Plant-based foods fight cancer

Pink is the official color of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the foods recommended for breast cancer prevention are green, white, red, yellow and brown.

They're all foods of the earth: fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds. October is, conveniently, also Vegetarian Awareness Month. This is not a matter of overbooking; health and plant-based food go together.

Behold, your cancer-fighting all-stars:

- Broccoli: A 2011 University of Michigan study found the plant sterols in broccoli reduce breast cancer stem cells.

- Coffee: Java junkies and cold-brew fiends, this one's for you. A 2011 Breast Cancer Research report shows the antioxidants in 2 cups a day protects cells from cancer growth.

- Parsley: This ubiquitous garnish is high in vitamin C and apigenin, another phytonutrient we never knew about before. Apigenin may be cancer's WMD, according to findings by the University of Missouri. Celebrate with some parsley-rich tabbouli.

- Pomegranate: In season now, these sweet-tart beauties can arrest cancer cell growth and destroy existing cancer cells, according to a University of California study. The fine print: You need to consume a lot of pomegranate, about 3 cups a day, for the goodness to kick in.

- Soy: Organic whole soy, the way they eat it in Asia -- tempeh, tofu, edamame and miso -- has received the blessing from the American Institute for Cancer Research. Choose that rather than the GMO soy isolates present in much American processed food.

- Turmeric: Gold dust. Antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, this wonderful warming spice seems to inhibit or erase cancer cell growth, according to a 2011 Cancer Prevention Research study.

- Walnuts: High in omega-3s, the same awesome anti-inflammatory amino acid in salmon. A joint study by the journal Nutrition and Cancer and the American Institute for Cancer Research found walnut consumption reduces breast cancer risk and retards cancer cell growth.

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Plant-based foods fight cancer