Jean LaMantia (Registered Dietitian, cancer survivor and best selling author of “The Essential Cancer Treatment Nutrition Guide and Cookbook”) spoke at the March Lunch and Learn Health Talk about her experience after finishing cancer treatment, including nutrition tips and what she did to gain back control and help reduce her risk of recurrence.

Watch Jean LaMantia’s full talk on www.ThePrincessMargaret.ca/LunchAndLearn

Jean talked about 3 keys you can use to help reduce your risk of recurrence:

1. Support your immune system
To support and maintain a healthy immune system:
• Get regular moderately exercise (like walking). Very intense workouts can actually weaken your immune system.
• Get outside and spend time around trees and breathe in their immune-supporting wood essential oils (called phytoncides)
• Laugh, even when there is not anything funny. Studies have shown that just laughing has positive effects on your health.
• Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, and be asleep during the hours between 11pm to 3am.

2. Reduce chronic inflammation
Jean spoke about inflammation in the body and how it is the first step in the life cycle of a cancer cell. To help reduce inflammation in the body, eat foods that have direct cancer-fighting benefits. The top 5 are:
1. Omega-3 fatty acids (found in cold water fish, ground flax seeds, walnuts)
2. Turmeric (like in yellow curry)
3. Garlic
4. Ginger
5. Tea (green and black)

3. Eat food that can act on cancer directly
There are foods that can interfere with the life cycle of a cancer cell. While the research on these come from laboratory studies and we don’t know for sure if they can kill cancer cells in our bodies like they do in the lab, there is no risk to including these as part of a healthy diet) The top three foods that fight cancer directly are:
1. Vegetables from the cruciferous or mustard family
(like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, wasabi mustard, yellow mustard)
2. Garlic
3. Ginger

Broccoli, a cruciferous vegetable, is one of the best foods for fighting cancer. However, to maximize the cancer-fighting benefits from broccoli, you have to cook it, but not too much. Follow this guideline:
• Boil broccoli for 30 seconds but no more than 1 minute
• Steam broccoli for 3 minutes but no more than 5 minutes

With garlic, the cancer-fighting compounds are released when you crush or chop the garlic. To get the most out of garlic:
• Leave the crushed or chopped garlic on your cutting board for 10 minutes allowing the compounds to be released
• Use fresh not processed or frozen garlic

To learn more nutrition and lifestyle tips to reduce your risk of cancer and boost your immune system, you can:
• Watch Jean LaMantia’s full talk on www.ThePrincessMargaret.ca/LunchAndLearn
• Read her book “The Essential Cancer Treatment Nutrition Guide and Cookbook”, available to borrow in the Patient & Family Library at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Visit her website (https://www.jeanlamantia.com/ and download your free copy of the Immune Boosting Quick Start Guide and sign –up to receive her monthly Cancer Bites blog
• Book an individual, group or on-line program with Jean at https://www.jeanlamantia.com

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