Cancer Fighting Foods; Organic Foods - Buy or Not
I have been holding this post for a while but thought I would break it out after my Dr. Oz post last week. One of the slideshows says to buy organic beef but does not mention chicken. After my last Monday post, I think we know organic is the way to go for chicken too!
Top 10 Foods and Drinks for Cancer Prevention - By Melissa Breyer, Care2 Senior Editor
Cancer is such a staggering epidemic–the sheer number of people affected by the disease is as heartbreaking as it is mystifying. As we are slowly learning more about the causes, we are beginning to learn more about preventive measures.
In terms of the relationship between diet and cancer, this leads us to lists of what not to eat (french fries, sigh), as well as the other side of the coin: What we should eat (artichokes and red wine, yay!).
In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) the authors Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey and Anne Wordsworth consider the importance of eating specific foods and drinks for cancer protection. Here’s what they suggest:
1. Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and kale. These score high for containing many anti-cancer substances, such as isothiocyanates.
2. Globe artichoke for very high levels of salvestrols.
3. Dark greens, such as spinach and romaine lettuce, for their fiber, folate and a wide range of cancer-fighting carotenoids. Other dark colored veggies, too, such as beets and red cabbage.
4. Grapes and red wine, especially for the resveratrol.
5. Legumes: beans, peas and lentils, for the saponins, protease inhibitors and more.
6. Berries, particularly blueberries, for the ellagic acid and anthocyanosides.
7. Flaxseed, especially if you grind it yourself and consume when fresh, for the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, lignans and other “good fats.”
8. Garlic, onions, scallions, leeks and chives, for many anti-cancer substances including allicin.
9. Green tea, for its anti-cancer catechins, a potent antioxidant.
10. Tomatoes, for the famous flavenoid lycopene.
Today I am also offering up two easy to view slideshows of top cancer fighting foods and To Buy or Not to Buy Organic. I think many of us know some of this but never hurts again & a little write up to explain each slide. Pretty pics too!
I know we discussed last week but curious how often you buy organic & what foods you buy organic. I buy the dirty dozen fruit & veggies the best I can but meat is so expensive but I so want to start doing that too. Have to figure out what to cut out so I can do that.
NO, I am NOT cutting out my weekend treat cookies! 
PS: Tomorrow is a very telling post on our local farmers markets! Check back!!!!!
Categories: Wellness, Health, Cancer
Tags: Wellness health cancer cancer fighting foods
First, I'd like to say that for those of us who live in very cold winter climates, buying at Farmer's Markets year round is just not a possibility. Our area only offers these markets from sometime in May to the beginning of October. Our local supermarkets all now offer some organic produce. I buy some of it, but I have read many articles stating that what is being offered as organic isn't always so. I don't know who to believe. I hate paying a premium price and learning that I'm not getting what I paid for. I didn't shop at any farmer's markets this year (for the first time in years) although I did buy produce and even chicken directly from local farms. I also grew some of my own veggies. I love and eat lots of cruciferous veggies -- often to my dismay because in some people, and I'm one of them, they can cause painful bloating and gas. Men with any elevated PSA results are advised NOT to eat flaxseed. So much conflicting info out there -- honestly, Jody, I do the best I can, but will probably never go 100% organic. My mother never bought an organic food in her life and died from a lung condition just before her 90th birthday -- no cancer. My mother-in-law likewise did not shop organic and is 95 and cancer-free. Very few of the 300 people in her nursing home have any cancer -- I asked. If you decide to start buying organic meat, and I'm going to make an effort to do so, you might want to do what I plan to do -- buy a little less and stretch the meal with more veggies, rice, and legumes.
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I know.. so much info & much conflicting. I can't afford to buy all organic.. I have to pick & choose & I look for the certified organic labels. Natural does not mean organic. Lots of craziness out there!
As for the Farmers markets, my post tomorrow is about how you DON'T always get what you think you are paying for so buyer beware. A local news station did an investigative report on them... so yes, buyer beware!
And yes, I too eat lots of cruciferous veggies & have the same prob but I eat them... UGH!
AS for the older people & not buying organic, I often wonder if it due to the fact that all these hormones & antibiotics were not pumped in for a lot of the years they were eating the stuff.... I just don't know...
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I'm cheap and lazy
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I do all the B's - broccoli, brussels, berries
We try to buy local meat, not necessarily organic, but at least we know where it comes from.
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Once again, great minds think alike. I am planning a post referencing this same info.
I think I have said this on here before - I believe the organic things are better. There is little doubt in my mind; HOWEVER, I cannot justify the cost. I wish I could. I guess that is part of the reason I grow as much as I can on my own.
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Thanks Jody for the reminders..I think I get most at least weekly. Porbably not enough. Also I could not get these two links to work... top cancer fighting foods and To Buy or Not to Buy Organic-Happy Sunday!
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As I am just learning about this stuff, I don't always buy organic because it is a label...some "natural" farmers can NOT get the organic certification...that is what I believe I pay for...as I learn I just tried to buy fresher than processed.
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Farmer's markets for the win!
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I concentrate on the dirty dozen as well. I buy some organic meat but not all. I would like to get to the point where I can afford all organic but with two kids in college it will have to be put on hold for a while yet.
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I do buy organic sometimes, but cost is a factor for us. When I shop at the farmer's market I always ask if they use pesticides. Most of them do.
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Because of my recent brush with cancer I've been doing a lot of research on nutrition and cancer. My doctor pointed me to this lecture: http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-06-02&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email
Recent findings about how nutrition affects cancer cells are amazing.
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Ewa.. did not know about your brush with cancer. Will check this out later. Thx!
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