There’s so much out there on what foods to avoid, but what can we add to our plates instead?
Making mindful changes to your daily diet can be beneficial in a variety of ways, and the foods on the following list fit the bill. So let’s get into it.
Mushrooms
Researchers at Penn State University conducted a systematic study that reviewed 17 cancer studies published between 1966 and 2020, analyzing data from more than 19,500 cancer patients. They found that mushrooms — packed with vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants — can help prevent cancer development.
Shiitake, oyster, maitake and king oyster mushrooms are most effective since they have the highest levels of amino acid ergothioneine, a potent antioxidant and cellular protector. But incorporating any mushrooms into one’s diet can make a difference.
So much so that participants who ate 18 grams of mushrooms every day — or about 1/8 to 1/4 cup — had a 45% lower risk of cancer than participants who didn’t eat mushrooms.
Mangos
The Cleveland Clinic says mangoes are full of antioxidants that help protect cells from damage. The mango’s antioxidant mangiferin is shown to potentially protect from brain, cervix, breast, colon and skin cancer.
A 2010 study by Texas AgriLife Research supports this.
Researchers reviewed the most popular mango varieties in the U.S.: Kent, Francine, Ataulfo, Tommy/Atkins and Haden. Not only did they find that mangoes fought back against some breast and colon cancers, but also that they had some impact on lung, leukemia and prostate cancers.
Baked rhubarb
Your favorite recipe could shield you against cancer.
Research published in the journal Food Chemistry found that eating British garden rhubarb baked in a crumble can be extremely beneficial. You can dramatically increase the cancer-fighting chemicals in British garden rhubarb — polyphenols — by baking it for 20 minutes.
The same study also associated rhubarb’s polyphenols with beneficial effects on schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and symptoms associated with menopause and inflammation.
Pistachios
Smoking causes most cases of lung cancer, but certainly not all of them — and this snack can help deter cell damage.
The American Association for Cancer Research found that incorporating pistachios into your daily diet can help reduce your risk for lung and other cancers, particularly prostate cancer. That’s because of pistachios’ gamma-tocopherol levels, a form of vitamin E that is already known to provide some degree of protection against cancer.
Researchers say that eating 2 ounces of pistachios per day could reduce lung cancer risk without having significant changes to one’s body mass index.
They also noted that peanuts, pecans, walnuts, soybean oil and corn oil are rich in gamma-tocopherol too.
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