thrive on certain fuels–including glucose and glutamine, two key elements that you must inhibit in your anti-cancer diet. We’ve talked ad nauseum about glucose. But what about glutamine, an amino acid, a building block of protein? Continue reading
Myricetin may not yet grace your doctor’s anti-cancer tool kit, but put it on your prescription pad. Among all the phytonutrients, it’s what I call “plantastic”– blessed with a chemical structure that works some anti-cancer wonder.
Today, on World Cancer Day, go out and buy some cancer-fighting plants. Here are some musts for your anti-cancer kitchen: Continue reading
Today, on World Diabetes Day, it’s time to set the record straight: The cause of Type 2 diabetes and its precursor, insulin resistance, is saturated fats. They muck up your cells and the ability of your cells to use insulin.
Choo choo on that! Continue reading
As if Brazil didn’t have enough to worry about, now comes a new study that exposes the shady side of selenium. The selenium in Brazil nuts, it turns out, is not the kind associated with anti-cancer qualities. Continue reading
2018 update: For an update on Dr. Thomas Seyfried’s suggestions for treating cancer as a metabolic disease, read his article here or my piece summarizing that article.
Talk with your oncologist about using this approach and ask your oncologist to reach out to Dr. Seyfried at thomas.seyfried@bc.edu.
This week’s New York Times magazine features a story on a theme familiar to all of you readers of this anti-cancer blog : the metabolic approach to starving, or feeding, disease. It singles out insulin and a related hormone, Insulin Growth Factor-1, which we’ve talked about often. And if glucose, glutamine and certain fatty acids drive cancer growth, as the metabolic scientists quoted in the article suggest, then what could be more important than phytonutrients that keep cancer cells from utilizing those fuels? That’s another theme we’ve been addressing. Remember singing the praises of dill? Continue reading
Now that the holidays are behind us, let’s get back to celebrating life with some simple, health-promoting anti-cancer recipes. Instead of wine and canapés, treat yourself to a Berry Merry Tea Party—a handful of goji berries along with a cup of the finest tea. Here’s the black and white—and green and red—on your tea choices.
For any of you with cancer, please read the last three questions first. Continue reading
Here’s your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: an anti-cancer recipe for a Turmeric Concoction. Continue reading
Now that you’re eliminating mammary secretions on your anti-cancer diet, how do you decide which alternative to buy? It took a spreadsheet to figure out the answer. Continue reading
Yearning to know the best ways of preserving garlic’s anti-cancer properties? Continue reading
November 2013 update: Please read the groundbreaking news about crucifers! Scientists have recently discovered that lightly steamed cabbage has more anti-cancer compounds than raw cabbage (with one exception: qing gin cai is best raw)–and that you can cook any cabbage any way you want as long as you eat a little raw crucifer in the same meal. Radish, mustard, watercress, wasabi–any raw crucifer will do.
Most people will tell you to eat cabbage for its anti-cancer compounds, but they don’t explain that how you prepare it is key. If you want to get the anti-cancer benefits from cabbage, then heed this advice: Continue reading
Note: Writer-Producer Harriet Sugar Miller has been a health journalist and cancer survivor for almost two decades. In her past life (before children), she practiced law in NYC.
Although Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month wraps today, the disease remains– and will always be the beast that roused this anti-cancer blog.
In the words of McGill University’s Dr. Gerald Wiviott, we all need a trigger to help us get off our bums (Canadian for “butts”) and make changes: Inspiration, Motivation, Provocation and Support. Continue reading
The news this past week—that some rice and rice products are contaminated with arsenic—should spark a change in your anti-cancer eating habits.
Here’s the short version of the story: Continue reading
Summer’s waning. It’s your last chance to gather these anti-cancer wonders and preserve their pleasures for those long, winter nights. Get out today, and buy a bushel or four along with a large cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer, then Continue reading
When it comes to anti-cancer properties, some vegies tower above the others. Put leeks on top of that list. Continue reading
Hint: For an anti-cancer diet, one of these tops your choice of grains:
a/ steel cut oats b/ oat flakes c/ oat bran. Which one?
Gills down, this anti-cancer recipe wins the tastiest meal of the summer— Continue reading
We know that flaxseed appears to be an anti-cancer food for women and it may just do wonders for our sex drive, but what about for our men: Does it fight prostate cancer, too? Continue reading
Know anyone who has breast cancer? Doing your best to avoid it? Then consider this: Studies are showing that flaxseed can protect against breast cancer and prolong survival in women who have it. Continue reading
Should you include eggs in your anti-cancer diet? To be perfectly honest, Continue reading
Yikes. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but you might want to reconsider Grandma’s precious recipe. Roasted chicken, it turns out, is more pro- than anti-cancerous. Here are two reasons why: Continue reading
If you’ve been following the anti-cancer recipes in this blog, then you already have some ideas. Besides good old- fashioned water (not from a plastic bottle, especially if it’s been sitting around in heat), here are some healthy options: Continue reading
Hey, guys. It might be a bit difficult at first to wrap your new anti-cancer brain around this one, but you’ll get used to it: Continue reading
Note: One of the pitfalls of a plant-based diet is that some foods can soften the enamel on teeth. The acid in citrus can definitely do that, As a reader suggests, the solution is to rinse your mouth with water. And wait an hour or so before brushing. You don’t want to brush enamel that’s been softened.
