not much left

I just crawled out of bed, where I was reading Cancer Vixen, a beautiful graphic novel written by Marisa Acocella Marchetto (and a testament to the fact that each cancer story is so different, yet we do share much common ground). My favourite moment is when the author yells, "Cancer, I am going to kick your ass! And I'm going to do it in killer five-inch heels!"

It's a rainy day in Ottawa and I am fighting off the cold my young son brought into the house. I feel like fixing myself a nice comforting, healthy snack. But the question of what to eat is not one that is easily answered.

I've been reading (or rather skimming the chapter summaries of) Foods that Fight Cancer: Preventing Cancer Through Diet. It is, all in all, a positive book, full of beautiful pictures of leafy greens, bright citrus and even lovely dark chocolate and red wine. However, the author's list of foods to avoid leaves me cold:

• Fried foods (fair enough)
• Processed foods (makes sense)
• Red meat (in excess)
• Alcohol (in excess)
• Smoked foods (ack!!!)
• Marinated foods (double-ack!!!)

I understand that this is not so terribly restrictive but add to this the 'foods to avoid' one from the (very helpful) information session that I attended this week on lymphedema management and prevention:

• Processed and refined foods
• Coffee (oh no!!)
• Alcohol (bye, bye red wine)
• Sugar
• Saturated fats
• Red meat
  
• Dairy
• Chocolate (so much for my daily guilt-free fix)
• Salty foods (no more Vietnamese noodle soup?)
• Spicy foods (might as well eat Pablum for the rest of my life).

'What's left?', I ask you. Fruit, vegetables, water....flax seed.

OK. Going to make vegetable soup now. I'm going to use broth with salt, though. Because it's all I've got and, as the lymphedema trainer said, "You've still got to live your life."