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Page 60
| Wild berries are a great source of many important nutrients, including a wide range of flavonoids and vitamin C. A few common wild berries include blackberry, black raspberry, thimbleberry, salmon berry, wild strawberry, huckleberry, cranberry, blueberry, and wild grape. |
| Cranberries are a good source of vitamin C, potassium, and many micronutrients as well as a number of organic acids, including benzoic acid, malic acid, quinic acid, and citric acid. Cranberry juice can prevent and treat urinary tract infections as well as inhibit the growth of several types of yeast. The anticancer effects of cranberries are similar to many other natural food phytonutrients; they work via the liver and its detoxifying enzyme systems. The most active anti-cancer constituent of cranberry is proanthocyanidin, which has an antioxidant capability ten times greater than that of vitamin E. 16 Never buy cranberry juice sweetened with sugar or corn syrup. It is very simple to make your own (see chapter 14). Get a guide book and learn about the areas of the country and seasons when various berries are available. In August, for instance, blackberries are everywhere in southern Oregon as well as in the Northeast. Go on a berry-picking hikeit's fun and a great way to begin to become more involved with nature. Berries are delicious and can be used in shakes, mixed with apple juice, or eaten as dessertsin pies, muffin, cobblers, or just plain with some yogurt. |
| Citrus fruits, including oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and lemons, all contain abundant amounts of various flavonoids and terpenoids. These are potent activators of Phase I and Phase II detoxifying enzyme systems that occur primarily in the liver and act as important cancer inhibitors. The flavonoids found in grapefruit include naringin (the most abundant), naringenin, apigenin, hesperetin, and kaempferol. Naringenin slows the growth of human breast cancer cells. In addition, two important flavones found in citrus fruit are nobiletin and tangeretin. Tangeretin, found in tangerines, strengthens E-caderin, which inhibits cell-endothelial adhesion, a very important step in the metastatic process of cancer. |
| When eating citrus fruit, don't throw away the peel because it contains a remarkable anticancer substance called D-limonene, a monoterpene that has been used in a clinical trial in England as a monotherapy for people with pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Small bits of organic orange peel go well in salads or can be added to any tea. When adding citrus peels to tea, be sure to put a cover or a saucer on top of the cup while the tea steeps so that the aromatic oils don't escape into the air. |
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