Pretreatment/Surgery |
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Radiation |
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Chemotherapy |
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Hormone Therapy |
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Remission/Prevention |
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I have truly learned to enjoy the little pleasures of life to a significant degree. Never take anything for granted. We are all hanging by a thread and will never know what may befall us in the near future. Spend your time doing what you love or what you absolutely must do. Life is so precious.
—Fern Rogow
This cookbook provides you with recipes that are balanced for the nutrients you need most during specific phases of conventional cancer treatment. The nutrients chosen for each recipe are based on addressing general side effects associated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy. It is designed to provide a complete diet that does not interfere or reduce the effectiveness of conventional treatment. You will notice that most of the recipes are plant based, and do not contain dairy, gluten, or refined sugar. Research shows that a plant-based diet is the best way to maintain disease-free health. We also seek to decrease inflammation and thus have chosen foods with low inflammatory indexes. These are foods that contain nutrients that decrease damage done by inflammation.
We intend to ease you into healthful choices through delicious and nutritious foods, so this cookbook is designed to be used with minimal thought and time. Choosing recipes from breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner menus will supply you with the recommended dietary intake for protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Most of the recipes take between 15 and, at most, 40 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are usually basic, and all should be easy to find. We include a general shopping list to get your pantry stocked with cancer-fighting ingredients.
Recipes are grouped by meal, and each recipe is coded with several icons, each of which corresponds to a phase of conventional treatment:
Pretreatment/Surgery |
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Radiation |
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Chemotherapy |
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Hormone Therapy |
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Remission/Prevention |
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Some recipes can be used from pretreatment through remission. All recipes are pertinent for cancer prevention. The recipes are based on increased needs during each particular treatment and include nutrients that target the reduction of the side effects associated with that treatment. These side effects are identified with each recipe. It is important to remember that eating one meal, one time, will not resolve a side effect. This book is designed to be used daily for the best effects.
For example, during chemotherapy, taste changes occur that can result in decreased appetite, so we include seasonings like lemon and extra naturally occurring sweet flavor to enhance the taste. During radiation, skin repair and integrity is an issue, so we include foods that have a higher omega-3 fatty acid content. (Omega-3 has been shown to be absorbed better through foods than through supplements.) During hormone therapy, the withdrawal of hormones often leads to joint aches, pains, and hot flashes—mineral-dense foods are very helpful in this case. Finally, for remission and in prevention, we include a diet that is balanced but also includes high antioxidant concentrations to “mop” up damage that occurred during chemotherapy or, when aiming to reduce the risk of developing cancer, to reduce inflammation and other forms of oxidative stress.
We suggest that as you reach the end of one treatment you slowly transition to the next set of recipes, because side effects may take time to resolve. For example, going from eating steamed vegetables to eating raw vegetables while your digestive tract is still recovering may make digestive disturbances worse.
Most importantly, our recipes are meant to stimulate your appetite and please your senses, even through cancer treatment. Rest assured that we have put flavor front and center. The recipes are both delicious and full of healing abilities. What more can you ask for from foods at this time?
Here we go!
