No secret to cancer-fighting foods

“The secret when it comes to diet and breast cancer,” Amy Shaw, MD, said recently, “is that there is no secret.”

Dr. Shaw, who is the Medical Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program with Annadel Medical Group, echoes the advice of both experts world-wide and nearly everyone’s grandmother: Eat your vegetables.

A diet that includes a vast array of clean, colorful vegetables and fruits, fish, whole grains and beans, fresh herbs and a minimal amount of alcohol is the best approach to overall health and to the prevention and survival of breast cancer. Meat, if eaten, should be grass-fed and poultry should be pastured; hormones and antibiotics that end up in the meat of animals fed them aren’t good for you, she said.

“A healthy person who gets cancer has a better chance of healing more quickly and of surviving,” Dr. Shaw emphasized, underscoring the importance of a good diet not to solve a problem but as a way of maintaining optimum health throughout a lifetime.

“There are no bad foods,” Shaw added, “and no special diet that improves (cancer) survival.”

There are bad quantities. For example, too much simple sugar, frequently identified as a “cancer feeder,” can cause problems, including diabetes, which in turn puts you at greater risk for developing cancer, including breast cancer.

“But can you have dessert now and then?” Dr. Shaw said. “Yes, you can,” adding that sugar feeds all of the body’s cells, not just cancer cells, and without it, we die.

But too much of anything from, say, carrots to megadoses of antioxidants, is not a good idea.

Anti-oxidant supplements are extremely popular and it can be difficult, Shaw explained, to convince a patient to stop taking them.

“Antioxidants are quite potent. Cancer cells are killed by oxidating them, so if you introduce high amounts of antioxidants, there’s trouble,” Shaw said.

To say that there is no single food or specific diet that universally impacts cancer either positively or negatively, is not to say that diet and nutrition do not matter. They do. Experts, including Dr. Shaw, point out that between one-third and one-half of all cancers world-wide are related to lifestyle. Smoking and diabetes top the list of risk factors and diabetes is, of course, entwined with how one eats.

Dr. Shaw emphasizes that the three most important things that every cancer survivor should focus on are getting regular exercise, eating a diet rich in a variety of vegetables and not gaining weight. Those who follow a vegan diet need to maintain their weight, as weight loss, common among vegans, can be a problem, too. And if you can’t afford grass-fed meats and organic poultry, don’t worry.

“You’re not going to get cancer,” Dr. Shaw said, “because you eat chicken that isn’t organic.”

The devil, as always, is in the details. When it comes to diet and breast cancer, details are everywhere and they often conflict with one another, though there is agreement, with scientific studies to back it up, in several areas. All experts agree on the importance of vegetables and fruits, of nutrient-dense foods and natural - that is, not processed - foods. Many recommend organic foods and some suggest it might be a good idea to avoid GMO or genetically modified foods. Experts also insist that it is important not to jump on the latest dietary bandwagon.

“People tend to gravitate to the latest claim,” explained Deborah Lantz, ND, a naturopathic doctor who is opening a practice in Healdsburg early next year, adding that it is natural to seek a “magic bullet” when one receives a dreaded diagnosis and acknowledging that there isn’t one.

For example, it wasn’t so long ago that margarine was touted as the healthy choice over butter, a bearer of bad outcomes. That’s long been disproved and margarine is today recognized as a food that should be avoided. Trans-fats - vegetable fats that have been artificially hydrogenated, making them solid at room temperature - have since been proven to cause all manner of health problems and are not recommended for anyone. Even margarine made with corn or soy oil should be avoided, as these oils contain large quantities of Omega 6 fatty acids, which cause inflammation in cell membranes. That prohibits cells from communicating with each other, studies suggest, which in turn can lead to cancerous tumors. Butter in moderation, it turns out, is better.

Although there is wide agreement that trans-fats should be avoided, there is less consensus about dairy products.

Sylvia Onusic, PhD., a board-certified nutritionist practicing in Pennsylvania, recommends dairy products from grass-fed animals and considers raw milk essential - either the milk itself, butter from raw cream or fermented products such as kefir and yogurt made from raw milk.

“Pasteurization destroys essential enzymes,” she said, “and homogenization alters fat globules and the manner in which they transport nutrients.”

Along with raw milk, Onusic touts the importance of cruciferous vegetables, which are helpful in breaking down the estrogen that feeds some cancers, and of fish and shellfish, which contain iodine.

