The Perfect Green Smoothie

This recipe was graciously submitted by @Mona Faulkner, whose entire family loves to make this for breakfast.

The Perfect Green Smoothie

Big handful of kale

1 tablespoon of vegan protein powder

2 tablespoons of flax seed powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen cherries

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

Put in blender. Pour. Enjoy!

Ayurvedic Tridoshic Almond Cookies

Recipe Courtesy www.DoshaGuru.com



A Healthy Christmas Cookie Recipe that is great for ALL dosha types... 

Firstly, I wanted to share one of my most favorite cookie recipes with you. I usually make these for social gatherings or when I teach a workshop. They are Tridoshic (balancing to all three doshas), extremely easy to make and they taste fantastic!

Tridoshic Almond Cookies
makes approximately 15 cookies
1-cup organic dry roasted almonds
1/4 cup organic maple syrup (grade b)
1/4 teaspoon organic ground cardamom
2 teaspoons water

In a food processor, chop the almonds until fine, then add the cardamom, maple syrup and water and blend together for 2-3 minutes.

Drop the batter in half-teaspoonful amounts onto a well-oiled baking sheet (using ghee or olive oil), leaving about 1-2 inches between them (as they will spread).

Bake at 300F for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Spaghetti Squash with Garbanzo Beans

This Recipe was graciously provided by Sonal Tilva Subramanium of Sugar Land, Texas

Recipe - 100% Plant Based Version

Recipe with Cheese Garnish

INGREDIENTS

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (can substitute coconut oil or ghee)
• Good sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch kale, leaves chopped
• 1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated (you can add more if you love garlic)
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes or more to taste (optional)
• Parmesan Reggiano cheese shaved on top (optional)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Arrange cut-side down on a shallow baking sheet filled with about an inch of water.  Bake for 25 minutes until tender.  Or follow directions on the squash.  You can put the whole squash in the microwave for up to 2 minutes to help cut it in half.  You will find this is the hardest step in cooking spaghetti squash!
2.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Add chili flakes (if using), stir for a few seconds and add chopped kale with a few pinches of sea salt.  Sauté kale until the leaves are bright green, about 5 minutes.  Add the chickpeas and cook until warmed through.  Remove from heat.
3. Remove squash from oven when it is cooked through and tender.  Using a fork, pull the strands of squash from the peel so that it resembles spaghetti!   Add to the kale-chickpea mixture. Toss to combine and taste for seasoning.  Since spaghetti squash is rather bland, you will need to add plenty of salt and pepper.  Garnish with cheese if desired.

There is No Sign of Cancer in My Body  - Why Do I Need to Change My Diet?

Dr. Shalin Shah MD & Dr. Niraj R. Patel MD 

After radiation and chemo treatments are completed and there is no sign of cancer, the cancer may come back. But not all patients have the same chance of the cancer coming back.

Experts believe that patients who are overweight or obese, have high levels of chronic inflammation inside their bodies, or have elevated levels of the hormone insulin (which regulates blood sugar levels) are at an increased risk of having some forms of cancer return regardless of how advanced the cancers were to begin with.

Eating a healthy diet can definitely help maintain a healthy weight, reduce inflammation, keep insulin levels in check, and promote faster recovery after treatment. A healthy diet may even prevent many forms of cancer from returning and increase how long people live after cancer treatment.

What Should I Eat?

Eating well should not be complicated. Just keep these two points in mind and you will be well ahead of the game.

1. Replace all processed foods with natural and whole foods.

Processed foods didn’t exist until perhaps 200 years ago, and processed foods, being heavily modified, lack vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber which are found in natural and whole foods. Processed foods include white bread, white rice, white sugar and fructose corn syrup, and most foods that come packaged in bags or boxes like cookies, chips and soda..   

Practical tips:

• Eat whole grain breads and pastas instead of white bread, flour, and pasta.  
• Eat more brown rice instead of white rice.
• Get your sugar from fruit, which contains vitamins, antioxidants and fiber.
• Cut out soda.
• Don’t add white sugar or artificial sweeteners. For sweetness, try natural sweeteners like Stevia or Agave Nectar.

2. Get 90% of your calories from food that grows in the ground (a “plant-based diet”).   

Research has shown that people who eat a plant-based diet (in other words, “natural and whole foods”) not only have lower risk of developing cancer, but also a better prognosis after having developed cancer. The Mediterranean Diet is one plant-based diet that appears to have an “anti-cancer” effect.

What does a plant-based diet include? Green vegetables, berries and other fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and spices.  You don't necessarily have to be vegan or vegetarian, but plants should be by far the main form of food in each meal.

A plant-based diet is anything but bland or boring. For  great recipes, check out http://www.cancerproject.org/recipes/index.php.

References

Boyd BD. Insulin and Cancer. Integr Cancer Ther 2003; 2(4): 315-329.
Calle EE and Kaaks R. Overweight, Obesity and Cancer: Epidemiological Evidence and Proposed Mechanisms. Nat Rev Cancer. 2004 Aug;4(8):579-91.
Mantovani A et al. Cancer-related inflammation. Nature 2008; 454:436-444.
Nutrition for Cancer Survivors. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Accessed 20 May 2012.
Pine SR et al. Increased Levels of Circulating Interleukin 6, Interleukin 8, C-Reactive Protein, and Risk of Lung Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2011; 103(14): 1112-1122.
Salgado R et al. Circulating interleukin-6 predicts survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 2003;103(5):642-6.
Sinicrope FA et al. Obesity is an independent prognostic variable in colon cancer survivors. Clin Cancer Res. 2010;16(6):1884-93.
Sinicrope FA and Dannenberg AJ. Obesity and breast cancer prognosis: weight of the evidence. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(1):4-7.
Trichopoulou A et al. Cancer and Mediterranean Dietary Traditions. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev September 2000 9; 869.

