Veggies Guard Off Cancer Risk

[Guest guest]

Yet more evidence about the efficacy of a yogi diet...

 

http://www.playfuls.com/news_006603_Veggies_Guard_Off_Cancer_Risk.html

 

Veggies Guard Off Cancer Risk

 

April 16th 2007

by Moni Constantinescu

 

It's not just folklore, it's science. New research has added credible

arguments' to mom and grandma's eternal advice of " Eat your vegetables. "

 

Cancer experts are now saying that nearly 70% of all cancers are

caused by poor diet, not having enough exercise and by smoking. And

there are several studies that support this theory, bringing

vegetables to everyone's attention.

 

A large study of 500,000 American retirees has found that one extra

serving of fruit or vegetables a day may reduce the risk of developing

head and neck cancer.

 

" It may not sound like news that vegetables protect from cancer, but

there is actually some controversy in the literature. It is important

that we do these large studies, " said Dr Alan Kristal, associate head

of the cancer prevention program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research

Center in Seattle.

 

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute were given details by men

and women aged 50 and older about their diets. They subsequently

followed participants for five years to record all diagnoses of head

and neck cancer, which is the sixth-leading cause of cancer-related

death worldwide.

 

Tobacco and alcohol use increase the risk of head and neck cancers,

which affect the mouth, nose, sinuses and throat.

 

The study found eating six servings of fruit and vegetables per day

per 1,000 calories cut the risk of head and neck cancer by 29 percent

compared to eating one and a half servings. An adult consumes around

2,000 calories a day.

 

" Increasing consumption by just one serving of fruit or vegetables per

1,000 calories per day was associated with a 6 percent reduction in

head and neck cancer risk, " said Neal Freedman, cancer prevention

fellow at the NCI.

 

A second study of food consumption in more than 183,000 residents of

California and Hawaii found that a diet high in flavonols might help

reduce pancreatic cancer risk, especially in smokers. Flavonols are

common in plant-based foods but are found in highest concentrations in

onions, apples, berries, kale and broccoli.

 

According to the study, people who ate the largest amounts of

flavonols had a 23 percent reduced risk of developing pancreatic

cancer compared to those who ate the least.

 

Another study, conducted by scientists at the University of

California, shows that soy and broccoli can do something quite

incredible for the human body: form a protective front against the

spread of cancer.

 

The researchers from UCLA revealed that a compound diindolymethane

(DIM) that is produced with the digestion of vegetables such as

broccoli and an isoflavone in soy known as genistein both decrease the

manufacture of two proteins that spread ovarian and breast cancers.

 

The findings were presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American

Association for Cancer Research.