SgtRock

My wife and I are considering a Mediteranian diet. We are in our late 40's and have been eating a combination of a traditional American diet, i.e. meat and potatos, fried foods, BBQ etc. and Korean food, Kimchee and rice, tofu, vegtables, fish, and increasingly meat. Cancer is on the rise in Korea and it corrisponds to a change in the diet of most Korean's. They have been eating more red meat.

My wife and I take fish oil and drink concord grape juice everyday. But we still eat to much meat and dairy. I was reading that the Mediteranian diet is very healthy, good for the heart as well as reduceing the risk of cancer. Can anyone on this forum elaborate from personal experiance.

Any tips or web sites with recipies and ingrediants would be appreciated. Thankyou ~ Sgt Rock

SgtRock

I guess the first step is to learn how to spell Mediterranean.

rathi

The real key is the pita pocket. You can just shove the leftovers in them for a tasty lunch with no real effort.

Spanish rice is a simple, tasty, and healthy dish that you can find endless recipes for.

When shopping, buy extra garlic and olive oil. Practically everything requires them.

Mediterranean food does have meat and dairy, but in much smaller quantities.

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PeteEU

Olive Oil is key. I live in Spain and they use it for everything, just like the Italians and Greeks.

Fish and chicken is eaten a lot too, but all with olive oil.

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PeteEU

Diuretic

I did read an article about traditional Greek food, not online unfortunately but I do remember most of it. As Pete has pointed out already, olive oil is a key. And as you have pointed out Sgt Rock, very little red meat in the traditional Greek diet is relevant. They're big on fish and pulses and vegetables and salads. Chicken does feature but not to the extent we might think. Very little saturated fats, lots of monounsaturated fats. Meat, when it is in the diet, is usually grilled and there isn't a great deal in a meal in any case. But.......be careful of the desserts!

http://www.annecollins.com/dietary-f...-fats-oils.htm

niftydrifty

be careful, dude. there are many different "mediterranean" diets. make sure you don't do a Muslim one.

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1069

What type of cancer are you trying to avoid, specifically?
Are the two of you genetically predisposed to some sort of cancer?
The link between diet and cancer prevention is still nebulous, at best.
"Anti-cancer" diets are more defined by what you shouldn't eat, more than what you should.
For instance, cutting out meat and fat are good, because these things slow your digestive process down; they remain in your intestines longer than vegetables, whole grains, and other high-fiber foods, and as they sit there they become carcinogenic.
Think about taking your dinner and, instead of eating it, placing it in a dark, damp, 98-degree cellar for three or four days. It would start rotting and get really nasty.
That's basically what happens inside your colon when your food is not passing through fast enough. It sits there and decomposes, and as it does, it releases carcinogenic toxins.
So anyway, there's that: not enough fiber = slower digestion = increased risk of colon cancer.
But even eating a ton of fiber is no guarantee that you won't get colon cancer; your propensity for getting it is largely genetic. Some people have polyps inside their colons, and these polyps sometimes become malignant.
Whether or not you have polyps is genetic. Whether or not they are going to become cancerous is partly determined by genetics, partly determined by your diet and lifestyle, and partly determined by blind chance.
The most effective way to avoid this type of cancer is to have annual colonoscopies every year after you turn 50.
If the doctor finds some of these polyps during the course of a colonoscopy, he'll cut them out, before they have a chance to turn malignant.
Colon cancer is rather uncommon before age 50, but if you have a strong genetic risk factor for this type of cancer, you might want to consider going in for an exam even sooner than that.

Breast cancer, again, has a strong hereditary component.
It was believed until recently that eating certain foods- ones that are high in antioxidants, perhaps- would help guard against breast cancer. But recent studies are indicating that diet may not be as helpful as previously believed.
Again, the best way to guard against breast cancer is to go in for regular mammograms after age 40 (or earlier, if you have a strong genetic risk factor). It is almost 100% curable as long as they catch it early, while it's still in situ, as opposed to when it's progressed to the lymph nodes and become invasive.

