That in turn fends off diseases associated with extra weight like cancer, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Even something as simple as walking functions as medicine. Greenlee said she tries to get out every day, even in the rain.

Ive recently discovered Walking with Leslie videos on YouTube, Greenlee said. Theyre super fun, high-energy, and they can be done inside, too.

Just as important as moving is finding a moment to be still. Take a few deep slow breaths. Quiet the brain and think about the biological machine thats housing you. These types of techniques where you mindfully check in with yourself are proven to reduce stress.

We teach mind-body techniques to many of our cancer patients, Greenlee said. The important thing is to get into the parasympathetic state via mindful breathing, meditative walking or yoga.

Im cooking so much more at home and thought I was eating healthier than before COVID, but I somehow managed to gain five pounds, Judith Rixner, 64, wrote on the private Facebook group Knowledge is Power Breast Cancer Tribe. Is a sleeve of double-stuffed Oreos considered too much?

Calorie-rich, nutritionally empty processed foods may be tempting, especially during, say, a plague, but they are not our friends.

Plants are. They provide our bodies with a slew of phytonutrients and some, like brassicas, also known as cruciferous vegetables, actively fend off cancer.

Cruciferous vegetables like arugula, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower,kale, radishes and swiss chard have highcarotenoid content, vitamins C and K,folate, manganese and potassium, said Kate Ueland, a registered dietitian who works with Greenlee and sees cancer patients at SCCA. Theyre an excellent source of fiber and contain a group of phytonutrients known as glucosinolates, which inhibit cancer in all kinds of ways.

Greenlee pointed to a recent study in Nature emphasizing how our gut microbiome is shaped by what we eat. The findings, from the long-running PREDICT study, show that a diet rich in nutrient-dense, whole foods supported the growth of beneficial microbes that promoted good health.

What you put in your mouth matters. So, if stress-eating and/or snacking is your downfall, Greenlee said at least try to make it healthy.

Her snack of choice is kale chips, a recipe she took from Cook for Your Life, a healthy cooking site for cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and anyone else interested in learning more about what a healthy diet is, and how to achieve and maintain it. Greenlee is director of the site.

These chips are incredibly easy to make baked with a little olive oil and salt, she said. You get the crunch and the saltiness but youre eating kale.

Greenlee and Ueland work with patients at SCCA and via Cook for Your Life, recently relaunched after being acquired by the Hutch. Greenlee and her research staff use the site to test out interventions and educate people about food.

Her studies have shown people can change their eating habits for the better and for the long term if you give them the right tools and resources.

Cook for Your Life provides them: a thousand-plus recipes, 400 blog posts on nutrition and cancer, hundreds of how-to-cook videos, food myth-busting, easy substitutions and more. Tools help with online grocery shopping; special menus are available for those going through treatment. Read more about the site here.

They even teach you how to use a knife properly.

In one of our first studies, we found that if we taught people how to shop for fruits and vegetables and how to prepare them and eat them, we could change their taste preferences, she said. People were more likely to make a long-term increase in fruit and vegetable intakeand they increased their snacking of fruits of vegetables. Thats a good habit to have.

While there are thousands of food websites out there, few are science-based or bilingual, Greenlee said. Cook for Your Life highlights the nutrition research coming out of the Hutch and even offers a chance to participate in research studies.

There are a lot of recipes out there that taste great but theyre not healthy, Greenlee said. We want to provide support and we want people to feel better. This is a way for people to learn to cook at home in an easy, accessible, cost-effective, joyful and healthy way.

Even with vaccination underway, its going to be months before the country reaches herd immunity. On top of that, scientists still dont know if the COVID-19 vaccines protect against transmission.

So, continue to mask up, keep your distance and wash your hands regularly.

At this point, we do not know even with the high efficacy reported in reducing symptomatic disease whether after vaccination individuals are still infectious, Dr. Larry Corey, Hutch president and director emeritus and co-leader of the COVID-19 Prevention Networks vaccine testing program, wrote in a recent blog post.

And dont put off those cancer screenings and wellness checks that are traditionally part of the January reboot.

People should absolutely schedule their cancer screenings and wellness checks, said Dr. Rachel Issaka, a Hutch health services researcher and SCCA gastroenterologist. In the midst of a pandemic, we cannot and should not abandon chronic disease management or disease prevention.

Greenlee said its also important for our health to stay connected even when apart.

Maintaining connection with people is really important, she said. We may have to do it virtually but its still important for people to pay attention to what makes them feel good and to support the people around them.

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Shed the pandemic pounds ... and the stupor - Fred Hutch News Service

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