With a 5-2 record, the Pittsburgh Steelers are cooking so far this season, but the most important meal they serve this week won\u2019t be cold revenge for their Oct. 1 loss to the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness <\/a>Month<\/a>, two Super Bowl-winning Steelers \u2014 nose tackle Chris Hoke and McKeesport native safety Mike Logan \u2014 joined team and UPMC chefs and nutritionists at Oakland\u2019s UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital on Tuesday afternoon to demonstrate to breast cancer patients and survivors a few healthy go-to\u2019s from their nutritional playbook.<\/p>\n Years of research broadly indicate maintaining proper nutritional priorities could help decrease the risk of developing breast cancer and help slow various cancers\u2019 progression.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of overlap,\u201d said Hoke, comparing nutrition for athletes and cancer patients. \u201cIt\u2019s all about recovery. It\u2019s all about healing. One of the greatest things you can do is feed your body good food, healthy nutrition that helps promote healthy recovery and healing.\u201d<\/p>\n As he spoke, Hoke helped grill the chicken for an angel hair pasta dish.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a healthy, not-heavy-on-the-stomach recovery,\u201d added Steelers executive chef Kevin Blinn, adding seasonings and cooking the pasta. \u201cIt\u2019s something we would serve on the South Side for our players as well. We would call it a post-practice recovery meal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPost-treatment recovery!\u201d interjected Hoke.<\/p>\n According to a 2025 American Cancer Society report, roughly 30% of postmenopausal breast cancer diagnoses could be linked in part to lifestyle<\/a>-related risk factors like diet, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption. It also estimates that 50-70% of invasive breast cancers might potentially be prevented with timely lifestyle modifications. Additionally, a study<\/a> published in JAMA found that cancer survivors carrying excess weight had a 40% higher risk of developing a second obesity-related cancer such as breast cancer. That mark rose to 78% for people with obesity.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t stress the importance enough of (nutrition),\u201d said UPMC registered dietitian Angela Fullerton. \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s within (patients\u2019) control. A lot of the other things are not within their control, unfortunately. So if we can focus on diet, exercise and stress management, you\u2019re doing good things.\u201d<\/p>\n As Logan explained, the event was also about support for the handful of gathered patients and survivors.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we\u2019re cooking, emotion comes out,\u201d said Logan. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take all of this emotion and food and love and put it into combination of dishes. And hopefully what we come out serving is good and takes their minds off of anything else that they\u2019re dealing with and just enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n Logan understands that need well. His cousin battled through a breast cancer diagnosis to become an advocate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk about warriors. We talk about the warriors on the field. We talk about the guys that are playing football on the gridiron, but today we\u2019ve got a couple of Super Bowl champions here really to focus on the real warriors,\u201d said Chris Vista, vice president of operations at the hospital. \u201cThat\u2019s everyone in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n Cancer is a personal subject for Hoke as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what each and every one of you are going through \u2026 the treatment and the struggle, mental, emotional and physical,\u201d said Hoke.<\/p>\n In January 2025, Hoke announced<\/a> his wife Jaimee had passed away from breast cancer. She\u2019d been diagnosed at age 36, shortly after Hoke\u2019s retirement from the NFL in 2012. She received a lumpectomy and radiation, only for her cancer to return five years after being cleared.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m so grateful to be here, because I\u2019ve sat in this chair where you\u2019re sitting right now. She battled for five years \u2026 My wife Jaimee fought hard, but she lost her battle with cancer,\u201d said Hoke. \u201cShe\u2019s just the greatest woman I\u2019ve ever known. I am so blessed because I have five children with her and I get to see her every day of their lives. My baby girl is 15 and looks just like her, acts just like her.\u201d<\/p>\n While there is no one specific miracle cancer-battling diet directly proven to consistently help patients like Jaimee, according to University of California San Francisco\u2019s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, those looking to reduce their risk of breast cancer, limit its progression or reduce chance of reoccurrence should take up a low-to-moderate fat, plant-based diet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The recommendation includes eight to 10 servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day; 30 to 45 grams of fiber via beans, legumes, seeds or whole grains; and protein with every meal. It also emphasizes healthy fats from cold-water fish, chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts, soybeans, olive oil or avocados and eschews fatty and processed meat and dairy products as well as alcohol and \u201cwhite\u201d foods like bread, pasta, rice, cream sauces and cakes.<\/p>\n The UPMC Hillman<\/a> Cancer Center<\/a> indicates those battling cancer should eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day alongside whole grains and lean proteins to help rev up the immune system, boost strength and reduce fatigue. It further advises filling one-third of a plate with lean proteins and the rest with a mix of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Then there\u2019s decreasing fat intake to less than 30% of total calories and limiting red meat consumption to three, 3-ounce servings a week. Adherents should also avoid dairy products like butter, ice cream and cheese, eliminate trans fats and limit cured, pickled and smoked foods.<\/p>\n The day\u2019s menu lived out a version of that ethos, complementing the grilled chicken angel hair dish with cabbage crunch salad with lots of fiber, stuffed mushrooms and a healthy dessert made with sugar-free options and fruit.<\/p>\n Since being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 27 in 2018, Keena Pettiford, 36, of South Park, has taken control of her body with food options like those.<\/p>\n \u201cSince then I have changed a lot of my eating habits to a lot of green \u2026 I had to adapt to my new normal,\u201d she said. \u201cI gained 100 pounds because of the different hormones and stuff that I was put on. I wasn\u2019t eating properly because my diagnosis was more so just being comfortable at first, instead of focusing on the health part. And then we realized that I can strive through it \u2026 I lost 80 to 100 pounds in the last year and a half from just eating different and watching the things that I consume.\u201d<\/p>\n She hoped to gain some new knowledge at the event.<\/p>\n \u201cI just hope that I can learn a way to make a good meal, but also be an advocate so I can push on to other young women my age that are going through what I\u2019m going through,\u201d said Pettiford.<\/p>\n She listened alongside people like Marcie Newman, 48, of West Newton, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021. While eventually cleared, Newman\u2019s cancer returned in metastatic form this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that with being diagnosed this time and with being older, I wanted to learn how to eat healthier and make better decisions on how to keep my strength up,\u201d said Newman. \u201cI definitely notice the better I eat, the better I feel. And if I eat junk food or if I have a high soda type of day, that I definitely don\u2019t feel as good. And right now it\u2019s important to feel as best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t