Today is World Cancer Day: I AM AND I WILL

In the last century, people have forgotten that their food, thoughts and actions have a direct relation to health. Nutrition therefore plays an important role in our well-being. What we put into our body does matter and whether we feel at ease or diseased is important. So get up and say "I Am and I Will" make personal commitments for a better future as together we can make a difference!

Today is World Cancer Day so let me share with you some knowledge that I have gained over the years on nutritional immunology.

A quick science snippet on how cancer is formed. A byproduct of breathing is free radicals in the body. These get attached to healthy cells and may cause cancer. Carcinogens are also caused due to extraneous factors such as refined and processed foods like any sugar, pollution, high temperature cooking, reused oils, chemicals, pesticides. Avoid these like the plague.

Luckily, Mother Nature provides an antidote - antioxidants found abundantly in the plant kingdom.

I am constantly adding on natural sources of the most powerful antioxidants to win the fight against cancer. These are Beta-carotene, Lycopene, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Selenium, Allium and cruciferous group of vegetables. Additionally, my experience of 21 years has led me to add on the wonderful herbs and spices present in the Indian diet that too aid. This is one of the reasons that Indians have a lower rate of cancer when compared to westerners.

Let me run you through the local Indian foods that have the highest antioxidant content:

Beta-carotene: Pumpkin, Coriander

Lycopene: Cooked Tomatoes

Vitamin C: Amla, Guava, Lemon

Vitamin E and Selenium: Barley (Jav), Brown rice

Allium: Onion, Garlic

Cruciferous vegetables: Cabbage, Cauliflower, Mustard Leaves

Indian spice box: which let me tell you are your natural medicines for fighting cancer. Turmeric helps fight all cancers. Combine that with black pepper and cow's ghee to make its potency even higher. Ginger, Cumin, Fenugreek, Cloves, Tulsi, Cinnamon and Cardamom to name a few have a wide range of health-promoting phytochemicals which help protect you against cancer.

The word 'cancer' overwhelms. For women, hope, faith, positive attitude and good nutrition is the best way to prevent, retard and reverse cancer. Over the years of working with cancer patients I realized all bodies have cancer cells and a nutrient malnourished woman's body generates even more cancer cells. A well-nourished woman is the key to nip cancer. There is no one solitary ingredient to triumph over but a synergy of different antioxidants available from different food groups.

Add these wonderful foods into your daily diets and reduce the risk or progression of cancer and overall boost health and build your family and your own resistance to diseases.