D-limonene, to be precise. Put it in your anti-cancer vocabulary. It’s a member of a very fragrant class of molecules that abound in citrus–terpenoids or terpenes. And they’ve been shown to inhibit cancer cell progression and induce cell death. Continue reading
Ever notice how all the veggie juice recipes have you throwing in something sweet? Apples? Beets? Loads of carrots? Well, toss that taste for sweet out of your lifestyle. On the contrary, we’re trying to ignore our addiction to sugars and carbs til it vanishes. Kaput.
If you haven’t yet subscribed to Glowing Older, ® here’s a delicious anti-cancer recipe you’re likely missing:
Winter 2014 Update: Dr. Kristine Monroe’s most recent study (discussed briefly in the post below), which looks at the effects of grapefruit and its juice on healthy postmenopausal women, has just been published. She found that the whole fruit led to an increase in “the major form of circulating estrogen in postmenopausal women,” that grapefruit juices had no effect on that form of estrogen, but that they did lower another very potent form of estrogen.
“The take-away message from this pilot study is that the process of hormone metabolism and absorption is complicated,” Monroe said, and more research is clearly needed.
The few studies on grapefruit—and whether it has an anti-cancer benefits or promotes cancer—are definitely at odds.
It’s clear that grapefruit juice contains natural substances that can inhibit an enzyme system (called CYP3A4) responsible for metabolizing certain meds. The result: an increase of medication circulating in the blood, with potentially toxic side effects.
But can grapefruit also increase your estrogen? Continue reading
photo courtesy of http://www.jitterycook.com
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. –a Buddhist thought
And serving them salmon patties for breakfast is the greatest way to kick the morning carb habit. Salmon for breakfast? It’s a Martha Stewart favorite.
Loads of recipes are awaiting you in cyberspace. Here’s a good one: Continue reading
Photo courtesy of http://www.jitterycook.com
Now let’s turn this anti-cancer investigation to farmed Atlantic salmon and the countries that produce it: Norway, the largest producer, Scotland, Ireland and other European countries, Chile, Canada and to a smaller degree, the US. All of these countries are producing farmed Atlantic salmon, and unlike wild Pacific salmon, this choice is available year round.
How healthy—or not—is your farmed Atlantic salmon? Remember we’re talking human health impact here. Its environmental impact gets plenty of attention elsewhere. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This piece was posted in March 2012. Since that time, we have been learning more and more about the extent of damage caused by the March 2011 Fukushima disaster. I am revisiting the effects of that devastating incident on our Pacific Ocean fish supply and will update that info periodically.
SUMMARY So far, in this anti-cancer investigation, we’ve been talking about pollutants from industry, which concentrate in fat. Our conclusions:
Is wild Alaskan really the best?
With all the hoopla that surfaced in the mid 2000s about PCBs in farmed salmon plus the concerns about its environmental impact, health guru Dr. Andrew Weil and many others have been touting wild Alaskan salmon as your premium choice. But is the answer really that simple? Bear with me; it’s taken 6 months of this anti-cancer investigating to find out. Continue reading
January 2016 update: New research suggests that restricting the amino acid methionine may be a very important anti-cancer and anti-aging strategy. “ If I had cancer, I would certainly seek to restrict methionine in my diet, probably to 1 gram a day ” says Australian researcher Dr. Paul Cavuoto. Animal muscle is rich in methionine. A 3.5 ounce portion of salmon has just under 800 mg. In other words, if you have cancer, limit animals, including salmon.
Oh were it only so easy. Figuring out which salmon to buy is more like attempting your first round of Trivial Pursuit—the Slovakian edition. You need lots of obscure background information to succeed. Continue reading
When you were a kid and feeling queasy, did your mom indulge you with ginger ale? Not a bad hunch, but in many societies, there’s a much more indigenous way of spelling relief: Make ginger tea.
As you know from the post on inflammation, ginger is the great equalizer. It quells inflammation and soothes heartburn, upset stomach and nausea. What’s the key to preparing it? Continue reading
2014 update: Add to the BPA free list: Jovial organic tomatoes, Hunt’s plain canned tomatoes (but not any of their other tomato products.)
Today you’re making tomato sauce. Good choice. Tomatoes are prized for their lycopene, the pigment that turns them red and is associated with anti-cancer activity. Continue reading
Eat and Beat Cancer 