Filed under: Thought for the Day I recently read this article, which states that children undergoing leukemia treatment generally have lower than average marks in school , particularly those who underwent cranial radiation. This was not because they missed school from being in a hospital -- they were provided with education whether at home or in the hospital. Still, the results are a relief to researchers because the majority of children who had undergone treatment did complete their basic education, albeit with a bit more difficulty than their healthy peers. What do you think about this? I'm no education expert, but I think it's important that kids with leukemia should have some sort of extra educational help available to them -- maybe a tutoring program that can help them in the learning process. Afterall, they've gone through enough with their illness -- they shouldn't have to suffer through the humiliation of falling behind in class too. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Diets , Worthy Wisdom It's not necessary to travel all the way to Tucson, Arizona or Lenox, Massachusetts for a little health enlightenment -- although I highly recommend it. Canyon Ranch professionals are not stingy with their health secrets. They offer a website for all to view, complete with all sorts of diet and fitness tips and and even an opportunity to sign up for an e-newsletter. In a binder I brought home from my trip to Tuscon in May, I've found even more resources, these specific to cooking. Take a look. Recommended Magazines Cooking Light (www.cookinglight.com) Eating Well (www.eatingwell.com) Fine Cooking, (www.finecooking.com) Recommended Cookbooks Canyon Ranch Cooks (1-800-726-8040) Canyon Ranch Cooklets (available at canyonranch.com)

• Salad & Appetizers
• Soups
• Fish & Seafood
• Poultry
• Vegetables & Vegetarian
• Desserts
• Mexican
• The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch

The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison & Edward Espe Brown Jamie's Dinners by Jamie Oliver How to Cool Everything by Mark Bittman There you have it -- a good start for getting started on healthy and light cooking. Enjoy. Thanks, Canyon Ranch , for sharing your resources.

Filed under: Recipe Healthy Living I've always loved BBQ beef. I'm not a red-meat eater anymore, though, so BBQ chicken will be my new love. Here's a recipe for either option. My mouth is watering already. Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beef brisket (or other lean cut) or boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 1 sliced onion

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a crock pot
• Cook on low heat all day
• Before serving, shred the meat using two forks in opposing fashion across the grain of the meat
• Serve on whole grain bread, buns, or tortillas

Makes six servings, each containing approximately 181 calories, 10 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fat, 60 mg. cholesterol, 23 grams protein, 205 mg. sodium, and a trace of fiber.

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Books She's the guru on breast cancer, the woman who writes the continually updated breast cancer bible. She's Dr. Susan Love, author of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book , and in the May/June 2007 issue of MAMM magazine , she shares some of her latest thoughts. On milk ducts Dr. Love says all breast cancer begins in the milk ducts. If we want to get rid of breast cancer, she says, we need to understand where it starts. Until recently, we weren't able to do that. Now, doctors can numb the nipple, thread a catheter into a milk duct and sample the fluid, cells, carcinogens, and hormones. By looking at the location where cancer develops, there's the potential to find out how it started and how to prevent it. In March, Dr. Love's Research Foundation sponsored a conference on this topic. On MRI Dr. Love is not a big fan of MRI. It's overly sensitive and finds everything -- most of which is not cancer, she says. MRI leads women on wild goose chases so Dr. Love likes to reserve this test for women at high-risk. On future technologies Whole-breast ultrasounds are in the pipeline, says Dr. Love. Right now, ultrasound is good for looking at suspicious spots or lumps in one specific area. Screening the whole breast at once could be a very useful tool for younger women. On healthy lifestyles Dr. Love's message for all women is this: live a healthy lifestyle. For overall prevention as well as preventing recurrences, women must exercise, eat a healthy diet, and live each day to the fullest.

Filed under: Diets , Nutrition , Recipe Healthy Living High in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, this healthy recipe is one worth trying. It's easy too. I love easy. Black Bean Chili 8 ounces lean ground turkey 1 small onion, chopped 2 teaspoons chili powder 2 cans black beans 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies 1 cup water In a large nonstick saucepan, cook lean meat and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cook one minute. Stir in cans of beans, tomatoes, and water. Heat to boiling over high heat. Then reduce to low heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Makes five cups.

