Foods to Fight Cancer: Essential foods to help prevent cancer Paperback – April 16, 2007

The feeling of despair and helplessness when a family member or someone close is diagnosed with cancer (or if you're diagnosed yourself) has to be one of the worst feelings in the world. Suddenly your world is filled with doctors, hospitals, oncologists and lots of strange drugs and procedures you've probably never heard of before. The battle begins and you feel like you're sitting on the sidelines, being able to only supply emotional support at a time when you could probably use some yourself. This book is an excellent source of information, in layman's terms, about what cancer is, what makes it grow and how you can eat to help prevent it or give your body what it needs to slow or prevent recurrences when it's already present. It gives you information to discuss with your doctors, about how you can join in the battle.There is no sure cure yet for cancer and this book doesn't promise one. It's a complex disease that isn't fully understood but there are a lot of things that doctors and researchers do know, many of them about molecules of dietary origin, but the results have been published only in specialized medical journals that most of us don't have access to, or even if we do, via the internet for example, the medical terminology is beyond most of us. This book gives us access to that information in terms the average person can understand.One of the foods that I hadn't heard of for fighting cancer is turmeric or its biological name, curcumin. This is that yellow spice that makes up about 20 to 30 percent of many Indian curry powders. Studies have shown that it might be useful in the prevention and treatment of many cancers including colon, stomach and breast cancers. I was surprised to read that the incidence of colon cancer in North America is 50 out of 100,000 people compared to 8 in 100,000 in India. There are lots of other factors that could be involved, but the anticancer effect of this spice in laboratory animals is well established when administering it to them after inducing them to different carcinogens. And it helps in a unique way that's explained in this book. There are several other specific fruits and vegetables that have properties that I didn't understand before reading this book.The authors are leading researchers in cancer and oncology, not just dietitians looking to write a book. They don't recommend any specific diet or recipes but rather give all kinds of relevant information on the ways of achieving a balanced diet which includes certain fruits and vegetables in amounts that have been shown to play a significant role in helping to prevent or fight cancer. It's a good quality book with lots of illustrations and is easy to read. I'm impressed enough to have already sent copies to a couple friends.Lots of what you read about cancer on the internet or in other books can be pretty overwhelming. This is not a scary book. It's a book filled with hope and solid information about things you can do to join in the fight against this awful disease.

I wish I had read this book many years ago, as I am now a cancer survivor. However, since I intend to do my best to prevent a recurrence, it is still extremely valuable. What one reads in this book can also be read from the reports of the major cancer conferences in the country, such as the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Conference in December.This book begins with one of the best explanations of cancer and how it develops in our bodies that I have ever read. (And I have read a lot!) As it continues, it then relates to how food is at least equal to, if not better, than resorting to medications. How many times have we heard to eat five servings of vegetables and fruits each day? Which of them or both is meant by that admonition? This book makes it clear which and how many, and most importantly, why. Beautifully illustrated, well written for the lay person, a valuable tool in the fight not only against cancer, but for good health!Just a follow up note: I also purchased Recipes for Foods to Fight Cancer, a recipe book produced by the same authors with celebrity chefs producing recipes using the recommended foods. (After all, how many of us know how to fix seaweed?) However, while it is attractive and interesting, I would have preferred more simple, every day recipes, rather than gourmet recipes. Stick with Foods to Fight Cancer and you'll have all the information you need.

I rencently book this book because a loved one previously had cancer and could possibly be battling with it again. I wanted to know more about which foods they should be introducing more into their current diet. The book is very well laid out. Everything is in color. It does get a little bit high techy and medical in some parts which I briefly skimmed over. The breakdowns of food groups is very interesting. Even when the food areas are broken down into the groups you don't have to read the entire chapter if you do not want to because it has highlighted summary areas. All in all I would say this book is worth buying. Very helpful even if you do not have cancer, I know I've made some changes already to my own diet.

I got this book a few days ago, my husband was diagnosed with early stage melanoma 3 weeks ago. I wanted to glean healthy foods from it, although I believe I am cooking quite healthy for the family already. What the book does in the beginning is explain cancer from a biological/medical stand point to a lay person. It explains what it is, how cells go wrong to become cancerous, what makes cancer prosper and hard to treat. At first I thought I'd skip over that section, I don't have a medical or scientific background, and I usually struggle with such explanations as too dry and boring for the lay person.However, I found myself reading this section with increasing interest as the authors give just the right amount of information to help me get a basic understanding of the cell biology of cancer, and I know this will help me down the road in knowing why I am going the extra mile to include the suggested foods into our daily diet. This understanding will definitely motivate me.The authors also don't throw out the conventional approach to treating cancer, but explain quite well why and how diet can do things in treating and preventing cancer on an ongoing basis which drugs and radiation do only for a certain time, with side effects, and possibly not eliminating all of the cancer. The authors see diet as a crucial and scientifically valid ally in fighting cancer.I haven't read any chapter about the individual foods yet, just glanced around a bit, but I can say that DK publishing is doing its trademark outstanding job of making books very readable and accessible with excellent layout and design. I'm looking forward to reading more, and there is even a section on "Chocolate: a good obsession." My husband loves chocolate!