This was going to be an upbeat post. I am very excited to announce that Batya will be hosting the next JPIX edition, the summer review edition. But before I say more about JPIX, I would like to add a prayer for RivkA bat Tirzel (the “bat Tirzel” means she is the daughter of Tirzel; in Jewish tradition one prays for someone’s health with the mother’s name). You can read her post about her unexpected diagnosis. She is a strong woman and has blogged a lot about her cancer diagnosis, treatment and support group.

So if you want to participate in the September 8 edition of JPIX, the blog carnival of Jewish photobloggers, please submit your post using this blogcarnival.com form. Finally, if you are not a photoblogger but you have a great photo to submit, you can open an account on Flickr or some other free web photo showcase and submit the Flickr (or whatever platform you use) link. You can submit photos on any theme, but especially welcome are any that celebrate summer.

Newbie asks: What to do about challah on a Friday night (or the lack thereof)?
Some responses:

As for challlah Friday night. I have two thoughts. First is the difference between the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law. I think the blessing say thanks for the bread etc. So, I have no problem saying the blessing over a piece of whole grain, or sprouted bread. Extending even further, why not substitute one grain for another. Why just wheat, why not rice. I have said the “ chamotzie” over rice, quinoa, hato mugi etc. many times. The other thought, is that even though challah isn’t remotely macrobiotic, if it makes you feel good, spiritually, physically, or in any other way. Have some. I’ve done that many times too. Macrobiotics is supposed to fit into your life, not the other way around

Klara’s response:

my compromise is I buy a very small unyeasted roll – and even then won’t eat it all – I have a friend who used to make rice kayu bread – which is half flour and half rice – and she would steam it. Steamed bread I was taught was easier to digest.

I was quite surprised by Michael Rossoff’s suggestion that it’s ok for me to have 1 – 2 slices of bread a day – so you see, I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t go for counseling. As I said, each person had different needs.

Links from Klara’s macrobiotics group:

• Macrobiotic Healing Stories
• Recovery from Breast Cancer: But two of my favorite foods were pizza and ice cream with a topping of peanut butter.
• Battling Cancer: a common-sense regimen of grains, vegetables, beans and sea vegetables
• Choosing Foods by Michael Rosoff

A recipe from Klara’s macrobiotics group:

Fresh Tekka

Ingredients:
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced carrot
1/2 cup minced burdock
1/2 cup minced lotus root
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon barley miso diluted in a little water
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon orange rind
1 cup spring water

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables in the following order, onion, carrot, lotus root and burdock.
Add enough water to cover the vegetables.
Cover with a lid and simmer on a low flame for at least 1 hour or until soft.
Add the diluted miso and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the ginger and orange rind and stir gently.
Remove from heat and serve over hot brown rice.

Comment from the recipe writer: You could use any of these veggies instead – parsnip, turnip, cabbage or squash – failing that use carrots and onions on their own. The relish changes every time we make it and even more so with different veggies – how splendid and wonderful a few simple adjustments can be!

(Comment from me: I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’ll print it and put it in my recipe book to try soon).

•   •   •

Note: I only follow a bit of the macrobiotic diet myself, in that I try to eat many vegetables, brown rice and beans. Thus my title of “pick n choose”: perhaps you can find a part of the diet to adopt?

Another Note: if you just pick and choose a little of the diet, you aren’t going to experience its healing effects. However, many of us like to put a toe into a pool before diving in…

First, it didn’t mention any specific alternative cancer treatments, such as the Macrobiotic diet or the Budwig diet. On the other hand, what it did cover was extensive: summaries of research studies, information about nutrition and cancer, mind/body research and the resistance of Western doctors to any cancer treatment beyond chemotherapy, radiation and pharmaceuticals.

If you want to read about Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s careful summaries of recent research and how they provide new hope for cancer patients, I recommend you read the book. He does give an analogy to the World War II battle of Stalingrad as a way to understand new approaches to cancer treatment. At Stalingrad, instead of attacking the powerful German army directly, the Russian army attacked the German supply lines, thus enabling the beginning of the retreat of the Nazi cancer. A Navy surgeon named Dr. Judah Folkman paved the way for attacking the supply lines of cancer in the human body.

