Top Foods That May Help Prevent Breast Cancer

fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and nutrients that are believed to reduce the risk of cancer. Consuming plant-based foods leaves less room for sugary foods. Instead of processed foods or those high in sugar, opt for fruits and vegetables as snacks. The Mediterranean diet offers many cancer-fighting foods and emphasizes the consumption of plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. People following the Mediterranean diet replace butter with olive oil and red meat with fish.

Green Tea

Green tea is a powerful antioxidant that plays an important role in a cancer-fighting diet. This beneficial drink can be especially helpful in preventing liver, breast, pancreatic, lung, esophageal, and skin cancers. According to researchers, green tea contains a substance called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which works against urokinase (an enzyme crucial for cancer growth). A cup of green tea contains 100 to 200 milligrams of this anti-tumor compound.

According to researchers at the Cancer Research Institute in the UK, "We have been studying cancer prevention with green tea for over 30 years. The combination of EGCG and other anti-cancer compounds induced apoptosis and enhanced anti-cancer activity in laboratory mice, and also showed synergistic anti-cancer effects against human cancer cell lines."

Green tea serves as a preventive for primary cancer prevention, and the catechins in green tea, along with anti-cancer drugs, play a role in preventing subsequent cancers.

Tomatoes

Research shows that the antioxidant lycopene found in tomatoes is stronger than beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and vitamin E. Lycopene is a cancer-fighting compound that helps protect the body from specific cancers, such as prostate and lung cancer. Be sure to cook tomatoes, as this process releases lycopene, making it more accessible to the body.

Olive Oil

In Mediterranean countries, this unsaturated fat is widely used for both cooking and salads and may be a cancer-fighting food. This could be why breast cancer rates are 50% lower in Mediterranean countries compared to the United States.

Grapes

Red grapes contain seeds rich in powerful antioxidants. This cancer-fighting chemical is also found in red grape juice and can help protect the body against certain types of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic degenerative diseases.