Dana McIntyre
Chef
Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN)
Certified Professional Cancer Coach (CPCC)
Welcome to The Crushing Cancer Kitchen!
As a trained Chef, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Professional Cancer Coach, I have created this site to bring the two worlds together in the name of delicious wellness.
Born and raised on the West coast of Canada, I always knew that cooking (and eating) would be a big part of my life. After graduating from cooking school at a young age and years of cooking in top restaurants both locally and abroad (along with a small flirtation with Food Network Canada • Superstar Chef Challenge • Just One Bite), I craved a change. I started working as a Personal Chef for Actors and Musicians who found themselves working in Vancouver for several months at a time. It was common that specialty diets were involved and I learned quickly all about raw food, macrobiotic, grain-free and so much more. Coming from a French cooking background, but a clean-eating, active family, these new ways of looking at food piqued my interest. I felt it was important to study nutrition to further understand the inner complexities of healthy eating. Around this time cancer struck my family, as it has so many others, and my research into the power of food to boost the immune system, and strengthen the body while battling cancer became my new primary interest. I forgot how to monté au beurre and learned all about cruciferous vegetables, fermentation and sprouting. I was amazed at how empowered this made me feel during a time of such frustrating helplessness. Shortly, my client-base changed to cancer thrivers and I haven’t looked back since.
I believe strongly in food being your medicine, but I also believe that it should taste amazing, bring comfort and conjure up fond memories. I truly believe you can have your cake (broccoli?) and eat it too, and it is my goal to show you how.
The Crushing Cancer Kitchen
The Crushing Cancer Kitchen is a food blog created to inspire you to eat more vegetables and fresh, nutrient-dense, whole, unprocessed foods.
The recipes are entirely vegan, and this is because from what my nutrition studies have taught me, an organic, vegan, alkaline diet packed full of phytonutrients can support the immune system, reduce inflammation and help to protect your cells against disease. It creates a less comfortable home in your body for cancer cells.
Keeping your body at an alkaline PH requires eating plenty of fresh, plant-based foods including lots of vegetables (this is why juicing is so good), fruit, nuts & seeds and minimizing foods that fall on the acid-forming end of the PH scale such as meat, dairy, refined foods like sugar and wheat, and non-foods like pesticides, artificial sweeteners and preservatives. (Acidic PH is totally different from the acid found in citrus fruit, fermented foods and vinegars; it’s not an acid that you can taste).
That being said, I am also aware that not everybody thrives on a diet free of animal products, especially during unpredictable cancer treatments. You may feel like a diet with some animal protein is right for you, or in some cases your Doctor or healthcare professionals may advise you to include more animal products in your diet -always listen to your Doctor (and your body). In this case, adding some wild/organic/grass-fed proteins to any of these recipes will still leave you with the benefits of the rest of the fresh, plant-based ingredients.
