Eating a balanced diet and preparing your food in the correct way may be your best defense against developing cancer, according to top cancer researchers Professor Attilio Giacosa and Professor Jaak Janssens. In two interviews published on the LWWPartnerships website (www.lwwpartnerships.com) this month, Prof Giacosa explains how a preventative diet boosts the body's natural defenses, while Prof Janssens discusses the latest developments in breast cancer prevention.
Prof Giacosa, head of the Department of Gastroenterology at Policlinico di Monza in Italy, is one of the most vocal supporters of the "preventative diet," advocating the consumption of fruit and vegetables as one of the best means of cancer prevention. He explains that the benefit of fruit and vegetables has been proven "through epidemiological data and observations in population groups with cancer that were compared to age and sex matched groups without cancer."
"If we look at the diet and eating habits of both groups," Prof Giacosa explains, "case-control studies have irrefutably demonstrated a protective role of fruits and vegetables against many types of cancer in diverse social, environmental, geographic situations, especially for tumours of the lung, oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach, and intestine."
Oranges, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are among some of the most beneficial foods. But it's not only what we eat, but how we eat it, that optimizes the cancer-preventing qualities of fruit and vegetables.
"The optimal approach [is] to consume vegetables grown within zero kilometers [of where you live], in the right season," he says, emphasizing that the way in which we prepare our food is also important. "Using proper tools like sharp knives [reduces] the waste of crucial essences," he explains, adding that "it's really important to promote microwaved and steamed cooking, two great techniques."
Prof Giacosa also advocates the consumption of a glass or two of wine every day, as it contains "all the active principals of fruit, especially polyphenols - a component of great significance because even the very colour of wine, the colour red or ruby, the flavours, the fragrances, are tied to specific compounds linked to polyphenols, themselves extremely beneficial to our organism." Red wine is said to be more beneficial than white, though Prof Giacosa warns that, as with any food, moderating your consumption is key to reaping the benefits.