The Age-Well Project

Change the way you age

Get our posts direct to your inbox

  • About The Age-Well Project
  • Books
    • Our Books
    • Reviews
    • References
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Recipes By Ingredient
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Family
    • On The Go
    • Soups and Salads
    • Treats and Snacks
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Press

FOODS FOR BREAST CANCER – EASY-PEASY GAZPACHO

September 18, 2015 4 Comments

gazpacho

It’s a sad fact that most of us know someone affected by breast cancer. 1 in 8 women face the prospect of getting breast cancer, making it by far the most common cancer in females.  But medics and scientists now believe diet and life style can play an important role. And some of the most interesting findings are coming from a UK study at the University of Westminster, involving 3000 breast cancer patients.  It’s the biggest UK study to investigate the links between diet and breast cancer and although it’s only three years into a five year study, enough evidence has been found for one of its leaders, Professor Keshtgar, to produce a Breast Cancer Cook Book – published this week.

As you can imagine, Ms’s Kale & Cocoa were particularly eager to review the Prof’s findings and see his food recommendations.  Professor Keshtgar says the Westminster study has already shown strong evidence that breast cancer recurrence rates can be reduced – and survival rates improved – when patients adopt a healthy lifestyle.  He also believes that as many as nine per cent of  cases could be prevented by dietary changes and says his colleagues in the medical profession are confident the Mediterranean diet (read more here) can reduce the risk of breast cancer, particularly in post-menopausal women.  The key, he says, is plenty of fruit and veg – their anti-oxidants prevent the process of oxidation which can lead to cancer. A report from the University of Navarra in Spain, published this week, also suggests that extra lashings of extra-virgin olive oil can also help fend off breast cancer. Catch up at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/299412.php

But not all fruit and veg are equal. The Prof is (like us) a big fan of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and cabbage have all been shown to prevent the formation of cancer cells and inhibit the spread of cancer).  Like us, he’s a believer in dark leafy vegetables (spinach, kale and chard are chock full of B vitamins which strengthen your DNA, thus reducing the risk of cancer). Lastly, he’s a big advocate of pulses – apparently the fibre can help your body repair the damage done by cancer treatments.

But he has six star ingredients women should be eating more of:

SESAME SEEDS

We’re big fans of all nuts and seeds but Prof Keshtgar highlights the minerals and phytoestrogens in the sesame seed that help regulate the body’s oestrogen production and are known to obstruct the production and spread of certain tumour cells.

SOY/EDAMAME BEANS

Susan wrote about soy beans last week as a good source of vitamin D, but Keshtgar highlights their phytoestrogens, which, like sesame seeds, inhibit the growth of cancer cells.  He also points out that they’re the only vegetable to contain all nine essential amino acids.

BEETROOT

Beetroot contains betacyanin, a compound shown in studies to have anti-carcinogenic properties and the ingredient that makes beetroot purple. I like James White Organic Beetroot Juice. And my kids go wild for the super speedy beetroot soup coming to the blog soon…

SAGE

Sage is rich in phytochemicals and it’s this that experts think may help prevent the formation of cancer and/or supress its development.

TOMATOES

A powerful source of the antioxidant lycopene (we wrote about lycopene last year), which scientists think could inhibit breast cancer by stopping cancer cell growth. Lycopene becomes more effective after cooking – and is even more potent in sundried tomatoes and watermelon.

SALMON AND OILY FISH

We’re always banging on about oily fish so it’s good to see Prof Keshtgar get behind us! Salmon is the Prof’s favourite – it’s thought to contain natural chemopreventative agents that can inhibit or impede cancer. Check out my favourite salmon recipe on the blog here.

But what about foods to avoid?  If you’ve been following our blog you’ll know we’re trying to reduce the amounts of red meat, sugar and processed food in our larders. And these are exactly the foods that Professor Keshtgar says we should reduce or avoid altogether.  He also warns against alcohol – consumption of which has been linked to an increase in both the risk of developing breast cancer and the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence (and that includes light drinkers too!)  Apparently three or more alcoholic drinks a day can increase your risk of breast cancer by 40–50 per cent.  Wow! A report published in August suggested that anyone with a family history of cancer should consider abstaining from alcohol altogether. Read more at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/298303.php

Finally, the Prof cites several studies linking exercise to a reduced risk of breast cancer.  Apparently five percent of cases could be avoided by doing nothing more than staying slim. It seems that exercise lowers oestrogen levels which affects how we process and store the food we eat.

After eating far too much on holiday, I’ve been preparing a weekly quantity of easy-peasy Gazpacho which not only fills me with vegetables (and lots of cooked tomatoes to help keep breast cancer at bay) but helps keep the weight off.  It also reminds me of sunshiny days as autumn gets its claws in… And because there’s no skinning of tomatoes or peeling of cucumbers, it takes a mere five minutes to prepare. Try topping it with cooked soy beans for an extra boost of phytoestrogens…. And don’t forget the generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil!

EASY-PEASY GAZPACHO (serves 4)

  • 680g jar tomato passata
  • 1 small red onion, roughly chopped (or 2 spring onions)
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 cucumber, seeds removed and roughly chopped. Keep the skin on!
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, seeds removed and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic (or as much as you like)

Put everything in the blender (you’ll need a powerful liquidiser rather than a food processor if you want it really smooth) and wizz.

Season to taste and top with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Make it your own by topping extravagantly with chopped herbs (I like fennel fronds, basil and chives), edible flowers, baby nasturtium leaves, chopped dandelion leaves, watercress or spring onions.  And, of course, a handful of soy beans (put frozen beans into boiling water, turn off the heat and leave for ten minutes).

