How to create a diet rich in cancer-fighting foods

When we hear about eating to prevent disease or to boost our immune system, we often think of bland diet foods, skimping on desserts and never indulging in the foods that we love. "It's the opposite," says Richard Béliveau, author of Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer, (McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007), "People who have the best health and lowest rates of cancer are people who have an outstanding quality of food. North America focuses on adding flavour with salt, sugar and fat, and the rest of the world is flavouring with onions, herbs and spices."

In their Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer, Béliveau and co-author Denis Gingras show that it is possible to achieve a balance to optimize both pleasure and health while partaking in one of the world's favourite pastimes – eating!

Focused on preventing cancer through improving health and lifestyle, Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer reveals how studies have shown that certain foods contain properties to make the human body inhospitable to cancer growths. "Specific molecules in specific foods were presenting similar therapeutic potentials as certain drugs," Béliveau says. "Compounds found in green tea or red wine or cabbage were really killing cancer cells."

Just a few key changes need to be made to daily eating routines to create a diet rich in foods that fight cancer. Here are 3 simple steps to get you started.

1. Get your 7 to 10 a day
Your grandma told you, your mom told you and now Béliveau is telling you again: eat your fruits and veggies! "Seventy eight per cent of North Americans do not eat the daily recommended portion of fruits and vegetables," Béliveau says. "For hypertension and diabetes we have to worry about what we overeat, like sugar and salt, but for cancer we have to think about what we don't eat – fruit and vegetables."

Be choosy: Though good for you, not all fruit and veggies contain cancer-fighting chemicals. In his book, Béliveau refers the most beneficial ones, specifically cruciferous vegetables (such as brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale), and garlic. Foods like these contain phytochemical compounds that encourage the removal of carcinogenic compounds from the body.

Best choices: Other foods containing properties that inhibit cancer growth are berries, oranges, seaweed, turmeric, mushrooms, soy, green tea and dark chocolate. See page 2 for Béliveau's complete list of top-performing foods.

Junk is still junk: French fries and potato chips do not count as vegetables. Visit your local farmer's market on the weekend or neighbourhood grocers during the week; they will have this season's freshest and tastiest fruits and veggies.

Page 1 of 2 – on page 2: more simple steps for healthy eating!