Minerals Versus Cancer
Wouldn’t it be great to have a “quick fix” for every disease – pill that would prevent or cure all health problems? No one would have to give a thought to diet, exercise, or other health habits.
It is an alluring idea. Some have even proposed that the quick fix already does exist – in the form of a mineral called selenium.
But the wishful thinking is a little premature. There is some evidence that the minerals in our food play a role in preventing cancer. More research is needed, though, before we can draw any conclusions.
The Minerals in Food
Food contains a wide range of minerals. We need some of them in large amounts. Other minerals are required in very small amounts.
Nutritionists refer to the minerals needed in large amounts as major minerals. Those that we need in small amounts are known as trace minerals or trace elements.
Categories: Cancer, NUTRITION Tags: calcium, Cancer, cancer prevention, iron, minerals, selenium, trace elements, trace minerals, zinc
The Right Vitamin A to Prevent Cancer, Part II
Color is the Clue
Color is sometimes the key to judging the carotene in fruits and vegetables. Deep green and yellow vegetables. Deep green and yellow vegetables are usually very good sources of vitamin A. But lighter versions of the same foods are not. For example:
- Green asparagus is rich in vitamin A. The bleached white asparagus has about one-tenth as much!
- Romaine lettuce provides four times as much vitamin A as iceberg lettuce.
- Yellow corn has more vitamin A than white corn.
- Green beans have more vitamin A than wax beans.
Here is my favorite piece of vitamin A trivia: frozen chopped broccoli has one-third more vitamin A than the frozen spears. I am willing to bet that the leaves in the chopped version make the difference. Their deep green color is a sure sign of vitamin A!
Though fruits and vegetables supply almost half of our vitamin A, other foods do have significant amounts. Meat, poultry, and fish provide about one-fourth of the vitamin A in our diet; diary products give another 15 % or so. Eggs and other foods supply a little less than 10 %.
But it is not known whether the vitamin A in most animal foods has any value in cancer prevention. That is why the Committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer restricted its recommendations to fruits and vegetables. But in this regard, however, I suggest you to learn more about the potency of vitamin A in animal sources to fight cancer posted in BlogOfHealth.co.cc.
Categories: Cancer, NUTRITION Tags: Cancer, cancer prevention, vitamin A
Vitamin C and Cancer
Beyond the Cancer Question
I would drink my orange juice and eat my green peppers even if it weren’t for research linking vitamin C to prevention of cancer.
Some of my reasons are the same ones that bolster the advice to eat more fruits and vegetables that supply carotene. Like these plant foods rich in vitamin A, foods rich in vitamin C are also low in saturated fat and sodium.
What’s more, fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin C are cholesterol-free. And they provide small to moderate amounts of dietary fiber. Eaten in large amounts, the fiber in these fruits and vegetables helps to lower blood cholesterol levels.
There is more. Vitamin C is rarely recognized for its role in iron absorption. Yet we have known for many years that vitamin C helps the body to absorb iron.
Categories: Cancer, NUTRITION Tags: Cancer, cancer prevention, carotene, dietary fiber, heart disease, iron, iron absorption, saturated fat, scurvy, sodium, vitamin C
