Cancer Fighters

When I gave Tom, our landscaper, the go-ahead to plant some fruits, vegetables, and herbs in our newly landscaped yard, I had no thoughts of an "anticancer" garden. I was more focused on pitching in to prevent global warming while simultaneously reaping the culinary benefits of quick and plentiful produce.

Our edible garden was installed in late July, a full six or seven weeks before I saw an ad in The New York Times "Book Review" for Anticancer: A New Way of Life. Having just completed 10 months of cancer treatment, I was intrigued enough to buy a copy. Written by David Servan-Schreiber, a psychiatrist who stumbled onto his own brain tumor while conducting research on the prefrontal cortex, the book is built on the premise that cancer cells lie dormant in all of us. The author lays out the argument that diet and other lifestyle choices have a dramatic impact on whether those cancer cells stay undeveloped or blossom into deadly tumors.

While we've all heard the advice to eat more fruits and vegetables, Servan-Schreiber goes well beyond this premise. He relates the following anecdote about his own cancer treatment: After completing his course of chemotherapy, he asked his oncologist what he could do to prevent a relapse. His doctor replied, "There is nothing special to do. Lead your life normally. We'll do MRI scans at regular intervals. If your tumor comes back, we'll detect it early." As a research scientist, he was dissatisfied with this answer, so he set out to learn more. The resulting book gives scientific explanations and specifics of how diet, exercise and mood can all work to prevent cancer.

Similarly, when my treatment ended, I did not receive any detailed diet or exercise regimen. My oncologist prescribed Tamoxifen, which reduces estrogen, and he advised me that a low-fat diet helps to reduce incidence of breast cancer. But just as Servan-Schreiber experienced, my oncologist and I were more focused on detecting a cancer recurrence with MRIs and other tests, rather than on preventing one.

So when a patch of herbs and other edibles went into the ground at my house, I was not concentrating on growing foods to keep cancer at bay. But now I see the obvious connection. In his book, Servan-Schreiber names the five most common types of cancer and lists which vegetables are most effective at inhibiting their growth. Interestingly, garlic, leeks, scallions, brussels sprouts and cabbage are at, or near, the top of all five of the lists. The book also explores the cancer-fighting properties of such herbs as oregano, basil, mint, thyme and parsley. It must have been serendipitous when we put all five of these plants into the ground several weeks ago. In my mind, they were flavor enhancers, rather than cancer avengers.

I'm still making my way through this book, and as I do with every piece of health news, I'm reading it with a measure of skepticism. But you never know. Perhaps parsley tea will soon be the new pomegranate juice.