The benefits of a complete diet with many vitamin rich fruits and the vegetables are multiple. Not only will you feel better, but these foods it could also go a long way toward keeping you healthy as you age.
New magazine research. Frontiers in Nutrition shows that consuming more of a particular vitamin may reduce the risk of many types of cancer and may even reduce the chance of develop any type of cancer in general.
The researchers found that vitamin C was associated with a lower risk of 11 different types of the disease: cancers of the bladder, breast, endometrium, esophagus, stomach, lung, pancreas, prostate and kidney cells, as well as cervical tumors and gliomas. In addition, vitamin C intake was also associated with a lower overall incidence of cancer. The study analyzed the results of 3,562 articles that examined the links between intake of the vitamin and the incidence of a variety of cancers.
Related: The #1 Best Juice to Drink Every Day, Science Says
In an interview with Eat this, not that!registered dietitian and nutritionist Gail Mayer, MS, RD, CDNnotes that in many of the studies included in this analysis, it’s unclear how the study participants got their vitamin C: from food or from supplements.
“Vitamin and mineral supplements often don’t provide the same benefits that we get when we consume those nutrients as part of a whole food,” Mayer says. “Vitamin C comes from fruits and vegetables, which also contain fiber and countless other vitamins. , minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals that benefit our health in many ways.
Mayer says that supplements are helpful in a variety of ways, but “nothing can replicate the endless abundance of phenomenal nutrition found in whole, colorful, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.”
When it comes to lowering your risk of cancer, the benefits of taking a more holistic approach to your diet are also worth noting, he says. Dr. Cedrina Calder, MD, a member of Eat this, not that!Medical Review Board of .
“The best way to reduce cancer risk is to eat a healthy diet that includes lean protein, whole grains, plenty of vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables), fruits, and limiting processed foods,” suggests Dr. Calder.
For more information on the positive effects of vitamin C, see What Taking Vitamin C Every Day Does To Your Body.
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