I'm a huge believer in the power of foods to battle the ravages of cancer among other things. In a household I know of that contains a cancer survivor, the family gets together one time a week to have dinner around the dinner table. Sounds typical, right?

The only difference here is that everyone must eat several pieces of fresh fruit for dinner. No vegetables (those come on a different night) and no drinks besides water. Just fruit.

Amazingly, the kids in this family acclimated to the one-fruit-night pretty fast, and now they actually enjoy it. I thought it was a rather unique way to express the importance of fresh fruits on one's diet. After all, many believe that blueberries are one of the most potent anti-cancer foods there is. Why not get in the habit of eating them?

One of the finer things each and every morning that tastes so good are nature's own blueberries. These delicious and plump berries are one of the most potent antioxidants known, and a decent side effect of eating them is something many naturopaths have known for quite some time: blueberries are excellent anti-cancer food.

Cancer can be a combination of genetic predisposition combined with the results of countless lifestyle choices, which explains why some smokers never develop lung cancer while non-smokers develop it in their teens. One side is a result of the cards you're dealt; the other, as a result of choices.

This sounds simplified, but taking out the lifestyle choices by beating it with excellent nutrition as much as possible can't be a bad thing for almost anyone. Try a start in the next few days by having a cup of fresh blueberries and make your morning just that much more enjoyable.

Since the 1970s, researchers have suspected that diet and nutrition are related to colorectal cancer risk. Numerous studies published since that time have confirmed the connection between what we eat and risk of this cancer. Many health experts agree that a high fiber diet is important for cancer prevention, but questions remain about how much and which types of high fiber foods may reduce colorectal cancer risk most effectively. This has led to interest in specific high fiber foods, especially whole grains.

Start the day with a bowl of whole grain cereal or oatmeal. For cold cereals, choose one that contains at least 6 grams of fiber per serving and make sure you pick one where sugar does not appear first, second or third in the ingredient list. Oatmeal is not only high fiber but studies show that it helps reduce cholesterol. But if you are like me I am not fond of the mushy breakfast food. Until a dear musician friend introduced me to steel oats. Now I can't get enough of these nutty oats and even eat them for late night snacks.

Steel cut oats are whole grain groats which have been cut into only two or three pieces. Which means the the inner portion of the oat kernel is not missing like in rolled oats. They are golden in color and resemble small rice pieces. Steel-cut oats are also known as coarse cut oats, pinhead oats, Scotch oats, or Irish oats. Because the steel cut oats are more natural with less pre-processing, they may be more nutritious than the more popular rolled oats. But to me they give off a more nutty taste and I like the small crunch over the mushy consistency of the rolled oats. The cooking time is longer on steel cut oats but really worth the wait.

When shopping for them in your grocery store, look for canisters much like coffee cans as they are kept in air tight containers.

Preparing your Steel Oats.

1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp butter
Fresh Blueberries or other fresh fruits.

Combine oats and other ingredients in medium saucepan and bring water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally to keep from sticking on the bottom. For the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking time you will need to stir more frequently as it thickens. Spoon into a bowl and top with fresh fruit. Some people like to add a little milk to the bowl to give them a creamy texture. Makes 4 servings.

Oregon State University (OSU) researchers have been working on creating a purple tomato for several years and predict that one should be available in the local grocer's within two years. The eggplant purple tomato will have all the healthy tomato antioxidant lycopene goodness the red orbs offer now with the added benefit of blueberries nutrition in phytochemicals believed by some to offer cancer prevention functional food benefits.

According to OSU Professor Jim Myers, the new hybrid eggplant purple tomato will be the first true purple tomato. According to an OSU backgrounder on the purple tomatoes, hundreds of years ago, explorers discovered purple tomatoes in the wild, but those tomatoes never made it to the table because the fruit was small and some were poisonous. In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists collected seeds from these tomatoes and started to breed them with modern hybrids, making them safe to eat. They discovered that the new purple tomato, unlike the traditional red, contain high levels of anthocyanins, a chemical found in dark fruit pigments such as blueberries and grapes.

Some days, science is just plain fun.

Yesterday, we featured Antioxidant supplements: cancer prevention fairy tale or fact? posting on an opinion piece Dr. Lisa Melton wrote concluding that something is lost in the extraction process of antioxidants into supplement form that prevents antioxidant supplements from offering much in the way of health value. That antioxidant-rich foods offer a health benefit is not in question, and continuing research indicates that what you choose to eat can give your body a boost to better health.