Add some croutons if you’re craving carbs.  Otherwise eat and go!

Annabel

 

  • Conditions: Cancer
  • Ingredients: Olive oil, Tomatoes
« BOOSTING BONE STRENGTH AND THE SIMPLEST FISH PIE
FEWER WRINKLES? YES PLEASE! AND CHIA SEED PARFAIT »

Comments

  1. A Ozcurumez says

    September 23, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    I would like to receive the latest info on ageing
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Annabel Abbs says

      September 23, 2015 at 5:25 pm

      If you’ve signed up you should receive our weekly emails. Hope you enjoy them!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. FEWER WRINKLES? YES PLEASE! AND CHIA SEED PARFAIT - Kale & Cocoa says:
    September 26, 2015 at 6:40 am

    […] (try our pea and soya bean salad) lycopene is found in watermelon and cooked tomatoes (last week’s gazpacho is perfect), Vitamin C in oranges, Vitamin E in avocados and omega 3s in nuts (our almond dipping […]

    Reply
  2. WHY WE SHOULD SIT LESS AND FIDGET MORE – WARM SQUASH SALAD - Kale & Cocoa says:
    October 2, 2015 at 7:54 am

    […] apple salad which gets you five portions of fruit and veg in one go and is full of cancer-busting sage to mark the beginning of Cancer Awareness […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Welcome to The Age-Well Project

Welcome to The Age-Well Project!
Here you’ll find easy changes for a longer, happier life. We’ve immersed ourselves in the science of longevity and distilled the research to make it work in our everyday lives. You can change the way you age: here’s how.

Favourite Posts

WHY I’VE THROWN OUT ALL MY BEAUTY PRODUCTS (nearly…)

Why Alzheimer’s Is A Women’s Issue

HOW HAVING A DOG CHANGED MY LIFE

GREEN SPACE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, SADNESS AND BRAIN-BOOSTING BISCUITS

WHY ‘INFLAMM-AGEING’ COULD START IN THE GUT AND HARISSA-ROASTED VEGETABLE SALAD

POLYAMINES – THE NEW SECRET WEAPON FOR AGEING WELL & MOROCCAN SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS.

THINNING AGEING HAIR – WARM CHICKEN LIVER SALAD

About The Age Well Project

This site is for anyone who wants to make the second half of their life as healthy, happy and disease-free as possible. Sign up to get the latest research on ageing – and delicious recipes to match – direct to your inbox.

agewellproject

⭐️Change the way you age
📚The Age-Well Project + Age-Well Plan ⭐️Get tips & recipes on our blog - sign up ⬇️

The Age-Well Project blog
We all want plenty of ‘energy’ but what does t We all want plenty of ‘energy’ but what does that mean?

We’ve got the low down over the blog - what is energy and how we get more?!? 

We’re covering:

🥗The nutrition we need to fuel our mitochondria (the ‘batteries’ of our cells)

⚡️The ‘good stress’ (hormesis) that creates more energy 

🧘‍♀️The importance of breath work 

😴Why we need to rest 

and 

👩‍🍳A whole load of great recipes 

It’s all on the blog - link in bio 

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevity #womenover50 #postmenopause #fitover50 #over50 #over50blogger #energy #mitochondria #hormesis #breathwork #wimhof #hypoxictraining #hypoxia #pranayama #wakefulrest #rest #womenwhowalk #selfcare #healthyrecipes
We spend a lot of time suggesting that you get up We spend a lot of time suggesting that you get up and move 🏃‍♀️🚶‍♀️💃 But we were fascinated by recent research into the power of ‘wakeful rest’, particularly if we rock while we do it. 

It seems Granny and her rocking chair were right all along - rockers sleep better. Hammocks are great too, as Annabel is demonstrating here!

And students who take some time to rest after learning something new consolidate their new knowledge better than people who go to sleep, or just get on with their lives. And it seems ten minutes of down-time is enough to deeply embed new memories.

So now we’re rocking and resting! There’s more on the blog - link in bio

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog #longevity #longevityblog #healthyageing #healthyaging #fitover50 #postmenopause #healthyeating #rest #hammock #rockingchair #powernap #memories #dementia #alzheimers
We are delighted to announce that Annabel now has We are delighted to announce that Annabel now has a regular column in @psychologiesmagazine with her first column in the July issue (out now) on the joys of following a river. Grab a copy and find out why following a river was the walk of choice for our female ancestors … 

#agewell #walk #walking
A bottle of beer a day can improve our microbiome A bottle of beer a day can improve our microbiome according to new research published by the @amerchemsociety.  Four weeks of a daily lager (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) improved intestinal health without impacting weight, the researchers speculate that the additional bacteria produced by fermentation might positively interact with the polyphenols contained in lager to enrich the gut. Good news for beer drinkers!  We’re fans of alcohol free beers, particularly on hot days… like this dainty bottle from @brewdogofficial 

#agewell
Isn’t she ageing well?! Yes, yes, we know our Qu Isn’t she ageing well?! Yes, yes, we know our Queen has incredible advantages when it comes to longevity: palaces, retinues of staff, the country’s best doctors…. but there are longevity lessons we can all learn from Her Majesty as we head into the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend 🇬🇧👑🇬🇧

So a trumpet voluntary, please, for our right royal Age-Well celebration….

It’s all on the blog - link in bio 

#agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #healthblog #longevity #longevityblog #jubilee #platinumjubilee #nonagenarian #healthyageing #healthyaging #fitover50 #postmenopause #senseofpurpose #healthyeating #dopaminedressing #queenelizabeth 

📷 @theroyalfamily
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Contact Us

For any enquiries please email theagewellproject@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 The Age-Well Project