Eating the right foods boosts your immunity

Eating the right foods boosts your immunity — particularly plants that are intensely flavored (herbs and spices) and/or intensely colored.

These plant foods are loaded with antioxidants and other immune-boosting micronutrients.

VEGETABLES

• Eat the colors of the rainbow. Examples are green leafy vegetables of any kind (such as spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, chard, arugula), red cabbage, red onions, peppers, beets, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and eggplant.

• Cruciferous vegetables include cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, bok choy, radishes, arugula, watercress, mustard greens, collard greens and turnip greens. They are very healthful and contain a strong cancer-fighting substance that is destroyed by cooking. (So include some raw cruciferous vegetables in your salads or before eating cooked ones).

• Legumes: beans, lentils, chick peas and split peas.

• Allium family of vegetables, which includes onions, garlic, shallots, leeks and chives.

MUSHROOMS

They are a fungus rather than a vegetable, and the “intense color and/or flavor rule” doesn’t apply. Eating them a few times a week boosts your immunity.

HERBS AND SPICES

There are too many to mention here, but use them to add flavor to your meals. Turmeric, which is both intensely flavored and intensely colored, is the “king of health-promoting spices.” Adding black pepper to turmeric increases the effectiveness by 1,000 times.

FRESH (BUT NOT DRIED) FRUIT

Again, intense color is important: oranges, pink grapefruit, mangoes, papaya, watermelon, kiwi fruit, dark grapes, dark plums, berries. Bananas, while not unhealthy, are a white fruit, and overrated as a health food.

WHOLE (UNPROCESSED) GRAINS

Intense color applies to grains as well, so the most healthful rice is black (“forbidden”) rice, next best red rice, followed by brown rice. Avoid white rice because it’s refined and has minimal nutrients.

When buying grain-based foods such as tortillas, watch for added sodium and sugar (4 grams = 1 teaspoonful). Check the food label and make sure the total carb:fiber ratio is 5:1 or less (multiply the fiber number by 5, and if the result is same or greater than the number for total carbs, that product has lots of healthy fiber and whole grains).

Dr. Fuhrman says “the whiter your bread, the sooner you’re dead.”

Advice for cancer prevention

The best advice for cancer prevention is to do what your mom always told you: Eat your fruit and vegetables, get some exercise and keep that weight in a healthful range, says Stephen Hursting, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Here are recommendations from nutrition experts for a balanced diet that will serve you well for avoiding a variety of diseases.

Eat lots of leafy, colourful fruit and vegetables. They’re full of antioxidants — substances that help repair cell damage and may help prevent some kinds of cancer. These foods also have anti-inflammatory components that might play a role in fighting cancer.

Red, orange and yellow pigments of an antioxidant class called carotenoids are thought to be particularly important and are found in foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes and peppers. Tomatoes have shown some benefits protecting against prostate cancer, says Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Choose whole grains. These fibre-rich foods, such as brown rice and bulgur, are essential for a healthy gut and healthy gut bacteria. Gut bacteria and the digestive tract play an important role in the immune system, which may be implicated in some cancers, says Marian Neuhouser of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Whole-grain foods will help you feel full and avoid overeating, which can lead to excess weight and obesity and related cancers.

Opt for lean protein. Find protein in foods such as nuts or beans and in fish or lean meats. Limit red meats. Avoid processed meats. The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends aiming for a plate filled one-third or less with animal protein, two-thirds or more with fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

Use unsaturated vegetable oils for food prep and cooking. While not identified as relating to cancer, these are good for fighting heart disease and diabetes, Willett says.

Eat low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

Limit alcohol. Whereas, alcohol is thought to have some small positive effect against heart disease, the same is not true for cancer. Experts recommend moderation.

Be mindful of your pattern of eating over time. And be aware of the size of your plate and portions.

Eat wisely away from home, too. When dining out, remember moderation — especially because most Americans now eat out almost half the time, Neuhouser says.

Limit empty calories. Consider sugary sodas or sports drinks on par with cupcakes. You wouldn’t eat a cupcake three times a day, every day or even three times a week, Neuhouser says. Empty calories point you toward overweight and obesity and related diseases including cancers.

A healthy diet does help control infections and associated complications

Cancer is the second deadliest disease in the world and accounted for 1 out of every 6 deaths in 2018. The common perception of this disease is that it is mostly caused by smoking tobacco and consumption of alcohol. However, there is a need to raise awareness that one of the top five causes of cancer is nutrition – more specifically, an unhealthy diet. The growing reliance on technology and lack of physical activity has pushed people towards sedentary lifestyles and made them ignore natural foods that contain immunity-boosting nutrients — some of which help fight conditions like cancer.
For instance, consuming the right diet can reduce a person’s risk of acquiring cancer, especially some of the complex ones such as that of the brain. The brain is an intricate and important, yet highly vulnerable organ in the human body. The spongy brain tissues control all our movements and cognitive abilities like speech, thought and emotions. The growth of a cancerous cell can impact healthy brain tissues and cause cancer/tumour over time. However, it is possible to prevent this risk by eating healthy food and a balanced diet right from an early age. Foods that are rich in antioxidants and other vital nutrients can boost the immune system and brain function as well.

The gastrointestinal tract is considered our second brain has given that it has more than 500 million neurons. The gut is also teeming with about 300 to 600 species of different bacteria that perform a whole host of beneficial functions, including boosting the immune system, aiding in metabolism and digestion, and helping in neurotransmission and signalling in the brain. Any significant alterations in the type or number of these bacterial colonies may lead to inflammation in the body – a process that can contribute to many diseases, including cancer.

While there is no specific food item that can be called the best in preventing cancer, a healthy diet does help control infections and associated complications. In fact, research suggests that some foods help in blocking cancerous blood vessels in the body through the process of anti-angiogenesis. A major boost to immunity against cancer is provided by green leafy vegetables, turmeric, ginger, basil, thyme, etc. All of these have strong cancer-fighting abilities. They also provide the brain with antioxidants which limit cell damage by hunting down free radicals. Further, they bring down inflammation and prevent cancer.

According to an International Study by the National Cancer Institute, those who eat six servings of fruits and vegetables per 1,000 calories have a 29% decreased risk relative to those who have 1.5 servings. In the study, researchers found that those who consumed the most fruits and vegetables had the lowest risk for head and neck cancers. Vegetables appeared to offer more cancer prevention than fruits alone.

Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes and carrots, are known to be highly effective in reducing cancer risk. Similarly, citrus fruits contain antioxidants and phytochemicals that can avert the disease. Other foods one can consume include spices like cinnamon and turmeric beans, legumes, nuts, olive oil, and garlic. In people who already have the disease, a balanced diet can augment the treatment efforts.

In conclusion
Given the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer in India, there is a need to focus on harm reduction strategies. This is a public health strategy, which aims to mitigate the dangers or harms associated with an action or condition. An example would be switching to a healthy diet and opting for alternative ways of consuming or cooking food. The emphasis here is on reducing the negative outcomes of an unhealthy diet. The adage “you are what you eat” cannot, therefore, be truer. Eating healthy can not only ward off cancer but also other potentially debilitating conditions.