Nutrition experts from the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have created a cookbook that is far more than just a compilation of healthy recipes. The book’s three co-authors, all members of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, have expanded the cookbook concept to include helpful, easy-to-read informational guidelines about healthy eating and living. “Food for Thought: Healing Foods to Savor” is a guide on nutritious foods and how to easily incorporate them into daily meals. The book is based upon research conducted at the Cancer Center and other recognized institutions.
“We included lots of tasty and easy recipes,” said co-author Susan Faerber, project director of the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study. “These are recipes for real people; busy people who don’t have a lot of time but who want to make healthy meals and snacks for their families.”
The book contains healthy eating and living guidelines; a guide to understanding protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sodium, potassium and calcium; an alphabetical reference of vegetables, fruits, beans/legumes and whole grains that includes tips on how to select, store and prepare them; and recipes with complete nutritional analysis.
For example, the authors clear up the confusion about carbohydrates – are they good or bad? They explain the benefits of fiber, and provide best bets for fiber-rich foods – including broccoli, oranges, raspberries and barley. They share the secrets of how to easily supercharge meals, and they provide tips on how to cut time and energy out of meal preparation.
“One of the biggest health concerns today is cancer, which will affect one of every two or three people at some point in their lifetime,” said co-author Vicky A. Newman, M.S., R.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, UCSD School of Medicine. “Our research at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center is contributing to the understanding of how diet can help prevent and control diseases like cancer. We wanted to share this important information, along with simple ways for people to enjoy a variety of great foods often. This book does that in an upbeat and entertaining way.”
Co-author with Faerber and Newman is Sheila Kealey, M.P.H. Most of the information in the book was developed for the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study, a major federally funded study that began in 1995 and involved more than 3,000 women in four states who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study is evaluating the effects of a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and fiber and low in fat in preventing or reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence. The WHEL Study is ongoing and final results are anticipated in 2007; however, to date 25 research papers have been published or are in process based upon data collected in the study.
“Food for Thought: Healing Foods to Savor” is available for $20 at the UCSD Thornton Hospital gift shop or the UCSD Bookstore. All proceeds benefit the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
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Media Contact: Nancy Stringer, 619-543-6163,
nstringer@ucsd.edu