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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Great book. Loved his insight from personal experience into alternative treatments to and prevention of cancer. I don't have cancer, but found many useful tips in here to help prevent any chance of it in the future. Great book.
He supports many of his arguments weakly and/or anecdotally, so I'm left somewhat unconvinced. However, he freely acknowledges this, adopting the mantra that because his ideas seem like they might work, and because they can't hurt, we may as well try them while we wait for sound evidence (e.g. "Still, I am convinced there is no need to wait for such large-scale results before beginning to include anticancer food in one's diet. It is clearly established that the type of diet I have adopted myself and recommend here does not expose those who follow it to any risks and leads, rather, to health benefits that go far beyond its effect on cancer.")
Personally, I do choose to incorporate a lot of his suggestions for precisely this reason, but I was hoping and expecting that this book would have supported these claims with more substantial evidence.
Personally, I do choose to incorporate a lot of his suggestions for precisely this reason, but I was hoping and expecting that this book would have supported these claims with more substantial evidence.
I particularly liked that he cited a lot of studies and explained why doctors like to see the progression from mouse studies through all levels of human trials. That helped me to understand why nutrition advice is so generic. At the same time he gives mouse work and population studies where people actually eat the food. This allowed me to feel that since it's already consumed those middle trials don't have to be run (and since there is no pharma money they won't be) and, for me, I feel comfortable that these dietary changes at least allow me to feel like I'm doing something proactive.
This is an older title, at least in terms of medical research: originally published in the US in 2008 and then revised in 2010. It was written by a French professor of clinical psychology who was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was in his early 30s. After a recurrence, he gradually built up a bank of research-based and anecdotal knowledge on ways people with cancer can improve their chances of survival, including through their diet, exercise, environment, stress levels, and mental health. This book is a memoir of his experiences combined with his recommendations for living an anticancer life, along with copious footnotes pointing to the research studies that back up the lifestyle. Sadly, while Dr. Servan Schreiber survived for 19 years after his initial diagnosis; he passed away in 2011.
Honestly, I was a little skeptical of this book when I jumped into it. There is a lot of information out there about lifestyle changes you can take to prevent cancer from recurring, or to prevent you from getting cancer in the first place. When you are living with metastatic cancer, though, that kind of advice can feel accusatory (like, “you wouldn’t have cancer if you had just done these things!”) or like it came too late, since the cancer has already spread. Other times, this kind of instruction can feel either too general (eat healthy and exercise is pretty good advice for everyone for all kinds of reasons) or like a snake oil pitch to get you to buy some supplements or a diet plan. Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s angle is that many things in our modern Western lifestyle and environment can cause cells to mutate and cancer to begin to develop, but what we can do is control the terrain of our bodies so that those almost inevitable mutations don’t grow or spread. And, for those of us who already have cancer -- even if it is advanced, metastatic, or incurable -- taking steps to improve the terrain of our bodies can help our traditional cancer treatments work more effectively.
And, you know, I think that makes a lot of sense. Certainly at times I wonder why I got cancer or why it wasn’t found until it was metastatic. Mostly I feel pretty confident that it was out of my control and, as a pragmatic person by nature, that it doesn’t really matter at this point anyway. I remember when I was first diagnosed feeling almost embarrassed and guilty that I hadn’t done something right and that is why I ended up with this diagnosis, but I've learned that while they can make some broad generalizations and name some risk factors, overall doctors don’t really know why some people get cancer and others don’t, and why some cancers spread and others don’t. And, if we take that into account, I think making lifestyle changes like the ones Dr. Servan-Schriber recommends aren’t a ticket to a cure or something that should dominate your life, but they certainly can’t hurt. And if they make us feel better, both because they are letting us have a little agency, but also because eating good food and exercising and mindfulness and stress reduction are all good things for helping us to enjoy life, then why not dip in and give some of this a try?
Any medical advice that is 10 years old needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but this was a very readable and thought-provoking book and one that I’m glad I read. It also contains one of the most helpful lay-person explanations of how cancer starts, grows, and spreads that I have read so far. Not too technical, but not too elementary either. Honestly, the book is worth reading just for that!
Honestly, I was a little skeptical of this book when I jumped into it. There is a lot of information out there about lifestyle changes you can take to prevent cancer from recurring, or to prevent you from getting cancer in the first place. When you are living with metastatic cancer, though, that kind of advice can feel accusatory (like, “you wouldn’t have cancer if you had just done these things!”) or like it came too late, since the cancer has already spread. Other times, this kind of instruction can feel either too general (eat healthy and exercise is pretty good advice for everyone for all kinds of reasons) or like a snake oil pitch to get you to buy some supplements or a diet plan. Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s angle is that many things in our modern Western lifestyle and environment can cause cells to mutate and cancer to begin to develop, but what we can do is control the terrain of our bodies so that those almost inevitable mutations don’t grow or spread. And, for those of us who already have cancer -- even if it is advanced, metastatic, or incurable -- taking steps to improve the terrain of our bodies can help our traditional cancer treatments work more effectively.
