Drink Anticancer foods Such as algae, mushrooms, nuts or citrus fruits can help prevent cancer, a disease that is heavily accused by lifestyle.
Beyond a genetic predisposition for the development of malignant tumors, today science has opened our eyes on the impact of the lifestyle we have.
Just as tobacco, responsible for a third of malignant tumors, also an incorrect diet has important implications for the risk of developing them.
He thinks that 75% of cases of colon cancer have food causes.
In North America, for example, 1 woman in 9 suffers from breast cancer, and it has been shown that only 0.3% of these cases have genetic causes. The others are related to the Lifestyle .
On the other hand, Asian women have the lowest percentage of breast cancer in the world. This percentage increases fourfold in those who emigrate to the West.
Curious, right?
Well, what happens is that Asian and Western food are very different and this seems to be the basis of these very different statistics.
For example, it is increasingly becoming clear that regular consumption of soybeans and seaweed is linked to a low occurrence of breast cancer.
Hippocrates , Considered the father of modern medicine, you said: That your medicine be your food, and the food be your medicine.
What a great truth!
We have at disposal the best medicine ever invented to prevent and cure many diseases: nature.
In the society where we live, where the rhythms of life are accelerated and where it is easier and cheaper to buy industrial or pre-cooked food than fruit and vegetables, it is not surprising that cases of many diseases such as cancer are increasing .
So what can we do to break this mechanism?
The first thing is to learn to eat differently, choosing natural foods that provide us with all the nutrients necessary to maintain and take care of our state of health.
Today I want to talk about some of these, to be your allies for life.
10 Healthy and anticancer foods
1- Seaweed
As I told you before, several studies have found that in Asia there is a lower incidence of female tumors (breast, endometrium, ovaries). These types of cancers are related to the harmful action that sex hormones have on these types of tissues.
Feeding Asian women makes the levels of these hormones in the blood lower than that of Western women.
Among the foods most associated with this type of mechanism are seaweed.
Experiments on guinea pigs in India have shown that when fed algae they had a longer menstrual cycle and a lower concentration of sex hormones.
Algae also contain two substances closely related to cancer prevention: Fucoidan (A type of sugar) and the Fucoxanthin (A yellow pigment). Both interfere with the growth process of tumor cells.
Algae nowadays are beginning to sell in many supermarkets in shape.
The most famous are the NORI (the one used to prepare the sashimi), the wakame (the one of the miso soup of the Japanese restaurant) and the kombu.
Its taste marries perfectly with the fish and can be added without problems to salads and vegetable soups.
2- Mushrooms
Like algae, many mushrooms belong to traditional Asian cuisine (shiitake, maitake, enokitake), others to ours (portobello, common mushroom, mushrooms and thistle mushroom).
All contain the Beta glucans (Including the Lentinane ), Substances that stimulate the activity of the immune cells, and, therefore, potentiate our defensive system.
In Japan, these mushrooms are staple foods, to the point that they are now also present in hospitals, where they are supplied to patients during the treatment of chemotherapy .
They can be purchased fresh or dried, and both keep their anticancer properties active.
3- Dried fruits and seeds
Natural dried fruit (not fried), as Almonds , Nuts and seeds (flax, sunflower, squash, sesame) are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids .
These fatty acids belong to polyunsaturated fats, which our body is not able to produce alone and we need to take on through food.
Polyunsaturated fats are divided into Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats: the former have an anti-inflammatory effect, the latter pro-inflammatory.
In a balanced diet the relationship between Omega 3 fats and Omega 6 Should be 50% each.
What happens is that the industrial diet, which characterizes our society, causes this balance to be broken and that a person normally eats food that has 25 times more amount of Omega 6 than Omega 3.
What is the consequence? That we will develop in our body a pro-inflammatory environment.
Learning how to use seeds daily (especially flaxseed) and nuts in the correct amount is a good strategy to prevent this from happening.
4- Cabbage vegetables
These vegetables are called crucifers. Among them you can find: cabbage , Cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage.
