Food Recommendations for Cancer Patients and Medicinal Mushrooms

Dear Friend,

Initially, years ago, I wrote this letter specifically for all my cancer patients and I compiled for them a List of Recommended Healthy Food.

Many of them have told me that the list is easy to use, that they have been making copies to share with family and friends and some have the list on the fridge for a quick reference.

It is impossible to find one and only one product or supplement that would contain absolutely everything needed for all causes and health issues.

There is little benefit of knowing what’s good for you if the healthy food recommendations are not implemented.

The key factor in fighting many health issues, including cancer, is taking regularly a great set of nutrients.

Firstly, it is the combination of various types of food that counts greatly, because they all complement each other. Secondly, consistency is the key to success.

The recommendations provided are to be used as a guide not only by cancer patients but also by everyone, regardless of health issues.

I always stress to all my patients, family and friends, that BALANCE is the most important factor in everything – in food, in drinks, in indoors and outdoors activities, in a relationship, in an emotional and psychological state of mind.

We all know it but often ignore. So, please, whatever you do in order to get better and stay well, strive to balance things in your life. Too much of even the best things can cause an “overload”.

Here are the guidelines of various types of food that you should eat and/or drink that, in my opinion, will benefit you.

Spread them throughout the week and don’t stress yourself if there is something that you cannot find, or it is too expensive – just substitute it with something else from the list.

Also, there is no need to go overboard and stress yourself overtaking most of these products every day. Do not overstretch your budget either as it will cause anxiety and will prevent you from following the good common sense of eating healthy.

If during the week you manage to have meals using a combination of just a few of the suggested products – THAT’S FANTASTIC! Congratulate yourself because you helped your body in the quest of staying healthy!

• Almonds - 10 a day
• Apples
• Apricots - fresh or dried
• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Barley
• Beans
• Beetroot - for antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, soluble fibre, flavonoids, folic acid, you name it
• Bell peppers - fresh, any colour – 1-3 peppers per day – on their own or in salads
• Beluga Caviar - 1 level teaspoon a day, even just once a week would be fantastic
• Berries - (all are great, but best are blueberries) – cheaper to get frozen berries and divide into portions so that you can use a small pack per day – eat with some yogurt or blend into a drink – 200 ml per day; or eat just as a snack between meals
• Bok choy
• Brazil nuts - 10 a day
• Breads and pastas - that are labelled “100% whole wheat” or “100% whole grain”
• Broccoli - fresh in salads or blended into a drink on its own or with other veggies/fruit
• Brussels sprouts
• Buckwheat - prepare porridge at least twice a week, you can have it with a bit of milk – email me if you want to know how to prepare it without cooking / boiling
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower - fresh in salads or blended into a drink on its own or with other veggies/fruit
• Celery
• Cheese
• Chia seeds - 1 teaspoon twice a day in any food or drink
• Chickpeas
• Corn
• Dates - 3 - 5 per day
• Eggplant
• Feta
• Figs
• Fish - cod, tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring and anchovies
• Ginger
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Green tea - preferably at least one cup a day
• Hemp Seed oil - in salads - 2 tablespoons
• Honey - one tablespoon a day
• Juices - any type of freshly made juice is great; I’d like to suggest that you also make a carrots / beetroot juice, 50-50% -200 -300 ml at least twice a week
• Kale
• Kiwi fruit
• Lentils
• Olive oil - in salads
• Olives - 3-5 a day
• Onions, shallots, leeks, and garlic - raw, not cooked, in salads or any way you can, as often as you can
• Oranges
• Papaya
• Parsley - in salads
• Peaches
• Peas
• Pineapple
• Pomegranate
• Pumpkin
• Quinoa - protein-packed, eating a daily bowl reduces the risk of premature death from cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and diabetes.
• Raisins
• Seaweed
• Spinach
• Sunflower oil - in salads
• Sweet potatoes
• Tomatoes - fresh in salads. Very important: minimum of 2-3 times a week eat 5-6 tomatoes fried in olive oil or sunflower oil – prepare them as sauce over your fish or meat or pasta.
• Turmeric - use in preparation of food, for example, curry
• Walnuts - 5 a day
• Watermelon
• Wholegrain crackers
• Wild rice
• Yogurt

Fruit & Vegetables - Eat fruit and vegetables with a wide variety of colours, combine them, play with them, experiment - make it fun. This will help you get a broad range of vitamins and minerals, because the chemicals that give these foods their colour are the same ones that are important for you as nutrients.

