When it comes to cancer, nutrition is both your best offense and defense.  But especially in the midst of treatment or caring for a cancer patient, it can be difficult to find extra time to sort through, purchase and prepare a whole bunch of new foods for a cancer nutrition plan. Good thing thats NOT necessary. The following Better Nutrition Simplified (BNS) tips for cancer nutrition are great nutrition tips for us all, whether we are fighting, know someone who is or just wanting to eat better for prevention.

1) Be a Qualitarian: Give the body what it recognizes easily better-quality foods for optimal efficiency. Skip artificial sweeteners and colors; the colors in real food are actually cancer-fighting and provide nutrients for overall health. BNS TIP: Choose USDA organic.

2) Get the Biggest Nutrient Bang per Bite: Choose foods closest to the way they exist in nature to get the most nutrients per bite.   BNS TIP: Choose organic whole grains over refined white flour products

3) Build the Best Defense: Create a strong army with foods that support your immune and digestive systems.  BNS TIP: Get a daily dose (at least) of organic cruciferous vegetables like broccoli leaves, berries, shiitake mushrooms, ginger and turmeric, fermented foods (like tempeh and cultured veggies) for probiotics, and Symbiotics*.

4) How Sweet It Is, Naturally: Excess added sugar can add unwanted pounds and works against a healthy immune system so limit your intake. BNS TIP: Choose organic cereals that dont have high amounts of added sugar (>5g per serving) and add your own organic fruit or a small amount of organic sweetener if you need it a little sweeter.

5) Try Quality Liquid Nutrition: Sometimes our body has so much to do from digestion to recovery to fighting disease that it can feel overwhelmed; can you relate? Quality liquid nutrition requires less digestive energy and can pack a nutrient punch BNS TIP: Try a power smoothie like Qia* Power Smoothie.

Qi’a* Powerhouse smoothie

2 cups coconut water or water or unsweetened organic non-dairy milk (like almond or coconut or rice)
1/4 cup Natures Path* Qia Original, divided
1/4 cup freshly squeezed organic orange juice or 1 organic orange, peeled
1 cup packed, stemmed and chopped organic kale or organic broccoleaf* (frozen works if drained)
1 cup packed, baby organic spinach (frozen works if drained)
1 frozen banana slices
1 ripe organic pear, peeled, cored and chopped
2 tbsp organic honey

Directions
Combine coconut water, 2 tbsp Qia*, and orange juice in a blender; let stand for 5 minutes. Add kale and spinach; purée until smooth. Add peaches, banana, pear and agave syrup; purée until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses. Garnish each smoothie with 1 tbsp remaining Qia.

Ashley Koff RD provides Better Nutrition Simplified (BNS) tips as well as The Qualitarian Nutrition Plan which gives you the right portion sizes and more details on the tips above at ww.AshleyKoffApproved.com *Indicates Ashley Koff RD is a paid spokesperson for this product