Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN American Institute for Cancer Research
Weekly column for the week of October 03, 2005
Q: What?s the difference between a phytochemical and an antioxidant?
A: These two categories of naturally occurring substances in food overlap somewhat, but there are differences. While phytochemicals are found in plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts and seeds, antioxidants can be in both plant and animal foods. Antioxidants, which are vitamins, minerals, or phytochemicals, help prevent damage to cells from highly reactive, unstable molecules, known as 'free radicals.' Although most phytochemicals that have been discovered work as antioxidants to promote good health, many of them serve additional functions. Some can increase the tendency of cancer cells to self-destruct. Others may increase the production of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens before they have a chance to damage DNA and begin the cancer process. They may also block the development of new blood vessels that enable cancer to grow and spread. Researchers have learned that we need to include a wide variety of plant foods in our meals and snacks to get a good supply of antioxidants and a full spectrum of health-protective phytochemicals in our bodies because these substances perform so many different functions. Besides preventing cancer, the antioxidants and phytochemicals in a balanced plant-based diet help ward off heart disease, age-related eye damage and other chronic diseases.
Q: Is there any hereditary link to lung cancer?
A: Tobacco is without question the major cause of lung cancer. But strong evidence indicates that there is at least one susceptibility gene for lung cancer. While the risk of lung cancer rises for most people with their exposure to tobacco, for people with this gene, any amount of smoking drastically increases their cancer risk. A person?s diet may also influence how one of these possible cancer genes responds to tobacco exposure. In one study, smokers with a particular form of an influential gene who ate a diet high in vegetables and fruits and low in animal fat were 54 to 84 percent less likely to develop lung cancer than smokers with the same form of the gene who had a less healthy diet. No matter how good your diet is, however, you should avoid tobacco. Continuing research will, hopefully, help us understand how a person?s genes and diet interact with various hazards like tobacco, so we can make even more progress against this devastating disease.
Q: Is basmati rice a whole grain?
A: Basmati rice is a popular rice, well known for its fine texture and nut-like flavor and aroma. While brown basmati rice (the whole-grain form) is available in some stores, the basmati rice in most grocery stores is a refined grain. Since whole grains offer so much more in the way of fiber, vitamins, minerals and natural phytochemicals than refined grains to reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease, whole-grain basmati rice is worth searching for.
Reprinted with permission from the American Institute for Cancer Research
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