Eat Your Way to Cancer Prevention

Healthy Foods Can Help Prevent Cancer

The old adage is true – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That’s especially true when it comes to preventing cancer.

In fact, the more ‘ounces’ of produce you add to your diet each day, the stronger the anti-cancer benefits.

Fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that have been shown to help prevent cancer. In fact, each color of produce has special properties that can help prevent cancer and improve major bodily functions – including cardiovascular and brain health.

Here are 5 clever ways to integrate anti-cancer foods into meals, each and every day:

• Breakfast – Add fresh berries, sliced fruit, a few seeds or nuts to your morning oatmeal.
• Lunch – Enjoy a salad loaded with many colors of the rainbow – fruits and veggies – and top it with extra beans and peas. Not only will you be bumping up the protein, you’ll also be adding more fiber, which has been found to help prevent cancer.
• Snacks – Instead of chips or cookies, slice up a banana or apple, or munch on some brightly colored produce with humus as a dip. Maybe enjoy a small handful of nuts or dried fruit.
• Dinner – Add extra veggies to your meals. Slice up eggplant or mushrooms into your pasta sauce, or chop up brightly colored veggies to enliven a simple side rice dish. Use olive or coconut oil in place of butter whenever you can.
• Dessert – Fill up a small bowl of fruit – such as peaches or blueberries – and top with a dollop of low fat yogurt. Sprinkle some oatmeal or chia seeds on top for a bit of crunch.

Add more fiber

While fiber is generally tasteless, it’s often removed in preparation – even though fiber is a powerhouse of cancer prevention. Just these 8 tips can easily have you adding beneficial fiber to your diet without even trying:

• Serve whole grain brown rice instead of white rice
• Make sure all bread or pastas are whole wheat flour instead of processed white flour
• Instead of a croissant or pastry, sample a hearty bran muffin with berries
• Push away the chips and choose air-popped popcorn instead
• Leave the skin on apples, pears and peaches
• Instead of fat-heavy mashed potatoes, eat a baked potato with the skin on
• Skip the chips and dip, and trade up for humus or salsa with fresh veggies
• Replace ground meat with beans or peas, or consider using a 50/50 portion

Try some of the these ideas – or some of your own – to add more cancer protective antioxidants and fiber to your diet, and then consider sharing your recipes with family and friends.

Source

http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_cancer_prevention.htm