Do vegetables cure cancer?
What you need to know:
- To be healthy, cells divide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. When cells divide, and the new cells are not needed, then a mass of tissue (tumour, benign or cancerous) forms.
- Fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes all have important nutrients and other cancer-fighting substances like phytochemicals and pectin that strengthen immune function and destroy cancer-causing substances before they cause harm.
Dear Doctor: I was told eating foods rich in vegetables can stop cancer. Is this true? I take a lot of vegetables but I need to know that this is not in vain. Kindly let me know about the benefits of eating garlic and katunkuma.
Ismael
Dear Ismael: Our diet influences our risk of many cancers. By eating a healthy, balanced diet that is high in fibre, fruit and vegetables, and low in red and processed meat and saturated fat can reduce the cancer risk.
Certain nutrients in vegetables and fruits protect against damage to tissues that occurs as a result of normal metabolism (oxidation). Because such damage is linked with increased cancer risk, the so-called antioxidant nutrients are thought to protect against cancer.
Katunkuma and garlic have been talked about as protectors against cancer, maybe because of their antioxidant properties and fibre.
The body’s basic unit is called a cell. Cells have sets of instructions when to die or divide. In cancer, the cells become abnormal and change and lose the orderly instructions of when to divide and die.
To be healthy, cells divide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. When cells divide, and the new cells are not needed, then a mass of tissue (tumour, benign or cancerous) forms.
Benign tumours do not spread to other parts of the body and are rarely a threat. Cancer cells on the other hand can invade and damage tissues and organs near the tumour and in most cases they spread to other organs far from their site of origin.
Diet and Cancer
What we eat and how we treat our bodies on a daily basis have a very powerful effect on our health and quality of life. Although cancer can affect many different parts of the body, the foods that prevent cancer and deter cancer growth are generally the same. Fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes all have important nutrients and other cancer-fighting substances like phytochemicals and pectin that strengthen immune function and destroy cancer-causing substances before they cause harm.