National Cancer Prevention Awareness Week | Are there really super anti-cancer foods?

Are there super cancer-fighting foods?

No.

To date, there is no evidence that Certain foods alone can cure or prevent cancer.

Many patients hope to control their tumors through various “super anti-cancer foods” circulating on the Internet, such as blueberries, garlic, green tea, etc. during treatment.

What needs to be explained here is that although some Foods have higher levels of natural cancer-fighting ingredients, such as certain phytochemicals, but no superfood is guaranteed to prevent or fight cancer.

If overemphasis is placed on eating more anti-cancer Food, to a certain extent, affects the diversity of food intake, thereby reducing the intake of other essential nutrients, resulting in nutritional imbalances.

Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of cancer, or achieve anti-cancer effects, it is best to focus on developing long-term healthy eating habits, balanced meals , no smoking, more exercise, etc..

Which nutrients reduce cancer risk< /strong>

1 < /span>Vitamin C

Vitamin C has strong antioxidant properties, and reasonable intake can help prevent gastric cancer.

Vitamin C inhibits the conversion of nitrite to nitrous amines, and nitrosamines are one of the causes of gastric cancer.

2 Calcium

Calcium is bone Nutrients essential for health are also linked to the occurrence of colorectal cancer.

Bile acids and free fatty acids in the large intestine can stimulate the large intestine Excessive proliferation of epithelial cells leads to colorectal cancer, and sufficient calcium can combine with bile acids and free fatty acids, thereby reducing the risk of colorectal cancerreduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

3 Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet Missing, studies have shown that dietary fiber can reduce the risk of bowel cancer.

Dietary fiber cleans the digestive wall, enhances Dilutes and accelerates the removal of toxic substances, reduces the retention time of intestinal contents, and reduces the risk of exposure to potentially carcinogenic environments; it can also prevent cancer by reducing the formation of carcinogenic precursors and regulating the intestinal flora occur.

4 Organosulfides

Organosulfides refer to a class of phytochemicals containing elemental sulfur in their molecular structure. They are mainly present in fruits and vegetables in two forms:

1) Start withglucosinolate< The form of /strong> exists in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and radish.

2) In the form of allicin, it exists in garlic, green garlic, onion, leek and other Liliaceae vegetables.

Epidemiological studies have shown that cruciferous vegetables have a certain preventive effect on bladder cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and other cancers; cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer and other cancer risks.

The importance of eating habits

Cancer does not happen overnight. According to statistics, the average time it takes for a mutant cell to grow into a malignant tumor is more than 30 years.

And inadvertently, a tiny life Habits may be playing a role in cancer prevention or cancer.

Put cancer prevention measures into practice and diet To four words: coarse, fresh, light, miscellaneous, it may be able to prevent “cancer from the mouth”.

Bold

Coarse grains, whole grains, crude fiber foods.

lack of meals in food Fiber is one of the important reasons for the increase of cancer patients in recent years.

All kinds of food are meals source of fiber, but subject toThe effect of processing, the finer the processing, the greater the loss of dietary fiber. Therefore, it is better for people to deliberately eat “rough”.

Foods rich in dietary fiber include:

  • Staple food: black rice, cornmeal, naked oatmeal, fresh corn, millet, etc.;
  • Vegetables: shiitake mushroom, enoki mushroom, edamame, broad bean , garlic sprouts, water jasmine, etc.;
  • Fruits: pomegranate, mulberry, pear, kiwi, fresh jujube, etc.;
  • < li data-track="108">Nuts: black sesame seeds, pine nuts, dried almonds, dried walnuts, etc.

After dietary fiber enters the body, it can Stimulate gastrointestinal motility, promote defecation, reduce intestinal absorption of carcinogens, and prevent colorectal cancer.

We recommend that you appropriately increase the intake of whole grains in your daily diet. For example, the naked oatmeal, cornmeal and flour are mixed together to make steamed bread or noodles;

But be careful: no matter what kind of coarse grains Cooking methods with less oil and less salt such as steaming are preferred.

fresh

Fresh – Eat fresh vegetables and fruits.

Multiple international studies indicate that many Eating fresh food can help prevent cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund found that eating more fresh fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of pharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, esophagus cancer and other cancers.

Antioxidants, carotenoids, vitamin C, flavonoids and other active ingredients in fresh fruits and vegetables have anti-cancer properties.

especially cruciferous vegetables, which contain quinones and phenols , quinone can dilute carcinogens and accelerate excretion; phenol can prevent the metabolism of cancer cells.

People should eat at least daily< strong>500gDifferent kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably red, green, yellow, purple and other colors.

On the contrary, don’t eat moldy food that has been left for a long time. Peanuts, soybeans, rice, noodles and other moldy, can produce strong carcinogen aflatoxin, can lead to liver cancer, stomach cancer and so on.

In addition, try not to eat overnight dishes, dishes that have been left for more than 8 to 10 hours often contain nitrite, and the more the number of heating times, the higher the content. many.

light

Light – Eat less high-fat foods and properly control salt intake.

The National Academy of Sciences reports that all Among the dietary components, fat is most closely related to cancer, especially breast, colorectal and prostate cancer.

There are also techniques for eating less fat, such as choosing low-fat or Skim fresh milk, replace part of the meat with soy products, remove the fried flour coating on the skin and the outer layer of the fat meat, remove the vegetable cream on the surface of the cake and do not eat it, and use steaming and roasting instead of frying during cooking.

In addition, salt and salt-preserved foods may increase the incidence of gastric cancer. It is best not to exceed 5 grams of salt per person per day. Be especially careful of the “invisible salt” around you. For example, in supermarket foods, potato chips and instant noodles are high in salt.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous—recipes should be mixed and broad.

Actually, cancer prevention does not require What panacea does not require precious medicinal materials, the key lies in a balanced diet, the combination of meat and vegetables, red, yellow, white, green and black and other colorful foods are “anti-cancer drugs”.

No single food can protect people from cancer.

Although many studies have shown that Some ingredients contained in it, such as vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, flavonoids, etc., have a certain effect on anti-cancer, but it is not just recommended for any specific anti-cancer food, but < span>It is recommended that more than 2/3 of the food in the recipe come from vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.

References

[1] Chinese Nutrition Society. Encyclopedia of Chinese Nutrition Science (2019) [M]. Beijing: People’s Health Publishing House, 2016.

[2] Shi Hanping. Cancer Nutrition [M]. Beijing: People’s Health Publishing House, 2012.

[3] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)[M]. Beijing: People’s Health Publishing House, 2016.