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Eating must be pleasant. Our food needs to be flavorful and presented as colorful and attractive as possible. This is especially true if we have to fight cancer with food and we intend to keep eating functional foods. Incorporating spices to our food brings a delightful zing to our taste buds. Besides that, some spices fight and brush aside cancer.

The Spice Saffron

The saffron spice is from the dried stigma of the flowers of the saffron crocus, which is scientifically named as Crocus sativus. The flower is purple with the stigma colored a deep yellow. Saffron crocus is cultivated in many countries of the world including France, Turkey, Iran, Spain and India. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. It colors food a bright yellow-orange. Culinary experts use saffron not only as a food colorant but as a flavoring agent as well.

Saffron contains over 150 compounds. It has a bitter taste and aroma. Some describe its taste as “metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes” and sweet. It usually goes well with curries, soups, tomatoes, paella, risotto, poultry, fish, lamb and shellfish.

Cancer Researches

Cancer research discovered that saffron diminishes some of the undesirable side effects of other drugs particularly the anti-cancer drug, cisplatin. Additionally, it inhibits the growth of tumor cells in breast, lung, bladder, lymphoma and colorectal cancers. What’s more, it was shown that chemicals in saffron activate apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines and affects inflammation.

Bottom Line

Saffron is another awesome weapon to fight cancer like other functional food. Let’s mix saffron in our recipes. Utilizing this spice doesn’t only flavor and color our food to a bright golden yellow but offers us a unique variation in the taste of our daily meals.

And, let’s not forget our daily 5-10 servings of fruits and veggies a day plus our 30 minute exercise.