And, you know, I think that makes a lot of sense. Certainly at times I wonder why I got cancer or why it wasn’t found until it was metastatic. Mostly I feel pretty confident that it was out of my control and, as a pragmatic person by nature, that it doesn’t really matter at this point anyway. I remember when I was first diagnosed feeling almost embarrassed and guilty that I hadn’t done something right and that is why I ended up with this diagnosis, but I've learned that while they can make some broad generalizations and name some risk factors, overall doctors don’t really know why some people get cancer and others don’t, and why some cancers spread and others don’t. And, if we take that into account, I think making lifestyle changes like the ones Dr. Servan-Schriber recommends aren’t a ticket to a cure or something that should dominate your life, but they certainly can’t hurt. And if they make us feel better, both because they are letting us have a little agency, but also because eating good food and exercising and mindfulness and stress reduction are all good things for helping us to enjoy life, then why not dip in and give some of this a try?
Any medical advice that is 10 years old needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but this was a very readable and thought-provoking book and one that I’m glad I read. It also contains one of the most helpful lay-person explanations of how cancer starts, grows, and spreads that I have read so far. Not too technical, but not too elementary either. Honestly, the book is worth reading just for that!
An amazing book that is full of fascinating FACTS based on scientific studies on ways to boost your immunity and fight off cancer with foods, changes in your immediate environment, and by enhancing the health of your mind-body connection. There are many things you can do that will make a difference in your odds of getting cancer and surviving it. After the author's own bout with brain cancer, he went searching for non-pharmaceutical things he could do to make a difference for himself and his outcome. He brings together all this information in this book with recommendations for putting them into practice in everyday life.
Green tea and turmeric? We won't go another day without these in my household. Shiitake and maitake mushrooms? They taste better than those plain, old, white ones, anyway. Dark chocolate that's at least 70% cocoa? Beautiful.
Buy it, read it, put these recommendations into practice for you and your family.
Buy a copy for your doctor, too.
Green tea and turmeric? We won't go another day without these in my household. Shiitake and maitake mushrooms? They taste better than those plain, old, white ones, anyway. Dark chocolate that's at least 70% cocoa? Beautiful.
Buy it, read it, put these recommendations into practice for you and your family.
Buy a copy for your doctor, too.
Arts kreeg zelf kanker in het hoofd. Nadat het een2e keer terug kwam ging hij zich interesseren in wat hij zelf kon doen om te voorkomen dat het nogmaals terug zou komen.
Volgens hem zijn 3 onderwerpen van belang:
1. omgeving,
2. eten,
3. emotionele huishouding
Tijdens en na mijn eigen chemo is in het ziekenhuis nooit iets over deze onderwerpen gezegd. Vooral wat het voedsel betreft had ik wel wat verwacht. Maar: er is nog niets bewezen, dus doen we er niets mee.
Servan stipt het zelf ook al aan: de specialisten zitten vast in hun wereld van geleerde theorie, huidige praktijk en bijblijven op eigen terrein. Geen tijd om over de muur te kijken naar afwijkende meningen, nieuwe inzichten. Niet zolang niet 100% vaststaat dat het bijdraagt aan beter resultaat.
En dat terwijl het boek vol staat met overtuigende onderzoeken bv. betreffende wat wel en niet te eten.
Er is wat dat betreft nog een wereld te winnen.
Volgens hem zijn 3 onderwerpen van belang:
1. omgeving,
2. eten,
3. emotionele huishouding
Tijdens en na mijn eigen chemo is in het ziekenhuis nooit iets over deze onderwerpen gezegd. Vooral wat het voedsel betreft had ik wel wat verwacht. Maar: er is nog niets bewezen, dus doen we er niets mee.
Servan stipt het zelf ook al aan: de specialisten zitten vast in hun wereld van geleerde theorie, huidige praktijk en bijblijven op eigen terrein. Geen tijd om over de muur te kijken naar afwijkende meningen, nieuwe inzichten. Niet zolang niet 100% vaststaat dat het bijdraagt aan beter resultaat.
En dat terwijl het boek vol staat met overtuigende onderzoeken bv. betreffende wat wel en niet te eten.
Er is wat dat betreft nog een wereld te winnen.
I'm not looking for a magic bullet, but if there's one out there, this might be it.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced