Fighting cancer with your fork

By: RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer
Classes teach healthful eating to help prevent, survive illness | Friday, September 21, 2007 3:57 PM PDT ∞

Tracy Childs calls teaching nutrition and cooking classes for the Cancer Project her dream job. She says she loves sharing food and helping people at the same time. View A Video

"I have always hoped to have a job that combines these personal passions of mine," said the Poway resident and mother of two. "I want to spread the word about plant-based foods and how delicious, easy and satisfying they can be."

Childs is teaching an eight-week course upstairs at the Jimbo's ... Naturally grocery store on Centre City Parkway in Escondido. Between 6 and 7:30 p.m. every Thursday, she begins the class with a short video by the president and founder of the Cancer Project, Dr. Neal Barnard, about choosing, preparing and cooking foods that have been medically shown to help prevent cancer.

Afterward, she demonstrates how to make some of the recipes, and the class is invited to taste her work.

Focus on fruits, veggies

The Cancer Project, a nonprofit health organization based in Washington, D.C., has as its primary goal to advance cancer prevention and survival through nutrition research and education through free cooking classes offered to the public.

Childs, 46, a former computer programmer, has been teaching with the project since January 2006. She was trained by the project and learned to prepare low-fat, largely vegetarian choices.

"Load up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains," said Jennifer Reilly, a registered dietitian, a senior nutritionist for the Cancer Project. "The reassuring thing is that we know the diet is safe. It is really kind of a no-brainer."

Turns out that eating healthful foods may be the best chance for all of us to help prevent cancer, and if cancer has been diagnosed, to improve our survival. In fact, medical research has found that fatty foods boost certain hormones that promote certain cancers such as breast, prostate and colon cancer.

Researchers have also found that people in Asia and Africa, who follow a traditional diet based on rice, vegetables, fruits and legumes, have strikingly lower rates of cancer than Westerners with their typical high-fat diet.

"Healthy eating reduces the risk of some cancers and some other diseases," said registered dietitian Vicki Newman, director of nutrition services for the cancer prevention and control program at the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego. "We always say, go for the big color and the big flavor. Go for the bold because nature draws us toward brightly colored fruits and vegetables ... the purples are full of antioxidants, the oranges have beta carotene, and the reds lycopene," all immunity-boosting substances.

Plant-based diet

Each year, more than 1.3 million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer, according to the Cancer Project in its cookbook "The Survivor's Handbook," and many of them have done their very best to follow healthy lifestyles.

"So let's focus not on blame, but on what foods can do for you," writes Barnard in the book's introduction.

"It is one of the strange things about cancer is that you don't know what could have prevented your certain type of cancer," said Reilly. "What is known is that about 30 to 60 percent of cancers can be attributed to a poor diet -- one that is high in fat and in animal products and high in processed foods. And on the contrary, eating greens, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes have been shown to be helpful in boosting the immune system."

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, while no single food can protect us against cancer, the right combination of foods in a predominantly plant-based diet definitely can.

In the Cancer Project cooking classes, Childs said she tries to get her students to try foods that they wouldn't cook or try normally. "We show them how easy it is," said Childs, "so we don't want people to have to go out and get a huge list of bottles of ingredients. We do use soy sauce, garlic, onions, and rice vinegars for taste so they don't get bored."

Low-fat fun

In a class at Jimbo's called "Fueling Up on Low-Fat Foods," Childs demonstrated an easy three-bean salad, a vegetable stir-fry and a hummus (bean spread), which she recommended spreading on pita or bagels for breakfast (rather than cream cheese) or dipped with raw vegetables for a snack.

"Fiber helps our bodies against the barrage of pollutants; it can help us get rid of toxins," added Childs. "You start looking at every meal to see if there is fiber."

Childs, a vegan herself, extols the benefits of nutrient-dense foods, especially legumes and beans and cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. So does Newman, who is the creator of the Healthy Eating Program at UCSD.

And Newman doesn't hesitate to assert that broccoli can taste better than a Big Mac. "It can be fabulous. It's just a matter of preparing and serving it right ... we're not into the hair shirt idea," she said, meaning that food must taste and look bad for it to be healthy for you. "It can look good and it can be fast, too," she said.

most of her students were surprised to know that dairy products were NOT as good for them as they previously thought. "We show them great dairy and meat alternatives like almond, soy and rice milk and tofu, and soon they see they have a choice."

Reilly said she conducted a pilot study to see whether students of the Cancer Project's cooking classes actually adjusted their dietary habits after taking the classes, especially since the instructors encourage these changes but do not require them.

"We looked at what they were eating after the class and found most of the people had made significant changes," she said. "They were eating more fruits and vegetables and less processed food, less dairy products, more whole grains and fiber and less fat."

"There are tremendous amounts of research that show diet can help prevent a number of diseases and conditions, not only cancer," Newman said. "Cut down on sweets and sodas, and think of animal protein as more of a condiment than a main course. It's not rocket science."

-- Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.

Recipes from "The Survivors Handbook: Eating Right for Cancer Survival" by the Cancer Project (www.cancerproject.org):

Cucumber, Mango And Spinach Salad

1 bag or bunch of spinach

1 mango, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 large English cucumber, peeled and sliced

6 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Juice of one lime

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Wash and drain spinach, tear into bite-sized pieces if necessary, and put into a large serving bowl. Toss mango, cucumber, scallions and basil in a medium bowl. Dress with lime juice and vinegar. Arrange mango mixture on spinach and sprinkle with pepper. Serves 10 to 12.

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame butter)

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 scallions, chopped

1 tablespoon, chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup roasted red peppers (optional)

Drain garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid from the can, and rinse the beans.

Place all ingredients except reserved bean liquid in food processor and process until smooth. Add reserved bean liquid as needed for a smoother consistency.

Spread on whole wheat pita bread or serve as a dip for vegetables. Makes about 2 cups.

CLASSES:

Healing Foods Classes from UC San Diego's Healthy Eating Program are presented at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla. Introductory classes are free but registration is required. Call (858) 822-6790 or e-mail info@healthyeating.ucsd.edu.

Next week's classes include:

Dinner's On! -- Meals in Minutes: 6 p.m. Monday, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sept. 27.

The Cancer Project hosts free eight-week series of cooking classes called Food for Life Nutrition for Cancer Prevention and Survival at various locations throughout North County, including Jimbo's Naturally in Escondido.

The free classes cover a variety of cancer-related nutrition topics and demonstrate how to prepare eight full meals filled with antioxidants and phytochemicals, high-fiber and low-fat foods and healthy dairy alternatives. Classes usually last 90 minutes. Visit the Project's Web site at www.cancerproject.org/resources/classes.

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