In the past century, the American diet has undergone a revolution, and it hasn’t been a particularly healthy one.
Between the early and the late decades of the twentieth century, the fat content of the American diet increased by almost 40 percent. Rates of childhood obesity have grown from about 5 percent in 1980 to more than 15 percent in 2005, and current estimates are that about 60 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. While our ancestors didn’t have sugar-free muffins, fat-free dressings, calorie-free sodas, or today’s constant stream of slimness-obsessed marketing messages, they somehow managed to be thinner than we are today.
Doctors and scientists have extensively researched the relationship between high caloric intake and fat consumption and the development of various cancers. They’ve reached a general consensus that diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables and lower in fats and meat (particularly fatty and processed meat) may protect against some forms of cancer in addition to heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. Americans have been told to eat more fruits and vegetables and lean fish or poultry and to limit their intake of saturated fat; it really isn’t enough to simply advise eating a ‘balanced diet,’ because many people have no idea what that is. Additionally, many say they don’t have time to pay attention to what they eat because of their hectic family, career, and social lives. I recently came across the statistic that close to one in five (20 percent) of all meals in the United States is eaten in the car—and it’s probably safe to say that the majority of these aren’t salads!
I would like to believe that we all have a fairly good understanding of our bodies’ nutritional needs, but unfortunately that belief is not always upheld. I recently discovered while chatting with a friend of mine, who is a successful businessman, that he had no idea what a carbohydrate was. This moment of enlightenment inspired me to want to share my own knowledge about diet—and specifically diet and cancer—with those who really want to improve their diets but honestly just don’t know how. The fact that some forms of cancer are hereditary has led many people to seek preventative measures that may help them to avoid developing a certain type of cancer that runs in their family. Adding cancer-fighting foods to their diets is one of the most obvious and attainable of these measures.
In this book, I provide you with a thorough list of specific foods and their protective value for a number of cancers that occur in significant rates in the United States. The information included here is based on evidence from methodologically structured, scientific studies. This list is in no way comprehensive and undoubtedly can be debated by conflicting findings in the field of cancer research. Nonetheless, it may help you to establish a foundation for healthier eating and to target efforts against specific types of cancer.
In addition to explaining what we need to eat to live a longer life and help protect ourselves from cancer, I am including a myriad of recipes that include these specific cancer-fighting foods. While I do not claim to be a gourmet chef or a graduate of a prestigious culinary institute, I am a true food enthusiast and during my 25 years of cooking have developed or discovered an impressive collection of healthy and delicious recipes. Including these recipes as part of my healthy diet and sticking to a disciplined exercise routine has allowed me to maintain the same slim frame and body weight that I had during college. And, lastly, I am a cancer researcher with a fundamental knowledge of the physiology, genetics, and biochemistry that governs how the disease-fighting compounds found in some foods work on a molecular level to help prevent cancer or other types of disease.
Keep in mind that there is no one single nutrient that will make you healthy and no single food or beverage that will keep you from getting cancer. However, a diet that is rich in basic foods that are cooked by traditional methods may easily be tailored to suit one’s health and nutrition needs. Our shelves are filled with “food stuffs” these days—cleverly packaged food-like substances such as cereal and yogurt bars, fruit roll-ups, and kids’ colorful, pre-packaged lunch meals. Even items that are advertised as “nutrition bars” are often loaded with calories, fat, and oils such as palm kernel oil, the same partially saturated fat used to cook French fries, potato chips, and doughnuts. To me, the best food is real food that grows in the ground, comes off of a tree, or is raised on a farm. The fact that real food can also help ward off cancer is just a delightful bonus.