3 minute read

Hooray, it’s Tuesday, March 4th and that means its Pancake Day!

… or Shrove Tuesday for all the traditionalists out there because Pancake Day actually started life in Anglo-Saxon England as a Christian Festival to mark the beginning of Lent. Not only that, but people would use the day to confess their sins. Indeed, the name comes from the word ‘shriving’, which means to listen to someone’s sins and then forgive them.

What has that got to do with pancakes though. Well, people have been making pancakes on this day for centuries. Lent meant giving up yummy food and so the day was the last chance to use up ingredients such as butter, sugar and fat. The best way to do this? By whisking and flipping rich, tasty pancakes.

Legend has it that, one day, way back in 1445, a woman in Buckinghamshire was so busy making pancakes that she almost missed the Shrove Tuesday Mass and, when she heard the bells, she ran as fast as she could to the church; a pan of pancakes still in her hand. We owe a lot of thanks to that woman.

Daddy, can you have pancakes?

That’s the question my daughter asked me and the answer is… Absolutely. In fact, there are so many recipes for different types of cancer-beating (or preventing) pancakes to be found online, including easily digestible pancakes which might be a suitable option for those of you undergoing cancer treatment since I know first-hand the havoc this can wreck on your digestive system!

Personally, whilst I agree it’s smart to generally avoid calorie-laden sweet indulgences, I believe that you can still enjoy these as part of a sensible cancer diet. The idea that sugar causes cancer or feeds cancer cells was first explored in the 1920’s by Otto Warburg and it was considered important research at the time. Unfortunately, we’ve learned a lot since then and it has since been debunked. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to eat lots of sugar though and there’s still an indirect link to cancer risk. I’ll be talking about this more in a future post.

If this is your first Pancake Day since your cancer diagnosis and you’re worried about what to eat – or you’ve recently become aware of the damaging effect that food is having on our health – but you don’t want to feel like you’re missing out, then why not make them with coconut, almond or (gluten free) oat flour and use dairy free milk instead. That’s what I’ll be doing. You can also boost their cancer-fighting potential by serving them with sliced bananas, berries, chopped nuts and seeds, and melted dark chocolate (minimum 70 – 80%). And don’t forget the coffee which is packed with riboflavin and antioxidants which are important in any cancer diet.

Even though I don’t generally consume dairy products anymore (I have a post on why coming soon), I’m not a vegan and so I will use eggs, however, it’s really easy to make an egg substitute and my favourite is a mix of flax or chia seeds and water. Simple. I actually watched a documentary yesterday about animal farm products though which upset me quite a bit. For that reason, this year I’ll be choosing cruelty free organic eggs which are going to be more expensive (the cheapest eggs are usually from cage and barn systems), but feel like the more ethical choice.

However you decide to celebrate, I think most of us can agree that life is definitely better with pancakes so all that remains for me to say is:

Have a flippin’ great day folks!

Fun Facts

– The biggest pancake in the world was over 15 metres wide!

– The most pancakes flips in a minute is 140!