October is breast cancer awareness month.
I know several women who have survived and others who have lost their battle with this terrible disease. Chances are, you or someone you love has been affected. Cancer is a complex disease, so I don’t pretend to have all of the answers or solutions for how to fix or heal it.
Because this blog and my overall food philosophy focus on empowering you to nourish your body and transform your health, today’s post features a recipe that is full of beautifying, anti–cancer nutrients.
As many of you know, I strive to “upgrade” my diet and “add in” more of what is healing, nourishing and energizing…so we’re going to flip our focus today to breast cancer prevention.
All of us are aware that breast cancer exists and know that we don’t want to have it, but what have we learned about how to prevent it?
What can we do proactively to give our body the best chance to be well and protect ourselves against diseases like cancer in the first place?
I’ve learned a lot from some incredible doctors, researchers and nutritionists over the years about what we can do help our body’s chances of staying well by eating a nutrient-rich diet.
Dr. Fuhrman, whose focus on anti-cancer nutrition has influenced how I eat, outlined his top tips for breast cancer prevention here.
One of his tips is to eat more foods like the ones outlined in this recipe, especially cabbage.
Up until about a year ago, I had never bought purple cabbage and certainly hadn’t cooked with it.
I had tasted it sprinkled in to salad mixes before but never thought much about it until reading The Beauty Detox book by Kimberly Snyder and being introduced to this recipe, which Kimberly spins as a way to reduce crow’s feet.
Red cabbage is one of Dr. Fuhrman’s anti-cancer, anti-fat storage foods called GBOMBS. It contains powerful nutrients that help our body reduce inflammation and detoxify (get rid of harmful toxins that build up).
Those two processes are the SECRETS to losing weight, having clear and beautiful skin, and not getting sick. The more inflammation-fighting, detoxifying foods we eat, the better off we will be.
This recipe is also a much healthier option than most mayo-loaded slaws that we’re used to eating 🙂
And it’s really easy to prepare. Just like this paleo cole slaw I featured a few weeks ago that was a hit!
**If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you should have all of the main ingredients below (ACV, tamari, tahini and nutritional yeast or “nooch”). If not, check out this point where I covered what they are, why they’re good for us, and where we can buy them. Stocking a healthy pantry is KEY to eating well.**
Ingredients (Organic, when possible)
- 3 cups purple cabbage, shredded (you can do this manually or with the single shredding blade on a food processor)
- 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) (for more on ACV, check out this post!)
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1½ tablespoons nutritional yeast (I buy it in bulk at MOMs, but you can also find it at Wegmans, Whole Foods, Roots, and most natural food stores or online at Amazon or Vitacost)
Optional Ingredients
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- A few avocado slices
- ¼ cup chopped pitted black olives
Click here for the full recipe from Kimberly Snyder’s website and here to read all about nutritional yeast!
Nancy Bryant
The Sun puts out “The 50 Most Influential Women in Baltimore.” You ought to research how to qualify for this next year, honey. They had an associate professor in the group from Hopkins School for Public Health.