Health Farm

Just like healthy cells, cancer cells require oxygen and nutrients to grow and prosper. Turns out a good chunk of the population lives with microscopic cancers, but without a blood supply, most of these cancers will never become dangerous. They are cancer without disease.

Trouble is, some cancers transmit signals, called angiogenic factors, triggering blood vessel growth and, in turn, the formation of hundreds of new capillaries to deliver nutrients and oxygen to feed cancer.

Drug makers have developed antiangiogenic drug treatments to stop cancer tumours from growing their own blood vessels, slowing the growth of certain cancers and, in some cases, even shrinking tumours. But success on this front is varied, with recent studies suggesting that so-called angiogenesis inhibitors are compromised by their inability to effectively penetrate tumour tissue, where the smallest blood vessels in a tumour are located.

Fighting cancer with anti-angiogenic foods

Just as calorie restriction is a defence mechanism against cancer, eating the right foods helps, too. The list of foods containing anti-angiogenic properties (foods that inhibit blood vessel growth) is long and, thankfully, quite tasty, including an abundance of fruits, herbs, vegetables, and spices, such as berries, grapes, soybeans, garlic, and parsley.

Bon Appetit.