Remember the old jingle that said you can "double your pleasure, double your fun" if you chew Double-Mint chewing gum because it combines two different mints? It turns out that combining ingredients may also be a good idea for warding off cancer.
Researchers have discovered that eating certain foods in combination may give more protection than eating either of the foods alone. While you may not be able to actually "double" your protection against all cancers, you may well be able to boost it by doubling up on certain foods, Karen Collins, who is the nutrition adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research, told the Bottom Line.
The components of one combination — chicken and broccoli — actually boost cancer-fighting power 13 times more than either alone. Use these six combos to boost your cancer protection:
1. Tomatoes and broccoli
This is a particularly potent combination, says Collins. Rats with tumors fed a diet of both tomatoes and broccoli had much smaller tumors than those fed either tomatoes or broccoli alone. The combination works so well because tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals that can damage DNA, while the compounds in broccoli help flush carcinogens from the body.
2. Apples, oranges, grapes, blueberries
If you like apples, oranges, grapes, and blueberries, combine them in a cancer-busting fruit salad. All three fruits are high in antioxidants, but a study from Cornell University found that a mixture of these four fruits has a synergistic effect that makes them much more effective against free radicals than any one of them alone. The study shows, according to the authors, that “no single antioxidant can replace the combination of natural phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables.”
3. Indian food
Indian recipes often combine the spice turmeric, which contains the cancer-fighting nutrient curcumin, and yellow onions, which contain yet another cancer-fighter called quercetin. Doubling up on these nutrients helps reduce colon polyps, which are growths that may turn cancerous. Other spices used in Indian food, such as garlic, saffron, cardamom, and ginger have also been shown to help prevent and fight cancer.
4. Salad with tomatoes
You can even lose weight while you help protect yourself against prostate cancer. How about a light salad that has tomato slices, dressed with a little vinegar and olive oil? The lycopene in the tomato is especially effective against prostate cancer, but it needs to be combined with a small amount of fat in order to be absorbed efficiently by the body. Olive oil is a perfect — and healthful — fat to combine with the tomato.
5. Chicken and broccoli
Broccoli, as well as cabbage and watercress, contains sulforaphane, a chemical shown to help prevent cancer. A deficiency in selenium has been linked to many kinds of cancer, and chicken is a good source of the trace mineral. Research at the Institute of Food Research in Britain found that sulforaphane and selenium together are terrific weapons against cancer; their cancer-fighting properties are up to 13 times more powerful than either alone. Getting sulforaphane and selenium in food instead of supplements is ideal since high doses of both can be toxic.
6. Salsa and avocado
Combining salsa with avocado boosts the absorption of lycopene found in tomatoes since the healthy fats in avocado help the body break down the cancer-fighting nutrients in the salsa. A study at Ohio State University found that absorption of lycopene and beta-carotene was increased 4.4 and 2.6 times higher respectively. In addition, research at UCLA found that lutein and lycopene reduced prostate cancer cell growth.
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