Its anticancer properties are connected with the presence of Glucosinolates , Substances that inhibit the carcinogenic potential of the factors that have the power to alter the cell and make it mutate.
They also improve the body's defenses and have a protective effect against sex hormones.
They should consume these vegetables at least 3 times a week and the best way to cook them is to steam, as this way they do not lose their anticancer property.
5. Probiotics (yogurt and miso)
Probiotic foods are foods with added live microorganisms that remain active in the intestine and exert important physiological effects.
Ingested in sufficient amounts, they may have beneficial effects, such as contributing to the balance of intestinal bacterial flora and enhancing the immune system.
Among them the best known is the yoghurt , However lately it is becoming very fashionable also the Kefir .
It is important that you notice one thing: not all yogurts are the same. It is always better to choose the natural ones without sugar and without sweeteners, since one of the main foods of the tumor cells is the sugar itself.
Another excellent probiotic is Miso . It is a food of Japanese origin that derives from the fermentation of the soybean, to which it can be added during the manufacture a cereal like the barley or the rice.
It has the appearance of a vegetable paste perfect to be added to vegetable broths, taking into account that the miso will never have to boil if we want its beneficial properties not to be lost.
Miso has surprising effects on health: it alkalizes blood, nourishes the nervous system, regenerates the intestinal flora, detoxifies and the most surprising is its ability to eliminate toxic waste, including radioactivity.
In fact it was used in many Japanese hospitals after the atomic bombs, to cure people affected by radiation.
6- Green Tea
Green tea is an incredible ally against cancer thanks to its high content in Catechins And in particular in Epigallocatechin gallate-3 (EGCG).
It is well known for its antioxidant activity; The ability to protect cells against damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals, which are involved in the onset of cancer.
It has antiangiogenic activity, ie it prevents the development of new vessels and with it the progression of the tumor and the appearance of metastases. Many studies have shown that it potentiates the effect of radiation therapy on cancer cells.
It is also an excellent diuretic, helping the kidney to eliminate toxins and is involved in lowering cholesterol levels in the blood.
As you know, tea, as well as coffee, is a stimulant food because of its content in tea.
However, there are some, such as banana tea, which have very little of this substance and can be taken without any contraindication.
Drinking three cups of green tea a day is a good habit to prevent cancer.
7- Fruits of the forest
The red fruits are an excellent allies in the fight against cancer. Among these fruits we find strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.
They are all rich in Ellagic acid (Especially strawberries and raspberries), and also the fruits of the forest have an antiangiogenic action, preventing the tumor from expanding and metastasizing.
They also eliminate toxins, preventing environmental carcinogens from becoming toxic substances for cells.
Cherry also contains another substance, the Glucaric acid , Which has a detoxifying effect.
Black cranberries contain Anthocyanidins Y Proanthocyanidins , Both with important activity to induce death tumor cells. They are also rich in vitamin C , Which is an important antioxidant.
8- Citrus fruits
Oranges, mandarins, lemon and grapefruit contain Flavonoids , Anti-inflammatory substances. In addition, they stimulate the detoxification of carcinogenic substances by the liver.
Mandarin orange flavonoids ( Tangerine Y Nobiletin ) Penetrate the cancer cells, facilitate their death by Apoptosis And reduce their ability to invade nearby tissues.
Taking a good natural orange juice in the morning is an easy and simple way to protect ourselves from the onset of many types of tumors.
9- Turmeric
It is a herbaceous plant of the family of the zingiberáceas (to the same it also belongs the ginger ). Its root is widely used in Indian gastronomy, where it is used as an ingredient of the curry to which it gives a characteristic intense yellow color.
Of all the spices it is the one that has the greatest anti-inflammatory power due to the presence of the Curcumin , Capable of inhibiting the growth of many types of tumor cells (ovary, breast, colon, liver, lung, pancreas, stomach, bladder).
Curcumin is best assimilated from the body when it is combined with piperine (present in black pepper). For this reason it is advisable to turmeric With the pepper at the time of taking it.
