If there were 10 cancer fighting foods worth eating on a regular basis, what would they be?
By Chris Wark • Originally published on ChrisBeatCancer.com
If you haven’t noticed, we are constantly bombarded with pleas from charities for cancer research money.
- Race for the Cure
- Stand Up to Cancer
- Buy Pink products
- Grow a Movember mustache
This is often accompanied by the message that “we are running out of funding for cancer research.”
And, of course, this is a problem because “without funding for more research, we will never find a cure.”
Cue the shots of bald women and children poisoned by chemo, accompanied by dramatic music.
Then, insert a high-profile celebrity to say, “The cure is just around the corner. Together, we can make cancer history. Please give today.”
Here’s the reality…
The mega-billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry has plenty of money to fund research.
They would just prefer that you fund it with your donations instead of theirs.
Real problem #1 They are running out of your money.
Real problem #2 They are only interested in medicines they can patent.
Real problem #3 Research on nutrition and natural therapies is ignored.
There are literally thousands of published peer-reviewed studies demonstrating that the 100,000+ phytonutrients in plants have the ability to prevent and reverse cancer.
But because the pharmaceutical industry can’t figure out how to extract these compounds, synthesize them, and patent them for profit, they are ignored.
100,000+ phytonutrients in plants have the ability to prevent and reverse cancer.
Doctors can’t even use this published information or they risk losing their license.
But you can!
One of my favorite studies was published in Food Chemistry, January 2009 called,
“The antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of common vegetables: A comparative study.”
Researchers studied the inhibitory (cancer-stopping) effects of 34 vegetable extracts on 8 different tumor cell lines. They basically just ran vegetables through a juicer and then dripped the extracted juice on different cancer cells to see what would happen.
Here Are The Top 10 Anti-Cancer Vegetables From This Study…
The #1 most powerful anti-cancer food was garlic.
Garlic stopped cancer growth COMPLETELY against these tumor cell lines:
- Breast cancer
- Brain cancer
- Lung cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Childhood brain cancer
- And stomach cancer
Leeks were #1 against kidney cancer. Garlic was #2.
But not just garlic and leeks, almost all vegetables from the Allium and Cruciferous families completely stopped growth in the various cancers tested.
Here they are:
Allium vegetables:
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Yellow and Green Onions
Cruciferous vegetables:
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Kale
- Red cabbage and curly cabbage
Spinach and Beet Root also scored in the top ten against many of the cancers tested.
Honorable mentions:
- Asparagus
- Fiddlehead
- Green beans
- Radishes
- Rutabaga
Poor Performers:
- Acorn Squash
- Bok Choy
- Boston Lettuce
- Carrot
- Endive
- English Cucumber
- Fennel Bulb
- Jalapeño
- Orange Sweet Pepper
- Potato
- Radicchio
- Romaine lettuce
- Tomatoes
Here is an excerpt from the paper’s abstract:
“The extracts from cruciferous vegetables as well as those from vegetables of the genus Allium inhibited the proliferation of all tested cancer cell lines whereas extracts from vegetables most commonly consumed in Western countries were much less effective. The antiproliferative effect of vegetables was specific to cells of cancerous origin and was found to be largely independent of their antioxidant properties. These results thus indicate that vegetables have very different inhibitory activities towards cancer cells and that the inclusion of cruciferous and Allium vegetables in the diet is essential for effective dietary-based chemopreventive strategies.”
Translation:
- Allium and cruciferous veggies stopped cancer cell growth.
- Commonly consumed vegetables did not work as well.
- The antioxidant content of veggies was not a key anti-cancer factor.
- Different vegetables work for different cancers.
- Allium and cruciferous veggies should be eaten to prevent cancer.
So the most commonly consumed vegetables in Western countries had very little effect on cancer cell growth.
The top three (potatoes, lettuce, and carrots) account for 60% of the vegetables we Westerners are eating. 32% of our vegetable intake is potatoes, and half of that is actually french fries. Nice.
Dark greens, cruciferous veggies, and garlic account for less than 1% of our Western diet! Hello?
An interesting note:
Radishes were found to stop tumor growth by 95-100% for breast and stomach cancer but may have even increased tumor growth by 20-25% in pancreatic, brain, lung, and kidney cancer. Definitely something to keep in mind.
Have a look at the charts in the study to see which veggies worked best against which cancer. Read the full study here. The charts are on page 3.
Now if you are familiar with my story you may be thinking, “Wait a minute Chris, didn’t you drink tons of carrot juice every day?”
Yes, I did. (More about that here)
Before You Write Off the “Poor Performers”
It’s important to keep in mind that this is a laboratory study showing only what a vegetable extract did to when applied directly to cancer cells.
The study does not take into account the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that indirectly support your body’s ability to repair, regenerate, detoxify, and heal.
Cancer is a product of a toxic body, so detoxing your body is critical in healing cancer.
For example, carrots are a potent source of beta-carotene, which is converted to Vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A supports your liver. Your liver is a critical component of your immune system because it detoxifies your body. Cancer is a product of a toxic body, so detoxing your body is critical in healing cancer, and so on.
Having said all that, it makes sense to focus on eating tons of the veggies that were actually killing cancer in the lab.
Also, this study confirms why what I did in 2004 worked.
I ate copious amounts of these cancer-fighting vegetables every day in my Giant Cancer-Fighting Salad, specifically spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, red cabbage, and garlic powder. I had no idea about leeks or else they would have been in there, too.
Garlic Is An Anti-Cancer Vegetable
And I ate several cloves of garlic per day.
If garlic kills cancer, then I wanted to saturate my body with garlic.
So I would just crush up the cloves and swallow them with a mouthful of water.
I also took Kyolic Garlic Extract.
And yes, I reeked. But I lived to tell the tale!
Top 10 Anti-Cancer Vegetables
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Yellow and Green Onions
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Kale
- Red Cabbage and Curly Cabbage
- Spinach
- Beet Root
Honorable Mentions:
- Asparagus
- Fiddlehead
- Green beans
- Radishes
- Rutabaga
Tell us in the comments:
- What are your favorite cancer fighting foods?
- What are your experiences with cancer?
And if you’re inspired, please LIKE and SHARE this article. Together, we can work for healthy, ethical, sustainable food for all!
Featured Image: iStock.com/gdjukanovic
