Fighting Cancer

Fighting Cancer

One of the most overlooked cancer-fighting food groups is fruit, says Dr. Bloch. "Fruits are typically very rich in antioxidant vitamin C, and right now only about a third of Americans get the 200 milligrams of vitamin C they need for optimal health," she says. "Plus, if you don't eat fruit, you missing out on some terribly important antioxidants, like terpenes in cherries, quercetin in red grapes, and limonene from citrus fruits."

Many of these fruit compounds not only prevent tumors, but they also have actually shrunk exiting tumors in laboratory studies. They're so effective that when researchers in the Netherlands compared the rate of cancer deaths among more than 2,000 men over a 14-years period, they found that across the board, the men who ate the most fruit had the lowest risk of dying from cancer. "If you have a glass of orange juice in the morning, and then a banana later in the day, you're already at two servings," says Dr. Bloch.