Nutrition and Cancer Risk

When your mother told you to eat your vegetables, she was right. Moderation is the key to optimum good health. The relationship between food and cancer risk is getting attention as more and more studies point to the power of nutrients in fruits and vegetables to prevent disease. There is increasing recognition that substances in the diet have real potential to prevent cancer. The concept of fighting cancer with nutrition is not new, but the body of evidence to support the claims continues to grow. There are many studies that show the disease-fighting ability of phytochemicals such as beta-carotene, lycopene and isoflavones, which are found in fruits, vegetables and grains. Those are just a few of the phytochemicals that have been identified. There are hundreds of others that have not been identified yet. Scientists also don't know if individual phytochemicals, or a combination of them, result in reduced risk of cancer. Research has shown the risk of prostate cancer drops for men who eat tomato products, possibly because of lycopene. In addition, it has been shown that colon cancer declines among those who drink green tea and regularly eat soy products and foods rich in selenium. Researchers don’t know exactly how phytochemicals work but believe their potential in fighting cancer is enormous.