Five portions of fruit and vegetables a day significantly reduces your risk of cancer. It really is as simple as that.

 If we are what we eat, then in the Western world our diet has doomed us. Everything tasty seems to make you obese before it gives you diabetes, heart disease or cancer.

 In the fight against cancer, eating a healthy and balanced diet is important for people who are ill with the disease, as well as from those who want to protect themselves against it.

 Apart from losing weight and maintaining it within the recommended range the most important thing that one would recommend is to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. That is because fruit and vegetables have been shown to be protective against cancers.

 Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and colon principally, and the oesophagus),
and lung cancer as well, all have been shown to be reduced by a high intake of fruit and vegetables.

 5 Portions of these foods a day help fight cancer:

 A diet rich in fruit and vegetables provides the body with phytochemicals, with could have an effect in reducing your chances of cancer. There are several groups of these plant chemicals:

• Antioxidants - work by removing harmful free radicals from the body. They are found in vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.
• Lycopene - causes the red color in tomatoes, red peppers and red grapefruit, it protects against prostate and lung cancer specifically.
• Carotenoids - cause the orange color in many fruits and vegetables, like carrots and apricots.
• Nthocyanins - are found in grapes, aubergines and red cabbage.
• Sulfides - are found in garlic and onions.
• Lutein and zeaxanthin - found in spinach.
• Polyphenols - found in the skin and seeds of grapes, so red wine is a good source of this antioxidant. Red wine also contains a type of polyphenol called resveratrol, also found in raspberries, which has been shown to inhibit cancer cells growth.

 Try to follow the "red, amber, green" rule: try to eat fruits and vegetables that are different colors, like beets, carrots and spinach.