“There are many iodine receptors in the breast,” she explained, “and iodine is essential in breast milk and for overall breast health.”

Selenium, found in Brazil nuts and organ meats, also is essential to breast health, she said.

Onusic’s nutritional guidelines correspond to the dietary recommendations of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit nutrition education organization co-founded by Sally Fallon, sister of Katie Wetzel Murphy of Alexander Valley Vineyards. Using research on the diets of non-industrialized populations conducted by Dr. Weston Price in the early 1900s, the foundation recommends a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods, including grass-fed meats, especially organ meats, bone broth, raw milk products including butter, fermented vegetables (think sauerkraut and kimchi) and wild fish and shellfish. Unlike many dietary regimes, Price guidelines include significant fat, with an emphasis on saturated fats and the importance of some cholesterol to overall health.

The lack of a magic bullet or special cancer-killing food aside, there are sometimes reasons to micromanage one’s diet. Dr. Onusic suggests that women with breast cancer in their families, especially immediate families, consider a genetic test for enzyme problems. Enzymes are essential to detoxifying estrogen, for example, and a deficiency in these enzymes can be moderated by proper dietary support.

Managing one’s diet during treatment is crucial, as well, as both chemotherapy and radiation typically impact everything from appetite and taste to the function of the gastrointestinal system. Challenges during treatment are highly individual and are best addressed with one’s doctor, a professional nutritionist that specializes in cancer patients and such helpful organizations as Ceres Community Project, which provides meals to patients and their family. Ceres, which is based in Sebastopol, has three nutritional and herbal advisors on their board and offers a range of nutritional services.

If you’re not undergoing treatment, which is to say if you are either concerned about prevention or celebrating and maintaining survival, Dr. Shaw offered a simple way of thinking about it.

“The best diet for cancer survivors,” she said, “is the same diet we recommend for heart attack survivors - basically, the Mediterranean diet.”

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Most vegetables need at least a bit of cooking to make their nutrients available and a bit of fat along with them to facilitate absorption. This simple recipe is both delicious and flexible; omit the garlic and the lemon zest if you like and use butter instead of olive oil if you prefer it.

Steamed Spinach with Garlic, Olive Oil & Lemon

Serves 4

2 pounds spinach, rinsed until clean, drained but not completely

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 to 2 garlic cloves, pressed

- Zest of 1 lemon

- Kosher salt

Set a wok over medium-high heat (if you do not have a wok, use a large sauté pan), add the spinach, which should have plenty of water clinging to its leaves, and cook, covered, until the leaves just wilt, about 2 to 2 ½ minutes in a wok, a bit longer in a sauté pan. Do not let the spinach burn.

Working quickly, add the olive oil, garlic and lemon zest, use tongs to turn a time or two to coat the wilted leaves and transfer to a serving bowl.

Season very lightly with salt and serve immediately.

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Some people find the taste of sulfuric compounds in cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables objectionable and these flavors are typically magnified by steaming. That is not a problem in this recipe, as roasting does not increase these flavors.

Roasted Cauliflower with Salsa Verde

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock

2 cups dry white wine

3 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

- Zest of 1 lemon

- Juice of 1 lemon

1 large cauliflower, about 2 pounds, trimmed of leaves and thick stem

- Salsa Verde (recipe follows)

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the stock, wine, salt, turmeric, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, lemon zest and lemon juice into a large soup pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Use tongs to lower the cauliflower, floret side down, into the liquid and adjust the heat so that it simmers gently. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until it has begun to lose its raw texture. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and use tongs to transfer the cauliflower to an oven-proof pan. (A cast-iron skillet is ideal).

Season the cauliflower lightly with salt, set on the middle rack of the oven and cook until fully tender (but not mushy) when pierced with a fork and lightly browned all over, about 25 to 35 minutes.

While the cauliflower roasts, make the salsa verde.

Transfer the cauliflower to a serving plate, cut into equal wedges, garnish each wedge with a dollop of salsa verde and serve immediately, with the remaining salsa verde alongside.

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Salsa Verde

Makes about ? cup

1 shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon brined green peppercorns, drained, or 2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped

? to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

- Kosher salt, to taste

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the shallot, garlic and peppercorns or capers into a small bowl, add the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes. Stir in the mustard, parsley and olive oil. Taste, correct for salt and season with several turns of black pepper. Set aside until ready to use.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 17 books to date, including “Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings.” You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com.