A New Name for This Blog!

Dear Friends of the Cancer Caretaker,

I can't tell you how thankful I am to have you as early followers/email recipients of this blog. I really am appreciative of your support!

I am moving the blog over to a new name: The Cancer Companion.  A few important people were not crazy about the old title, so here we go! Can I ask you all a huge favor? Would you mind signing up again, at the new site, as either/both members and email recipients? Thank you so much. Your comments and feedback and support mean SO much to me as I explore this journey of nutrition/food/care for those with cancer.

Thank you, thank you. I am so grateful for you all!

love,
Christy

Good Snacks

Let me open this blog by saying that a lot of these nutrition ideas really work well across the board...meaning, they will build the strength of and help combat tumors for someone who is fighting disease, but they also are good for general health and for preventing disease.  I mention this now because EVERYONE likes to snack.  So what better time than to say: This blog is for YOU!

I can't resist posting another image of avocado, with 

celtic sea salt and olive oil. Goodness, goodness, goodness.

Avocados are amazing.  They are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids, as well as potassium, vitamin E, B, and fiber.  They can reduce cholesterol levels because of their oleic acid and linoleic acid content.

I just love crackers and cheese.  Why not take this favorite and make it just a little bit healthier?  This recipe for Almond Curry Biscuits is adapted from Hannah Marcotti over at Hannah's Harvest and from Nourishing Days. They are SO easy and tasty and delicious. Spread them with Boursin cheese and a dab of fig chutney.  Or hummus.  Or raspberry jam at tea time.  What a treat!

Almond Curry Biscuits

2 cups almond meal

1/2 tsp. sea salt

3/4 tsp. curry powder

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 egg

1 TBSP olive oil

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
-Mix the meal, salt and spices together.

-Make a hole in center and add garlic, egg and oil.

-Scramble egg and mix all together until even.

-Roll tablespoon sized balls in your hand and press down.

-Place on baking sheet lined with oiled parchment paper, and press down until crackers/biscuits are quite flat (thin edges are ok.)

-Bake for 13-15 minutes or golden.

Almonds are packed full of nutrition!  They are an excellent source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils, protein, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin E.  They are considered an "anti-cancer" food because they are high in an antioxidant flavonoid called laetrile.

Now onto COCONUTS!  One of my family's favorite foods at the moment.  Coconuts have so many components and adaptations, all which you can eat....coconut milk, coconut flakes, coconut water, coconut oil, coconut crystals, coconut flour.  Try them all out and you will be amazed.  

You can consider this a dessert or, well, a snack. Why not?!

Cardamom Maple Mini Macaroons
from "The Cancer Fighting Kitchen," by Rebecca Katz

2 organic egg whites
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 TBSP brown rice syrup (or honey)
pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 TBSP brown rice flour, or spelt flour, or all-purpose white flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
handful of dark chocolate

-preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
-combine egg whites, maple syrup, brown rice syrup and salt in saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until just warm, about 1 minute.
-Add the coconut, flour, vanilla, and cardamom and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture just begins to sizzle and is slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
-using a teaspoon and your fingers, form the dough into 24 small mounds on the prepared pan.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely.
-Serve as is, or else prepare the chocolate. Simmer hot water in a pan. In a heat-proof bowl, set over the water, melt chocolate, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
-Dip macaroons in melted chocolate and place on plate lined with wax or parchment paper.
-Chill in fridge until chocolate hardens, and enjoy!
-Store in airtight container for 5-7 days.

Coconuts are a great source of manganese, molybdenum, copper, zinc, and selenium.  It is a healthy saturated fat called lauric acid, which is health-promoting and only found as abundantly in human breast milk!  In the body, lauric acid becomes a compound (called monolaurin), which is anti-viral, antibacterial, and destroys a wide variety of disease-causing organisms!

Protein: Gathering Energy

I think many of us in our everyday lives long for more energy.  This is especially true, however, when you are undergoing chemo.  Don't we all really long to feel like we have the energy and lightness of a bird, as if we can fly? It certainly is a good goal!

"Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airs

Whisper’d it to the woods, and from their wings

Flung rose..."

-John Milton

Having energy is complicated as it comes from so many sources: sleep, exercise, hydration, mental health, connections with others, physical health, nutrition.  Getting a good dose of protein every meal of the day is a good start.

Americans tend to have a bit of an obsession with protein, though, and it's important to know that there are many vegetables (kale, leafy greens) and grains (quinoa) and excellent supplements for smoothies and such (spirulina) that have sufficient protein to keep us at our best.  It's also critical to not bog our systems down with too many energy-draining foods, such as dairy, red meat, and processed foods.

Nuts make great snacks.  And did you know that a handful of cashews has the same effect on your mental health as taking a Prozac?  Eating real, good food is just great for you in every way.

Tilapia with pistachio "breading," over greens with vinaigrette, 

and roasted butternut squash crescents.

Tilapia with Pistachio "Breading"
(serves two)

Handful of pistachio nuts, shelled
1 Tbs. almond meal (or corn meal will do, too)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
Half a lemon
2 Tilapia filet*
1 tsp. coconut oil

*On Tilapia: The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch considers U.S. farmed tilapia to be a "best choice" fish. It is a good candidate for farming because it provides more protein than it takes to raise it (in contrast to farmed fish such as tuna and salmon.) Tilapia can also invade many natural habitats so is a good candidate for farming.

-In a Cuisinart, chop up the shelled pistachios until they are finely ground (about a minute). Add the almond meal and sea salt and pulse a few more times.
-Press the "breading" mixture into the Tilapia filets, on both sides. Cover well.
-Heat a large cast iron pan and add the tsp. of coconut oil.
-Saute the Tilapia in the pan, about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  About halfway through cooking on each side, squeeze a little lemon on each piece of fish.
-Put a bed of mixed greens with a splash of vinaigrette on 2 plates. Lay fish on top and serve!

My Favorite Vinaigrette

In a small jar place:
1 part balsamic vinegar
a squeeze of yellow mustard
a big squeeze of honey
a pinch of sea salt
-Put the lid on and SHAKE until combined.
-Then add:
2 parts good olive oil
-SHAKE again until well combined

Raw Foods

Many nutritionists and food researchers believe that going on a raw foods diet can decrease the size of and even eliminate cancer tumors. This requires a radical shift to your diet, and even way of life.

I am looking forward to participating in a 7-day raw foods workshop in January. At that point, I will weigh in on my thoughts on the topic. In the meantime, however, it is hard for me to imagine that it cannot help to be eating an abundance of raw foods. If raw foods consist of 80% of your diet, it will make a huge difference in both fighting and preventing cancer, not to mention making you feel fresh, energetic, and healthy.

Vegetables in their raw form are rich in antioxidants and other nutrients. Live food also contains enzymes, which both help your body absorb nutrients (instead of turning to your body's enzyme reserve), and are catalysts for detoxification.  Cooking food decreases the nutritional value of most foods, and also has a more depleting effect on the body as it uses the body's existing (and finite) enzyme reserve.

Here are some raw foods that you probably already eat, and can increase in your diet!

-Salads: greens, an abundance of cut vegetables and fruits on top

-Pesto, with basil and raw nuts and olive oil

-Crudité: a platter of cut carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, or peppers with a vinaigrette

-Massaged Kale Salad: Remove kale from stems and chop, massage for a few minutes with olive oil and salt.
-Smoothies!
-Bowl of raw nuts, covered in spices
-Sprouts!
-Add raw veggies as a side to an already healthy dinner

Sliced avocado, garden cherry tomatoes, and basil & almond pesto are tasty raw additions 

to a home-cooked dinner of pasta and roasted acorn squash.

Many dishes and meals can be enhanced by adding raw ingredients, and there are also thousands of recipes out there for preparing purely raw foods. A few great links include Raw Guru and Gone Raw.  Both have recipes, sources for ingredients, and helpful information.

