(DoctorFarrah)- When a patient is diagnosed with Cancer, I would always go into nutrition counseling with the patient. That’s because one of the more effective ways of treating cancer is basically the diet that you eat.
You are what you eat. Definitely, a diet full of animal meat, fats, complex or highly refined carbohydrates, alcohol, and other substances that are not helpful for the body will certainly tend to break down sometimes. And since cancer cells are fed by an abundance of glucose in the body, we highly recommend to patients to go easy on the carbohydrates and go for the RAW FOODS.
Why Raw Foods?
Simply put, when your oncologist prescribes you a “Raw Food Diet” for your cancer, it means he/she is referring to a diet full of raw vegetables and fruits that are specially selected for their cancer-killing properties.
Why RAW? It’s because cooking vegetables and fruits generally take away most of the nutrients it has – and those nutrients are highly needed by a cancer patient! Cooking your food destroys most of the enzymes it has to help digest it, aside from the nutrients as well. That is why we do recommend having your cancer-killing vegetables and fruits eaten raw.
Of course, there are certain vegetables that have to be cooked to be eaten, such as potatoes or certain peas. However, you will notice that in certain Asian cultures like in Thailand, eggplant (the small, round ones), string beans, mint and cabbage are usually eaten RAW as an accompaniment to a main dish or just by itself. And they taste good too!
What’s Inside your Raw Food Diet?
Personally, I like to separate my raw vegetable juices from my fruit juices. But if you do combine them together, then it’s not really bad either.
Certain vegetables and spices are popularly known to have substantial cancer-killing attributes. These vegetables include –
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes (although technically, it is a fruit)
- Kale
- Leeks (spring onions or anything of the onion family)
- Celery and Chives
- Spinach
- Dandelions
- Parsley – helps your body fight free radicals, removes toxins from your system
Certain spices also contain cancer-fighting substances like carotenoids, flavonoids, and lycopene (tomatoes have lycopene which gives it its red or pinkish color). These are but not limited to –
- Garlic
- Turmeric/Curcumin
- Ginger – assists to prevent nausea and is a powerful cancer cell fighter
- Basil – it purifies and detoxes the blood
- Rosemary – possessing both anti-inflammatory chemicals and antioxidants
- Tarragon – prevents free radical damage
- Cilantro – eliminates toxic metals from your body
- Mint – removes inflammation in the body, heals your respiratory system, and removes nausea (helpful during chemotherapy or radiology)
Fruits
- Apples
- Berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.)
- Pineapples
- Limes, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits
- Pomegranates
- Dragon fruit – rich in antioxidants, beta-carotene, Vitamin C, and fiber
My Recipe for a Healthy Happy Raw Food Meal
You can combine any of the vegetables mentioned above with any of the fruits that I have mentioned also. If you’re like me, I like my raw juices really juicy, so I normally will include carrots, tomatoes, pineapples, cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower or broccoli), and any Vitamin C-enriched fruits in my raw veggie drink.
Some veggies are not as juicy as fruits, for instance, you will need quite a lot of broccoli or cauliflower to make even half a glass of raw juice. So I normally will just eat them as a raw vegetable salad sprinkled with some nuts.
Every raw vegetable dish or raw juice drink of mine would include a slice of turmeric or ginger, garlic (very important), and a dash or two of cinnamon and black pepper (for the vegetable salads). Cinnamon is known for its antiseptic and antioxidant qualities.
You can be very creative with the combinations of raw veggies and fruits. I would recommend using a different combination every day so you don’t get tired of the same thing. Definitely carrots, garlic, turmeric/ginger, at least 2-3 cruciferous vegetables would be there for every serving.
Invest in a well-branded juicer that you can use to juice your meals every day.
A friend of mine told me how she makes her raw vegan salads on a daily basis. Since she lives in the mountains where small streams are plentiful, she is able to get some fresh pako (fiddlehead fern) every day. Washing the pako well, she puts them in a bowl, adds spring onions and green or semi-ripe red tomatoes to the dish. Their special red egg is added. The salad is served with a dash of calamansi or lime. What a delectable feast :O!
How Big or How Often Should I Eat Raw Vegan Meals?
It actually depends on how much you can eat. Some patients eat only 3 times a day while others eat six times a day when they eat them as snacks J. The rule of thumb here is to OVERLOAD ON THE ANTI-CANCER NUTRITION rather than UNDERLOAD on the nutrients.
Image by Engin_Akyurt / CC BY 2.0
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