One of the best parts of the books is Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s commentary on why so many oncologists are reluctant to refer to nutrition or diet as part of their practice. Here are a few of his notes:

• Western doctors receive little or no training in nutrition.
• Evidence-based medicine: “If it were true, we’d know about it.”
• “If there’s a problem, there’s a drug.”
• “People don’t want to change. It’s useless to tell them that.”

About doctors needing evidence-based medicine and why the nutrition studies don’t exist:

It is not financially feasible to invest such sums [as do the pharmaceuticals in drug research] in demonstrating the usefulness of broccoli, raspberries or green tea, because they can’t be patented and their sale will never cover the cost of the original investment… I am convinced there is no need to wait for such large-scale results before beginning to include anticancer foods in one’s diet.

As some of the best parts of the book are some nutritional and other anticancer suggestions, I’ll save those for later posts. Stay tuned.

Other books I would like to read:
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted
by T. Colin Campbell (recommended by my friend H.)
Foods to Fight Cancer: Essential foods to help prevent cancer
by Dr. Richard Beliveau (discussed in the Anticancer book)

A book I previously reviewed that is mentioned in the Anticancer book:
A Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis

I decided to click on nutrition, my favorite first-try route for dealing with ailments. I end up on the American Cancer Society’s links on nutrition.

Here are some excerpts. On broccoli, one of my favorite vegetables that my kids will actually eat if freshly-steamed:

Some research has suggested that sulforaphane, which is present at much higher levels in broccoli sprouts than in the mature vegetable, may be a powerful cancer-preventing agent. The compound is thought to prompt the body to make higher levels of enzymes that protect against cancer-causing chemicals. One study showed that breast tumor development was significantly reduced in lab animals that were fed sulforaphane.

On garlic:

While some research on garlic is promising, it is very hard to determine the exact role a particular food may have against cancer. It is even more difficult when the food in question is often used in small amounts, as is garlic.

On Macrobiotic Diet:

The National Institutes of Health, Office of Alternative Medicine has funded a pilot study to determine if a macrobiotic diet may prevent cancer.

If someone is to try the macrobiotic diet, I would suggest a modified one, one that includes at least some animal products such as fish. And I question avoiding the tropical fruits.

From the ACS site, I found this article on Macrobiotics on a Univ. of Texas site. He mentions a book by Dr. Anthony Sattilaro called Recalled from Life. Another related book by Elaine Nussbaum: Recovery from Cancer.

On seaweed:

Despite claims that dried seaweed supplements, also called sea vegetables, are super nutrients that can prevent cancer and help numerous diseases, there is no reliable clinical evidence that this is true…Early studies of seaweed extracts, in the lab and on animals, suggest that certain compounds may one day be used in medicine.

A past post on a book about cancer, including a quote about waiting for clinical trial proof before trying an alternative therapy

Past post: What is a Colonoscopy? (thank you, Michelle, I should include this, too)

My mother died of colon cancer ten years ago. There is nothing I can do about that, but I can seek information that might help family and friends.

• My father has been saying this for years:
  Trans Fats Cause Precancerous Colon Growths (my mother died of colon cancer)
• Why Pregnant Women Should Avoid Perfume at All Costs

And here’s a humorous one, on what will happen when McDonalds reaches Africa.

Finally, there are shirts for nutrition nerds in in my shop.

I want to highlight one blogger in particular:
RivkA at Coffee and Chemo.
RivkA had the guts to ask the panel questions at the conference; I believe the question was about increasing blog traffic. But in general RivkA has a lot of guts. She writes about living with cancer. And she really lives. Her post about walking around the walls of Jerusalem on Tisha B’Av was particularly memorable. She talks about her support group, and how half the group doesn’t show up because they don’t feel well enough to come. But she clearly gets a lot out of the support. So, as I probably get different traffic to my blog than she gets to hers, I’m wondering if I can send you on over to Jerusalem and her blog to read a couple of posts on cancer survival. And about living.

I’m trying to find a post on her blog where she explains the capital A, as in RivkA, but I can’t.
Update: see Mother in Israel’s comment below, where she explains the accent is on the second syllable.

• Wikipedia colonoscopy
• Web MD’s colonoscopy
• Cancer.org colonoscopy faq
• About.com: Preparing for a Colonoscopy

Oh, before you read those links, check out the newest Kosher Cooking Carnival. If you read all about a colonoscopy first, you might not feel up to reading about food.

