Dr. Mao explains which healing foods can help prevent cancer.
Dr. Mao:
So let’s start with the item here on my cutting board here. This is a mushroom. Isn’t that pretty? Look at the texture. This just is absolutely gorgeous. These are fresh shitaki mushrooms. These are the Chinese mushrooms that you eat in restaurants, Chinese restaurants, hat maybe come with broccoli and other dishes.
There’s a lot of research into these mushrooms, and the research have shown that these shitaki mushrooms and other types of mushrooms have anti-cancer properties. Specifically, they help to increase your killer cell activities and productions. The killer cells are these lymphocytes, your white blood cells. These are the troops in your body that go around and attack the enemy. So that means bad cells and viruses, so they are killer cells. So they keep your body free from abnormal proliferating cells that are not supposed to be there.
Other mushrooms would include portobello, porcini, maitake, tree ear or wooden ear mushrooms, there are many different types of mushrooms that have wonderful immune boosting properties. The next thing is you probably figure out by now that one of my favorite items is ginger. I use ginger in just about everything, and it’s not just me because Chinese medicine has had rich experience in the properties of ginger. Ginger is not only an anti-inflammatory and settles the stomach, it is also anti-cancerous.
Next thing, one of my favorite vegetables, asparagus. You know, I just saw the other day these white asparagus from France. Oh my goodness, those are to die for. But in America, we have to settle for our regular asparagus. Now don’t underestimate these shoots because they are very potent. Asparagus contain anti-cancer nutrients, huge antioxidants, filled with B vitamins, folic acids, and all the wonderful nutrients.
In China, we actually drink asparagus juice as a cancer treatment. Now you probably might not want to do that. I mean, not that it tastes bad, it’s actually pretty tasty, but there are many other ways to eat asparagus. You can sauté it, you can steam it, you know, you can eat asparagus in many different ways, but wonderful vegetable that has been well researched.
What is this over here? This is a squash. Now I could be presenting many types of squash because there are many different types of squash that have similar properties. Squash are rich in B vitamins and beta-carotene, and in Chinese nutrition, we use it as also a cancer prevention food. So squash, winter squash, summer squash, spaghetti squash, there is kabocha squash, pumpkins, so they all have very similar properties, those squash.
Then let's look at this. What does this look like? Well, looks like long grain brown rice to me, and that’s exactly what this is – brown rice, the common brown rice. If you want good health, if you want cancer prevention, eat brown rice because within the, within the bran, which is what makes it brown, within the bran of the rice there contains over 60 antioxidant nutrients, some of which have been shown to be anti-cancerous. So there you have it, and in fact, what I’ve got here would probably make a very delicious meal. You can make a squash soup, you chop some asparagus in there, slices of ginger, yummy shitaki mushrooms and other mushrooms, and then add the rice into it, make a wonderful casserole, make a wonderful dish.
There are, of course, many other foods that we haven’t talked about today that could be used as a part of your cancer prevention plan, and they range from the crucifer vegetables like the broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, to leafy greens like Swiss chard, kale, and mustard greens to dandelion greens and beet greens, and all the greens. Just remember the research behind cancer prevention says you must eat between 5 and 8 servings of fruits and vegetables. So go to it, enjoy, and may you live happily with great health and vitality.
About Maoshing Ni Ph.D., D.O.M., L.Ac., A.B.A.A.H.P.:
Dr. Mao, as he prefers to be called, is a 38th generation doctor of Chinese medicine, a Licensed Acupuncturist, a Diplomat of Chinese Herbology, and a Diplomat in Anti-Aging.
For over 20 years, Dr. Mao has been in general practice at Los Angeles, California’s Tao of Wellness, an acclaimed center for nutrition, Chinese medicine, and acupuncture, with special interest in immune, hormonal, and aging-related conditions. He is also the founder and Chancellor of the Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Los Angeles that is considered the premiere school for Chinese medicine outside of China.
Visit Dr. Mao at Tao Of Wellness