I just listened to a MOST INTERESTING 20-minute TED Talks presentation by William Li, MD, CEO and Scientific Director of the Angiogenesis Foundation. In this talk, “Can we Eat to Starve Cancer?”, Dr. Li highlights the compelling new frontier of research about food and angiogenesis — the process by which the body grows new blood vessels.
He explains that our dietary choices can tamp down angiogenesis around cancer cells (good: starve cancer cells because they don’t have a good blood supply by which to get the nutrients and other substances they need to grow) or rev up angiogenisis (bad: promote the growth of cancer cells because they have a good blood supply). In addition, a diet that tamps down angiogenisis (an anti-angiogenic diet) not only helps to prevent cancer or a recurrence of cancer, but also helps to prevent Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and obesity! The thinking is that the same mechanism contributes to all of these disease processes.
On this blog page are two slides from Dr. Li’s presentation. The first slide gives a list of foods (not complete list) that appear to have anti-angiogenic properties. If you have read the book, Anti-Cancer – A New Way of Life, by David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., PhD, you will note that Dr. Li’s list of foods in this slide and Dr. Servan-Screiber’s lists of foods in his book and on his website are not exactly the same. I think that this is at least in part because Dr. Servan-Schreiber does not focus ONLY on the cancer-inhibiting mechanism of anti-angiogenisis. Dr. Servan-Schreiber concludes his chapter, “Cancer’s Weaknesses”, (about how to fight cancer by attacking cancer’s vulnerabilities), by stating: “All the facts bear out this conclusion; everything that strengthens our precious immune cells also impedes the growth of cancers. All in all, by stimulating our immune cells, fighting inflammation (with nutrition, physical exercise, and emotional balance), and fighting angiogenisis, we undercut cancer’s spread.” (Anti Cancer, 2nd edition, page 53).
It is currently understood that inflammation in the body promotes angiogenesis. So foods that promote inflammation AND foods that promote angiogenesis itself are BOTH thought to promote the development and progression of cancer. And, angiogenesis is not the only mechanism that affects the development of cancer in the body. The point is that to prevent help cancer you need to provide your body with a wide VARIETY of anti-cancer foods that go after cancer cells in many different ways. So choosing a diet that contains many DIFFERENT anti-cancer foods — and very few cancer promoting-foods — is the best way to tip the balance in YOUR body toward good health!
In addition, as both Drs. Li and Servan-Screiber point out: The COMBINATION of healthful foods (at a meal or eaten closely in time) appear to produce a SYNERGY that’s more anti-angiogenic (or more broadly, anti-cancer) than the individual foods alone!
So…here’s how I decided to apply this information about synergy to my diet: At breakfast, I just started adding canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling) to my oatmeal (and I have added that suggestion to the my earlier post about oatmeal). I also realized that for more variety, I could add frozen organic strawberries to my green tea, not just the frozen organic blueberries and raspberries I usually use. And…like I used to do, I could add a squirt of lemon juice to my tea, too. So now at breakfast when I have a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of tea, I’m getting LOTS of DIFFERENT anti-cancer foods and the assumption is that the synergy of all these foods working together helps makes my diet even more anti-cancer than the individual foods alone. I hope so! And…besides, it all tastes GREAT!
OK….now back to Dr. Li…. I was so impressed by Dr. Li’s talk that I listened to it three times (while exercising : – )), I joined the Angiogenisis Foundation (free to join), and I plan to go back to the Foundation’s website to learn more!
And…by the way…whenever my enthusiasm for the anti-cancer way of eating wanes, I re-listen to the talks/videos I have posted on this blog under the heading, “Check it out!”. It helps a lot!
NEW in 2012! EatToDefeat – See more videos that will convince you that the anti-angiogenic properties of food have POWERFUL anti-cancer effects! Also, at the eattodeat.org site, you can access a growing database of foods that fight cancer and recipes using these foods – and more!
To find all of the “Check it out!” posts (and the great video and audio programs that these posts point to), just go to the search box on this blog and enter the words “Check it out!”
Happy listening! Happy, healthy eating!
Enjoy and be healthy!
~Leni
Monamifood 
thanks leni—this is great and I really enjoyed the talk as well. Interestingly also, is the ph diet…..I saw a show on cable the other day about macrobiotics and research being done with that diet esp with the emphasis on alkaline diet and the adage that “cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment.” It seems like both these men propose alkaline diets without naming them as such? interesting and so exciting..thanks for sharing all of this. what other foods should be combined for maximun effect?
Judye…very interesting. I think we’ll be learning more as time goes on and research on foods that fight cancer grows. But for now, you can’t go wrong with an anti-cancer diet made up of lots of different foods that fight cancer through different mechanisms – anti-angiogenesis being but one of them. For a good summary of the foods that have been shown though research to have anti-cancer properties, see the Anticancer Shopping list in Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s book, Anti-Cancer (second edition), pages 14-16 of the colorful center insert, and, also see Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s slide show as presented on his website: http://www.anticancerbook.com/steps.html.