Let’s cheer on Carl in Jerusalem for taking care of himself yesterday and inspiring me to (finally) write a post on the importance of colonoscopies. Another blogger wrote about hers recently (she knows who she is).

My mother died of colon cancer. The week before my most recent colonoscopy my father mentioned that one of the only early symptoms of her illness was she only had a bowel movement every few days. When I changed my own diet(I eat a lot of brown rice, vegetables and fruit in addition to some protein foods) soon after my mother got sick, I noticed my own bowel movements came more easily. When I eat too much of my delicious homemade challah, I get a bit constipated again. So also know your own body.

• Caring Too Much?
• Update on Z.

I met her once at an art class. We shared a table. She cheerfully told me about how she does art in between chemo sessions. If there is a gene for optimism, she had it.

Here is her obituary, which will appear in today’s Star Ledger:

Kiersten E. Hickman-Perfetti, 22, of Highland Park died at home with her parents after an almost 4-year battle with cancer on April 23.

Kiersten was born in New Brunswick New Jersey on July 5, 1985. She attended public school in Highland Park. Kiersten played varsity basketball, threw the shot put, discus and javelin, and managed the football and baseball teams at Highland Park High School. She swam at the YM/YWHA and the University Swim Club from ages 5 to 14. Kiersten was an avid music lover. She played the clarinet was in the high school band.

Kiersten attended Goucher College in Towson, Maryland for her freshman year in college 2003-2004. Kier played basketball at Goucher College her freshman year, and she was awarded an honorary degree by Goucher in 2007. She was an avid Rutgers Women’s basketball fan and friend to the team, and a member of the Rutgers Cager’s Club. The RU women’s bball team dedicated their 2007-08 season to Kier. Kier enjoyed scrapbooking, reading, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, music, and movies. She took art lessons. Kiersten loved children and became an important person in the lives of many children in Highland Park and at the Children’s Hospital of Philly.

During her illness Kiersten developed a list of things to accomplish. She went to The Daily Show four times and met Jon Stewart, who was very kind to her. We thank Jon Stewart and Teri Abrams. She went to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, several Fab Faux concerts, Saturday Night Live, The Lion King, Rent, the WNBA 2007 All-Star game, and the NCAA 2007 Final Four women’s BB game. Kier also started a foundation, Kier’s Kidz, to raise money for research into the treatment and cure of pediatric cancer.

Kiersten is survived by her mother, Mimi Hickman-Perfetti, her father, Larry Perfetti, her brother, Keith Hickman-Perfetti, and her grandmother, Betty Perfetti of Maple Shade, NJ. Her other grandparents, Al Perfetti, and George and Nancy Hickman, predeceased her. She has numerous other relatives and friends.

Viewings will be held on Sunday, April 27, from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm at Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, NJ. Full memorial services will held on Sunday, May 4, at 2pm, at Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, Kier would appreciate your making a contribution to: Kier’s Kidz Lemonade Stand, c/o Alex’s Lemonade Stand, 333 E. Lancaster Avenue, #414, Wynnewood, PA 19096.

Devra Davis lost both her parents to cancer. And she’s the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. And a professor at the Department of Epidemiology at the Graduate School of Health.

A summary of the book from the New York Times article (see link at bottom):

The result of twenty years of research, Davis’s book tracks the history of cancer studies from before World War II through the early 1990s and doesn’t hesitate to indict major corporations and politicians (as well as her former colleagues), claiming they routinely manipulated and fudged data about cancer-causing agents like benzene and tobacco. Her essential argument is that far too many people get cancer than is necessary and that far too much of the “war on cancer” is devoted to treatment rather than prevention.

Snippets that I found interesting:

We can’t be sure why so many more physicians and researchers are coming down with cancer…One colleague [said:] “I used to mix my own chemotherapy cocktails for patients two decades ago. You know that stuff is really foul. I did this with no hoods. No masks. No nothing, just sloshing around with all those nice, nasty killer compounds that we would prepare to inject into our patients.”

On her mother’s cancer:

My mother always loved a good kosher hotdog. I knew that the stomach cancer that she had could come about after years of eating lots of preservatives that are used to make hotdogs–nitrates in meat get transformed by stomach acids to nitrosamines, a well-established potent cause of cancer. At this point, one hotdog more or less after a lifetime of salami, smoked salmon, pastrami, corned beef, and those other deli foods, coupled with all that coal smoke she had swallowed, probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.