Meat - No need to exclude meat from your diet. Just try and eat smaller and fewer portions of red meat. Yes, processed meat, fried and barbequed meat is not healthy, but if, for example, you are having a special occasion or just really feel that this is what you really would like to have, there is no harm at all from eating any of these meats on odd occasions.

Do not stress over it and enjoy the meal in the company of your friends and family. You know very well that this is not the everyday meal for you and for the next weeks you will be eating “healthy meats”. Sometimes you may use beans or pulses instead of meat in your recipes. When you cook meat, use low-temperature methods, for example, braising. Chicken can be added in your daily diet, just remove the skin.

Salt - Important product. Do not over do. Use in moderation.

Fibre - Add to your diet wholegrain cereals, wholemeal and wholegrain bread, brown rice and pulses. A large variety of fruit and vegetables also contain lots of fibre - peas, spinach, apples, avocados, pears, berries, brussels sprouts, green beans, broccoli, corn, spinach, carrots and oranges.

Fats - Do your best to avoid frying food in lots of oil, rather try steaming, braising or lightly grilling instead.

Fish - Try eating more fish instead of red or processed meat. The best is to poach, bake or steam it.

"Chia seeds antioxidants properties play a crucial role in cancer prevention as well as treatment, though when it comes to nutritious foods or supplements, we are not allowed to make claims no matter how much research work has proven it. But the fact remains - Chia holds protease inhibitors that destroy cancer cells and repair DNA damage. James Scheer mentions in his book about a survey, taken in 41 countries, showing lower cancer rates where chia intake was highest. ("Magic of Chia: Revival of Ancient Wonder Food"; James F. Scheer; 2009)."

The above extract is reflecting only cancer related benefits, but there is much more to this tiny and yummy seed.

For over 20 years my family has been using Chia seeds with breakfast, sprinkling over salad, in smoothies, with stir fry, etc and I have been sharing with others the benefits of this Aztec times staple food. It is truly delicious, and I recommend you adding Chia to your "healthy bucket".

Majority of my clients are cancer patients. It is most desired to start taking Reishi, together with Maitake, Shiitake and Cordyceps as soon as possible – before, during and after chemotherapy or any other medication.

Here is a short extract from one of my talks at a seminar that might add to the information on the website:

Why is it important for a patient who is undergoing chemotherapy, to take Reishi, Maitake, Cordyceps and Shiitake medicinal mushrooms?

What are the benefits of these supplements?

Chemotherapy is one of the most extensively used treatment options for cancer patients. It uses a variety of combinations of high doses medications, some of them are quite hepato-toxic, but needed to kill or to suppress the cancer growth. The benefit of killing the cancer cells overrides the shortcoming of having many side effects such as loss of appetite, hair loss, fatigue, toxicity to liver and kidney, skin irritation, peripheral neuropathy and other neurological issues, diarrhea and constipation, nausea and vomiting, and so on.

Reishi, Maitake, Cordyceps and Shiitake act in a multitude of functions:

• act as protective agents, minimizing the harmful side effects derived from chemotherapy
• strengthen and improve the detoxifying function of liver, pancreas and kidney
• activate and stimulate the function of immune depressed system
• prevent the increase of chromosomal damage induced by anti-cancer drugs
• provide the detoxification of the liver and pancreas
• stimulate the cancer cells apoptosis (cell death)
• reinforce the membrane of the cancerous cells and thus preventing from the spreading (metastasis) and more.

These medicinal mushrooms contain vast number of active ingredients including polysaccharides, especially high amounts of Beta-glucans and triterpenes.

Beta-Glucan is a very specific polysaccharide that stimulates the immune system to fight cancer. Besides attacking tumour cells directly, it stimulates the production of T- cells to fight the affected cells.”

The bio-active properties of all medicinal mushrooms provide an accumulative effect.

To illustrate this, imagine taking a small snowball, compact it well and then roll it in the fresh snow. Keep rolling it. The more time you spend rolling this ball, the bigger it gets. You might even get to make a snowman.

The same happens when you take medicinal mushrooms. Medicinal mushrooms are not the same as “Panadol” or any fast-acting drug which come with a bucket of side-effects.

The longer you take medicinal mushrooms even at a low dosage of one capsule a day, the better are the long-lasting results.

The above benefits are NOT EXCLUSIVE to cancer patients. Reishi, Maitake, Cordyceps and Shiitake are beneficial to everybody.

Hope that this additional information will be of interest to you or you might want to share it with your clients, family members or friends. We all need to do our very best to stay strong and healthy.

Please never hesitate to contact me when you have any questions with regards to your health issues or products. I am always here to help you get better and stay well.

Best wishes,
Yours, Dr Alla.