Are there foods that help fight cancer?

The “C” for cancer is a word that people don’t want to hear.  Are there foods you can add to your day that may help fight cancer?  WebMD and others have good articles on cancer-fighting foods.  As WebMD notes, there isn’t one food that can prevent cancer.  But eating a combination of cancer-fighting foods might make a difference.  What are some foods you can add to your diet that might lower your risk of getting cancer?

1. Color – yes, add some color to your diet and the more colorful the better.  Why?  Fruits and vegetables “are rich in cancer-fighting nutrients – and the more colorful, the more nutrients they contain”.  (See:  Enjoy a longer life by adding some “disease-fighting foods to your” day.)  By adding a rainbow of fruits and vegetables to your day, you are adding those healthy antioxidants that fruits and vegetables provide.  Did you know each color provides different antioxidants?  Eating more fruits and vegetables not only helps fight off cancer, but also lowers your risk of many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and respiratory diseases.  How many fruits and vegetables do you need?   Aim for at least 5 A Day – 5 servings a day.  You can eat more than 5 A Day but aim for eating at least 5 servings a day.
2. Eat a breakfast that helps fight cancer.  Focus on including the B vitamin, folate.  This vitamin may help fight off a variety of cancers including colon and breast cancer.  An NIH article notes, “low or deficient folate status is associated with increased risk of many cancers.”  But don’t rely on folate supplements, get your folate from food.   Interesting that fruit drinks like Sunny D have no folate but drinking real orange juice provides folate.  (See:  What is the difference between juice and a fruit “drink”? ) .  In addition to OJ, strawberries and melons provide folate.  Whole grain cereals add folate to your day like oatmeal and any General Mills cereal.  Eggs also provide folate.
3. Add other folate-rich foods to your day.  Think fruit and vegetables again and the darker the color, the more folate.  Iceberg lettuce is low in folate but dark greens like spinach, kale, collard greens, and romaine lettuce provide folate.  Other vegetables that are good sources of folate include broccoli, Brussel sprouts, black-eyed peas, asparagus, avocado, peas, and beans.  Fruits that are good folate sources include orange juice, tomato juice, oranges, banana, papaya, and cantaloupe.  Seeds such as sunflower seeds provide folate.
4. Skip the processed meats at the deli counter, why?  What are processed meats?  Meats that have been smoked, salted, cured or have added preservatives such as bacon, sausages, bologna, cold cuts, hot dogs, Fast-food chicken nuggets, beef jerky, pepperoni, and Fast-food hamburgers.  It doesn’t mean you have to give up any of these foods, but cutting back on them is a good idea.  I enjoy a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich made with garden-fresh tomatoes.  Delicious.  But I don’t eat them very often.  Some people have bacon and eggs for breakfast, cold cuts on a sandwich for lunch and then Fast-food chicken nuggets for dinner.   WebMD states, “An occasional Reuben sandwich or hot dog at the ballpark isn’t’ going to hurt you.  But cutting back on processed meats like bologna, ham and hot dogs will help lower your risk of colorectal and stomach cancers”.  What about hamburgers?  Make them at home with some lean ground beef and avoid the antibiotics and growth hormones, salt and preservatives.  I make my own hamburger patties at home for my husband to grill.  For grilled hamburgers you do need some fat in the hamburger meat. 
5. Enjoy some tomatoes.  Before you say you hate tomatoes, there are many ways to add tomatoes to your day besides eating fresh tomatoes.  Think spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato soup, and ketchup.  What is in tomatoes that helps fight cancer?  It is the lycopene in the tomatoes that gives them their red color.   In addition to tomatoes, other foods that provide lycopene include watermelon, pink grapefruit, and apricots.  Lycopene is also good for your skin and may help prevent skin cancer and help “boost levels of procollagen in the skin significantly, which scientist believe has the potential to reverse skin damage caused by aging”.
6. Drink some tea – who knew tea was so good for your health?  Green tea is especially good as it may be the best tea for fighting cancer.  “In laboratory studies, green tea has slowed or prevented the development of cancer in colon, liver, breast and prostrate cells.”  Scientists believe it is the polyphenols in tea that provide the health benefits.  Brewed tea is the highest in these healthy polyphenols, with lesser amounts in instant tea, iced tea and ready-to-drink teas.  But all these teas provide some polyphenols so a much healthier choice than sugared sodas.
7. Grapes and grape juice – who would think grapes are so good for your health?  The purple and red grapes are especially helpful in preventing cancer as they contain resveratrol.  “Resveratrol has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to protect against diseases like cancer diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.”  If you are choosing grape juice, be sure it is real juice and not a grape drink which would be high in added sugars.
8. Water – how would drinking water help fight cancer?  Well drinking more water may help prevent bladder cancer.  How?  By diluting any cancer-causing agents.  And if you drink more, you urinate more often which lessens the time any cancer-causing agents are in your bladder.
9. Dark leafy greens – not only are dark leafy greens higher in folate, they also have fiber and vitamin A as carotenoids.  All of “these nutrients may help protect against cancer of the mouth, larynx, pancreas, lung, skin and stomach”.
10. Berries -strawberries and raspberries have a unique phytochemical called ellagic acid.  This antioxidant actually may help fight cancer in a number of ways including slowing the growth of cancer-causing substances and “slowing growth of cancer cells”.  But more studies are needed to see if berries and the phytochemicals in them help fight cancer in humans.  Blueberries are also good for your health and they also provide antioxidants that may help fight cancer.  My husband likes adding blueberries to his Greek yogurt.  I add some to my oatmeal.  We often enjoy a fruit medley with blueberries.  

Add some berries to your day.

How can you add some of these cancer-fighting foods to your day?  If you already enjoy some of these foods, pat yourself on the back as you are doing good things for your health.  But focus on foods, not supplements for getting nutrients and antioxidants.  “Both the American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research emphasize that getting cancer-fighting nutrients from foods like nuts, fruits, and green leafy vegetables is vastly superior to getting them from supplements.”  And remember, eat and drink real food, not fake food.  Look for real juice, not a fruit drink.  

Enjoy some green tea.

 e your own hamburger patties (adapted from:  Best Hamburger Patty Recipe)

• 1 pound ground beef – choose 80/20 lean to fat ratio as it makes juicier hamburgers
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 Tablespoon seasoning
• 1 Egg

Seasonings – I like to use 1 Tablespoon of Grill Mates Hamburger Seasoning as this has a good mix of seasonings.  But you can choose to use salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper or other spices.

Directions: In mixing bowl, slightly beat the egg.  Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and spices.  Add in the panko bread crumbs and mix.  Then mix in the ground beef.  Shape into patties and they are ready for the grill. 

Sources:  cancer-fighting foods , Fruits and vegetables , Enjoy a longer life by adding some “disease-fighting foods to your” day , heart disease , diabetes , How many fruits and vegetables do you need? , NIH article , What is the difference between juice and a fruit “drink”? , fruit and vegetables , processed meats , states , stomach cancers , lean ground beef , lycopene , foods , skin , skin cancer , Scientists , resveratrol , dark leafy greens , foods , Best Hamburger Patty Recipe Image sources: Processed Meat,  Green tea , Berry fruit salad