A Diet that fights cancer include foods like parsley, pasta, peppers, potatoes and pumpkin.  These foods are rich in fiber, antioxidants like vitamin C, Vitamin D, lycopene, bioflavonoids and beta-carotene, which are effective in the fight against cancer, or its prevention.  These foods can fight or prevent prostate cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.

According to Gary Stoner, professor of preventive medicine at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, “Cancer is the accumulation of genetic alterations.  It requires constant exposure to carcinogens.  It can take more than a decade for those mutated cells to become cancer cells.” 

Thus the best time to start preventing cancer is now, today, while cancer is not yet a medical condition, by acquiring an ideal diet, since diet is a major approach in fighting cancer.

Foods that Fight Cancer

The following is a list of foods that pack the nutrients that assist the body in the fight against cancer:

Fight Cancer with Parsley

Parsley has more vitamin C, the major antioxidant vitamin, than carrots or sweet potatoes, and more beta-carotene, another antioxidant, than broccoli or spinach.  Parsley contains other anticancer nutrients, like flavonoids, polyacetylenes, coumarins, chlorophyll, and monoterpenes. 

In an article entitled Myristicin: A Potential Cancer Chemopreventive Agent from Parsley Leaf Oil, Guo-qiang Zheng, Patrick M. Kenney, and Luke K.T. Lam write, “Since the ability to induce an increase in the detoxifying enzyme activity in the inhibition of tumorigenesis, myristicin may be considered a potential chemopreventive agent.”  Myristicin is a compound found in parsley leaf oil.

Fighting Cancer with Pasta

The fiber in pasta is the prime anticancer component.  Whole wheat varieties have the maximum fiber content.  In fact, pasta made from whole grain have more than double the fiber from other pasta varieties.  When served with tomato sauce, the cancer fighting potential of the food is exponentially increased, as tomato paste is a very rich source of lycopene, a major antioxidant in the fight against cancer.  To maximize pasta’s anticancer potentials, enjoy it several times a week, as replacement for other forms of carbohydrates.

Peppers Against Cancer

Both hot chili peppers and sweet peppers are abundant sources of antioxidants.  One chili pepper alone packs 200 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for the antioxidant vitamin C, and 100 percent of the RDA for beta-carotene, another cancer fighter.  Sweet green peppers also contain p-coumaric and chlorogenic acids, which are cancer fighting nutrients.  Sweet red peppers are rich in lycopene, the potent cancer fighter abundant in tomatoes.

Deeply colored peppers are rich in bioflavonoids, plant pigments that help in preventing cancer.  They are also rich in phenolic acids, which inhibit the formation of nitrosamines, which cause cancer.  These deeply colored peppers are also high in plant sterols, precursors of vitamin D, which is believed to be preventive of cancer (“Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention” National Cancer Institute). 

Higher vitamin D levels have shown promising results in reducing the risks for colorectal, pancreatic and breast cancers.  According to the same National Cancer Institute article, “Some geographical correlation studies have suggested that men exposed to higher levels of sunlight may have a lower risk of prostate cancer.”  As we all know, sunlight is the best source for vitamin D3.

Potatoes Help the Body Fight Cancer

White potatoes and sweet potatoes are excellent sources of the antioxidant vitamin C.  Sweet potatoes are very rich in vitamin A, another major antioxidant.  Potatoes also pack enough amounts of polyphenols and protease inhibitors, which stunt the growth of cancer cells.

Pumpkin Fights Cancer

Pumpkins are very rich in beta-carotene and fiber, both proven cancer fighters.  The body converts beta-carotene into the major antioxidant vitamin A.  Just ½ cup serving of pumpkin already contain 250 percent of the RDA for beta-carotene.  The same serving contains 3.4 grams of fiber. 

Pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein, iron, zinc, B vitamins, vitamin E (which symbiotically works with selenium to fight prostate cancer), and fiber.

Certain foods pack the right nutrients that assist the body in fighting cancer.  These nutrients help prevent, delay, or reverse the ravages brought by the most devastating and feared human disease, which is cancer.  Other foods that fight cancer are:Spinach, Soy, Strawberries, Apples, Apricots, Asparagus and Avocados, Eggplants, Figs, Flaxseed Oil, Spinach, Soy, Strawberries, Tea, Tomatoes, Watermelon, Nuts, Oats, Oranges and Citrus Fruits, Kiwi Fruit, lentils and Mushrooms, Parsley, Pasta, Peppers, Potatoes and Pumpkin.

Sources:

Defining Cancer.  National Cancer Institute (website). U.S. National Institutes of Health. (Accessed 11/02/2010).

Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention. National Cancer Institute (website). U.S. National Institutes of Health. (Accessed 11/04/2010).

Guo-qiang Zheng, Patrick M. Kenney, and Luke K.T. Lam. “Myristicin: A Potential Cancer Chemopreventive Agent from Parsley Leaf Oil”.  J. Agric. Food Chem. 1992, 40, 107-110. American Chemical Society. (Accessed 11/04/2010)

Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal: An A to Z Guide to Safe and Healthy Eating. The Reader’s Digest. 2004, Montreal, Canada. 416 pages. Hardbound.

Deborah Mitchell. “The Broccoli Sprouts Breakthrough: Nature’s Delicious Cancer Fighting Food”. St. Martin’s Press. New York (USA). 1998. Paperback. 162 pages.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.

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