We always see headlines on the newspaper or magazine or internet article or blog of a new kind of superfood that can beat cancer. We’ve read it all before, from broccoli to garlic to onion to tea to tomato to whole grain. People have even suggested coffee as a means to combat cancer.
It was a complete surprise when they conducted one of the most extensive research of food nutrition gave all of us a rude awakening on this subject. Studying the findings from over a hundred thousand participants, researchers from Harvard did not find any connection between the consumption of fruits and veggies and the chances of getting cancer. Some participants ate two portions while other ate ten portions. They did this for fifteen years. There were no significant findings. The chances of getting the dreaded disease stayed the same.
Absence of Proof
How was this possible? For the longest time, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) pushed the “Eat Five to Nine a Day” scheme which encouraged those living in the US to consume fruits and veggies. A couple of the top researchers in the field of cancer-treatment in the US have come out with reading materials that educate readers on how to decrease the chances of getting cancer. Fruits and vegetables were the stars of the show. Were they gravely mistaken?
Some experts in the field of nutrition research believe that eating food that is healthy for you can offer protection against cancer. They also go on to state that even if there are signs of fruits and veggies having an impact on the chances of cancer, no exact components have been identified.
Take fiber as an example. Past research recommended that if people ate more fibrous food, colon cancer would be prevented. Hopeful because of this information, the NCI went ahead to fund a pair of studies comparing participants from two groups. One group were given mostly fibrous food, while the other was given food low in fiber. Everyone was flabbergasted at the result. Fibrous food did not provide any benefits or protection against colon cancer.
Looking at Food from a Different Angle
NCI officials are still hopeful that new studies will yield positive results. Although they mentioned that it was hard to gather information due to the lack of reliable equipment. A lot of the information gathered depended on what food the participants remembered consuming in the past years. Thismakes the information anything but reliable. Experimenting on animals can shed a bit of light on the subject matter, but it is still up for debate whether or not the results taken from these studies are applicable to people. Ideally, researchers would want to control the diet of people over a period of time. But due to the length of time cancer develops in a human body, this kind of research would require massive amounts of funding, thus making it almost impossible to perform.
In time, NCI officials suspect that researchers would find that the significance of the food we eat varies because of the unique nature of the genetic makeup in all of us. Some people’s bodies may have a different reaction to fruits and veggies, while others may not. NCI officials also hope to find a way to develop diets suited for different people.
In Conclusion
Whatever the results of the studies, there is still no denying the benefits and advantages of eating food that is good for your health. Some experts insist that a lot of the results from previous experiments still point towards the fact that healthy food could protect our bodies against the development of cancer cells. They give prostate cancer as an example. It happens and develops in men globally at the same rate. But how it progresses as a disease varies. A lot of the signs point to the food that these men consume.
Helpful Information
-Let’s look at some helpful tips that may help us fight cancer. – Try being as lean as you can while still staying at your proper weight.
– Try being physically active daily for at least half an hour.
– Stay away from sugar, especially in beverages. Don’t consume too much food which has gone through extensive processing, with a lot ofsugar or fat.
– Have vegetable, fruit, whole grain and legume (beans) in your diet.
– Don’t eat too much red meat or meat that has gone through a lot ofprocessing.
– For adult males, two alcoholic beverages and for adult females, a glass a day should do.
– Stay away from food with a lot of salt and sodium.
– Avoid using supplements as your anti-cancer shield.
