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!

Anti-Cancer Strategies: Top 10 Foods to Decrease Inflammation

“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

Anti-Cancer Strategies: What Foods help Lower your Blood Sugar?

Can you name 10 foods that help lower your blood sugar and thus should be incorporated into your anti-cancer diet?

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?

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?

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.

Salmon Says, an Anti-Cancer Investigation: What Kind is Healthiest? Part 1. Meet the Many Species

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. 

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.

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. 

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?

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 N.D., a naturopath by training; the other, a PhD in nutrition. Both believe in working with conventional medicine as well.      

Anti-Cancer Recipe: Mediterranean Cauliflower

Mediterranean Cauliflower

Cauliflower isn’t known for its good taste, but it sure is easy to disguise. Plus, it’s a member of the royal family of anti-cancer foods–cruciferous vegetables, which I’ll blab about til the day I croak. Here’s a yummy way to dress it up.

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.   

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.   

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!

Anti-Cancer Foods: Crucifer Cooking Tips, Take Two

What to do–and NOT to do– with this bounty of kale?

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…  

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. 

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.

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.    

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. 

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

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.