No surprise. Your Mom was right. You need to eat your veggies. Another study showing that eating vegetables has a tremendous benefit to health was just released. This one a large epidemiological study looking at the incidence of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Interestingly, vegetable consumption was inversely associated with BPH whereas fruit intake was not. However, consumption of fruit rich in ß-carotene , lutein , or vitamin C was inversely related to BPH.

Surprsingly a high vitamin C supplementation increased the risk of BPH, whereas eating foods high in vitamin C did not. Why might that be? Read the rest of this entry

In 2004 I wrote an unpublished meta-analysis paper investigating the potential protective mechanism of soy phytoestrogens and breast cancer. The conclusion was that “…the consumption of properly prepared fermented soy foods (miso, natto, tempeh) during adolescence appears to provide a chemoprotective effect later in life. Read the rest of this entry

The well known cruciferous vegetables have been shown to reduce DNA damage in a plethora of studies. These are the cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, kale, collards and all those other vegetables that many folks with strong tastes buds tend to dislike. A recent research study looked at whether a lesser known cruciferous vegetable, watercress, also reduces DNA damage. What do you think?

Of course it did! Watercress has a particularly high content of glucosinolates and other potential anticancer phytochemicals including carotentoids. Their study showed that watercress can protect cells against DNA damage.

The watercress is abundent around here in the spring and fall so add some to your salads for the extra antioxidant protection.

In Health,
George Mandler LicAc