Top 10 Amazing Foods that Prevent Cancer

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Your lifestyle, and particularly what you eat can either make you healthy or of poor health. There is no way to 100% prevent cancer, but there are definitely healthy foods that reduce the risk. The key to it is first to be eating a balanced and healthy diet, then to look for a little extra help from foods that you could include.

Before we start. If you have cancer, see a specialist and a doctor for help – I am not a doctor. By all means talk to them about diet, and what can help you to recover.

Assuming other areas of your life are also low risk, your diet should positively affect your health. Smoking, eating a lot of junk food, excessive consumption of alcohol are all high-risk activities that should be avoided.

A healthy diet is the best way to reduce the risk of cancer. Here is a list of the best diet to prevent cancer. 

One thing before we start the list – eating a predominantly plant-based diet will make you much healthier. A plant-based diet will definitely boost your immune system and I can absolutely recommend it.

On a plant based diet, I hardly ever get ill.

I personally don’t care about proof in this regard.

I can tell, and you will too.

You will also notice that the list doesn’t contain animal-based products – simply because it is believed that they cause, or increase the risks of cancer (See “The China Study“).

At the very least you should consider reducing animal based products from your diet – so become “flexitarian” if you need to.

Flexitarian meaning you very occasionally eat meat or fish (fish is best, then chicken, then red meats).

Foods That Prevent Cancer Or May Help Avoid It

Carrot

Carrots have cancer-fighting properties. Carrots contain an oxidant known as beta-carotene.

Beta carotene is believed to slow the growth of cancer cells and protects cell membranes from toxin damage. Eating carrot reduces certain types of cancer, such as stomach cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. 

Smokers who don’t eat carrots are three times more likely to develop lung cancer than those who do eat them. Eating carrots also reduces the risk of stomach cancer by 26%, and that of prostate cancer by 18%.

To reduce the risk of cancer using carrots, try to add carrots into your diet a few times a week.

Other health benefits of carrots include improved skin and eye health, enhanced hair growth, boosting the immune system, strengthening bones, and lowering cholesterol levels. 

Broccoli

Broccoli contains a cancer-fighting property that reduces the growth and development of cancer cells known as sulforaphane.

A higher intake of broccoli lowers the risk of colorectal cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer. It reduces the volume of breast cancer cells by 75% and prostate tumors by 50%. 

Including broccoli in your diet comes with the cancer-fighting benefits together with nutritional benefits since they are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Other health benefits of broccoli include cholesterol reduction, reduced allergic reaction and inflammation, improved bone and heart health, skin and eye care, and detoxification of heavy metals.

Beans

Beans contain phytochemicals and antioxidants, whose regular consumption reduces the risk of colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer.

Eating dried beans reduces the risk of tumor recurrence. Including beans in your diet comes with the cancer-fighting benefits together with nutritional benefits since they contain high amounts of protein.

Beans such as red beans, black beans, pinto beans are all worthy of addition into your recipes.

Other health benefits of including legumes in your diet include better heart health, prevention of diabetes, prevention of fatty liver, improving gut health, and prevent food cravings. 

Cinnamon

Many people are now using cinnamon for its potential in the prevention and treatment of cancer, heart diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes.

It reduces the growth and formation of cancer or tumor in blood vessels and colon.

Including two to three grams or 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in your diet, every day will help prevent cancer, reduce inflammation, and blood sugar levels.

Berries

Berries are rich in minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibers.

The anthocyanins, urolithins, and ellagic acid in berries have oxidative properties that reduce the risk of developing cancer. Bilberry extract used in treating colorectal cancer and other cancers slows down the growth rate of cancer cells by seven percent.

Freeze-dried raspberry reduces the growth and spread of esophageal tumors by fifty-four percent. 

Including two berries in your diet, every day will help inhibit the formation of cancer cells in your body. Other health benefits of including blackberries in your diet include reduced risk of heart diseases and reducing high blood sugar levels.

Nuts

Copper, folate, magnesium, vitamin E, and other nut compounds help prevent several types of cancer. Eating nuts lowers the risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as endometrial cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancers. Eating Brazilian nuts that are rich in selenium protects you against lung cancer. 

Including walnuts in your diet decrease the growth rate of breast cancer cells by up to sixty percent. You don’t have to wait until you’re diagnosed with cancer to start consuming nuts. Start including nuts in your diet every day, to inhibit the development of cancer cells in your body. Other health benefits of eating nuts include weight loss, low cholesterol levels, beneficial fiber, reduced inflammation, and improved heart health. 

Turmeric

Curcumin in turmeric successfully inhibits cancer development. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. Colon cancer patients using four grams of turmeric every day gets a reduced number of lesions by forty percent within thirty days. 

Curcumin prevents the spread of colon cancer to other body organs. Curcumin also helps prevent the formation and spread of prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and head cancers. 

Consuming one to three grams of ground turmeric is enough to inhibit the development and spread of cancer in your body. To increase the absorption of turmeric, pair it with black pepper. 

To avoid complications, don’t consume turmeric during blood thinning therapies, chemotherapy, and radiation. 

Citrus fruits

Citrus fruits such as oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruits reduce the risk of several types of cancer. Some flavonoids in citrus fruits block the expression of genes that causes cancer.

Including citrus fruits in your diet inhibits the development of cancer in upper respiratory and digestive tracts. A higher intake of citrus fruits reduces the risk of pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, and breast cancer. 

Other health benefits of citrus fruits include reduced risk of kidney stones, and improved heart and brain health. 

Tomatoes

Including tomatoes in your diet helps guard your body cells against oxidative damage that can cause cancer. Lycopene in tomatoes helps prevent the development of cancer cells. 

Eating high amounts of raw and cooked tomatoes reduces the risk of prostate cancer and lung cancer. Other health benefits of including one or two tomatoes in your diet include improved heart and skin health. 

10. Garlic

Many people use garlic as a flavor and medicine. Garlic compounds help in DNA repair and decreasing inflammation and the growth of cancer cells. 

Allicin, which is the chemical behind the pungent smell of garlic helps kill cancer cells developing in your body. People who include allicin in their diet have a reduced risk of developing stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, and other types of cancers.

Apart from cancer prevention, including garlic in your diet helps reduce blood pressure, combat common cold, improve cholesterol levels, prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, improve bone health, and detoxification of heavy metals.

Foods That Prevent Cancer – Conclusion

Food very much dictates how healthy you are, and how well your body can cope with disease. Cancer is just another disease that your body is able to control and prevent, or succumb to.

The healthier you are, the less likely you are to get one of the various forms of cancer. Whilst foods that prevent cancer play a bit part in your body’s ability to fight the disease, there is a lot more to it.

External influences such as chemicals, smoke, asbestos, fluoride and so on, also make cancer much more likely. There are so many of these that we now come across daily, it means our health is even more important than ever.

Exercise is great in keeping stress levels to a minimum, which will also have a negative impact on your body. I recommend that if you don’t already do it, start running. It’s cheap, easy, and requires very little equipment and knowledge to start.

Keep eating healthy, and add the foods that prevent cancer if you’d like to increase your protection levels and you’re already fairly fit.