Among its benefits we remember that:
- It slows the progression of metastases, induces the autolysis of tumor cells (the suicide of cancer cells).
- Decreased peritumoral inflammation. It inhibits the factor NF-kappaB, which is the one that protects the tumor cells against the mechanisms of our immune system in the elimination of them.
- It potentiates the activity of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
- Protects the mucous membranes, liver and kidneys from the side effects of chemotherapy.
10- Garlic
He Garlic Is one of the oldest and most used medicinal plants in the world.
When we grind it, a substance called Alli , Which is transformed by a chemical process into another substance called hallucin, responsible for the formation of many substances with anticancer power.
In fact these help remove toxic carcinogenic substances from our body, in addition is able to stop the growth of cancer cells.
It also helps regulate blood sugar levels by decreasing the secretion of insulin and IGF, thus inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.
To take full advantage of the positive properties of the Garlic , It is best to crush it and leave it to rest for about ten minutes, time required for all substances to come into contact with each other and activate.
The processes involved in cancer
I would like to explain some important processes involved in the development of this disease, because it is only when we discover how something works that we then have the possibility to influence it.
Imagine a seed planted in a pot.
What is going to happen?
If you find in the soil the nutrients necessary for its development and receive enough water, then an outbreak will appear and little by little the plant will develop and grow.
But if you did not find a similar environment, if for example you planted the same seed in a desert, surely it would dry up and die.
The same thing happens with cancer: it does not develop from one day to another but slowly and progressively, when it finds favorable"environmental"conditions.
Most malignancies originate from normal cells that have suffered a"trauma", that is to say an event that has triggered in her a genetic mutation.
The trauma that causes this change may be the entry into the body of some carcinogenic substances (viruses, radiations, free radicals).
In this stage the cell is precancerous, that is to say, that although it has undergone this change, it still does not originate the tumor, only there is a probability that it does it. It is like a seed, which can potentially be transformed into a plant.
And when does it? When you find the environmental conditions conducive to growth.
To become a malignant tumor, the cell will need to learn to reproduce, to escape from the mechanisms of immune system And acquire a network of blood vessels necessary for it to be fed. To achieve all this you need to mutate more and, to do so, you need an environment that allows it.
Here comes the healthy lifestyle, and with it a balanced diet, an essential factor to avoid generating the conditions conducive to the development"of this seed."
What are the conditions to prevent cancer?
In this article I am going to talk about one of them: the inflammation of the foods that protect us from it.
Inflammation is a natural process of our organism in response to a pathogen (a virus, bacteria, harmful substances etc).
In particular white blood cells called into action Macrophages (Do you remember the drawings of"once upon a time the human body?"The macrophages were the white policemen) that release very reactive substances to eliminate the intruders. This causes irritation of the affected area.
The inflammation aims to repair the affected tissues and does so by producing many growth factors to produce healthy cells and create a new network of blood vessels to feed them.
When the inflammation becomes chronic (persists in time because of determinants such as tobacco, obesity, an unbalanced diet...), cancer cells take advantage of this situation to grow and reproduce.
There are foods that promote inflammation (pro-inflammatory foods) and others that reduce it (anti-inflammatory).
If I introduce anti-inflammatory foods in my diet, I will create a preventive environment against cancer.
References
- World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, 1997.
- Doll, R. Peto,"Quantitative estimates of avoidable risks of cancer in the United States today", Journal of the natural cancer institute, 1981, 66, pp. 1196-1265
- N. ames, I.S. Gold, W.C. Willet, The causes and prevention of cancer, in proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 1995, 92, pp 5258-5265
- LM Coussens, Z Werb, Inflammation and Cancer, Nature, 2002, 420 pp. 860-867
- P. Rose, J.M. Connolly, Omega-3 fatty acids as cancer chemopreventive agents, in Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 1999, 83, pp 217-244
- Beliveau, D. Gingras, Foods to Fight Cancer: Essential Foods to Help Prevent Cancer.
- Prevenire i tumori mangiando with pleasure, Anna Villarini, Giovanni Allegro