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Foods for Life! Eating a healthier diet is one of the most important steps you can take in preventing cancer—and it's actually far easier than you'd think to start making healthy, great tasting changes to your diet. First, follow the basic food plan of the 2005 USDA food guide pyramid or a similar approach like the Mediterranean style of eating. Both of these guides emphasize eating foods in a less processed form, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. Let's look closer at how you can achieve these dietary goals. It can be really simple if you know the colors of the rainbow and a few other tips. Fruits and vegetables of every color offer phyto (Latin for plant) chemicals, which are substances that fight cancer growth. Remember the rainbow: Red bell peppers, strawberries, raspberries, radishes; Orange citrus, pumpkin and squash; Yellow bananas, squash, lemons; Green kale, spinach, broccoli, grapes; Blue berries and plums; Purple eggplant, grapes, berries; and White onions, cauliflower. Each color pigment in foods contains substances that prevent cells from becoming abnormal or cancerous. Scientists have not even identified all of the healthy compounds in fruits and vegetables, so eating a variety of colors every day is the best insurance for fighting many cancers. Including nine servings (one-half cup each) of fruits and vegetables every day will supply your body with plenty of anti-cancer ingredients, and to get the freshest foods, consider buying seasonal, local produce from organic farmers. You can help reduce unnecessary fossil fuel use for transporting produce large distances, and foods grown without certain pesticides, antibiotics and hormones reduce the risk of accumulating these substances in your body. Other substances found in some imported produce may contain high levels of heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic, which the human body cannot eliminate. Over time, some of these become a part of the actual bone matrix and can later create problems. Fruits and vegetables along with whole grains also provide fiber to improve the cleansing function of the bowels. Legumes, dried beans and peas like pintos, navy, red, white or black beans, lentils and split peas, and whole grains, including oats, whole wheat, corn, quinoa, and brown rice, are all excellent sources of fiber. Include dried beans in chilies, casseroles, soups, salads and pureed in dips. Include a whole grain cereal at breakfast, whole grain bread for healthy sandwiches at lunch, whole grain fiber crackers with hummus at snack time, and brown rice or corn at supper to get your whole grains in easily and deliciously. Healthy fats are another cancer fighting food group. Vegetable oil from olives is among the healthiest. Olive Oil can be used in place of shortening and margarines that usually contain trans fats. Read the labels to select foods with no trans fat, as they have been shown to cause inflammation, a potent cancer promoter in humans. Lean cuts of meat in three ounce portions per day and seven ounces per week of cold water fatty fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines, will keep your body in cancer fighting form. The fats in fatty fish are the antioxidant rich omega three fatty acids, which protect normal cells from becoming cancerous. When chickens are fed a diet rich in omega three fatty acids, their eggs become rich in this cancer fighting healthy fat. For those who prefer not to eat meat, look for omega eggs and a variety of fermented soy products in your store. Almonds, walnuts and other unsalted nuts contain healthy polyunsaturated fats. A handful of nuts daily provide a satisfying and healthy snack or crunchy topping for salads, casseroles or cereal. So what about the other foods like sugared carbonated beverages, chips, crackers, cakes, cookies and other snack foods? They fit into the discretionary calorie category along with alcohol. Many of these foods contain saturated and trans fats and add calories with little vitamin, mineral and cancer-fighting phytochemical benefits. They may also contain artificial colors and preservatives, which you may decide to limit or reduce in your new approach to eating healthy to reduce cancer risk. Excess calories from any food whether it is a healthier or not-so-healthy choice will lead to weight gain if you are not physically active. So once in a while these foods can fit into a healthy diet, but moderation is the goal. Starting a healthier cancer fighting diet will make you feel better and heighten your awareness to read labels and scrutinize what goes into your mouth. Chances are that you will learn to prefer healthier, less processed foods and it will become a true lifestyle. |
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