Fun Foods to Eat That Reduce Cancer Risk
Does eating garlic prevent cancer altogether? In a word, no—but that’s not my final answer! I’d like to phone a friend first. In all seriousness, though, garlic, as well as other members of the allium family, have been shown to have some serious potential when it comes to preventing the growth of cancer in mammals.
Several studies have linked an increase in garlic consumption to a decrease in the development of certain types of cancer. While not all cancers are included—or have been studied—those that are linked include cancers of the breast, colon, stomach, pancreas, and esophagus. But garlic isn’t alone in this link; other members of the allium family—including onions, chives, leeks, and shallots—may also help reduce your risk of these cancers if consumed regularly. In these studies, the people who ate the most garlic, onions, etc. were least likely to develop cancer.
The study reported that the risk factor was lowest for people who consumed four to five cloves of garlic every week. I have friends who actually eat garlic regularly for this reason—and they increase their consumption when they feel sick, claiming it helps with that, too. Does it? I am not sure, but I would not say no.
Many other foods have been linked to cancer prevention as well. A substance known as isothiocyanates is known to help fight many kinds of cancer. It can be found in lots of different vegetables, such as broccoli, kale, cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables. Two other cancer fighting agents, ellagic acid and anthocyanosides, are known to be present in berries—blueberries in particular—so why not grow some this year? We planted some strawberries in our garden and since we don’t use pesticide, we can eat them right off the vine.
Dr. John Farquhar of Stanford University Medical School has five main foods that he recommends for people when they want to ward off cancer. They are onions, tomatoes, soy, blueberries, and broccoli. Boy am I glad that my daughter likes and regularly eats three out of five of these foods! He also says that a vegetarian, or a near vegetarian diet, with little to no red meat is also a good way to help keep cancer and other bad health away. Be sure to visit the link to see how many grams of each food you should eat each day, as well as which specific cancers these five main foods each may prevent.