Nutrition is undoubtedly a very important part when we talk about cancer treatment. Eating adequate food before, during and after a treatment will help us feel better and that our body is much stronger to cope with cancer.
Fortunately, we have a wide variety of foods that become true allies and protectors against cancer due to their anticancer properties.
The active compounds in some of them prevent the growth and proliferation of tumor cells, such as vitamin A from carrots, lycopene from tomatoes or strawberries, the indoles present in cabbages; vitamin A from carrots or peaches; flavonoids from citrus fruits, anthocyanins and phenols from grapes or aubergines or luteolin from melon or spinach.
Let’s not forget that leading a healthy lifestyle -including diet- is crucial to avoid developing some of the many types of cancer that exist, since between 20% and 25% of malignant tumors could be avoided with a proper diet.
Although it is surprising to us, considering the numbers of patients we consider today, cancer is a disease that has affected humans for centuries. Tumors have even been found in Egyptian mummy fossils or references to them in writings dating back thousands of years like the Ebers Papyrus of Egypt.
Some of the commonly consumed foods whose properties can protect us against cancer are, among others: extra virgin olive oil, tomato, broccoli, wheat, soy, turmeric, pomegranate, mushrooms, aloe vera, garlic, green tea, lettuce, spinach, beans, walnuts, oranges and lemons.
To avoid: You have to avoid overeating meats (they have a lot of cholesterol) and foods with a lot of: fat and calories, coffee, sweeteners and preservatives.
For more information in this regard, we can always go to the page of the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC), a charity that has been helping citizens since its foundation by Ministerial Order in 1953.
