An unbalanced diet can increase the risk of developing cancer. Although diet alone may not be able to prevent or cure cancer, adopting certain dietary habits can help prevent cancer and recurrence and improve the treatments’ effectiveness.
Jacques Maximin is considered a pioneer of vegetable cooking, the investigator of the circled kitchen and a reference in the world of cooking.
“Meilleur Ouvrier
de France Cuisinier”
Culinary advisor &
Chef in Residence
for the l’École Ducasse
10 tomatoes
1 nice cucumber
200 grams of small fresh beans
And/or 12 small fresh local artichokes, sliced (depending on the season, either one or the other or neither)
2 green peppers
6 small fresh onions
6 basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
3 hard-boiled eggs
12 anchovy fillets (or 1 300 gram can of tuna)
100 grams of black olives from Nice
Olive oil – Salt – Pepper
“How many crimes have been committed in the name of this pure and fresh salad, whose base is made of tomatoes, which contains only raw vegetables, except for hard-boiled eggs, which is prepared without vinegar, by salting the tomatoes three times and sprinkling them with a little oil!
Often even the people of Nice mix anchovy and tuna in the same salad; this is never done in the tradition, since tuna, at that time very expensive, was used only in important occasions; most of the time, anchovy replaced it because it was affordable.
I beg all those who really want to ensure the reputation of this country’s cuisine to never include any boiled vegetable or potato in a Niçoise salad.
2nd edition of the Cuisine du Comté de Nice by Jacques Médecin in collaboration with Jacques Maximin in 1981
Thibaut Spiwack is the chef of the restaurant Anona, Paris in the 17th district. He has worked alongside Alain Senderens, Alain Ducasse and at the Georges V. He is determined to offer responsible cuisine using local products.
Finally, he is a candidate in the Top Chef 2022 show.
2 fillets of lean white fish
1 apple
Treviso salad
1 green meat radish
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 purple meat radish
Camelina oil
50g of lentils
Blettes multicolores
Lemon juice
Salt
Chop the shallot and set it aside to cook the lentils.
Cut a few radishes into shavings for the plate and with the rest, make a brunoise (small dice) of apple and radish, season with camelina oil and lemon.
Keep the chard greens whole (leaves) and trim the tails.
Thin out the treviso salad and place it on the plate raw.
To cook the lentils, fry them raw in a pan with a dash of camelina oil and the shallots for 2 minutes, then cover them with water (4x their volume of water).
Leave to cook for 25 minutes.
For the preparation of the fish:
Bring water to the boil in a pan. Place a sprig of rosemary on the fish fillets, season with a dash of camelina oil and wrap in cling film. Plunge the fillets into the boiling water and leave them to cook for 10 minutes off the heat.
Fry the chard stems and leaves for a few seconds in a pan with vegetable oil.
Once cooked, emulsify the lentils with a little water using a blender.
Serve preferably on a light-coloured plate to bring out the colour of the ingredients.
Arrange the fish in the middle, the virgin around it and the other ingredients against the fish, playing with the volumes.
Try camelina oil, which is very rich in omega-3 and helps to combat inflammatory processes, both on the outside of the skin and inside the body.
Choose organic, untreated food so that you don’t have to peel it and so that all the vitamins are preserved.
Denny Imbroisi is a chef and food writer born in Italy. He became known to the general public by participating in season 3 of Top Chef in 2012.
Since then, he is a chef and owner of 3 Italian restaurants based in the French capital.
To prepare this recipe, some will discover fregola sarda, a variety of pasta shaped like small balls, native to Sardinia. They are toasted in the oven, which gives them their particular taste and golden color.
Pesto is the main ingredient in this recipe. It is one of the most famous sauces in the world that can be created from all kinds of herbs: most commonly basil but also tarragon, coriander and parsley. Pesto comes from Genova, which is located in the Liguria region. This sauce goes very well with trofie, but also with trenette, a variety of long pasta.
Wash the vegetables and cut them into pieces.
Brown them in a large saucepan with olive oil, salt, pepper and a few bay leaves.
Add the fregola sarda and roast them for a few minutes.
Cover with 1.5 liters of water and let simmer for 45 minutes.
