Foods that fight Cancer – Cruciferous vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables = Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Turnip, Rutabaga,
Studies suggest that eating more cruciferous vegetables can reduce your risk of several types of cancer. In fact, one review published in 1996 showed that more than 70% of the studies found a link between cruciferous vegetables and protection against cancer. What’s more, laboratory research supports this link. A recent Italian study found that juice from different varieties of cauliflower suppressed the growth of cancer cells.
Breast Cancer: Although the results of studies on cruciferous vegetables and breast cancer risk are inconsistent, several case-control studies have revealed that women diagnosed with breast cancer had significantly lower intake of cruciferous vegetables than their cancer-free controls. (In case-control studies, researchers contact people who have been diagnosed with a disease – the cases – and people who have not – the controls. Both groups are asked about the foods they ate during the years before they were diagnosed with the disease. The objective is to see if the people who are sick were more likely to consume certain foods, or nutrients, than people with out the disease.)
Triggered by the observation that breast cancer risk of Polish women rose threefold after they immigrated to the United States, scientists from Michigan State University recently evaluated the diets of Polish immigrants women living in Chicago and Detroit. They found that women who ate at least 3 servings of raw or lightly cooked cabbage and sauerkraut per week had a significantly lower risk of breast cancer compared with those who ate only 1 serving. Interestingly, cabbage cooked for a long time had no bearing on breast cancer risk.
Lung Cancer: When it comes to lung cancer and cruciferous vegetables, the study findings are mixed. A number of case-control studies have shown that people with lung cancer eat fewer cruciferous vegetables than people without the disease. Two studies that followed large groups of healthy men and women for several years linked a higher cruciferous vegetable intake (3 or more servings per week) with strong protection from lung cancer. Yet, other research has found no protective effects of cruciferous vegetables.
Why this inconsistency? It turns out that your genetic profile might make you more or less likely to reap the cancer protective effects of the cruciferous vegetables. Scientists have determined two genes that eliminate isothiocyanates from the body. It stands to reason that people who have inactive forms of these genes would have higher concentrations of isothiocyanates because of their reduced elimination capacity. After further investigation, scientists have found that people with inactive forms of the genes are indeed less likely to develop lung cancer. Also, several studies have found that consumption of cruciferous vegetables had a much more pronounced protective effect against lunch cancer in people who have inactive forms of the genes.
Prostate Cancer: When the diets of more than 1619 men with prostate cancer were compared with that of 1619 men free of the disease, researchers learned that cruciferous vegetables (and yellow-orange vegetables) were protevtive against prostate cancer, especially advanced forms of the disease. The study reveled that, compared with men who consumed the least, men whose diets included the most cruciferous vegetables were 39% less likely to have prostate cancer.
