Book on Fighting Cancer, with Food

[helwen]

"Anticancer, A New Way of Life", by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, Prevention

He was diagnosed with brain cancer about 16 years ago, received chemo, went into remission for a while, then two surgeriers and more chemo. Asked about diet and his oncologist said it didn't matter, eat whatever he liked.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber instead did a lot of research, looking at studies, and finding out about all the anticancer foods available (apparently nutrition isn't something taught about to doctors). He met with researches, did more research, and wrote a book. MSNBC had a short article a week or so ago with some of the information in it -- I ordered the book today, one copy for us and one for a friend of mine whose husband has Stage 4 colon cancer. These foods probably won't 'cure' the cancer because of his disease's advanced state, but it may help him to feel healthier and function better for whatever time he has left. And, it may prolong his life for a while. He's only 38, married with two kids. Been fighting for a year now. I remember that they found it by accident; his back had been bothering him so he'd gone in to have the back pain checked out..


So on the book, the doctor found that some foods...

"block natural bodily processes such as inflammation that fuels cancer growth. Others force cancer cells to die through a process that specialists call apoptosis. Still other foods assist the body in detoxifying cancer-causing toxins or protecting against free radicals. But most of them attack the disease on a variety of fronts. And they do it every day, three times a day, without provoking any side effects. To avoid the disease, it's essential to take advantage of this natural protection, and nurture it.

I've learned that the anticancer diet is the exact opposite of the typical American meal: mostly colorful vegetables and legumes, plus unsaturated fats (olive, canola, or flaxseed oils), garlic, herbs, and spices. Meat and eggs are optional. Through extensive research, I devised a list of the most promising cancer fighters, along with recommendations on how to make the most of their potential. Include at least one, and preferably two, at every meal, to maximize your protection.

To date, there is no alternative approach that can cure cancer, and I believe that the best of conventional medicine — surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and soon, molecular genetics — must be used to treat this disease. But to neglect your own natural cancer-fighting capacity is folly. I've kept cancer at bay for 8 years now, and I attribute my survival largely to the changes I've made in my diet and lifestyle. I exercise and meditate more and eat wholesome anticancer foods on a daily basis. Still, the medical establishment is slow to embrace this approach. After my last screening at the university's cancer center, I stopped at the cafeteria and discovered eight different types of tea: Darjeeling, Earl Grey, chamomile, and several fruit-flavored herbal teas. Sadly, there was not a single packet of green tea in the lot."

Some of the things listed from the article:
- Japanese green tea. Reduce growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors as well as being an antioxidant. Japanese tea (sencha, gyokuro, matcha, etc.) has more EGCG than Chinese teas. Decaf okay. 2 to 3 cups a day.

- Pomegranate juice. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, can reduce dev. of some cancers, can sometimes slow spread of est. prostate cancer. Like most juices, recommendation is one 8 oz. serving.

- Ginger. Anti-inflammatory, combats some cancer cells, helps slow tumor growth. Also can help alleviate nausea from chemo or radiotherapy.

- Turmeric. Another anti-inflammatory, encourages cancer cell death, inhibits tumor growth, may enhance chemo.
"Some research shows that turmeric is most effective in humans when it's mixed with black pepper and dissolved in oil (olive or canola, preferably). In store-bought curry mixes, turmeric represents only 20 percent of the total, so it's better to obtain ground turmeric directly from a spice shop."

- Cabbages and other cruciferous greens
- Garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, chives. "The sulfur compounds found in this group (the alliaceous family) promote the death of colon, breast, lung, and prostate cancer cells. Epidemiological studies also suggest a lower risk of kidney and prostate cancer in people who consume the most garlic."

- Soy. Gotta love those isoflavones!
- Fatty fish (wild salmon, etc. He goes into types of fish, PCBs, safe amounts per week, etc.)

- Citrus fruits and strawberries
- Dark chocolate (small amount per day.)


Servan-Schreiber goes into detail about what each food item is good for, what's in them that's effective, and provides recommendations on quantity per day and how to prepare them.

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This book isn't just for people with cancer, it's about living and eating in a way that helps to prevent getting it in the first place.
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Comments

[bronx-baroness.livejournal.com]

this may explain why I seem to be doing better then my siblings with mature life diseases... like in not getting them. :)

And my sister always told me that I ate like a nut. The list above is basically my favorite foods.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

It probably does! We don't eat all of them on a regular basis (like the pomegranate), and we've been having Chinese tea instead of Japanese, but yeah, maybe that's how we've fended off most things so far. I think I'm going to see about finding some decaf J tea to try out -- L has to watch how much caffeine he has. And maybe buy pomegranate juice more often -- it's tasty but I was thinking of it as more of a luxury item than a health food item. Always nice when you can have both at the same time ;)