Everyday each and every one of us has an opportunity to help and protect them from this devastating disease called cancer. Cancer may have many causes but what is more important is not the causes, but our bodies ability to fight off cancer and repair any cells that become damaged before they become cancerous.
I came across this article sometime back from one of the leading experts on nutritional medicine, Dr. Joel Fuhrman and I thought I should share it with you. In this article, he shares information about a special food group that if eaten daily and in abundance will greatly reduce the risk for getting cancer and even better still make our bodies so much more ready to be resilient against cancer and all problems associated with low immunity.
His article is shown below in italics. Please enjoy it.
Nutrition scientists have shown over and over that people who eat more natural plant foods – vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, etc. – are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer. But are all vegetables equally protective? To win the war on cancer, we must design an anti-cancer diet. What is an anti-cancer diet, exactly? An anticancer diet is one that focuses on the foods with the most powerful anti-cancer effects. If we ate plenty of these foods each day, we would flood our bodies with the protective substances contained within them.
The cruciferous family of vegetables is full of super foods with powerful anti-cancer effects – we should eat vegetables from this family every day.
This family includes green vegetables like kale and bok choy plus some non-green vegetables like cauliflower.
(In Uganda, the common cruciferous vegetable we have are cabbage (both green and purple), skumawiki (also known as kale), cauliflower and broccoli.
Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates and in a different area of the cell, an enzyme called myrosinase. When we blend, chop or chew these vegetables, we break up the plant cells, allowing myrosinase to come into contact with glucosinolates, initiating a chemical reaction that produces isothiocyanates (ITCs) – powerful anti-cancer compounds. ITCs have been shown to detoxify and remove carcinogens, kill cancer cells, and prevent tumors from growing.
Cruciferous vegetables and cancer protection
Observational studies have shown that eating ITC-rich cruciferous vegetables protects against cancer – here are a few examples:
Twenty-eight servings of vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 35%, but just 3 servings of cruciferous vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 46%.
One or more servings of cabbage per week reduced risk of pancreatic cancer by 38%.
One serving per day of cruciferous vegetables reduced the risk of breast cancer by over 50%.
Cruciferous vegetables are especially helpful for preventing hormonal cancers, such as breast cancer, because some ITCs, such as indole-3-carbinol (abundant in broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage), can even help the body excrete estrogen and other hormones.5In fact, new research has shown additional anti-estrogenic effects of both indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane (most abundant in broccoli); these ITCs blunt the growth-promoting effects of estrogen on breast and cervical cancer cells.
A Profound Level of Protection
Eating cruciferous vegetables produces measurable isothiocyanates in breast tissue, and observational studies show that women who eat more cruciferous vegetables are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer: In a recent Chinese study, women who regularly ate one serving per day of cruciferous vegetables had a 50% reduced risk of breast cancer. A 17% decrease in breast cancer risk was found in a European study for those consuming cruciferous vegetables at least once a week. Plus, breast cancer survivors who eat cruciferous vegetables regularly have lower risk of cancer recurrence – the more cruciferous vegetables they ate, the lower their risk.
Within an overall nutrient-dense eating style, cruciferous vegetables can provide us with a profound level of protection against cancer. Don’t forget: chopping, chewing, blending, or juicing cruciferous vegetables is necessary to produce the anti-cancer ITCs.
End of Article.
As he mentions in his article, the health producing benefits of cruciferous vegetables (which are actually superfoods) are more beneficial when the vegetable is chewed, chopped or blended. I want to also emphasise in addition that, when these vegetables are eaten uncooked, many of the healing chemicals remain intact (undestroyed by heat). It is therefore advisable to have some of these raw or uncooked regularly. Aside from cabbage, it may not be so easy to eat the rest raw and yet consuming them raw is really very beneficial. I strongly recommend therefore, that that you acquire a powerful nutrient extractor that will allow you to reap all the benefits of these wonderful vegetables to allow you extract all the nutrients you need to protect you and your family.
Of course, even a blender or a juicer can work but the nutrient extractor prepares very easy to drink smooth juices that even children will like and in my opinion is superior to a blender or a juicer.
Contact Wellcare to learn what it is and how to get one. Click here to get more information on the superfood and detox nutrient extractor.
Please invite your friends and family to this newsletter.
Wishing you health and wellness.