I am a 9 month cancer survivor. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer. Life changing to say the least. Being a research driven person and a big believer in controlling what I can, I read as much as I could stomach on the topic. Most of my research was nutrition and lifestyle based. I have always been a strong advocate of eating healthily and exercising frequently, hence my shock at the cancer diagnosis, not having a strong family history of the disease. Well, as in the case of my discovering that my carbon footprint was sizeable, I discovered that I needed to take my nutrition and exercise to the next level. This was confirmed by a cooking class that I recently started taking at The Gathering Place that was developed by The Cancer Project. The Cancer project is an organization that studies cancer prevention and survival through nutrition education and research. The four basic tenets of the program are as follows:
- Low-Fat (An average of 10-15% of your calories should come from fat-this takes work)
- High Fiber (30-40 grams daily) Preferably from food not Metamucil
- Non-Dairy (Even organic dairy contains naturally occurring growth hormones)
- No Meat Products (Animal flesh has no fiber and is generally high in fat)
In a nut shell...Vegan. Not what I wanted to hear. I knew that one day I would adopt a vegan lifestyle, but I figured that would be when I retired to my farm in Oberlin and became a black hippy. But these were themes that over the last year, that I had found in my research, though not summarized in this manner. Anyway, while I am incorporated most of these principles in my diet, I have yet to totally eliminate flesh and dairy products. I have cut back quite a bit on both. I am going to set some goals for myself in this area. Its the only way I get anything done.
No comments:
Post a Comment