It's week 5 and I have a confession to make. I LOVE to bake. I always have. Unfortunately, my preferred form of baking has always been delicious chocolate chip cookies or brownies, maybe some pumpkin or banana bread too.
So, in December of 2020 when I tried to give up simple sugars completely, I felt like I lost one of my creative outlets, one of the things I've always just loved to do.
Plus, who doesn't enjoy watching a 5 year old bite into a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie? Seriously, watch them closely next time. You can actually see pure joy on their face as they close their eyes and truly savior every single sensation.
Something like this...
That's pretty much my relationship with food. I love to bake, I love to cook. I can close my eyes and deconstruct a food into individual ingredients. I typically completely ignore recipes and throw in whatever spices smell right. (Granted I have a very good foundation, and I've even been to a 6 week cooking school. It's on my bucket list to do more of that.)
My mom jokes that she can tell when I enjoy something because I actually purr.
So, in some ways, I have been on a two year quest to find food that still brings me joy and also meets my 'a bit overly strict' dietary requirements. Though, with education, I've also learned where I can loosen up a bit and in what way.
I decided to add my personal dietary goals below to point out that when you take away sugar, butter and flour, baking gets a whole lot harder. I've had to get creative.
My Personal Dietary Plan
| 1 Year Ago | Now |
Sugar/Maple Syrup/Honey | None (0) | A very small amount |
Full Fat Dairy | 1 serving per day | 1 serving per day |
Simple Grains | None (0) | None (0) |
Alcohol | None (0) | 1 to 2 servings per week |
Beef/Lamb/Pork | 1 4 oz serving per month | 1 4 oz serving per month |
Fish/Poultry | multiple times a week each | multiple times a week each |
Veggies | As many as I can eat | As many as I can eat |
Fruits | As many as I can eat | As many as I can eat |
Seeds, Nuts & Legumes | As many as I can eat | As many as I can eat |
Juice | Pomegranate Only | Pomegranate, others occasionally w/ seltzer |
So, this week's challenge is to eat 3 or more servings of whole grain daily. There's also a subtle secondary challenge of trying to eat a new whole grain every day. Fortunately AICR.org even gave us a convenient list of some whole grains.
Some of these I know very well, but some of these like, Fonio, Freekeh, Triticale and Amaranth I can honestly say I don't think I've every tried. I'll have to work on this.
Given the challenge is to eat 3 servings of whole grains a day, I thought breakfast, lunch and dinner. But then I thought, I love to bake. So, breakfast 3 ways.
How to Make a Better Pumpkin Bread to Help Prevent Breast Cancer
So AICR.org provides a recipe here for a Whole Grain Banana Bread. I went and checked it out and although I personally thought it looked delicious, I know from experience my mom, dad and two children would all reject it flat out. My mom just hates the taste of whole wheat. My kids don't do 'texture' in breads.
So, I've adapted their recipe below in a way that my whole family will enjoy it.
Ingredients
1 to 2 cups canned pumpkin (2 cups is more bread pudding like)
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla (I would triple this amount personally)
1/4 cup agave nectar (mix with wet ingredients)
2 free-range eggs (not organic vegetarian ones, eggs from chickens that eat bugs)
3/4 cups oatmeal flour (either buy, or put rolled oats into a food processor)
1/2 cup almond flour (I buy mine, keep it in the freezer)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clover
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
What I've found is that oatmeal doesn't carry that same 'oh this is the healthy version' vibe that whole wheat does. Also, by using ground flax and almond flour (pecan works well too) my kiddos don't discard it on texture alone. Actually, they're quite happy to eat it when warmed and with butter.
In addition to the whole grains, we're filling up on a lot of feel-good/are good ingredients like pumpkin, cinnamon, clover, nutmeg, and flax.
So why this lineup?
We' covered Lignans, ALA, Fiber and beta-carotene in this post, but I recapped it here.
Lignans - According to Katz, flax seed is one of the best sources of lignans, which is a phytoestrogen that may help prevent the growth of estrogen sensitive breast cancers by blocking estrogen receptor sites in cancer cells. (So, it's like a natural Tamoxifen backup?)
Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) - Katz says this type of omega 3 fatty acid can induce cell death (apoptosis) in certain breast and cervical cancer cells and diets high in ALA may help reduce breast cancer risk for women. According to Women's Health Matters from UCSF, Flax may work to block tumor growth, reduce estrone and estrodiol levels in the blood and inhibit angiogenesis. Animal studies have shown tumor growth reduction between 26% - 38% in mice, and reduced the likelihood of metastasis by 45%. In humans, consumption of flaxseed or flax bread at least weekly reduced instances of breast cancer by 20%. The flax, chia seed and pumpkin seed in this dish all contain ALAs.
Fiber - According to Women's Health Matters from UCSF, fiber is excellent for reduction of breast cancer risk because it can bind with and remove toxic compounds already in the body, keep weight down, and reduce estrogen levels in the body which can fuel breast cancer. Both blueberries and the oats in granola are excellent sources of fiber.
Beta-carotene - The saying should be 1 carrot a day, not 1 apple a day... according to Katz, beta-carotene is associated with preventing lung, mouth, throat, stomach, intestinal, bladder, prostate and breast cancer. It also reduces the risk of death for breast cancer survivors. According to Women's Health, breast cancer risk may be 221% greater for women with low levels of serum beta-carotene. This effect was even stronger in ER- breast cancers, which are generally harder to treat.
Almonds - According to Katz, not only are they a fantastic source of fiber, they help regulate blood sugar, which I use to counter the effect of the small amount of sugar from the agave.
Cinnamon/Cinnamaldehyde - According to Katz, cinnamon can reduce inflammation and like almonds, helps keep blood sugar levels balanced, offering a second way I can help counter the sugar.
Cloves/Kaempferol/Eugenol - According to Katz, the kaempferol in cloves is anti-inflammatory and in human studies can help lower ovarian cancer risk. Eugenol is an oil in them that can help reduce the risk of digestive cancers. And, like fiber it can attack and remove toxicities from environmental pollutants.
Nutmeg/Myristicin - According to Katz, the myristicin in nutmeg may even help our bodies fight tumors.
Plus, the vanilla/cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg combo always brings my 5 year old into the kitchen saying "Mommy, my nose SMELLS something. I want it." Honestly, I'm not sure I can even think of a better feel-good sensation than that of holiday baked goods.
I've found having homemade baked goods makes me feel less deprived and offer a grab-and-go option that's better than most ' healthy bars' out there.
How to Amp Up Saturday Morning Pancakes to Help Naturally Prevent Breast Cancer
I'm guessing my family is not alone in our love of Saturday morning pancakes. They give this wonderfully lazy, I have nothing to do today, vibe which is so refreshing these days.
Here's how we do pancakes in my household.
#1 Start with Kodiak Flapjack and Waffle Mix - it's sold at lots of places where I live. Can't find it? It's a boxed pancake mix where the first ingredient is 100% whole grain wheat flour and the second is 100% whole grain oat flower. It has 5g of fiber per serving.
I make it according to the box's high protein option, but I add 1% milk and 1 egg (free range/the kind that eat bugs).
I also add in ground flax seed, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Because YUM! and See Above.
My kiddos pour 100% natural maple syrup onto theirs. I don't because that's basically a sugar bomb and ER+ breast cancer recurrence is highly correlated with sugar consumption in non-obese pre-menopausal women. Like it increases the risk of recurrence by more than 300% according to Women's Health Matters from UCSF.
So for me, I add sliced banana on top, sprinkle it with cinnamon, and drizzle a mixed nut butter that has almonds, walnuts, and brazil nuts in it.
So tasty. I really doesn't take any longer than making normal pancakes.
How to Go Back To Your Roots to Enjoy Baked Goods
I wish I could tell you I had the time to make sourdough bread from scratch at home, but let's just say it's on my 20 year bucket list. Alas, Tartine Bread has this amazing looking sourdough rye country bread I've been eying. Don't know Tartine? Well, they're won lots of awards and been in lots of newspapers. The summary version is they love to surf and make traditional sourdough breads the old fashioned way. To be honest, I'm kind of jealous of their lifestyle.
I also wanted to add a rye toast option because for whatever reason, breast cancer rates are much higher with certain Jewish communities.
Ingredients
2 slices traditional rye toast
low-fat cream cheese
crisp lettuce
smoked salmon (yeah ALAs!)
capers
Delicious.
With a lot of research and a little creativity. I've found preventing breast cancer and living an anti-inflammatory life can be very yummy indeed.
Eating for Life. The Yummy Part!
Save 1 Challenge
For every 100 women who embrace this knowledge, we can prevent 8 future cases of breast cancer and likely save 1 woman from dying of it. Help get the word out.