(Almost) Raw Pad Thai
Adapted from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
There is no cooking with this! Simply roast the peanuts in your toaster oven. Otherwise, it just involves chopping and your food processor.

First, prepare the easy dressing:

Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp. chopped shallot
-Pulse in food processor until well chopped

Then add the following, and pulse until smooth (4 minutes; scrape down sides a few times)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. Agave nectar
2 Tbsp. Tamari (soy sauce)
1 tsp. finely chopped jalapeno or Sriracha pepper

-Add 2 Tbsp more peanuts and pulse until chopped, not finely blended

(dressing can last 5 days in fridge in sealed glass container, if you don't use it for the pad thai.)

Pad Thai Salad
8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
4 cups bean sprouts
1 small red onion, or a green onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
half a bag of Rice Sticks (found in the Asian section of Whole Foods)--Optional
1 recipe Peanut-lime Dragon Dressing
-Soak the Rice Sticks in hot water for 10 minutes (if you choose to use them)
-Combine above ingredients

Serve with:
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges

Water!

Our bodies are made up of 75% water. Our brains are 85% water. Too often health symptoms we have are a result of not having enough water in our bodies. Headaches, nausea, low energy....before you panic, drink a tall glass of water.

For your cancer patient, I can not emphasize this enough. Many of the symptoms from chemotherapy can be aided by drinking more water. Choosing water as your form of hydration is one of the best choices you can make. Most fruit juices contain more sugar than anything else, and coffee and tea dehydrate you.

Water replenishes your body, and it cleanses you.

We start every morning in our house with a glass of lemon water.

This is an Ayurvedic practice, which emphasizes cleansing the body first thing in the morning, before you have put any food into your body. If you can, drink your lemon water an hour before eating. This gives your liver a little "squeeze" and gives your body the ability to absorb nutrients, and combat the effects of chemo, all day.  I squeeze one whole lemon into filtered water. Your water can be lukewarm, or slightly heated.

Another cleansing way to drink your water is to add a splash of unsweetened cranberry juice. I am talking 100% pure cranberry, no sugar. This is not tasty on its own, my friends, it is bitter. But if you put literally a splash in your water, it adds interest, and also vitamin C, fiber, manganese and copper.  Cranberry is also one of the richest sources of anthocyanidins, which is an antioxidant that prevents infections and has been shown to inhibit the development of cancer, among other degenerative diseases. In fact, it is the fruit that demonstrates the highest level of this compound.

Finally, when your patient is longing for that glass of wine, but just feeling like that probably won't be best right now, it's amazing what a slice of lime and a strawberry can do with water in a wine glass...it just FEELS special.

Reducing Dairy

I love good cheese. And, I admit, I love a tall glass of milk every now and again. But I must say, my love for these things diminish the more I learn about the harms of dairy, especially in relation to cancer. I have delved deeper into the world of vegan cooking the more I cook for my mom and even for my own children.  Some dairy in moderation is ok, but the ideal is to move towards reducing or removing it from your patient's diet.

I have a new vegan cookbook that I absolutely LOVE. It is glorious, inspiring, delicious. I am cooking each and every recipe, page by page. I highly recommend it for anyone fighting cancer, wanting to prevent cancer, or simply searching for healthy, enticing recipes. I find it so very exciting!

Why do we need to reduce dairy? I have been delving into this topic lately, and even studying the report "Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective," researched and published by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. Their studies show that diets rich in dairy increase the risk of prostate cancer, and possibly other cancers as well.

One of the lecturers in my nutrition program, Dr. Walter Willett, MD, who is Chairman of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, addresses the fact that most of the world is lactose intolerant. Westerners are the only people drinking milk. Hormone levels are very high in dairy, even in organic milk (because the cows are often pregnant, and even if not, they are lactating!) and increased hormone intake in a healthy body can cause free-radicals in the body, which can cause cancer cells to grow.

