7 Cancer Busting Foods Sitting in Your Fridge Right Now

San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival

Photo Credit: Image by Fast Forward Event Productions via Flickr

This story first appeared on EcoSalon.

It seems like every day we’re bombarded with marketing for some exotic "superfood" with seemingly magical qualities that supposedly justify an outrageous price tag. But while the benefits of some hysterically hyped foods are still unconfirmed, other fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and beverages sitting in your fridge right now get little fanfare despite the fact that they’re truly super. Red wine, oats, broccoli, soybeans, carrots, yogurt and walnuts are just a few examples of ‘bioactive’ foods, which go beyond mere calories and nutrients, to actually interact with our bodies in beneficial ways.

These seven bioactive foods can help you lose weight, reduce blood pressure, eliminate potential carcinogens from the body and even actively fight cancer cells. Want to pack all of these nutritional powerhouses into one meal? Pour yourself a glass of red wine and whip up some vegetable tofu stir-fry, then indulge in some sweet yet ultra-healthy apple walnut muesli with yogurt.

Red Wine

Not that you really needed an excuse to break open that bottle of organic California Pinot Noir, but the knowledge that red wine really is good for your health certainly doesn’t hurt. Compounds in red wine lower risk of certain cancers and heart disease, reduce blood pressure, relieve constipation and can even be helpful in weight loss.

A 2009 study on the bioactive compounds in red wine found that regularly imbibing low to moderate quantities may prevent damage to cells thanks to a complex cocktail of flavonols, anthocyanins, phenolic acids and the star of the show, reservatrol.

"The breadth of benefits is remarkable -- cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity, and many more," says Biomedical Sciences professor and study author Lindsay Brown.

Broccoli

Back when you were a wee vegetable-hater who pushed spinach around on your plate, your mama really wasn’t trying to punish you by telling you to eat your greens. As it turns out, that’s one piece of parental advice that is backed up by solid science. Sure, leafy green vegetables are full of vitamins and fiber – but they also contain those awesome bioactive compounds that make otherwise ordinary foods super.

Green vegetables -- particularly cruciferous vegetables like broccoli -- contain phytochemicals called glucosinolates that our bodies convert into bioactive substances called isothiocyanates. These ‘ITCs’ are a triple threat against cancer: they stop certain cancer-promoting enzymes, help eliminate some potential carcinogens from the body and induce the death of damaged cells that could otherwise turn cancerous, especially in the digestive tract.

Soybeans

Soy: friend or foe? There’s a lot of conflicting information out there. It all started when the phytoestrogens in soy were found in some studies to prevent breast cancer -- and then other studies found that they could actually contribute to cancer risk. The jury’s still out, but according to the latest research, moderation is the key.

There’s much more to soy than just phytoestrogen. This powerful little bean can lower bad cholesterol, reduce risk of heart disease, stabilize blood sugars, heal stomach ulcers and help you gain muscle. All those saponins, phytic acids, phytosterols, trypsin inhibitors, and peptides can be a big boon to your health when eaten in small quantities as part of a balanced, diverse, healthy diet.

Carrots

Scientists have been telling us for years that if we want to prevent cancer, carrots should be on the menu. But why? It took years of research to identify the compounds in these root vegetables that prevent the growth of tumors, but a natural pesticide and fungicide called falcarinol was finally singled out. Researcher Dr. Kirsten Brandt recommends that we all eat at least one small carrot every day.