At the end of the cooking time, check the seasoning.
Serve in soup plates with chopped herbs and grated Grana Padano cheese.
320g of trofie
1 clove of garlic
30g pine nuts
18cl d’huile d’olive extra vierge
140g de parmigiano reggiano
60g of pecorino romano
A few small basils shoot
The day before, place a mortar and pestle in the refrigerator and let them cool for 1 night.
Le jour même, mettez les feuilles de basilic, la gousse d’ail pelée et les deux tiers des pignons de pin dans le mortier. Battez le tout à l’aide du pilon en ajoutant l’huile d’olive en filet.
Une fois que le pesto est à la bonne texture, ajoutez la moitié des fromages râpés et mélangez.
In a large saucepan, bring salted water to a boil. Add the trofie and cook until the pasta is al dente.
Drain, making sure to keep some of the cooking water.
Faites chauffer très légèrement le pesto dans une casserole puis mélangez avec les pâtes et liez le tout avec l’eau de cuisson réservée.
Arrange in 4 plates and grate the remaining cheese on top. Garnish with the remaining pine nuts and basil sprouts.
Choose extra virgin olive oil, which has a very low acidity level and very high taste quality. It is particularly recommended for its high omega-9 content.
Prefer foods rich in carbohydrates such as fruit, rich in fiber such as whole grains, legumes and vegetables.
Alcohol is the second dietary/lifestyle cause of cancer (approximately 8%) after tobacco. Although consuming alcohol during treatment is not formally contraindicated, it is not recommended. If you chose to drink, do so with moderation: never exceed 2 glasses a day and do not drink every day. Regardless of your personal choice, ensure that alcohol is compatible with the type of anti-tumoral treatment you are receiving (particularly if part of a therapeutic trial), as well as additional support treatments (for example, alcohol may interact with painkillers, morphine in particular).
You should follow a balanced diet, but there is no specific diet that has been proven to prevent and/or treat cancer. The keto diet and fasting (even intermittently) are not recommended. If it is true that tumor cells consume more sugar than healthy cells, it has not been proven in humans that a carbohydrate-free diet or fasting reduce the risk of cancer or increase the effectiveness of treatment. On the contrary, as cancer patients are at increased risk of malnutrition, current knowledge dictactes that restrictive diets not be prescribed. The is one exception: if undergoing prolonged corticosteroid therapy, salt and sugar intake must be limited.
Although no single type of food can prevent cancer, the role of certain foods is now well-known.
Red and processed meat increase the risk of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, and should be consumed in moderation (i.e., not daily). Instead, favor vegetables and foods rich in fiber.
If you are following a balanced diet, it is not necessary to take vitamins or supplements. On the contrary, the overuse of certain supplements, such as beta-Carotene, can induce an excess risk of cancer. In addition, supplements, including those of a natural origin, may negatively impact certain cancer treatments. Generally speaking, do not take any supplements (vitamins, phytotherapy, homeopathy, etc) without your oncologist’s consent.
Weight gain can occur in cancer treatments that require prolonged hormone and corticosteroid therapy.
It is important to maintain your body weight during and after treatments as being overweight increases the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
It is suggested that you maintain a balanced diet (i.e., one rich in fish, fiber and plant-based foods) and exercise regularly (i.e., a minimum of 30 minutes at day at moderate intensity).
Weight-loss is common at the start of the illness and during chemotherapy.
It is important to first to identify the reasons for the weight-loss, which include:
Loss of appetite is the most common cause of weight loss.
It may be helpful to have smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Favor healthy foods that you enjoy and consider adding more calorie-dense items to your meals.
You may need to use ONS (Oral Nutritional Supplements) which are available by prescription. They are available in different forms (milk drinks, fruit juices, biscuit, etc) and are to be taken in addition to meals. Rich in protein, they allow sufficient nutritional intake to be maintained and to correct malnutrition. In extreme cases of malnutrition or in case of a blocking tumor, you can resort to artificial feeding using a tube (tube which goes from the nose directly into the stomach) or by perfusions.
If you are having difficulty with your weight, speak to your hospital’s dietician and/or nutritionist. Any weight-loss of >2kg requires dietary management.
