A Healthy You: Fight Cancer with Phytochemicals

Cindy Gates, RD,LDPhytochemicals is just a fancy name for plant chemicals. We all know we need to eat more fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains to help prevent cancer, but phytochemicals may help prevent tumors in three ways.They have antioxidant properties. They help turn on carcinogen detoxifying enzymes. They help inhibit tumor cell proliferation. There are only 13 vitamins and 13 minerals but there are over 10,000 phytochemicals. Many have probably heard of the cancer fighting properties which are found in lycopene in tomato products or isoflavones found in soy products.The first job of phytochemicals is to protect the plants against fungus and bacteria, insects, and predators. So all plants contain a number of phytochemical compounds in variable amounts. Phytochemicals can be broken down into four principal groups: polyphenols, terpenes, sulfur and saponins. Or easier to recognize: polyphenols are found in green tea, red wine, onions, and apples, while terpenes are found in citrus, sulfur is garlic and cabbage, and saponins are legumes.Polyphenols is the largest class of phytochemicals found in nature and the common one Dr. Oz frequently talks about. We often hear that red grapes and green tea are great cancer fighters and it is partly because of the polyphenols. A single tomato or orange contains hundreds or possibly even thousands of phytochemicals. As with everything with a healthy diet, variety is good since we want to get a wide variety of these plant fighters.Besides plants being fat free, low in calories, high in vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, they are all excellent sources of phytochemicals. So try some ellagic acids found in raspberries and indoles found in broccoli.Take home message- eat a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans- favor brightly colored or strongly flavored fruits and vegetables- stick to food sources, phytochemicals in supplement form may not be as easily absorbedA Healthy You is a regular column about nutrition, healthy living and cancer care. It is written by Cindy Gates, RD and LD and the Cancer Center’s Oncology dietitian, herbalist and Certified Wellness Coach.