This is a beautifully designed and written book of recipes for people undergoing cancer treatment with a focus on whole foods, low-dairy, and ingredients with immune-supporting and (potentially) cancer fighting capabilities. Some recipes call for unusual ingredients (like kudzu powder or kombu), but most are pretty straightforward and, honestly, in this post-coronavirus world, it's also kind of fun to experiment with new-to-me tastes. Best of all, Katz includes some really helpful guides at the start of the cookbook, including an index breaking the recipes up by side-effect, some tips on how to organize friends and family to help you with meals, and a comprehensive list of ingredients and their benefits for cancer patients. It's also just a beautiful book with mouth-watering photography, a generous layout, and a real sense of the author's voice (sometimes in a goofy, but endearing way) in the introductions to each recipe. Depending on energy levels / cooking expertise, some of these recipes could be a little overwhelming, but there are a bunch with a few simple ingredients (and good instructions on how to portion them out to freeze or store for later). As a stage IV patient who is not having traditional chemotherapy, so far the taste-altering and energy-depleting impact of that treatment isn't part of my life, but nausea, weight-loss, and stomach issues do seem to be part of my life for now at least, and I'm happy to have some ideas for healthy, intriguing recipes that will help me out. ( )

This is an up-to-date edition of [b:The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery|6884297|The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery|Rebecca Katz|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320409597s/6884297.jpg|7103325] and well worth reading or gifting if you or a loved one is undergoing cancer treatment.

The author suggests, in her own words, that the book is a toolkit to be used to "address issues that commonly crop up during treatment and throughout recovery." To entice you to eat with a minimum of kitchen stress, and to help choose ingredients that will help you feel better, or soothe certain irritants.

I certainly am not in the health profession, my experience of these books has been maintaining the cookbook collection of our library. We have several similar cookbooks, but I always suggest that recent updates and information is always the best way to go, especially in a field that is making new discoveries regularly.

This book is useful, and soothing. It offers helpful ideas and explains how to achieve success in cooking easily. The first chapter focuses on how to use the book, and offers advice on nutrition, menu planning and dealing with palate/taste changes. Common side effects are addressed, and suggestions for using meals to help alleviate regularly encountered side effects.

The recipes themselves are healthy and flavourful. Recipe directions are easy to follow and considerate and unpretentious. The section on Tonics and Beverages is inspired. Cook's Notes, and nutritional and storage recommendation information accompany each recipe. The Cook's Notes suggest easy variations and substitutions, tips on technique, time-saving shortcuts, and how to alter ingredients to make the meal vegetarian or change the texture.

The only thing I did not like was that the 'Resources' section at the back seemed at times rather more like 'a word from our sponsors' than an ingredient/item sourcing guide. There were some good references, though. The Environmental Working Group for example, and references for finding local farmers markets and organic product suppliers.

Overall, strongly recommended.

**eARC Netgalley** ( )

The “C” word that really hurts doesn’t have four letters, it has six. It seems like it is everywhere sometimes, and not just because people are living long enough to get cancer. Far too many are struggling with this disease. The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, 2nd ed. is a book for all of us, those who never want to get on the cancer train, those in the midst of that journey, and those who have made it to the other side and don’t want to go down that road again

The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, 2nd ed. is a book rooted in science and peer review, not anecdotes and quackery. It’s not magic, they don’t promise miracles, but what they do promise you can rely on. Because it’s rooted in science, it’s practical. They aren’t going to tell you to eat blueberries at every meal of the day. It’s about eating a healthy, diverse diet of foods that encourage good health and discourage cancer growth.

When people take chemo, it can seem as though the treatment is worse than the disease. Chemo kills white blood cells, the mechanism for fighting infection. Leukopenia is common side effect, making the person with cancer susceptible to opportunistic infections even from the common bacteria that is party of our body’s natural fauna. All of a sudden, they can’t eat berries and celery and other raw fruits and vegetables that aren’t safely sealed inside a peel that keeps bacteria out. Sores in their mouths make some foods painful. Fighting cancer in the kitchen is not just about building up strength, but also about accommodating the side effects of treatment.

I am awed by the amount of thought and attention to detail that went into this book. There are recipe recommendations for different side effects from anemia to sore mouth. There’s suggested menus for before treatment, the day of treatment and after treatment. There is even quick fixes for when people’s taste buds act up and food flavors are off, suggestions such as adding some lemon juice if the food tastes too salty. There is a list of foods and spices and how they affect health. The authors recognize that not everyone can afford to buy organic everything, so they provide a list of those fruits and vegetables that you don’t really need to buy organic. This is not a restrictive, limiting cookbook. There are recipes with meat and with fat because this is not about fads, it’s about good nutrition.

It’s also about food that looks and tastes good. There are delicious recipes for soups, salads, veggies dishes, burgers, roasts, snacks and dips, teas, granita, elixirs and broths. The pictures are gorgeous and mouth-watering. You would want this cookbook for the recipes even if they did not promote good heath.

This book is important, not just to those who have cancer now, but to those who want to promote healthy eating to do as much as they can to prevent cancer, and for those who have survived cancer and don’t want another ride on that train. I wanted to read this book because my sister had cancer and struggled so much with the side effects, sore mouth, neutropenia (like leukopenia) and steroid-induced paralysis. When I received the book several months ago, I would call my sister and share some tips and suggestions, though she eventually promised to request the first edition from the library.

