Professor Jane Plant

Yesterday I said I will be guided by university professors rather than health food cranks and religious nuts. At that time I had no idea where such advice would come from, God provided such a lead within 2 hours, and I ordered the book within another 2 hours.

This is all thanks to a friend for a lead to Jane Plant, an English professor who has written a book on surviving breast cancer. Jane is the Chief Scientist of the British Geological Survey. She suffered breast cancer and four subsequent recurrences, at which time her prognosis was deemed terminal and she was given only months to live. She is still alive and well, she sat next to my friend at a recent university dinner. Her book on breast cancer is reviewed here.

Initially I like her ideas of looking at Chinese experience which ties in with mine of looking at Polish experience. It is a bit like a light had switched on for me, lifestyle is more important than conventional drugs. But the more I reflect on it I doubt it can be as easy as merely removing dairy products from the diet, which is the summary I read of Jane's ideas. I read several worrying reviews of her ideas.

A review of Jane's book by Dr. Sandra Goodman states Jane Plant attempted to cover too much territory for her expertise (she has after all a Ph.D. in Geology, not in Nutrition or Immunology). Most of her dietary advice is to avoid alcohol, red meat, caffeine, chemicals, and to eat a wholefood diet with plenty of greens, vegetables and fruits, drink filtered water and nutritious juices. Despite her somewhat bossy, quirky and intolerant manner, this book is worth reading, particularly regarding the dairy connection to breast cancer.

Jane Plant's site is here

So we wait and pray, the book has yet to arrive. Jan is still very pro conventional treatment, they are after all her old colleagues, and she hates any change in diet.