The enemies which rise within the body, hard to be overcome–thy evil passions–should manfully be fought: He who conquers these is equal to the conquerors of worlds. Bharavi 6th century AD

Fruits and vegetables, a source of Functional food

In the war against cancer, we need weapons to fight. Since cancer has an arsenal of its own and have a very adaptive strategy, we need to hit it hard, fast and daily to leave it no time to get back at us.

Cancer research

Cancer research carried out during the last few years has shown that several fruits and vegetables are exceptional sources of phytochemicals, molecules that possess the capacity to interfere with various processes associated with the development of cancer. In fact, daily intake of a mixture of fruits, vegetables and drinks such as green tea and red wine provides about 1 to 2 g of these phytochemicals, corresponding to the ingestion of thousand different compounds. These molecules belong to well-defined chemical families, such as polyphenols (flavonoids, isoflavones, catechins), sulfur-containing compounds (isothiocyanates, diallyl sulfides) and terpenes (carotenoids, monoterpenes).
Most interestingly, these molecules possess a number of therapeutic properties that are analogous to those of synthetic drugs. But unlike most synthetic molecules whose inherent toxicity limits their usage as preventive medicine, the anticancer molecules present naturally in foods were selected by evolution as being beneficial for health and are therefore lacking secondary, harmful effects. It is therefore possible to use these molecules on a daily basis to prevent the development of cancer and make our body unwelcome to cancer.

Fight cancer an everyday job

Inclusion of foods that are rich sources of anticancer molecules in the daily diet is crucial because most of us are constantly at risks of developing cancer. In fact, most individuals have, hidden in their tissues, pre-cancerous transformed cells that only require a favorable environment in order to grow and invade other tissues.
Functional food used, present in the diet as a preventive weapon, therefore constitutes an essential approach to maintain these tumors in a latent state and prevent their progression to cancer. This approach can be considered as a form of chemotherapy, which uses the arsenal of anticancer molecules present in food in order to fight the cancerous cells that spontaneously develop in our bodies. Prevention of cancer by diet therefore constitutes a supplementary tool that everybody can use to benefit the organism with anticancer agents of nutritional origin.
The regular consumption of fruits and vegetables corresponds to a preventive chemotherapy that counteracts the development of cancer at several levels:
1. Cancer proliferation
2. Angiogenesis
3. Cell immortality which bypasses apoptosis
4. Inflammation
We must see our bodies as a battlefield where a continuous fight is waged between the mutated cells that are trying to develop into autonomous entities and degenerate into cancer and our defense mechanisms that are trying to preserve the integrity of the organism. Fighting the development of cancer by dietary manipulation thus entails using the anticancer molecules present in certain foods to create a hostile environment for the cancerous cells, to daily bombard these micro-tumors and ultimately, to prevent their growth (just like chemotherapy).
If the dietary habits contain a high amount of inappropriate foods or lack protective foods, such as fruits and vegetables, the latent tumors will be in an environment more favorable for their growth and are more likely to evolve into a cancer. On the other hand, if the diet is rich in protective foods and contains only a weak proportion of cancer-triggering foods, the micro-tumors are not able to grow sufficiently and the risk of developing a cancer is reduced.

Concern about Pesticides

If we are concerned about pesticide on the vegetables, we need to reduce our exposure to pesticide. First buy local, as with the control of our government the amount of pesticide should be minimum in those. If we have the time grow it our self that is better. Buy organic or wash our fruits and vegetables with water and a little soap (1 drop of liquid soap for 1 pint of water and rinse with water. ). There is more benefit to eat fruits and vegetable without the trace of pesticides. The pesticides stay on the skin and a gentle wash and rinse will get rid of them

Pesticides

This word is on everybody’s lips. Does pesticide create cancer? Are Pesticides safe? The answer is yes and no. If pesticides are used in large quantity with no control, yes pesticides can cause cancer. But in the Western countries like United States, government agencies like Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) closely regulate them. However, foods that come from the third world countries may not have all the required control and may have dangerous level of pesticides still on their skin. The question we need to ask our self is where the product comes from.

Now if you want to know what to eat go to level cancer processes.
To counter cancer angiogenesis a daily dose of
- 1. Blueberries
- 2. Cranberries
- 3. Ginger
- 4. Green tea
- 5. Pomegranate
- 6. Red wine
- 7. Strawberry
- 8. Turmeric
To counter cancer proliferation a daily dose of
1- Mushrooms
2- Ground flaxseed
3- Broccoli
4- Garlic
5- Blackberry
6- Parsley
7- Soy
To counter cancer apoptosis a daily dose of
1- Pomegranate
2- Beer (only one)
3- Apple
4- Spinach
5- Tomato
6- Artichoke
To counter cancer inflammation a daily dose of
1- Walnut
2- Green tea
3- Turmeric
4- Black chocolate
5- Ginger
6- Extra virgin olive oil
7- Beetroot
8- Red wine (only 1 glass for women, 2 for men)
As we can see we got option, variety is the key. By eating 5 to 10 fruits and vegetables we can counter different cancer processes with various photochemical contents in these foods.