When to keep reading This one fits squarely into Dr. Wright's "Department of Duh" files: I just read an article titled "Fruits and Vegetables Fight Off Cancer." Could they have possibly come up with a more generic, less interesting headline? It was so boring and seemed so obvious I almost didn't bother reading the article. But I'm glad I did. It turns out that underneath this "blah" headline there were some interesting and very valuable information taken from three separate studies. For instance, one of the studies found that adding just one additional serving to the current daily recommendation (boosting intake from five to six servings a day) can make a significant dent in your risk of developing head or neck cancer. And this finding came after researchers adjusted for factors like smoking and alcohol consumption. Another study looked specifically at broccoli and soy, examining their effects on estrogen-related cancers such as breast and ovarian. Researchers found that eating these foods together forms a compound called diindolylmethane (DIM) that helps keep cancer cells from spreading. (While there are still safety concerns over soy consumption, DIM is also available in supplement form.) And the last study featured in the article examined the role of the flavonols found in fruits and veggies on the development of pancreatic cancer. Researchers found that people who had the highest intake of flavonols had a 23 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer. I may not be an earth-shattering revelation, but since pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease, any news that comes out about prevention is worth paying attention to -- even if it means reading beyond a boring headline. What are...flavonols? Flavonols are protective compounds that have antioxidant effects in the body, guarding against free radical damage. They're found in fruits and vegetables, particularly apples, onions, berries, kale, and broccoli.
Nutrition & Healing Source: "Fruits and Vegetables Fight Off Cancer," HealthDay News (www.healthday.com), 4/16/07
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