rl2

I have read things by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. who points to studies that children who consume larger amounts of fruits and vegetables growing up have less cancer as adults, and of course we have all read that cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, etc.) have properties which have anticancer effects. He has argued that cancer rates, including breast cancer rates, could be diminished if we changed the eating habits of our population, particularly in childhood, when the cells (breast cells) are developing and most subject to risk. I do believe (having read quite a bit on the subject) that the industrialized food process in this country in which we consume animal products from animals that are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones is not healthy (despite the food industry telling us to drink the milk, eat the cheese, eat the meat, etc. because it is healthy). It is hard to change eating habits as an adult, but Dean Ornish's studies on prostate cancer show that low fat vegetarian diets have benefits in terms of lowering the risk of recurrence, etc. When I eat dairy products, I try to buy organic, hormone free products; while it is more expensive, I try to buy cheese from small producers who claim not to use those things (either from small producers in the US or Europe) and meat, well, same thing (try to find grass fed beef if I eat it at all, which I am even now finding I have no interest in), and if I can't, I can't quite bring myself to buy the packaged stuff in the grocery store anymore and skip it. Recently there was an article about how fish has become increasingly unhealthy, levels of mercury, etc. in all fish.

Its very hard to know what to do, it really is an individual decision, and not something doctors seem to know much of anything about. But certainly there can't be much wrong about eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and making that a greater part of one's diet.