What’s so great about this week’s anti-cancer food–plain, pungent radishes? Let’s talk methylation, for starters.
Anti-Cancer Foods: Radishes are more than they’re cracked up to be
1
Tag Archives: health
Anti-Cancer Foods: How to Handle Garlic, Part 2
What’s wrong with this picture? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: Microgreens, Baby Green Warriors
Have you added microgreens to your anti-cancer foods list?
They’re not cheap, but ounce for ounce, these tiny first leaves of edible seedlings boast lots more nutrients than their mature counterparts. And the best part :
Anti-Cancer Foods: A Yellow Tea to Enhance your Green
What’s on your anti-cancer diet menu this morning? Oat bran and green tea? How about combining the green leaves with these yellow buds for some special effects? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Recipes: Nancy’s Triple-Star Tabbouleh
Before you head out to the market today, take a peek at this sample anti-cancer recipe from my upcoming book, “How to Create Your Plantastic Kitchen.” Try this simple, tasty, refreshing salad– all ingredients in perfect proportions (just like the recipe’s creator).
Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Update: Should you Worry about Fish from Japan? Summer 2013
Every so often in this anti-cancer food blog, I update you on Japan’s food supply post Fukushima. Not surprisingly, the inspection results are showing that certain fish are troublesome. Want to know which ones? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: An “Unusual Vegetable”
This week’s New York Times Diner’s Journal called it an “unusual vegetable,” but they didn’t tell you about the anti-cancer value of this stranger. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Recipes: What’s Wrong with Dr. Oz’s Beet Juice?
Dr. Oz’s raw beet juice may lower your blood pressure, but the recipes he’s flagging have no place in your anti-cancer kitchen.
For example? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Outrage: Thirdhand Smoke
Every so often in this anti-cancer blog, the science propels us to deviate from our nutrition and cancer focus and report to you on compelling research.
Remember secondhand smoke—the kind you get from nearby smokers? Now it turns out that thirdhand smoke, which clings to surfaces long after the source has departed, is also deadly—maybe even more so. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer News: Did you see the New York Times?
Dear followers,
Had to share this news with you: My latest anti-cancer article for Zester Daily made the New York Times! Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Strategies: Top 10 Foods to Decrease Inflammation
Note: Since this article first appeared in 2013, research has revealed that the amino acid methionine may fuel cancer. Uniquely among amino acids, it causes cells to produce free radicals of oxygen as they burn it for energy. Researcher Dr. Paul Cavuoto suggests that people with cancer should limit methionine to 1 gram a day max. That means restricing animal foods, even those with high omega 3 content. One 3 oz portion of cooked salmon has almost 700 mg–comparable to poultry and meat. Brazil nuts are also high in methionine. For more on the methionine story, read this piece, written in early 2016.
“One of the most significant medical discoveries of the 21st century is that inflammation is the common thread connecting chronic diseases,” writes Dr. Mark Hyman, author of several books on health and wellness. The conditions he’s talking about include diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even cancer, all driven by inflammatory foods in your diet. But the good news is Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Strategies: What Foods help Lower your Blood Sugar?
Can you name 10 foods that help lower your blood sugar and thus belong in your anti-cancer diet? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Strategies: Fats and Fasting, a Revolutionary Weapon for an Aggressive Enemy
Could coconut fat help turn the tide in the anti-cancer battle?
Update: Ketogenic diets may not offer the solution that scientists hoped for, but looking at how cancer cells burn fuel for energy is for sure generating insight into how cancer grows and spread. Since this article was published, some scientists have found that cancers can switch to feeding on ketones, which are generated by fat. They’ve also added some fatty acids to the list of nutrients that cancer cells may feed on. Palmitic acid, which is in coconut, may feed cancer, especially in people with certain genetic profiles. The good news is that scientists have also identified phytonutrients that keep cancer cells from using fatty acids as fuels. Among them, luteolin–present in radicchio, thyme, sage, parsley, celery flakes and seeds–is key.
Is the war on cancer now witnessing its own D-Day, a turning point in the anti-cancer fight that will change the world for good?
With the recent settlement of a major lawsuit among scientists over who owns the rights to new revolutionary approaches to managing cancer, all the experts in the field are presumably now free to talk openly—and what they’re talking about is a radical new view of the disease.
Anti-Cancer Recipes: How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Tea
So you’ve read “Anti-Cancer Recipes: Have a Berry Merry Tea Party” and have chosen the finest tea leaves. How do you prepare the perfect cup? Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Outrage: Shame on You, Canada
Bush-whacking the environment. That’s the best way to describe Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s George W. Bush-esque approach: When you can’t change the laws with public approval, just go ahead and do it any way you can. Continue reading
Salmon Says, an Anti-Cancer Investigation: What Kind is Healthiest? Part 1. Meet the Many Species
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
Anti-Cancer Foods: Carb Substitutes
Moo shoo veggies, wrapped in lettuce instead of carbs.
Resolved to cut carbs? Good idea. Carbs are linked to high blood sugar, which in turn is linked to diabetes, heart disease, fat and even cancer.
Here are some creative substitutes:
Anti-Cancer Foods: Grass Fed Beef
Anti-cancer Pasture Pie, our version of Shepherd’s.
