Cancer ... prevention and nutrition.

*condolences to whoever lost a love one to cancer and witnessed the misery of going through treatment, rushing from hospital to another till finally dealing with the fact that that person is no longer there*

It all started when my close friend was going through a hard time as one of her parents was diagnosed with cancer. Clueless and having no idea of what that is.

Basically whenever we hear the word "Cancer" we instantly link it to "death" unfortunately. And it's quite rare to find someone with more info in this matter than that.

Normally this whole thing drove me personally to do some research, I had no clue what I'm looking for, I just needed to understand in order to try and be there for my friend.

Most researches were for vain, some cancer stages are just hopeless cases, a matter of time as they say ... simple as that. However, I found some info that some might find useful. It's about nutrition that helps in preventing cancer in the first place. You know what they say:

"prevention is better than cure"

But first of all let's answer some initial basic questions like:

What is Cancer?
-It's the abnormal division of cells without control, invading other tissues and can spread to other parts of the body.
-It's usually named for the organ or the cell it started in (ex: cancer of the lungs ..)
-Cancer can be categorized into the following types:

• a-Carcinoma: Cancer staring in the skin or the tissues covering internal organs.
• b-Sarcoma: Cancer that starts in the bone, muscles, blood vessels and basically the connective system.
• c-Leukemia: Cancer that starts in the blood forming tissues.
• d-Lymphoma and myeloma: Cancer that starts in the cells of the immune system.
• e-Central nervous system cancers: Cancer that starts in the tissues of the brain and the spinal cord.

Is Cancer genetic?
Many people mistakenly think that the risk of cancer is always passed on through families as a single "cancer gene". However, like other complex diseases, changes in many genes that each plays a role in the development of cancer are much more likely to be the cause of familial cancer than a change in a single gene.

Those are basically the first two questions I asked myself. Now let's move on to what this hub is really about, prevention.

Best Foods for Cancer Prevention

• Grapefruit:

It's a good source of Vitamins-C which helps in the prevention of the formation of cancer. Having a vit-C rich diet was linked to a less risk of having cancers of the stomach, colon, esophagus, bladder, breast, and cervix.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WORKS BETTER WITH FOOD RICH IN VITAMINS-C RATHER THAN SUPPLEMENTS. SO MAKE SURE TO HAVE A VIT-C RICH DIET RATHER THAN BEING LAZY AND POPPING IN SOME SUPPLEMENTS PILLS. IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH IN SO MANY WAYS OTHER THAN CANCER PREVENTION TOO.

• Peanuts and peanut butter:

Rich in Vitamins-E. Having a rich vitamins-E diet was linked to having less risk in getting cancer of stomach, colon, lung, liver, and others.

• Berries:

Raspberries, blueberries, and cranberries have proven to have a huge potential in cancer prevention as they contain high quantity of "pterostilbene" which is an antioxidant that has the properties of cancer-fighting natural chemicals.

• Sweet Potatoes:

It's rich with "Beta-carotene" which is a high antioxidant that helps in the prevention of cancer formation.
And to make it even better, it also contain a fair amount of vitamins-C. DOUBLE WIN.

• Wild salmon:

It has been proven that low levels of vitamins-D is linked to several cancer cases.
Few food provide Vitamin-D so it's recommended you'd keep a rich vitamin-D diet while having a separate supplement that provides high quantity of vit-D.

• Tea:

And we have a winner :D. I was thrilled to know about this particular one as I do already consume a fair amount of tea everyday.
Tea contains "catechins" which was proven to decrease the growth of cancer cells and mutation that helps in the developing of cancer. Green-tea in particular has been proven to boast your health in so many ways.

• Cooked tomatoes:

It has been proven that cooked ones benefits more than raw. They both contain "lycopene" but when heated up, it changes its chemical structure making it easier for your body to absorb.

• Turmeric:

It functions as both anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant that has been proven to have a role in cancer prevention. Plus, it's a good way to have flavored meals with no extra calories ... and it taste awesome I tell you :D


These were some of the stuff I found out looking here and there ... if you're interested in finding more, try doing your own research. It might end up saving your life :))


SIDE NOTE: These are all information that I obtained by doing some personal research. They ain't medical wise info .. so to be more caution, just go for a check up or do your own research to back up mine ........ any additional information would be appreciated as well as any correction in what I've wrote above.

Finally: I hope one day we'll come up with a cure for such a nasty disease ... may all cancer victims rest in peace. You all fought bravely and been through a lot that no one can grasp nor understand .... you have my full respect.