The best way to guard against lung cancer is- obviously- not to smoke, or spend excessive amounts of time around people who do.
In fact, avoiding known carcinogens such as tobacco and alcohol will lower your risk for nearly all types of cancer.

That's the three biggest cancer killers by far right there: lung, colon, and breast cancer.
All avoidable, or detectable and treatable in their early stages.

The Koreans have high rates of stomach cancer because they eat a lot of preserved foods. Preserved (pickled, smoked, etc) foods contain carcinogens.
The type of cancer they generally cause is stomach cancer, which is rare in the US, but common in cultures where such foods are a dietary staple.
There's also quite a high incidence of liver cancer among the Koreans lately, but I read it's been linked to a rise in Hepatitis B (which can lead to liver cancer) and also hepitatic damage caused by a parasite in raw fish which infects humans who consume the fish and ultimately damages their livers, leaving them vulnerable to cancer.
I have read nothing that indicates that the rise in cancer among Koreans has been linked to an increased consumption of red meat on their part.

One risk that you can definitely decrease through diet is your risk of congestive heart disease.
You're statistically more likely to die of heart disease than cancer, anyway.
Red meat raises your cholesterol and makes you much more prone to heart disease.
Obesity increases your risk of developing type two (adult onset) diabetes; many Americans die of complications of diabetes each year. Obesity is also linked to an increased incidence of nearly every type of cancer.

So, I would definitely recommend cutting out red meat, limiting fat, and getting plenty of fiber via whole grains and fruits and veggies.
But there's no "magic bullet", no special combination of foods or nutrients that has been proven to ward off or even decrease your risk of cancer, no vitamin deficiency that has been linked to an increased incidence of cancer.
As for the fish oil and concord grape juice... I wouldn't even bother.
There's no definitive evidence that those kind of supplements do a thing to reduce your risk of cancer, and some of them might actually be harmful.
And whole fruits are always better for you than juice, which is unnecessarily sugar-laden, high in calories, and contains no fiber.

I've been a vegetarian for many years, but I'm under no illusion that this will keep me from getting cancer (or any disease).
The best way to avoid dying of cancer is to get routine screenings at the recommended ages (difficult, however, when one doesn't have medical insurance).
I don't think there's any diet that has been proven to do much to reduce your risk of cancer, other than just avoiding known toxins and carcinogens.

Results of anti-cancer diet study disappoint.

I'm pretty paranoid about cancer, too. I research it all the time (duh! ).
I don't know why; I've got no family history of it.
But then again, people in my family tend to die prematurely, in wars and weird accidents and of drug overdoses and unexpected cerebral incidents, so it's pretty hard to know what we'd be prone to, if any of us actually lived to be old.

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SgtRock

Thanks for the advise, I do get check ups annually and soon will be getting a colonoscopy. I disagree with you however about the benifits fish oil and grape juice or pomegranate juice. Fish oil has high concentrations of EFA's (essential fatty acids) omega 3-6-9. EFA's are good for your cardiovascular health, immune response, anti inflammatory action, brain function, vision, joint function and mobility and skin.

Concord grape juice or pomegranate juice are high in antioxidants which have been proven to stabilize free radicals in your bloodstream. There have been some studies on there effects on the developing of cancer. They are inconclussive at this time.

1069 are you a nutritionalist? You seem to be very knowledgeable on the subject. Anyway Thanks again for the advise ~ Sgt Rock

bub

Ahahah No pork, no alcohol...you should also crouch down 5 times a day (it's good for the blood circulation) and let your beard grow (good for the skin).

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bub

Yes, olive oil is said to be healthy.

Avoid fried food. Don't eat too much. Avoid junk food (Mc Donald...). Eat fruits and vegetables. Don't drink too much soda.

But the mediterranean way of life also means a short sleep (20 minutes) between 1 and 2 pm.

Walk, run, be active, don't smoke, don't be too stressed, and your heart will be preserved.

And don't be affraid to go to the doctor from times to times for a checking. Take medicines when they are needed (but don't be addicted!). I say that because my grandpa died from a earth attack that could have been foreseen and avoided if he had met a doctor before.