While the researchers sort out the antioxidant supplement debate, and before your next trip to the grocery store, UPI issued a press release today announcing the results of a newly published study that ranks the concentrated antioxidant value per serving of 1,113 foods and beverages.

Topping the list? Per serving -- one cup of blackberries, eight-ounce serving of Welch's 100 percent Grape Juice, one cup of Ocean Mist artichoke hearts, one-ounce of walnuts and one cup of strawberries. Interesting to note, according to the researchers from the University of Oslo, Norway, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Minnesota, the top five outranked the traditionally considered powerhouses of antioxidant foods and beverages including blueberries, red wine, chocolate, coffee and tea. Stiil powerhouse antioxidant foods in their own right -- just did not make the top five in this study.

Where does the time go? Even though most of us have been experiencing the height of the summer season in the form of a nationwide scorcher of a heat wave, summer is almost over for school kids and teens leaving for college. Yes, in less than a month, it's back to school. There are advertisements everywhere you look for new school supplies and new school clothes. In preparation for the new school season, Duke Health has published Back to School Tips for Healthy Eating.

The experts say it is not about counting fat grams and calories but portion control and choices. According to pediatrician Dr. Terrill Bravender, "You don't have to be obsessive about it. If you generally eat healthy, there is room for some foods that aren't as healthy."

Dr. Bravender offers these basic common sense tips:

• Involve kids in lunchbox planning. If you let them make some choices about what goes into their lunchbox, they are more likely to eat it.
• Avoid the peanut butter and jelly rut. Nothing wrong with the traditional, but try new foods. Make it a food adventure.
• While everyone is still on summer break, encourage children to prepare their own lunch. Dr. Bravender suggests easy-to-make ideas like graham crackers with peanut butter and a glass of milk; fresh fruit with cheese cubes; a hard boiled egg with whole grain crackers; yogurt with a sliced banana; granola bars with milk; or tortilla chips and bean dip made without hydrogenated oils.
  

Ultimately, as the mother, what foods come in to the home are my choosing, so I try to make nutritious choices in food purchases. But I have found great success over the years by taking my kids to the grocery store with me, and allowing them to choose between several choices I offer. We also take a look at new foods, and talk about the food item. We read ingredients. Some we decide, by group vote, to bring home and try. During the growing seasons, they are with me when I stop at a roadside stand to buy local produce straight from the field, and each year we have an annual tradition of blueberry picking enough blueberries to last most of the year ahead. Food can be fun, and learning about good food a lifetime benefit in cancer prevention.

In what has become an annual family tradition, we are on our way to pick fresh blueberries at a local farm. In my search for ever more blueberry recipes I came across the Mayo Clinic's Healthy Recipes Center, which is currently featuring a recipe for Sweet-potato waffles with blueberry syrup. While there, I found an abundance of great information on preparing meals and hundreds of healthy recipes that fit the bill in cancer prevention. There is a cooking clinic that offers five ways to make recipes healthier and suggestions on ingredient substitutions that can boost the health of the dish served.

For example, you can often reduce the amount of fats and calories and increase the nutritional value of a recipe without compromising taste. By simply replacing whole-wheat pasta in place of enriched pasta to add fiber, magnesium, iron and B vitamins (niacin, thiamin and riboflavin) to your meal. Or, try preparing a dessert with fat-free milk instead of whole milk to save 63 calories and almost 8 grams of fat per cup. It's simple changes that can make a big difference in long-term good health.

If you are interested in finding recipes designed for health, visit the Mayo Clinic's Healthy Recipes Center for kitchen cooking tips and hundreds of recipes for each course and meal of the day. There is a special section on preparation methods.

The International Journal of Cancer reports that women who ate four to six bananas per week reduced their risk of kidney cancer by about one-half. The reason is that bananas contain high levels of phenolic compounds, which may have protective factors. Here is a healthy alternative to an American classic dessert served in most ice cream parlors.

Vicki's Banana Split with a twist
1 Banana, split lengthwise
1/2 cup vanilla low fat yogurt
1 large handful granola or favorite breakfast cereal
4 strawberries sliced
2 tablespoons of blueberries
1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Peel and split banana lengthwise down the center. Spoon half of the yogurt on top of the banana. Add granola or other cereal and other fruit and then spoon the remaining yogurt on top. Sprinkle with almonds. Have fun and let your inner child out while you enjoy this dessert.

Chunks of pineapple or slices of peaches are also great added to this recipe. You can add a chocolate taste to the mix by sprinkling with carob chips. Adding 1 tablespoon of carob powder to the yogurt and stirring it up will give you the chocolate taste you desire.

