When the author of "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" invites a reporter to eat "an anticancer lunch" at Ritter's Diner in Bloomfield, mental gears grind like a pepper mill.

For sure, Ritter's Diner on Baum Boulevard is a popular place with tasty food. But is it possible to order a sugarless, low-fat, vegetable-rich anticancer lunch from its menu and walk away with belly full and palate appeased? The prospects seemed slim.

But that's his point. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber hoped to prove that a healthy anticancer meal is available even at a 24-hour diner heralded for its fried delectables, homemade gravies and rich sauces.

The waitress was patient and even skeptical but returned with Greek salads (olive oil and lemon on the side), rye toast sans butter and main courses of feta cheese, spinach and mushroom omelets made only with egg whites.

What might sound like slim pickings satisfied belly and mind without regrets or digestive revolt.

The lunch represents part of Dr. Servan-Schreiber's recipe for combating cancer. While there's plenty of science behind his claims, he also infuses plenty of firsthand experience into the mix.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber has survived brain cancer for 16 years, the last eight years of which involved a disciplined lifestyle to support traditional medical treatment.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine clinical professor of psychiatry said people can alter their habits to boost the immune system, improve the mind and attitude and avoid environmental dangers. People, he said, can help themselves survive cancer and improve their overall health.

He's proof.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber, 47, was a principal investigator in a neurological study in 1992 and received a brain scan after the scheduled patient had to cancel. The scan revealed a malignant brain tumor. He underwent brain surgery twice over the years, coupled with 13 months of chemotherapy, before concluding in 2000 that traditional treatment most likely would not prevent cancer's return.

So he undertook exhaustive research that proved that diet, exercise, avoidance of pesticides and chemicals, better management of stress including meditation could help weaken cancer. The problem is, he said, few physicians are aware of lifestyle science, prompting a book that stands as a survival manual for patients and a prevention guide for everyone else.

"Anticancer" was No. 16 on the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction best-seller list 10 days after Viking released the book.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber advises people to undergo full medical treatment for cancer and supplement it with his prescribed regimen.

Foods that fight cancer include vegetables in the cabbage-broccoli-cauliflower and onion families. A person also should balance omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the diet, he said.

Sugar and processed carbohydrates fuel cancer and should be excised from the diet. Instead, he recommends organic vegetables, organic dairy products from grass-fed cows, fish rich in omega-3 and a few omega-3 eggs. Green tea, garlic and other herbs and vegetables also fortify the immune system and reduce the inflammation that can spawn cancer.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber also recommends a half hour of daily exercise, stress management and meditation. Maintaining strong relationships with friends and family also helps eliminate feelings of powerlessness and depression.

His lecture last week at the Herberman Conference Center at UPMC Shadyside drew laughs and tears, then a standing ovation from 250 in attendance. He presented evidence of a cancer epidemic in the United States ever since World War II, which correlates with high sugar, trans-fat and omega 6 oil consumption; pesticide and herbicide exposure; and lack of exercise and proper nutrition.

One in three Americans will get cancer and one in four will die from it, he said. The fact that three of four won't get cancer proves we have natural defenses against it. His protocol, he said, will bolster those defenses and turn the tide against cancer.

"I think he's done a masterful job in assembling a great mass of medical data into a practical recipe that is under your own control," said Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers. "This fills a very important niche that has attracted as much attention in the United States as it has in Europe."

Dr. Servan-Schreiber said he's 10 pounds lighter than before his diagnosis in 1992. Yet, he eats large quantities of healthy food and never feels hungry.

He points to scientific studies that convert healthy lifestyles into numbers.

Those who quit smoking and drinking (save for some red wine), get regular exercise and eat six or more helpings of fruits and vegetables a day will live, on average, 14 years longer than those who don't. Eighty percent of all cancers can be prevented with lifestyle changes, he said.

In his book he concludes that "we can have a substantial impact on our body's capacity to defuse the mechanisms of cancer."

It's doable, he said.

Even at the local diner.