Ina, Martha, and Nausea
This week on the Stupid Cancer Show, I interviewed Karen Jung author of Healthier Eating and Living with Cancer. I’m a big fan of Ina and Martha and the aesthetic of their presentation. Karen agrees that visual appeal can make it or break it with cancer in the nausea department. She suggests experimenting with the colors of plates against the color of various foods, recommending white plates for brightly colored vegetables. She also recommended taming the olfactory-gag effect of food by cooking with the kitchen door closed (if you have one) and allowing food to cool before serving.
Vegan Cancer Girl Scouts
Vegan is the new black. Everybody is doing it. Suddenly the oh-so-seventies rage of juicing and raw foods is hot among young adult cancer survivors and pedestrians alike. But Karen’s recipes aren’t about beet juice margaritas for dinner. I was curious why she chose standards instead: During active treatment, patients often cannot digest abrasive raw veggies or potent green shakes. Karen tested her recipes on scores of survivors in radiation treatment and chemotherapy, and there is a reason why they serve Jell-O in hospitals – sometimes it is all you can get down.
On The Page
She had lots of great ideas when I talked to her but when I read her book they were not mentioned. The cover is beautifully designed, but some of the suggested foods like hot dogs on hoagie buns didn’t shout cancer, nor would I need a cookbook to make scrambled eggs. I’m not a nutritionist but the antioxidants she notes that come from two slices of cheese in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich seem like a snippet of nutritional information lifted out of context. The order of the book is also confusing; cookies listed after appetizers and before meats, while vegetables are the final section. My conclusion, if I’m hankering for Hungarian goulash, I’ll reach for the Joy of Cooking instead.
What were your favorite cancer foods? How did you hack the sight of food when you wanted to hurl?
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