It’s time for more of my “Fall into Wellness” and my next blog series is all about how we can live the anticancer lifestyle. Why this lifestyle? According to the American Cancer Society, 40% of new cancers are linked to lifestyle behaviors. Too many people are getting cancer!
This is personal for me as I lost both my parents young to cancer. These tragedies put me on a track over the last 30 years to learn as much as I can about reducing the risks of cancer and chronic illness. Of course there are no guarantees but what I love about the anticancer lifestyle is it’s backed by evidence based ways we can reduce our risks and feel great while living this way.
For the next week or so — I am going back to my beginnings of my health coaching practice — and that’s providing this evidenced based lifestyle recommendations to reduce our risks of cancer and other chronic illnesses. All these recommendations form the 3 Pillars that my health coaching programs provide: nourish, move and meditate.
For this blog my focus is on reducing inflammation in our body through diet. And,today’s suggestion is crowding out unhealthy foods with non-starchy vegetables and mushrooms.
Inflammation is a process that is strongly influenced by lifestyle factors such as one’s diet. Inflammatory diets have been linked to numerous cancers, including colorectal, breast, head and neck, gynecological, prostate, esophageal, and others. Not to mention the other health issues inflammation in the body effects like arthritis and other types of joint pain to name two. I know when I fall off my wellness “wagon” and eat foods that can cause inflammation (we will get to those), my muscles ache, I feel more tired and just all over bad.
While there is no single definition of an anti-inflammatory diet, this dietary pattern differs markedly from the Standard American Diet (also called, appropriately, the “SAD” diet), which has been associated with inflammation.
The SAD diet is typically high in animal protein (especially red and process meats), fried foods, sugar, and refined carbohydrates; and lower in fish, fruit and vegetable consumption.
The Mediterranean Diet, in contrast, is considered to be an anti-inflammatory way of eating. It is high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (e.g. beans, lentils, peas), nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, fish, olive oil, and moderate red wine intake. Anti-inflammatory diets are rich in Vitamins C and E (and other antioxidants), fiber, flavonoids, magnesium, carotenoids, omega 3 fatty acids, probiotics, and more.
For anti-inflammatory foods, here’s the basics: aim for organic and seasonal choices when possible. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, plant-based proteins and fats; drink mostly water; incorporate more herbs and spices.
Specifically, we can include non-starchy vegetables & mushrooms — like,
Dark Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, lettuce (dark leaf lettuces such as red or green leaf lettuce), Swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, etc.
Cruciferous Vegetables: broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, turnips, cabbage, radishes.
Allium Vegetables: Garlic, onion, leek, chives, shallots.
Cooked Asian Mushrooms: Shiitake, maitake, enokidake, oyster.
What’s on your menu? For me and especially in the fall/winter, I love eating a delicious and nutritious vegetable soup and other soups that include lots of the veggies mentioned above.
With lots of love, healthy living, and feeling great,
Christine
PS. Stayed tuned because the best healthy and clean skincare line is having an “In between Sale” while they reorganize the company Beautycounter. Non-toxic products on our skin, hair, eyes matters for our health and living the Anti-cancer lifestyle. Reach out to me if you want the link for the sale that will be online the beginning of November. In addition, I also work with TULSO Wellness, who provides superfood smoothies bars and lattes, backed by research and designed by a 3 Michelin star chef to perfect the taste. You can get a discount on their products from me– just let me know.