“You are what you eat.” You probably heard those words in health class when you were growing up. I remember thinking it was just a scare tactic grown-ups used to get kids to eat their veggies. With age comes wisdom, and I now realize those adults were right. Today’s post in the Breast Cancer Awareness Month series looks at cancer-fighting foods to add to your diet.

This post was originally published in October 2019 as “Foods that fight cancer”.

Eating well isn’t always easy

I readily admit that I don’t always eat as well as I should. I have a weakness for snack foods. Chocolate and potato chips are so hard for me to resist. I’d love to say that a cancer diagnosis turned me into a model of healthy eating…but that would be a big fat lie. It’s an ongoing struggle.

A few years ago, I found a great book called Foods That Fight Cancer, written by Richard Béliveau and Denis Gingras, two researchers from Montreal. In the book, they share a list of foods with cancer fighting properties. It’s a fascinating read and, while I won’t go into all the science here, rest assured that there is scientific evidence behind this list.

12 cancer-fighting foods to add to your diet

Béliveau and Gingras suggest adding these 12 cancer-fighting foods to your daily diet.

Vegetables from the cabbage family

This includes those green vegetables your mother always wanted you to eat: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale and collard greens. These cruciferous vegetables contain important amounts of many compounds that prevent carcinogenic substances from causing damage to cells.

Garlic

In addition to adding so much flavour to food, garlic has been shown to slow the development of cancer and prevent cancer cell growth.

For more information on the health benefits of garlic, see Improve your health by eating more garlic.

Onions

If you’re not a fan of garlic, never fear. It turns out onions have many of the same benefits.

Soy

Although there is evidence that soy can reduce the risk of some cancers, I caution my fellow breast-cancer warriors on this one. There is evidence of a link between soy and estrogen-dependent cancers. I recommend you speak to your doctor or do further research on this before increasing your consumption.

Turmeric

If you love Indian food, this will be good news to you. There are big differences in the rates of many cancers between India and North America. This may be attributable to the anti-cancer properties in turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin.

See 7 ways to sneak turmeric into your diet for more information on how to increase your turmeric consumption.

Green tea

Unlike black tea, green tea contains large amounts of catechins, compounds that boost many anti-cancer properties. Rates of breast cancer are significantly lower in countries with high green-tea consumption.

Japanese green teas are richer in anti-cancer compounds than Chinese teas. See Discover the magic of matcha for more information on how I increased my green tea consumption.

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Berries

Most berries are an abundant source of several kinds of polyphenols that possess anti-cancer potential. The berries with the highest antioxidant activity are: wild blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.

See this post for a delicious and nutritious breakfast berry smoothie recipe to help you get your daily dose of berries and other foods on this list.

Omega-3

You’ll find these fatty acids in oily fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring. If fish isn’t your thing, try plant-based sources like walnuts, flax or chia seeds, canola oil, soybeans and tofu.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are high in lycopene, an anti-cancer compound that is maximized by cooking them with vegetable fats like olive oil.

Citrus fruit

In addition to being an excellent source of vitamin C, citrus fruits supply the body with several cancer-preventing phytochemical compounds.

Red wine

Now we’re talking! I used to be a white wine drinker until I learned that the resveratrol in red wine may be responsible for the beneficial effects of red wine on the prevention of certain cancers. But Béliveau and Gingras recommend just one glass a day. Sorry folks!

Dark chocolate

I mentioned I love chocolate but, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to develop a taste for dark chocolate. It turns out chocolate containing at least 70% cocoa is an important source of cancer-fighting polyphenols. Two 20-gram squares a day is all you need. Maybe I can try adding it to my smoothie!

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For more information, I highly recommend you read Foods That Fight Cancer, which has been revised and updated since I read it. It’s eye-opening. Plus, Béliveau and Gingras have since published Cooking With Foods That Fight Cancer, a cookbook with recipes incorporating these ingredients. I’ll have to put it on my reading list.

It turns out those adults who tried to get us to eat our veggies were right all along. Do you have favourite recipes that include these ingredients? Share them with us below.