National Cancer Control Month

April is National Cancer Control month so here is Dr. Weil's newsletter item for today:

A healthy diet can help the body in its efforts to heal itself, and in some cases particular foods can help protect against the development of serious illness. To help reduce your risk of some types of cancer, try the following dietary steps:

1. Avoid polyunsaturated vegetable oils, margarine, vegetable shortening, all partially hydrogenated oils, and all foods that might contain trans-fatty acids (such as deep-fried foods).
2. Increase omega-3 fatty acids by eating more cold water oily fish, freshly ground flaxseeds, and walnuts.
3. Reduce consumption of animal foods and try to replace them with vegetable proteins such as whole soy products.
4. Use hormone-free, organically produced products whenever possible.
5. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
6. Eat shiitake, enokitake, maitake, and oyster mushrooms frequently.
7. Drink green tea daily.

I can do all of those but the cold water oily fish. I eat walnuts daily but those flaxseeds, which have to be eaten quickly due to shelf life and ground to release the nutrients from the hull, are a challenge. The Japanese mushrooms are also difficult for us but worth doing some research.