Vegetables are essential to keep cancer away

In a new study, Professor Johnson of the Institute of Food Research in Norwich discovered that wonder chemical allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC) targeted and wiped out colon tumour cells. The next time you exclude your greens from your food, think twice. For a chemical found in cooked Brussels sprouts and cabbage can destroy tumour cells.

AITC is present in swede, cauliflower, kale, mustard, horseradish and Japanese relation wasabi. It is produced when the vegetables from the brassica family are chopped and lightly cooked in a little water.

According to The Sun, Professor Ian Johnson, who led the British research team, said eating these veggies three times a week could slash cancer rates. They also protects against cancers of the stomach, pancreas, oesophagus and lung.

"It shows preventative dietary measures can be exploited the same as drugs. People are more aware of foods that may cause cancer than those that have a protective effect. We hope to show the importance of diet in the anti-cancer armoury, " he said, reports webindia123.com

According to guardian.co.uk two to three portions a week of such foods might offer protection against colon cancer, Ian Johnson, leader of a research team at Institute of Food Research told a press conference in London yesterday.

Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day is one of the key government health messages because of the protective anti-cancer effects but the evidence for this is largely based on studying cancer rates between different populations with different diets. Low consumption of fruit and veg is thought to double an individual's risk of developing colon cancer, which kills around 16,200 patients annually.

Prof Ian Johnson recommended eating two or three portions a week to guard against colon cancer.

'We are not talking about a therapy or a cure, we are talking about prevention,' he said. 'This is not a miracle cancer cure, but it does show that preventive dietary measures can be discovered and exploited

in the same way as drugs.' The findings could be used to develop vegetables containing high levels of cancer-protective chemicals, he added.

Other brassica vegetables include mustard, kale, horseradish, cauliflower, swede and turnips, inform thisislondon.co.uk