Dr. Shalin Shah is a radiation oncologist who works at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Sugar Land, Texas.   
Dr. Niraj “Raj” Patel, a nuclear medicine physician at the Houston VAMC, is the author of “The Healthy Indian Diet.”

Cancer 101- A Basic, General Overview

Cancer is responsible for over 500,000 deaths every year in the United States, second only to heart disease. Many of us in the community have had direct exposure to this disease, either through first hand personal experience or through those shared with close friends or relatives.

The word “cancer” itself can be incredibly scary, but it is important to know that with modern treatments, many patients, especially those whose cancers are caught early, can be cured. In this article, I wanted to briefly talk about cancer and some of the major treatments for it.

Our body’s cells are created and ultimately die as part of a regular cycle of life. Normal functioning of this life cycle is extremely important for our day to day living. For example, when our skin gets cut or scraped, the skin cells will quickly grow to form a scab and heal the damaged area. After this area has finished healing, these cells will stop growing.

Sometimes (for reasons we don’t completely understand), some cells in our body continue to grow unnecessarily. These cells can keep growing and form growths, or tumors. These can stay in one place and continue to grow larger, or they can even spread to other parts of the body.

Many of these tumors can be picked up on screening exams like mammograms, prostate blood tests, or colonoscopies. At this point, a surgeon can go in and take a piece of the tumor (a biopsy) and have the pathologist look at it under the microscope.

If the pathologist feels the tumor is malignant, the patient will undergo further testing to see if the tumor has spread (staging workup). Since cancer comes in many different types, depending on what organ it grows from, there is no one correct way to treat. Each treatment plan should be developed for each individual.

The surgeon will often send the patient to a “chemo doctor” (medical oncologist) and a “radiation doctor” (radiation oncologist) prior to performing any surgery.

Chemo doctors, or medical oncologists, specialize in giving chemotherapy, very strong drugs that are delivered through the veins. These drugs then travel through the blood to the entire body. The goal of chemotherapy is to kill cells that are visible on CT or MRI scans as well as the invisible tiny cells that may have spread to other areas of the body.

Radiation doctors specialize in giving radiation therapy, or very strong x-rays, that are shot into the tumor and surrounding areas to kill the cancer cells. Radiation is generally given only to a small area of the body, and generally does not affect areas outside of where it is given.

These doctors will get together as a team to figure out the best way to treat. Though oncologists do follow national treatment guidelines, we take in to account that each patient is unique, and will adjust our treatments based on things like the patient’s age, physical and emotional condition, and even things like social and family support.

At MD Anderson Sugar Land, our treatment team also includes nurses, dieticians, as well as social workers to make sure that our patients are well taken care of during what is often a very difficult and stressful time in their lives.

After the course of treatment is done, all the physicians will continue to followup with the patients at regular intervals to make sure that they are both recovering well after their treatment, and to make sure that their tumor has not returned.

I Have Cancer: Now What?

I Have Cancer: Now What?

You have just been diagnosed with cancer. You may or may not know where to turn or what to do. Here are a few suggestions to help you take those first steps:

Stay Calm

“Cancer” is such a scary word, that it immediately makes us think of death. However, many cancers that are caught early can be cured if diagnosed and treated properly. Unless your condition is life threatening, it is wise to wait at least 72 hours before making any decisions about your treatment. Use this time to gather more information, inform the people you rely on for support, and prepare yourself mentally for the upcoming treatment.

Get Informed

We tell our patients that they should try to know more about their disease than their general doctor.

First, familiarize yourself with how cancer is diagnosed and treated (see our guide, General Overview of Cancer, on YourCancerFAQS and MyCancerFAQS Facebook pages.)

Second, gather more information about your specific condition. The internet is a great place to start, but please be careful. Some sites can give you very biased or misleading information. Reliable sites that we like are:

• www.cancer.gov – this is a site run by the government and gives good, unbiased information.
• http://www.mdanderson.org - The university teaching hospital that we work for. An excellent source of introductory information along with videos and links to articles.

“Teaching Hospitals”

We suggest that you receive your treatment at the closest teaching hospital near you. Why? To ensure the best treatment possible, it takes an entire team of knowledgeable doctors who communicate on the same wave length with each other.

Physicians in teaching hospitals routinely present each patient they see at a “tumor board.” A “tumor board “ is where physicians and their colleagues review each case and offer their opinions about the best options to treat a patient. That way, every patient can be sure that their best interests are kept in mind when making a treatment plan.

In addition, teaching hospitals, usually affiliated with a university medical school, also have a host of continuing education lectures and conferences for physicians that occur on a daily basis. They also tend to have a large amount of support services such as nutrition, social work, etc., that are included as a part of the entire cancer treatment package.

Find A Fellowship-Trained Surgeon

It is to your benefit to see a surgeon who has undergone extra years of training to specialize in removing cancers. Here is a link you can visit to see if your surgeon has been fellowship trained:
http://www.surgonc.org/doctor-search.aspx

Check on Board Certification

Check to see if your chemo doctor and radiation doctor (if needed) are board certified. To become a board certified specialist, your doctor needs undergo extra years of specialty training, and then pass a rigorous exam. Visit this link to see if your doctors are board certified: http://www.certificationmatters.org/

If you need more information, please send your question(s) to me in an email to shalinshahmd@gmail.com or call (832) 377-5729.

Disclaimer:This blog is intended for education purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult with your physician for advice that is specific to you. This blog represents viewpoints that are solely my own, and not of MD Anderson Cancer Center, my employer.