The Anti Cancer Diet: Nutrition and Cancer
A major cancer hospital has a new iPhone app that will help you fight cancer with the foods you eat.
SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES
Fight cancer with your next meal.
When notice of the new iPhone app from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute landed in my inbox, I knew immediately that I wanted to write about this. The link between nutrition and cancer (both for better and for worse) is continually proven in research. It stands to reason that eating an anti cancer diet may up your odds in your battle against the disease or even lower your risk of contracting it.
What better way to fight cancer than with your fork. Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, a nutritionist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, filled me in on the new app, called Ask the Nutritionist: Recipes for Fighting Cancer, is free for iPhone and iPad users at the iTunes store. Download it and you'll find more than 100 healthy recipes.
"Research finds that inclusion of nutrients from plant-based foods strengthens the immune system to help your body fight cancer. The link between inflammation and cancer is emerging in research. A plant-based diet is also anti-inflammatory," Kennedy says.
Some of the recipes were developed by the six nutritionists on the Dana-Farber staff, while others are adaptations of popular recipes, modified to strengthen their anti cancer properties.
In addition to the recipes, there's a feature that creates a grocery list from the recipes you choose, making shopping just a little easier at a difficult time. You can also look for foods to quell cancer-treatment symptoms such as nausea and fatigue.
"In the symptom management section, we have recipes with ginger for nausea, fiber for constipation. There are recipes that can help with diarrhea or mouth sours or fatigue," Kennedy says.
Need more information? You can go to the section that answers frequently asked questions, and if they haven't answered yours, you can pose a question to the Dana-Farber nutrition staff. "So far, we're answering them all," Kennedy says.
"Not all cancer patients have access to a nutritionist. We want to bring what we offer out into the world," says Kennedy, who hopes their healthy recipes will be adopted too by people who want to lower their cancer risk. The Dana-Farber website offers more information about nutrition and cancer and the anti cancer diet app.
