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Most of us are looking for a hero to save us! There’s that literature on a comic hero who can fight numerous villains. There’s that big conference called Comic-con. We dress up as heroes and we feel like one. Superman, spider man, Robin Hood, Harry Potter and you name it. Reality, however, bursts those images of a super hero. No one is charged with super powers to end cancer suffering on one quick sweep of the magic wand!

When we’re diagnosed with cancer, our oncologist can be our hero. Their knowledge and skills may save us. On the other hand, we meet people who’ve learned a lot from their personal experiences. Then, they share the lessons they’ve learned. Here’s one woman who doesn’t consider herself one.

The Woman Being the Book

This passionate lady decided to learn all about cancer and was determined to fight this. She is a nutritionist living in the Southern part of France. She wrote the book The Zest for Life: the Mediterranean Anti-cancer Diet. This book gives us a clue how to fight cancer with foods.

She worked once for Time Magazine as a financial journalist. On a routine pap smear test she tested positive for cervical cancer. Luckily, she was treated before the cancer spread. Her experience opened her eyes to the reality that anyone can get cancer. She quit her job and moved from London to Southern France where she wanted to retire. she got her degree and now she is helping herself and help others.

It’s true that we only take a good look at cancer when we or our loved ones are diagnosed with it. Our fear drives us to try to understand our enemy. So when we’re there, we try to scrutinize its parts, try to unravel how it works to kill us. Then, we understand it little by little. We get enlightened on how everything in our lifestyles fits all together. This is a good start.

Lifestyle Change

She lives what she was writing. It was a lesson and a realization for her. There’s no short cut to fight cancer but rather it’s a lifestyle – a lifetime of healthy habits to beat cancer. Crucially, our life depends on it.

The Book

She talks in local schools on the cancer fighting properties of the traditional Mediterranean diet compared to modern Mediterranean diet revolving of pasta and white bread which is a very empty figure. There’s only one downside ( for the junk food industries) . It’s a rich sumptuous diet and will help us skip snack. We still however, need to exercise every day to burn those calories. That’s a great way to fight cancer too. We exercise to burn those calories and fight cancer – a win-win situation!

The recipes are the gemstones of the book – simple, easy and fun to prepare. We can prepare them from scratch. Just by adding a spice here or some veggies there we can modify them. The book offers tips day in and day out. Find it at Amazon or in Kindle edition for half the price

Here’s one example which we can prepare in as short as 15 minutes.

Sardinade for our snacks or sandwich

Ingredients:
• 1 can of sardines, drained
• 1/2 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp capers (flower buds)
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt and paper
• pinch of herbs of Provence
• chopped chives
• dash of lemons juice

Instructions:
• Combine all the ingredients using a fork or a small food processor.
• We can use this as a salad topping or served canapé style – on top of toast or cucumber

Bottom Line

Our food is one of the most important weapons to beat cancer and where we should focus our fight. The
Mediterranean diet is one great way to include 5-10 of fruits and veggies daily. Couple this with at least a 30 minute daily exercise routine.

Changing our lifestyles may be very daunting initially. But once we’ve succeeded to change it into a healthy one, we’ll discover that our heroes are our very own selves.