You are what you eat

Many of the health food sites I visit claim "You are what you eat". What a load of claptrap! Jan and I eat the same diet, she gets first choice, I get the leftovers. She has breasts and long hair, I have little of either. A living organism has the ability to synthesise complex molecules such as eyes, hair and a brain from simpler molecules such as fish and chips. So folk who claim "you are what you eat" miss out that God's gift of life makes us far more than just what we eat.

But obviously what we eat has a major impact on our health. Thanks to a blog by a female professor at UCSF, University College of San Francisco. It is here

She speaks more sense than most, she is motivated to understand as she had triple negative breast cancer, as we suspect Jan may have. She mentions nutrition is part of her follow up plan. Her blog has two excellent links: The first is a very simple list of "good foods" that even includes chocolate, so enjoy!

The second is an even more comprehensive list here.. Click on the link at the top of the page for a PDF version. I revisited this link at completion of treatment in June 2008, and find this data stands the test of time. After studying many other diet experts such as Professor Aggarwhal and having bought Professor Richard Beleveau's book "Foods that fight cancer" this summary still covers all their ideas, and gives scientific reasoning behind the claims.

It suggests that carrots, and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, sprouts etc. protect from cancer, and can even kill cancer cells in the body. Wow!!!! I compare this detailed report with the fact sheet given us free by the UK NHS. Our NHS say "eat 5 fruit and veg a day" but don't list which ones, and mix it with data such as some find Chinese Yin and Yang philosophy helpful. I tended to discard the UK advice as it mixed in the "multicultural" talk of Yin and Yang with what is good science on nutrition as detailed by one of the USA's top universities.

Great fun. Our guests on Sunday helped us devour a pomegranate smoothie, and on Monday just four of us eat more than one whole cabbage. Have we gone overboard? I have a feeling diet could have more effect on Jan's outcome than a whole course of radiotherapy.