She died in November and to be honest, it’s a little hard to review this book because I wanted so badly for her to have this newest and best information in her hands. We all expected her to have more time. She was a great cook and a professional nutritionist herself, so she was interested and planned to read it as soon as it came out. I am glad, though, that other people will have this resource. I would recommend everyone have it, not just people with cancer, but those who want to avoid it. Also, when friends, family, or co-workers have cancer, you can look up ideas in the book and bring them a soup or broth or hotdish that will not just feed them, but help them with their treatment. Best of all, it will taste good.

The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, 2nd ed. will be released on February 14th. I was provided an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley

★★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/the-cancer-fighting-kitche... ( )

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From the flap: "Cancer fighting Kitchen features 150 science-based, nutrient-rich recipes that are easy to prepare and designed to give patients a much-needed boost by stimulating appetite and addressing treatment side effects including fatigue, nausea, dehydration, mouth and throat soreness, taste bud changes, and weight loss. a step-by-step guide helps patients nutritionally prepare for all phases of treatment and a full nutritional analysis accompanies each recipe....."

WOW! How could you ask for more, unless you wanted this book to be vegan or vegetarian?

There is A LOT of reading & information, but all of it is Important....the pages are slick but not glossy and there are many nice looking photographs. The title of each recipe is in large bold font, below that is a paragraph about the dish. The left frame includes the list of ingredients in a small bold font and below the ingredients are "Rebecca's Notes" regarding ingredients and options in red. The instructions are in a tad larger regular font than the ingredients making them easier to read. Below the instructions is information on prep time, storage & Nutritional counts, and often a "Who Knew?" of interesting food facts.

Contents include: Foreward; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Cancer-Fighting Tool Kit; Strategies for Thriving During Treatment; Seven chapters of Recipes; Resources; Bibliography; and Index

The Cancer Fighting Toolkit is more than amazing, it contains; Side effects; Recipes for specific side effects (anemia, Constipation, Dehydration, Diarrehea, Fatigue, Nausea & vomiting, Neutropenia, Sore mouth & difficulty swallowing, and Weightloss); Menu planning (2 days before chemo, week of chemo & treatment days, 1 week after chemo, and between treatments); Enhancing flavor & dealing w/ taste changes; FASS fixes for taste bud troubles; Learning your food preferences; The power of herbs & spices; and Culinary pharmacy (Cancer fighting ingredients A-Z).

Nourishing Soups & Broths: Healing broths (Magic mineral broth; Chicken magic mineral broth; and Pasture beef bone broth); Broth soups (Italian white bean soup; Lemony Greek chicken soup; and Ma's mushroom barley soup); The cashmere sweater soup collection (Bella's carrot, orange & fennel soup; Curry cauliflower soup; Cooling cucumber avocado soup; Velvety red lentil dahl; and Creamy broccoli & potato soup)

Vital Vegetables: Basil broccoli; Baby bok choy w/ yam & ginger; Emerald greens w/ orange; Gregg's stuffed acorn squash w/ quinoa, cranberries, & Swiss chard; kale w/ carrots; Warm Napa cabbage slaw; Purple Peruvian smashed potatoes; Warm & toasty cumin carrots; and Stir-fry baby bok choy w/ shitake mushrooms

Protein-Building Foods: easy eggs in a cup; Curried chicken salad; Chicken & broccoli stir-fry w/ cashews; Master recipe for cooking beans; Middle Eastern chickpea burgers; Poached eggs w/ basil lemon drizzle; Orange ginger roasted chicken; and Triple citrus ginger black cod

Anytime Foods: Anytime bars; beyond good cornbread; Cannellini bean dip w/ Kalamata olives; Creamy polenta; Catherinne's magic green tea rice; Spiced toasted almonds; Mediterranean lentil salad; Orange pistachio couscous; and Roasted asparagus pasta w/ white beans & thyme

Tonics and Elixirs: Annemaries' calming kudzu elixer; Commonweal's most nourishing & healing tea; Mouthwatering watermelon granita; Green tea ginger lemonade; Mango coconut smoothie; Triple berry smoothie; and papaya pineapple smoothie

Dollops of Yumi: apricot pear chutney; basil lemon drizzle; avocado dressing; Pistachio cream; Cilantro lime vinaigrette; Dried fruit compote; Blueberry compote; Olive & caper relish; Moroccan Pesto; and Sweet & Savory yogurt

Sweet Bites: Baked apples filled w/ dates & pecans; Cardamom maple mini macaroons; Great pumpkin custard; Poached pears w/ saffron broth; Strawberries w/ mango coconut "sabayon"; and Triple ginger snap cookies w/ pecans

The prep time is anywhere form 5-30 minutes (usually the lesser) and cooking time ranges from 25-90 minutes.

This is by far the Best Cookbook I have read for Cancer Patients in a very long time. ? I'm hoping to buy one for the library, myself & a friend. ( )

When you are first diagnosed with cancer you really don't know what to expect. Nausea? Pain? Lethargy? What can you eat? What will you want to eat? Cookbooks like these give you a clue into what foods you might tolerate and what foods should probably be off your radar. I appreciated the non-confrontational attitude of this book. The author tried to come up with foods that are healthy and tasty, but didn't prescribe foods that you must eat. But as I kept reading, I also came up with lots and lots of food prejudices. Sugar, white flour, and all fats are some of the ingredients that the author bends over backwards to avoid. Is it really better to suggest agave nectar in ALL cases where most people would use sugar? Is spelt flour really a substitute for white flour? Even in cases where you would use only tablespoons of flour? I am looking forward to making some of the Dollops of Yum! to spice up otherwise bland food, but I have better recipes for some of the standards like cornbread. ( )