Cancer

Cancer

The best way to prevent cancer in your lifetime: Go to the grocery store. Buy some bananas, broccoli, and a cart full of other fruits and vegetables. Eat as many as you can today. Then do the same thing tomorrow. Repeat every day for the rest of your (very healthy) life.

Sound too simple to be true? Consider this: Scientists now estimate culprit behind at least one-third and maybe up to two-thirds of all cancer. In fact, the quarter of Americans who eat the fewest fruits and vegetables have double the cancer rate for most types of cancer of the 25 percent of folks who eat the most. If you don't smoke-smoking is the leading cause of about one-third of cancers-eating more of the right foods (and fewer of the wrong ones) is the best protection money can buy.

"Changing their diet is one of the most significant ways people who don't smoke can reduce their risk for cancer," maintains registered dietitian Abby Bloch, Ph.D., coordinator of clinical research at the GI Nutrition Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "There are hundreds upon hundreds of compounds that work together in plant foods like grains, fruits, and vegetables that provide a protective milieu inside our bodies so our cells can stay healthy and function normally. First and foremost, we need to eat more of those foods."