food as medicine
Authors propose diets for avoiding — or surviving — cancer
‘The Anti-Cancer Diet’ and ‘Cooking Through Cancer Treatment to Recovery’
Coming from very different psychic places: two new books about ways to use food to prevent or cope with cancer.
Oncologist David Khayat, a former president of France's National Cancer Institute, begins "The Anti-Cancer Diet: Reduce Cancer Risk Through the Foods You Eat" by noting that Japanese women have far lower rates of breast cancer than American women. But, he continues, the offspring of those who emigrate to the United States have the same risk as other Americans, from the second generation onward. Why? Khayat says it is largely due to dietary changes.
While cancer is a genetic disease, he writes, nutrition plays a role in its occurrence. His chart-packed book (originally published in French in 2010) runs through the major food groups, plus beverages and dietary supplements, rating their good and bad effects. He lists foods to generally avoid and those you should try to eat.
Advertisement
Some of his advice is surprising: For example, although most nutritionists think the fiber and other benefits you get from whole fruits make them better than fruit juice, he recommends pomegranate juice over pomegranate seeds because, he says, the antioxidants are more concentrated in the juice.
Lisa A. Price and Susan Gins, in contrast, aim their book at people who already have cancer and must cope with the treatment. The title explains it all: "Cooking Through Cancer Treatment to Recovery: Easy, Flavorful Recipes to Prevent and Decrease Side Effects at Every Stage of Conventional Therapy." Price, a naturopathic physician, and Gins, a nutritionist, have produced a brightly illustrated cookbook specifying what each of the recipes is supposed to help with. From Korean bibimbap to smothered liver to turkey and dumplings, they list recipes aimed at combating a whole range of treatment and recovery issues: fatigue, "chemo brain" (the mental fog that often results from the toxins of chemotherapy), wound healing after surgery, constipation, night sweats, nausea.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLuiwMiopZqkX52yorjToWSsm5mau6SxjpqlZpmeqbZur8Cnmp6qXZm2psCOa2dqbV9lg3B8kGiaa2thZrNxhIxpa5pxXWZ%2BpoGMcZmdmV2YhKOAxHKYcZ5nlrCgv9OoqbJmmKm6rQ%3D%3D