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 so keep consumption low, especially if you have cancer.
Who said you can’t have a little beef every now and then on an anti-cancer diet? Just make sure it’s organic and grass-fed. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: Canned Beans?
Is it safe to add beans from a can to your anti-cancer pantry? Are some brands better than others?
Anti-Cancer Resources: Complementary Practitioners
Want advice about complementary approaches?
September 2018 update Add to the list the following naturopaths who take a metabolic approach to cancer:
You or someone you know facing a cancer diagnosis? Need help getting through treatments? Want to know which supplements might be beneficial or harmful? I’ve researched this thoroughly for my own well-being and guarantee that these resources are tops. One’s an M.D; one’s an N.D., a naturopath; the other, a PhD in nutrition. They all believe in working with conventional medicine as well. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Recipe/Contest: Watercress
What’s a good way to store watercress? Read on…
Today, we’re adding a new feature to the site: We give you the anti-cancer ingredient; you give us your best recipe. This week, the star is watercress, a crucifer with a strong bite, both nutritionally and in its peppery taste.
Alcohol and Cancer
What does kale have to do with alcohol? You’ll have to read to the end to find out.
For a brief update on alcohol’s link to breast cancer, click here.
The proof keeps getting stronger and stronger: Alcohol increases your risk of getting cancer, especially certain common kinds. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Dietary Strategies: The Basics, Part 2
Epigallocatechin gallates (EGCGs) from green tea were one of the first dietary components identified as protective against angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells develop blood vessels in order to grow and spread. Today researchers have found many more compounds that affect angiogenesis.
Exactly how do foods impact our ability to fight cancer? We started talking about that in Part I of The Basics. I owe you a better explanation. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Alert: Has your Sardine been Swimming in Japan?
Sardines, anchovies, mackerel and herring are all good sources of healthy omega 3 fats—small fish that feed low on the food chain, hence less susceptible to accumulating pollutants. But whoa! Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: Crucifer Cooking Tips, Take Two
What to do–and NOT to do– with this bounty of kale?
November 2013 update: Please read the groundbreaking news about crucifers!
Cruciferous veggies may seem tough on the outside, but as we talked about in the first post on these anti-cancer wonders, they’re highly sensitive to boot. If you don’t handle them properly, their magic powers could literally evaporate.
University of Warwick scientist Dr. Paul Thornalley explains: Crucifers contain compounds called glucosinolates that, when mixed with an enzyme (myrosinase), get converted to another compound (isothiocyanates )with high cancer prevention activity. Talk about a mouthful… Continue reading
Anti Cancer Recipes: Holly’s Great Greek Beans
Beans are not just good for your heart, as the saying goes. Their high-fiber content helps control your blood sugar and moves foods through your gut, binding carcinogens on the way. That makes them good for preventing other chronic conditions, including diabetes and cancer.
Montreal’s Jittery Cook/blogger Holly Botner has a great recipe for Greek lima beans, inspired by the wealth of great Greek restaurants in Montreal. I like to add some oregano for extra flavor as well as its cancer-fighting properties. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Strategies: Countering Radiation
Dahl soup with mung beans
Taking CT scans or radiation treatments? Confused about what to eat in the wake of Japan’s quake?
● For starters, try miso soup, prescribed by Japanese doctors for radiation poisoning after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Miso is made by fermenting barley, soybeans and/or brown rice with salt and a fungus loaded with enzymes and probiotics. According to Japanese researchers, it helps protect the body from absorbing radiation. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Recipes: Broccoli Puttanesca
A tasty dinner, in 20 minutes …
Forget the pasta. It’s loaded with carbs, which wreak havoc with your blood sugar–and you probably know by now that sugar metabolism has been linked to cancer growth. Here, broccoli flowers stand in for pasta and give you cancer-fighting nutrients to boot. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: Turmeric’s Many Talents
Turmeric concoction with chickpeas
Turmeric, the yellow spice that gives curry its bright color and peppery flavor, has been revered in India and China for thousands of years for its wide range of medicinal properties.
Its active ingredient, curcumin, is arguably nature’s most powerful anti-inflammatory and has shown great promise in many studies as an anti-cancer agent —reducing tumor growth and metastases, helping stimulate cancer cells to commit suicide and enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Continue reading
Anti-Cancer Foods: Holy Crucifers The Key is How you Cook them
Broccoli and particularly its powerful baby sprouts are among the reigning monarchs in the crucifer family
November 2013 update: Please read the groundbreaking news about crucifers!
Along with vegetables from the Allium family, cruciferous ones TOP the list of foods that fight cancer: Broccoli sprouts and broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collards, mustard greens, arugula, watercress, rutabaga and radishes.
The reason:
Anti-Cancer Foods: Garlic Breath and Onion Sense
Meet the Allium family: garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, shallots and chives.
When it comes to cancer, they’re incendiary–packed with sulphur containing molecules that ward off disease. And no wonder they’re so powerful. They originated in central Asia north of Afghanistan—as pests go, a tough neck of the woods.
The ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Greeks all cherished Alliums for their medicinal value, and in the mid 1800s Louis Pasteur proved them right. He showed that garlic fights bacteria. Continue reading
Eat and Beat Cancer 