Filed under: Diets , Worthy Wisdom Ever heard that the white stuff we eat is not so healthy? I've heard it, time and time again. I was reminded of this fact while at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona this past April. My Ranch nutritionist confirmed it. And the foods I ate while at this health and healing institute derived from the whole wheat, whole grain, whole goodness family. There wasn't a slice of white bread in sight. No white pasta either. Or white rice. I did have a white baked potato one night for dinner -- but it was the smallest white baked potato I'd ever seen. It's not so hard to transition from white to non-white. Just search your grocery store aisles for the healthier alternatives -- and buy them. Or make your own varieties of nutritious stuff. Like whole-wheat pizza crust. Remember when I wrote about eating pizza once a week ? Instead of ordering it, why not make your own? Here's how you might start: Whole-Wheat Pizza Crust Makes six pizza crusts, each containing 175 calories, 36 gm. carbohydrate, 1 gm. fat, 0 mg. cholesterol, 6 gm. protein, 150 mg. sodium, and 4 gm. fiber Ingredients 1 cup water 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon olive oil 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 cup all-purpose flour 1. Mix water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil in large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer with a dough hook, add flour slowly and mix on medium low until dough separates from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour if too sticky. You can also mix by hand, then turn out on a floured board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. 2. Form into a round ball and place in a medium bowl lightly coated with olive oil. Cover and let sit in a warm place for one hour. 3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat baking sheet with olive oil. 4. Punch down dough and lightly knead for 30 seconds. Divide into six three-inch balls. Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out dough to six-inch rounds, flouring lightly to keep rolling pin from sticking to balls. 5. Place crusts on a greased baking sheet and add toppings. Place in oven for 10 minutes or until crust is golden.

Filed under: Prevention , Diets I like to be in control sometimes -- not always, but sometimes. I don't ever wish to be the top boss in any work scenario. I prefer to have a job and do it well without the stress of managing a whole operation. But I do like to be in charge of my schedule, my kids, my thoughts and emotions, the way my life progresses. Cancer? I'd love to have direct supervision over this pesky subject. Sadly, I don't. So I do my best at controlling the factors that might increase my risk of cancer recurrence. I do it through exercise and diet. Recently, I realized that controlling my diet is best done at home. I can buy the most nutritious foods at the grocery store, bring them home, prepare them in a healthy fashion, and concoct the perfect portion sizes. Take me out of this home element and I get a little scared. The other night, my husband and I went to Red Lobster for dinner. We had a gift card and were eager for a night out. Before we escaped our crazy kid household, though, we went online to investigate the nutritional values of Red Lobster dishes. We were shopping for the healthiest options, and we were quite shocked to learn there aren't so many. Now we knew the all-fried fish platters would top the charts in calories, fat, and such. But fresh fish and veggies? Also fairly high in these same categories. We surmised it's the butter and oil used to cook our normally healthy fares that compromised these items and while we weren't so happy about the situation, we still went and did the best we could. That's all we can do as we try to control our lives -- the best we can. There are always outside forces that get in our way. It may be a disease that sneaks up on us, despite our best intentions; it may be deceptive cooking techniques.

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Prevention , All Cancers , Environment , Diets , Cancer prevention foods Despite the news that cancer is set to explode in Asia, it's appearing as if adopting an Asian-inspired lifestyle may be the key to warding off cancer . Apparently, Asian and western women share the same genes that have recently been linked to an increased chance of developing breast cancer, and yet women in the west are more likely to develop cancer. Asian lifestyles have long been touted as a way to stay healthy . The typical Asian diet is low in fat, meat and overall calories, and high in vegetables and soy, which is a stark change from the mainly animal-based North American diet, one that revolved around processed foods. All that said, I don't think I could live on a fully Asian-style diet. I mean, I love sushi and Thai and many other Asian foods, but giving up my cheese? Say it ain't so. What do you think? Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Environment , Diets , Stress Reduction , Exercise , Nutrition , Vitamins and nutrients , Worthy Wisdom

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