The next book, The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet: The Powerful Foods, Supplements, and Drugs That Can Save Your Life, was written by a medical journalist whose wife has a high risk of developing breast cancer, thanks to her family medical history. It was a very accessible book, with very specific recommendations in terms of diet and supplements and their potential benefits and risks. It is organized in terms of interrupting the breast cancer pathway through the 'estrogen effect': block estrogen receptors, reduce 'bad,' 'strong,' and 'chemical' estrogens and increase 'good' estrogens (change fats, avoid pesticides), reduce estrogen production (low-fat diet, lower body fat), reduce the free estrogen in circulation (increase fiber), and otherwise interfere with the estrogen effect and cancer initiation and growth (lower insulin levels, alcohol intake, glucose load, and oxidative load). The book references a great many studies, but few specific citations are provided, making it more difficult for the reader to follow-up. The dietary suggestions are the sort that we hear all the time for general health or cardiac health or to avoid colon cancer or to reduce the risk of diabetes (I could go on): more fiber, more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, more fish, less processed foods, less red meat, less simple sugars and trans fats. And the epitomes are the Mediterranean diet and the Asian diet, which he focuses on in the final chapters. He also provides specific recommendations for young girls to reduce their lifetime risk, cancer survivors to minimize the risk of recurrence, and women with either high or low levels of estrogen. All of the information is specific, detailed, easy to digest, and repeated in various ways.

I'd like to pass the book along to my sister-in-law, since my niece qualifies as being at risk. Once again, I don't know how this compares to other similar books. However, I think it is helpful, since, once again, oncologists are not so good at answering dietary questions and most nutritionists are not necessarily informed about the specifics of certain cancers. Patients can't do much about many of the potential risk factors involved in cancer, particularly environmental causes--there's a reason for the term cancer clusters (also see 'Clan of the One-Breasted Women' by Terry Tempest Williams, specifically discussing breast cancer incidence in her family)--at least with respect to their own situations, but patients do have control over diet and exercise and personal stress and coping, and I believe these can play a tremendous role in health and medical outcomes. So this book is an encouragement to make the effort to improve diet. ( )