I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a while now! Here are 3 disease-fighting green foods to add to your diet now. The reason why I’m calling these foods out is that they aren’t often flagged as “super foods”, and they should be! You can find all 3 at your local grocery or health food store, so no worries here. And they are way less expensive than fancy “super” foods. So, learn about the benefits of these wonderful food right now!
Watercress
I was raised next a watercress farm, and so the peppery taste is nostalgic. Mum used to make sardine and watercress sandwiches – I knoooooowww, gross for most people, but she instinctively knew a thing or two about healthy foods. Moreover watercress sandwiches were a staple of the the working man’s diet in England in the nineteenth century, until were put off because it was considered a “poor man’s food”.
Watercress contains more vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, and more folate than bananas. This is really good news!!
Watercress may help prevent cancer, and also be helpful during cancer treatments. This is what Medical News Today says about this topic
“Studies have consistently shown that a compound in cruciferous vegetables known as 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) has protective effects against cancer, but a recent study shows there is also hope for using it as a shield to protect healthy tissues during cancer treatment.
In a study conducted at Georgetown University, rats were given a lethal dose of radiation. Some were left untreated, and others were treated with a daily injection of DIM for 2 weeks. All the untreated rats died, but over 50% of those receiving the DIM remained alive at the 30-day mark.
The same researchers did the experiment on mice and found similar results. They were able to determine that the DIM-treated mice had higher counts or red and white blood cells and blood platelets, which radiation therapy often diminishes.”
Eating high amounts of cruciferous vegetables has also been associated with a lower risk of lung and colon cancer. Studies have suggested that the sulfur-containing compounds (namely sulforaphane) that give cruciferous vegetables their bitter bite are also what give them their cancer-fighting power.
Sulforaphane is now being studied for its ability to delay the growth of cancer with early promising results associated with melanoma, esophageal, prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Researchers have found that sulforaphane can inhibit the enzyme histone deacetylase (HDAC), known to be involved in the progression of cancer cells. The ability to stop HDAC enzymes could make sulforaphane-containing foods a potentially powerful part of cancer treatment in the future.
Watercress also contains high amounts of chlorophyll, which may be effective at blocking the carcinogenic effects of heterocyclic amines generated when grilling foods at a high temperature.
In sum, Watercress has extraordinary health benefits, and can be considered as preventive medicine when eaten daily. It’s helpful for so many bodily systems: It repairs cellular damage, and it may prevent cardiovascular, cancer and thyroid imbalance. Watercress may also be beneficial to women in the post-menopausal years to improve cognition and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
Broccoli Sprouts
Broccoli sprouts are seriously the most healthy sprout out of all the sprouts because they contain Sulforaphane, a powerful protective compound against cancer. You should be able to find them in a good health food store. Or you can sprout your own. Here’s what my friend Max Goldberg says about them (and Max is a great guy who takes his research as seriously as I do. Thanks Max for finding these recources:
Sprouts have incredibly important health properties. They have very high levels of nutrients and enzymes, which provide the body valuable energy to detox and strengthen the immune system.
According to the Hippocrates Health Institute, the other key benefits of sprouts include:
– Increased vitality, energy and vigor from the large amount of enzymes.
– 10 to 100 times more enzymes than fruits and vegetables when eaten within the first seven days of being sprouted.
– Powerful antioxidants which help fight free radicals and aging.
– The minerals and nutrients are easily absorbed into the body.
While there are many excellent sprouts, there is a specific reason why I buy organic broccoli sprouts.
What broccoli sprouts offer is sulforaphane, a powerful anti-cancer compound that helps fight and reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Dr. Paul Talalay, Professor of Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University, found that 3-day old broccoli sprouts consistently contained 20 to 50 times the amount of chemoprotective compounds than those found in mature broccoli heads. And sulforaphane is the reason why.
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The President’s Cancel Panel report estimates that 41% (PDF File) of Americans will get cancer, and a large majority of those cases are environmental-related.
Even though I eat pretty much 100% organic, I am still exposed to many, many toxins by living in New York City and my mother passed away from cancer. Therefore, eating foods that have serious anti-cancer properties is a priority for me.
So, if I can get 20-50x times the cancer protection from eating broccoli sprouts rather than broccoli as a vegetable, I’ll take that any day of the week.
The next time you’re in the produce section of your market, take a look at organic broccoli sprouts.
Bok Choi
One of the most nutrient-dense plants in the world, Bok Choi is also known as Chinese Cabbage. It’s known as one of 3 top healthy foods in the world because it is so full of vitamins and minerals. Thusly, it is really good for bone health (tons of minerals including calcium). It’s also very high in vitamin K, which should be eaten to ward off osteoporosis. The only people who need to be careful of consuming too much vitamin K, are those on blood-thinning drugs.
It helps boost production of red blood cells, and is great for boosting your blood circulation.
It’s extremely high in Vitamin C, which helps to produce collagen in our skin, and boosts immunity.
Like all cruciferous veggies, bok choy has unique sulfur-containing compounds that may reduce the risk of breast, prostate, lung and digestive tract cancers. These substances may help the body eliminate carcinogens, prevent cells from turning into cancer or alter metabolism to stop the development of hormone-sensitive cancers. One cup of chopped bok choy has 38 milligrams of glucosinolates, but a daily recommendation hasn’t been established.
If you enjoyed this information, you might love to discover, What I Eat In A Day To Detox!
