Eat broccoli five times a day to prevent cancer.

Broccoli or some other kind of fruit or vegetable, that is. And you need it five times each day, says the National Cancer Institute.

The new “5-a-Day for Better Health” program supported by the National Cancer Institute is designed to encourage Americans to boost their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables from less than three to a least five times each day.

Why? You might ask.

Because the scientific evidence for the cancer-fighting effects of fruits and vegetables is growing.

Although fruits and vegetables are helpful in fighting many types of cancer, a recent review suggested that a fruity and leafy diet seems to be most effective against lung, mouth, stomach, colon, rectal, bladder and cervical cancers.

Researchers state that for adults who don’t drink heavily and don’t smoke, the one choice that seems to influence their long-term health prospects more than any other is their diet.

The director of the “5-a-Day” program, Jerianne Heimendinger, estimates that if all Americans started eating four or more daily servings of fruits or vegetables, about 25% of all diet-related cancers could be prevented.

MEDICAL SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute (83,21:1538)