The grocery guide to cancer prevention
Published 9:55 am Friday, April 13, 2012
Column: Amy Pleimling, Dietitian Speaks
Did you know that researchers and physicians agree that Americans could prevent up to one-third of all cancers in the United States through healthy diet and regular exercise?
The attached cancer prevention shopping list is based on the American Cancer Society’s new guidelines, American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention Reducing the Risk of Cancer With Healthy Food Choices and Physical Activity, which emphasizes healthy diet and exercise. The four components of cancer prevention, as reported by the American Cancer Society, are:
1. Choose most of the foods you eat from plant sources. How? Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Eat other foods from plant sources, such as breads, cereals, grain products, rice, pasta or beans several times each day. Why? Plant sources include fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods contain fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals that can help promote good health.
2. Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources. How? Choose foods low in fat. Limit consumption of meats, especially high-fat meats. Why? Diets high in fat can increase your risk of cancer — especially endometrium, rectum, prostate and colon.
3. Be physically active: achieve and maintain a healthy weight. How? Be at least moderately active for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week. Stay within your healthy weight range. Why? Physical activity not only helps to move the food you eat through your digestive tract, it helps to maintain your weight and improves your overall health.
4. Limit consumption of alcoholic beverages, if you drink at all. How? Drink in moderation — save alcoholic beverages for special occasions and celebrations. Don’t drink daily. Why? The consumption of alcohol has been linked to cancers of the mouth, esophagus, larynx and breast.
Source: American Cancer Society
Cancer prevention shopping list
As the Hy-Vee dietitian, I recommend reaching for the following cancer-fighting foods on your next trip to Hy-Vee. These foods are high in the fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals that the American Cancer Society recommends.
Cruciferous vegetables
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Allium
Garlic chives
Red and yellow onions
Antioxidants
Beans
Beets
Carrots
All citrus fruits and fruit juices: oranges, grapefruit, clementines
Ground flax seed
Kale
Mangoes
Papayas
Spinach
Strawberries
Tea (green and black)
Watercress
Whole grains
Isoflavones
Fresh tomatoes
Tomato juice
Tomato purees
Tomato sauces
Tomato soup
Flavonoids
Celery
Parsley
Rosemary
Researchers agree that there isn’t one single element in one particular food that can protect you from cancer. Eating a variety of foods is your best defense against disease. For more information on how the above foods may help protect you against cancer, contact your Hy-Vee dietitian.
Amy Pleimling is the dietitian for the Hy-Vee grocery store in Albert Lea.