On herbal remedies and controlled studies:

A woman who had been chief nutritionist at Sloan-Kettering had left for a year earlier with advanced breast cancer. Because the cancer had spread through her body, Gaynor never expected to see her again. Six months later, she walked into his office. The tumors were gone. Gaynor was stunned and asked her what she had done.

She explained that “a guy named Ralph in Wyoming had come up with this recipe for purple herbs. I had nothing to lose. You had all written me off. So I tried them.”

Gaynor managed to get the purple remedy delivered to him at Cornell and gave it to patients who had been sent home to die. His results so far were amazing. Others were trying to figure out what exactly was in this mixture.

I phoned Chalmers right away, “Tom, I’ve found something you have to check out!” I began to explain what Gaynor was doing.

“Are you mad!?” Chalmers asked. “You must think I’m crazy! I could never take herbs that nobody has ever studied. I’ve spent my life studying medicine scientifically. I refuse to even think about such a thing.”

“But Tom, ” I pleaded. “You’re going to die. Why not try this?”
“Of course, I’m going to die. I know that. If there was a randomized trial, I would consider it. But unless this remedy is being studied under controlled conditions, it’s out of the question.”

Within a few months, Chalmers was dead.

Finally, some links for more exploration:
New York Times: Is there a Secret History of the War on Cancer?
This link has a section for comments and questions. Many comments have been posted.

Washington Post: Author’s Book on Cancer Fuels Flames Again
In particular, this article quotes Elizabeth M. Whelan, president and founder of the American Council on Science and Health, a New York group of doctors and scientists who question the reliability of the science government uses to regulate. She calls Davis’s book “fringe.”

The real health risks, Whelan said, are tobacco, exposure to sunlight, obesity, and for women, sexual habits, childlessness and drinking too much.

Turns out there is also a term Food Nazi. I did not coin this term. I read it in The Secret History of the War on Cancer, by Devra Davis. Urban Dictionary defines Food Nazi here.

When I was visiting my friend in Newton this weekend, we spent a fair amount of time discussing food and nutrition. She is on a special diet (no grains, no chickpeas, no potatoes, no sugar, no kale, no spaghetti, no chocolate). This is because she had terrible ulcerative colitis, and the diet has basically saved her life. Soon after she got on this diet, about three years ago, she decided she would have just one bowl of spaghetti, previously one of her favorite foods. Well, she told me, she was sick for a day and half after that. So she hasn’t gone off it since. It is a bit like eating a Passover diet all year round, except without the matza. She eats a lot of nuts, fruits and vegetables, and animal proteins (chicken, eggs, fish, cheese, meat). Incidentally, she related to me that she has a friend with a similar ailment who decided to try this diet. Unfortunately, that friend ended up in the hospital after the attempt. It will not work for everyone with colitis or other digestive ailments. At some point it has been recommended to her that she slowly introduce some foods back into her diet, as by now her colon may have healed; she said she would love to eat chocolate again, but being sensible, she will probably try some whole grains.

Like me, she had a parent who died of colon cancer. Unlike my mother, however, who was basically healthy all her life until her diagnosis, her father suffered from ulcerative colitis most of his adult life. His doctor put him on a diet which she feels is the exact opposite of her current diet. The desire to go back and redo how one’s loved one was treated is strong and powerful.

Getting back to the term Food Nazi: I was talking to my friend and her mother shortly before I left. Her mother was complimenting how healthfully I eat, and I remarked about the term food nazi and how I don’t consider myself to be one. My friend and her mother were both a bit shocked by the very term; I suppose if I had said food fascist, it would mean the same thing, but without the strong effect. I don’t want to force everyone to stop eating any food with margarine, for example, but I would like everyone to know that if you want to spend time with your grandchildren, unless you have the genes of George Burns, you might want to cut out the margarine. Also, I ate three delicious oatmeal cookies at the bar-mitzvah (not all at once). If I were a food fascist, I probably wouldn’t do that. Well, at least, I wouldn’t tell you that in a blog post. We are all human; we all struggle in our own ways.

Finally, did you know that cold cuts have sugar? I know they have nitrates and other preservatives that have been implicated in stomach cancer, but I wasn’t aware of the sugar content.