Canned pumpkin or cooked pumpkin is a super cancer food. One half cup of cooked pumpkin has over five times your quota for beta carotene vitamin A per day. According to research at Tufts University it may be used to protect against many cancers but especially colon cancer. Here is a fun way to eat pumpkin besides the traditional pumpkin pie and will start your morning off right.

Vicki's Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine first 6 Ingredients in a large bowl. Combine milk, pumpkin, egg and vegetable oil in a small bowl and mix well. Add the wet batter to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Lumps in the batter are fine. Heat your griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush lightly with vegetable oil or spray with non stick oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle and cook until bubbles begin to burst. Turn and continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

However unintentional she says it has all been when it comes to the sultry and seductive persona that oozes sexuality through the television screen during her cooking shows, How to be a Domestic Goddess author Nigella Lawson has made a career out of making food sexy and the act of food consumption sensual. It is part of her not-always-so-subtle coy kitchen charm.

But if we believe her life to be as silky smooth and decadent as warm cream flowing over a morning bowl of juicy plump strawberries, and equally as charmed as she is charming, we would be mistaken. Yes, she is remarried to multi-millionaire, ad man and art dealer Charles Saatchi, but she is also the widow of journalist and writer John Diamond, who died of tongue cancer five years ago, leaving her suddenly mother and father to their two children, Cosima and Bruno.

A decade earlier, Lawson's mother had died of liver cancer. Her sister Thomasina died in her 30s of breast cancer. Cancer changes people. It is unavoidable, and the change can take many forms. For Nigella, who in the public eye has taken criticism for her ample figure and lack of concern for the fat content of food, has an almost unreasonable fear about thinness. After watching three family members waste away and die from cancer, she sees thin as a sign of illness.

"So even though I mind it when I put on weight I have a visual memory of seeing those people become skin and bone, and that gives me a slight reality check," explains Lawson. In watching her cooking show Nigella Bites, she came through as warm, down-to-earth, without a care for pretentious protocol or rules for the sake of rules. It is the way she cooks, and I get the feeling it is the way she lives. Cancer changes every person it touches and shapes perspectives about what is truly important in life. Being comfortable and enjoying yourself, including the food you eat, is a good recipe for life. A recipe Nigella seems to dish up with ease.

Nigella Lawson is Food Network's newest host in Nigella Feasts. On January 7, the theme of the show will be Feel Good Food featuring Smoked Salmon, Avocado and Pumpkin Seed Salad, a Vietnamese Prawn and Glass Noodle Salad, a colorful Antioxidant Fruit Salad, and a Syllabubbed Yogurt. Yum.

Most of the time we think of protein as meats, beans, and soy. We don't often think of seeds as protein but several seeds that keep the body alkalized are classified as proteins. Pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds are a great source of protein and make great snacks. Flax seed has been determined to be a cancer fighting agent. Be sure to grind them up for full nutritional value so your body does not pass them through undigested. A coffee grinder is great for this. I have two coffee grinders. One for coffee and one for flax seed.

Here are two things that I like to do with flax seeds to add to my daily regimen of cancer fighting foods. I sprinkle 1/4 cup of ground flax seed on my cereal or oatmeal giving it a natural nutty taste. I also like to add 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed to my ground coffee just before brewing. It gives the coffee a great nutty taste and the boiling water in the process will bring out the natural flax seed oil in my coffee making it an even healthier drink in the morning.

Mama's Health recommends eating these healthy foods to help prevent cancer and heart disease.

Herbs, vegetables, dietary fiber and fruits are food items most of us already know are essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here are some foods that are especially good for preventing cancer and heart disease.

Basil tops the herb list and reduces blood pressure and eases the symptoms of emphysema and bronchitis. In addition, rubbing basil on your skin acts as a natural bug repellent.

Spinach, asparagus, and broccoli top the vegetables most recommended to cut down on heart disease and cancer, giving at least 50 percent of the recommended daily allowances (RDI) for vitamin A, and about 20 percent of the RDI for vitamin C. Spinach is a good source of iron, calcium and folate and asparagus is also high in folate content (20 to 50 percent of RDI per serving). Folate is a nutrient identified as being important for pregnant women. Folate, also known as folic acid, might reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer and breast cancer.

Sweet Bing cherries, pumpkin, strawberries and apricots, are high in vitamin A and C, and provide a good source of fiber. Sweet Bing cherries is a cancer prevention food with the ability to fight the inflammation associated with some cancers. Pumpkin and strawberries are a good source of iron and folate. A substance found in strawberries, quercetin, has been shown to program cancer cells to self destruct. All are low in calories.

Dietary fiber found in whole wheat bread and 100 percent bran cereal along with kidney beans, white beans, and potatoes top the fiber charts for healthy eating to prevent cancer and heart disease. Soy nuts top the healthy snacks and are high in protein and isoflavones.