Life Over Cancer Blog

Macaroni Salad with Vegan Mayo

Macaroni Salad   

 Home-made mayo is easy to make and this dish is a great way to get extra veggies in!            

Curcumin & Tamoxifen

Curcumin is the primary component of the Indian spice turmeric, and is responsible for the bright yellow color of this popular spice. There is a significant amount of research demonstrating curcumin’s anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties and, in fact, several laboratory studies have found that this botanical enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs in treating various types of tumors.

What’s really remarkable is that most of the interactions are synergistic, meaning that curcumin actually multiplies the effectiveness of several chemotherapy drugs. This has caused some to wonder if there is also the potential for negative interactions, and whether curcumin could perhaps inhibit the effectiveness of other chemotherapy drugs. Some of this concern has centered around tamoxifen. Specifically, whether curcumin could inhibit tamoxifen’s activity.

Picnic in the Park

Vegan BBQ Baked Beans With Agave BBQ Sauce

Serves 10

Ingredients:                                                        

 2 cups dried red kidney beans

2 cups vegetable stock

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup tomato purée

1/4 cup barbeque sauce (see recipe)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp tamari

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp ginger, fresh, grated (or 1 tsp powder)

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

Pinch cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Soak beans in a large bowl of water overnight or for at least 8 hours. (Unless canned)

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Coat a large oven-safe pot with a thin layer of vegetable stock, and set the rest aside.

3.  Sauté onion, green pepper, and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes in vegetable stock, adding liquid as necessary. Add tomato puree, barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, tamari, and maple syrup followed by dry ingredients. Add Beans, stir and cover.

4.  Place pot in the oven for 4 hours, checking every hour. If more liquid is need, add 1/4 cup vegetable stock at a time, stir, and recover.

OR

Option: Use canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained, and skip the first step and the oven and just heat together. Simmer for 45 minutes and serve!

Powerfood Profile: Sprouted Seeds & Cereal Grasses

Sprouted seeds and cereal grasses contain powerful compounds including antioxidants, a number of enzymes, and chlorophyll.

It is often easier to obtain these compounds in the form of juices. Excellent choices are broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, kale sprouts, sunflower seed greens, wheatgrass juice, barley grass juice, oat grass juice, cabbage sprouts, and cauliflower sprouts.

Broccoli sprouts are particularly important as a sourec of the cancer-inhibiting phytochemical sulphoraphane.

For more information on The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, call (847) 230-9107 or visit BlockMD.com.

Green Pepper, Wild Mushroom, & Red Onion Pizza

Green Pepper, Wild Mushroom, & Red Onion Pizza

Serves 2-3 People

Seaweed and Olive Pasta Salad

 Serves 8

Remission should not mean the end of treatment

“We got it all.”

Words every cancer patient loves to hear. And it is indeed news worth celebrating. However, you shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this favorable pronouncement means treatment is over and you can go back to life as it was before cancer. Consider this: What is the “it” that they got all of? “It” is the tumor and any detectable cancer cells. What they didn’t “get” is the biochemical and molecular environment within your body that made the cancer possible and helped fuel its growth. A tumor is merely the most visible manifestation of an underlying, systemic disruption of the body’s processes. In other words, the macroscopic evidence – the tumor – is the most obvious indication of the illness. As important as it is to address the tumor, it is not by any means enough.

Vegan Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Avocado Frosting

Sun Safety, Sunscreens, & Cancer

As we reach the peak season of the summer sun, wisdom suggests that we should pay greater attention to protecting our skin. Yet, there are questions about the best way to do this.  Should we avoid the sun? Is all sun exposure bad for us? Are all sunscreens created equal? Does clothing afford any protection? This blog post will answer some of your most frequently asked questions about how to stay safe in the sun.

On one hand, we’ve all been warned of the dangers that lurk behind those healthy-looking tans; most notably, an increased risk of skin cancer and premature wrinkles. On the other hand, there is also reasonable evidence that sun exposure does not induce melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In fact, there are several studies that demonstrate sun exposure can actually protect us from cancer! To be specific, the exposure to UVB sun radiation has been shown to reduce the risk of 19 major types of cancer through the production of vitamin D!