To close out Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hospitality Health ER wants to leave you with some food for thought—and your body. That’s because what you eat has a direct impact on your health. Cutting out processed meats, like hotdogs and cold cuts, is a huge start. But you also want to make sure you eat about five to nine servings a day of cancer-fighting foods—plant-based foods that are high in phytonutrients and other compounds. Cancer studies have proven that this type of diet significantly reduces your risk of cancer.
The great thing about most of these foods is that it is best to eat them raw. That means less prep time in the kitchen.
Eat These Breast Cancer-Fighting Foods
Broccoli – This veggie contains a powerful compound that flushes out cancerous toxins, ignites your body’s protective enzymes, and fights the cells that cause tumors to grow. You can always add it to pasta, rice, and other dishes to keep it interesting.
Walnuts – These potent nuts contain molecules, called phytoserols, which have proven to block estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells. This slows down the growth of cancerous cells. You can eat them raw as a snack or add them to your oatmeal or waffles.
Garlic – This one is tough to eat raw, but cooking it will remove most of the allicin which is the cancer-fighting phytonutrient your body needs. Sneak some raw garlic into salsas, dressings, and smoothies.
Beans – Dried beans were proven to lower breast cancer rates by 28 percent in rats. That’s because black beans, white beans, and many other dried beans are high in antioxidants. You may want to go for the colored beans, which have two to three times greater antioxidant capacity than white beans.