Your mother probably always told you, “Eat your vegetables.” Maybe what she should have told you is, “Eat your berries!”
Did you know that fruit, especially berries, collectively rank much higher in overall antioxidant capacity than vegetables, even spinach and broccoli? Not too long ago, scientists published an article with up-to-date results on over 100 foods – rating the foods on “hydrophilic Oxygen-Radical Absorbance Capacity.”
Free radicals are unstable oxygen atoms (and sometimes nitrogen atoms) that, if not rendered neutral by antioxidant compounds, have the potential to damage DNA-the building blocks of life-and this damage is a precursor to possible cancer development down the road, as well as crippling heart disease.
According to the report, which was for the USDA’s National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program, the top 10 foods, according to overall antioxidant capacity, are: wild blueberries, cooked artichoke, black plums, raw Raab broccoli, blackberries, strawberries, cultivated blueberries, red cooked cabbage, raspberries, and red delicious apples.
However, the most potent anti-cancer compounds don’t necessarily show up in the greatest volume in these 10 foods. For example, lycopene from cooked tomato product has been linked to reduced prostate cancer risk, but cooked tomatoes rank # 43 in the report. Spinach comes in at # 38. Don’t let those numbers trick you, however, because spinach-along with all cruciferous vegetables-contain a very serious cancer-tromping compound called indole-3 carbinol, which has inhibited tumor growth in laboratory studies.
Also keep in mind that the report did not include other foods that have powerful anti-cancer properties, such as green tea. Thus, as far as lowering cancer risk, the top 10 foods/beverages that I recommend are (in no particular order):
1. Green tea
2. Acai berry juice
3. Pomegranate juice
4. Any kind of whole berries
5. Broccoli or cabbage
6. Spinach/kale/collard greens
7. Apples
8. Cooked tomato product
9. Wheatgrass and barley grass in powder form, mixed with water
10. Dark chocolate
The top 10 supplements with anti-proliferative (anti-cancer) properties are (no particular order):
1. Melatonin. This sleep aid has stunted breast cancer cell growth in lab tests.
3. Sulphoraphane (broccoli extract). This has slowed breast cancer cell growth in lab tests.
4. Garlic
5. Vitamin C
6. Betacarotene
7. Lycopene
8. Turmeric (take with green tea extract for a synergistic effect)
9. Coenzyme Q-10
Let’s go a step further. Antioxidants have a short “shelf life” inside your body. The antioxidants in the fruit platter you had yesterday evening have long-stopped working inside your body. These amazing compounds must be replenished every several hours! This means eat fruit or vegetables every two to three hours, and this includes drinking juice.
And the best way to drink fruit juice is from fresh-squeezed, though this isn’t possible with acai berry juice; the whole berries are not readily available in the U.S.
If you’d rather drink green tea for its antioxidant catechin compounds, you’ll need to ingest at least five cups daily for therapeutic benefits. Green tea supplements do not contain caffeine.
Do not take all your supplements at once! You want a “time-released” effect of antioxidants in your body. Take a supplement every time you eat as well as every few hours, but always take green tea extract with turmeric.
If you normally take fish oil extract, always take the CoQ-10 with it for a synergistic effect. Don’t assume that a little garlic in your salad will suffice for the garlic benefits; for therapeutic effects, you’d have to eat three entire garlic cloves a day. One garlic tablet has the equivalent power of three cloves.
How to get started? The above supplements are available at any health/whole-food store. While you’re there, pick up the produce so you can get the organic version.