Specifically, these studies show that the hormone IGF-1 has been found to increase your risk of cancer, and accelerate cancer growth. Animal protein is the most significant factor in increasing IGF-1. In your bloodstream, it doubles your risk of breast, cancer, and promotes prostate and colon cancer.  Dairy intake also causes inflammation, which prevents the body from fighting free radicals and unhealthy cancer-promoting cells.  Reducing, or eliminating, dairy decreases the hormones in your blood dramatically, and also keeps your body in optimum shape to fight disease.

So! Let's talk about some fantastic dairy-free meals then!

This creamy quinoa and chickpea recipe will really fool you. 

The creaminess comes from pureed cashews!

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad, with Balsamic Vinaigrette

In a large mixing bowl, combine all these ingredients:

2 cups cooked, cooled quinoa

1 small red onion, diced, or several diced green onions as a milder alternative

4 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 recipe balsamic vinaigrette (follows), tossed to coat

-keeps in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Balsamic Vinaigrette

If you have the time, before making this recipe, soak the cashews in water for an hour. Then drain and use as directed. It makes blending smoother and easier.

-In a food processesor add:

1/4 cup cashew pieces

-Puree until chopped up. Then add the rest of the ingredients:

2 Tbsp. chopped shallots

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. agave nectar

3/4 tsp. seal salt

a few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

-Blend for at LEAST 5 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides often, until completely smooth. Make sure you blend the full time, to prevent grainy dressing!

-Store in glass jar with lid, or use for recipe above.

-Dressing will thicken as it chills in the fridge.

Next time...pistachio encrusted tilapia!  Oooh so tasty...

The Glory of Dark Leafy Greens!

I spent my weekend in New York at a nutrition conference, listening to renowned doctors and researchers talking about health, food, and wellness, and the resounding message was simple: we should all be eating vastly more dark leafy greens.

Dark leafy greens are the most missing ingredient in the western diet, and they are the food with the highest nutritional value. Unveiling a recent in-depth study on the nutrient value of foods per calorie, Dr. Joel Fuhrman revealed that greens such as kale and swiss chard rate 100 on a nutrient-to-calorie scale, while fruits are at 45, and refined grains, such as pasta, are a 2.

Our bodies are designed to combat disease, not permit disease. Eating green vegetables repairs DNA and lowers the risk of cancer. In fact, studies have shown that if you eat dark green leafy vegetables, mushrooms (any variety, including white button) and green tea EVERY day, you reduce your risk of breast cancer by 89%. Add in onions, berries, beans, and seeds, and you have achieved the most across the board cancer-fighting diet. 

If they are cancer-fighting, that means they are also cancer COMBATTING for your cancer patient. From the cabbage family, leafy greens increase antioxidant defense mechanisms in the body, and improve the body's ability to detoxify and eliminate harmful chemicals and hormones. Good for fighting cancer, and for fighting your chemo, too!

Today, a few simple ideas, and a recipe, for how to add more dark green leafy vegetables to your diet every day.

-Here's a great way to eat kale raw. Cut it into a chiffonade or thin slices, pour over a little olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt, and massage for a minute. It turns the kale soft and delicate, and makes it much more delicious raw!

Add a few sprouts and dressing, and, voila! Delicious health on a plate!

-Take your massaged kale, sprinkle with a little dressing, and serve it under a bed of eggs for breakfast.

-Add your massaged kale to a salad with mixed greens, spinach, romaine.

-Throw your massaged kale into a bean salad, or a frittata.

-Another idea, for the un-massaged version: green smoothies galore! See the green smoothie recipe from the first blog (August 2011)

A delicious, green & musroomy recipe, from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra-Moscowitz.

Garlicky Mushrooms & Kale

1 tsp. olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. sea salt

8 ounces ANY mushroom (crimini & button are both good)

1 pound kale, course stems removed, leaves sliced or torn

a few pinches of pepper

-Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.

-Sauté garlic in olive oil, 2 min.

-Add mushrooms and sprinkle on salt, cook 5-7 min, stirring often.

-Add kale and pepper, sauté for 10 more min. Add splashed of water if pan is too dry.

-Enjoy immediately!