Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods

How many of us know someone who has had cancer?   I think everyone’s life has been affected in some way by this insidious disease in it’s many forms.   While the hunt for a cure for cancer is still being conducted research has shown that a healthy diet can reduce the incidence of cancer quite significantly.

It appears that eating fruit and vegetables along with whole grains helps to keep cancer (and many, many other illnesses) at bay.   So what are the top ten cancer fighting foods?   They are green tea, broccoli, legumes, tomatoes, soy, oily fish, carrots, spinach, onions and corn.   These are all foods that you would have heard of, but let’s look at why they are the top ten cancer fighting foods.

Green tea has been heavily touted for it’s high antioxidant properties.   Antioxidants are great for keeping your body’s immune system healthy.   It is one of the antioxidants found in green tea that really comes into play when we talk about fighting cancer.   The antioxidant in question is called EGCG and it has been shown to prevent cancer cells from developing in both the prostrate and the bladder.

Broccoli also contains antioxidant and has been touted as a superfood for years.   It’s not on this cancer fighting food list because of it’s antioxidant levels however.   Broccoli also contains a compound called sulforaphane.   Researchers have found that this compound has what they call anti-cancer activity.   I think of little stalks of broccoli marching along with rifles ‘taking down’ all the enemy cells – it makes my dd laugh anyway!

Legumes were once thought of as a hippy food eaten by ‘those vegetarian sorts’, but these days it is a more ‘socially acceptable’ food to serve.   I enjoy eating legumes on a regular basis and a US study has shown that by eating these at least twice a week will reduce the risk of breast cancer.

What are legumes?   They are basically another name for dried beans such as lima beans, black beans, chickpeas and lentils.   Between you and I they also make the family budget a lot easier to keep under control.

Legumes contain good levels of fiber which helps to keep your digestive system healthy, but also by eating legumes on a regular basis you are reducing the amount of meat you eat which is probably why they are on the list as cancer fighting food.

Tomatoes are another superfood which are high in antioxidants.   One of the antioxidants found in tomatoes is called lycopene.   Lycopene is a very powerful antioxidant that is great for eyesight among other things.   It is also the antioxidant that has been isolated as reducing the risk of prostrate cancer.

Soy foods are also on the anti cancer food list and they include soy beans, soy milk and tofu.    Soy contains something called isoflavones which are like a plant based estrogen.   Scientists credit these isoflavones as protecting against hormone-related cancers such as breast and prostrate.

Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon and sardines are rich in omega fatty acids and are really important for good health.   Researchers have found that people who eat oily fish on a regular basis are at lower risk of contracting any cancer including bowel cancer.

How many times did your mother tell you to eat all of your carrots if you wanted to see at night?   This is because of the vitamin A content that helps with eyesight.   Vitamin A is also an antioxidant vitamin and it’s because of the antioxidants found in carrots that the World Cancer Research Fund have put carrots on the anti cancer food list.

A report from the World Cancer Research Fund has claimed that eating carrots will probably reduce the risk of lung, stomach and bladder cancer.

Popeye ate spinach to keep him healthy and strong, maybe he was on to something?   Spinach is high in one of the B vitamins called folate.   One of folate’s ‘jobs’ is to keep your body’s DNA healthy.   If your DNA is kept healthy then the chances of cancer developing is lower.

For years onions have been over-shadowed by their cousin garlic, but here they are on the top ten antic cancer food list :)   One of the things that onions do is to enhance enzyme activity within the body.   Some of our body’s enzymes neutralize cancer-causing substances.

What can I say about corn, I must admit I add it to a lot of my dishes just to brighten them up because I hadn’t realized quite how good for you corn really was!   It appears that corn contains a starch that is highly resistant.   This starch helps to keep the bowel nice and healthy which reduces the chances of cancerous changes in the cells.   In other words it sniffs out all of the underground ‘bad guys’ and sends them on their way!