Here's news of practical use. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, AICR, freeze-dried fruits have almost the same antioxidant phytochemicals and nutritional value as fresh fruit. Freeze-dried fruit is lightweight, making it a portable food; has a longer shelf live than fresh fruit; and makes fruit available year round. Not to say that fresh fruit isn't a perfect food, but it is seasonal if you grow or buy it fresh, spoils quickly after picking; and is not as portable due to bulk and weight.

Gary Stoner, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at Ohio State University, has been doing research on freeze-dried fruits, especially berries, and has reported study findings that suggest raspberries, strawberries and blueberries might offer cancer prevention.

In a recent conference, Dr. Stoner stated that he uses whole freeze-dried berries instead of extracts for the synergy of phytochemicals like ellagic acid, carotenoids, anthocyanins, vitamins C, E and folic acid that only whole foods can offer. Most of his studies are conducted using freeze-dried berries ground into a powder. Because our family lives in a seasonal climate with a distinct growing season, I really like the idea that I can store up freeze-dried fruits to provide both nutrition and cancer prevention during the non-growing seasons and eat well all year.

It's summer time, it's hot, and most back yard cookouts have an ice cream maker churning away making that creamy frozen dessert that everyone loves.  Why not put a healthier more nutritional dessert on the table that even children will love? A diet high in fruits is likely to be linked to a decrease in the risk of cancer of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, lung, colon, rectum and possibly other cancers. Eating large amounts of fruits has been clearly linked to a decrease in the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating fruits may also help improve bone health, diabetes control, and the maintenance of a healthy body weight. The consumption of fruits may strengthen the immune system, which is the body's defense against various diseases including cancer.

Three weeks ago one of my dalmatians developed a lot of bacteria in her stomach and my veterinarian reminded me of the healing powers of the cultures in yogurt.  She loves a couple of spoon fulls in her dry food. Tonight while I was on a fruit binge in the grocery store to fulfill my dedication of going back to my alkaline based diet, I remembered this salad recipe mixing the best of both worlds. I wasn't even tempted to pause at the frozen foods section to gaze longingly at my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream.  By the way all of these ingredients are on the alkaline side of the food spectrum except for yogurt.  But your best diets contain 70 percent alkaline and 30 percent acid. So this salad is perfect.

Vicki's Mixed Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Salad (with a minty twist)
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup green grapes (slice them in half)
1 peach diced
1 pear diced
1 Granny Smith apple diced
1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
3 or 4 fresh mint leaves finely chopped.
1 6 ounce container vanilla yogurt

Mix everything but the mint in a large mixing bowl stirring gently so not to crush the raspberries and strawberries.  Sprinkle a pinch of the freshly chopped mint on the top of the individual servings.  It looks fancy and gives the dessert a little extra zing. This recipe serves 6 to 8 people. But remember if you have left overs to store them in an air tight container and then use them in the morning on your cereal or granola or for an added dessert treat at lunch.

Fruit smoothies, loaded with cancer prevention nutrients, are a popular and good-for-you drink anytime of the year -- but as the weather warms, they make an especially cool treat. When it comes to fruit smoothies, the possibilities are only limited by your kitchen creativity. Almost always, a fruit smoothie will be high in fiber, and low in fat -- another cancer prevention benefit. Basically, you will need three ingredients: fresh fruit; yogurt or a frozen juice concentrate; and ice cubes. Vanilla and honey are optional, but do add a yummy taste to a smoothie. Depending on how many smoothies you want to make at one time, the ratio of ingredients is: one cup fresh fruit; one cup yogurt; one banana; half-a-tray of ice cubes. The ratio can be changed depending on how thick or thin you prefer your smoothie shake. If you have eliminated dairy from your diet, or are a vegetarian, you can use fruit juice -- like apple, orange or cranberry juice. Again, there are no hard and fast rules to the ingredients, or combination of ingredients, to a smoothie. If it sounds good,  then add it, and give it a try.

Here is the basic recipe we use:

• One banana.
• One cup fruit -- blueberries, or strawberries, peaches or mangos.
• One cup yogurt or frozen fruit concentrate.
• Ice cubes.
• A dash of honey, sometimes vanilla extract, and usually fresh ground flaxseed.
  

You can add water or fruit juice for a thinner texture, but we like a milkshake thickness to our smoothies. Put all the ingredients into a heavy-duty blender or electric smoothie maker. Blend. That's it. A terrific treat -- and cancer prevention good for you. What is your favorite smoothie recipe?