Mom always said, "Eat your fruits and vegetables". 

The powerful life giving nutrients that give fruits and vegetables their colors also provides 'medicine of Mother Nature.'  The same phytonutrients that help keep plants healthy keep our bodies healthy.

Even though there are anticancer phytonutrients in all plant foods, those found in fruits and vegetables seem to be the most powerful. It's not only what fruits and vegetables contain that make them effective cancer-fighters, but it's also what they don't contain-saturated fats and chemical pollutants frequently found in animal foods.     

Eat the real thing. Get your energy from foods, not just from pills. Even reputable supplements makers offer this grandmotherly advice. Eating a whole tomato is better than popping a pill that contains a chemical isolated from a tomato. By eating a few florets of broccoli you're not only getting the beta carotene you could get in a pill, but you're probably also getting the health benefits of hundreds or thousands of other phytonutrients that don't even have names yet. And, of course, you're getting vitamin C, fiber, and calcium, too.

Eat variety. Because each class of phytonutrients affects cellular well-being in different ways, the best way to take full advantage of the best medicine nature has to offer is to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. One phytonutrient may bind a carcinogen to keep it from latching onto a cell; another may whisk carcinogens out of the cells; still another may nutralize free radicals before they are allowed to roam free in the body; and others stimulate the body's own enzymes to break up potential cancer-causing chemicals.

The best known phytonutrients are carotenoids, flavonoids, and isoflavones and xanthones.  Click here for more info on Xanthones.       

Carotenoids (alpha carotene, beta carotene, and lutin): yellow-orange fruits and vegetables: carrots, cantaloupe, papaya, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, dried apricots, asparagus, kale, green leafy vegetables, peppers Lycopene tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato juice, guava, pink grapefruit, watermelon Beta cryptozanthin tangerines, papaya, oranges, peaches, mangoes, nectarines.

Isoflavones: legumes (beans, peas, lentils), soy products Allicin garlic, onions Genistein soy products (e.g., tofu)

Polyphenols:  green tea, Anthocyanins wild blueberries, bilberries, black berries, Limonoids citrus fruits Sterols cruciferous vegetables, cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, soy foods, eggplant, whole grains, tomatoes, Capsaicin chili peppers, Elegiac acid, Strawberries, Lignans, nuts and seeds.

Xanthones:  Mangosteen fruit,  Saint John's Wort

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, mustard greens, kale, and cauliflower.   The phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli and cauliflower) are most protective against colon cancer; the phytos in garlic are most protective against stomach cancer; those in tomatoes fight against prostate cancer; and those in cruciferous and dark, green, leafy vegetables reduce the risk of breast cancer. For optimal health, eat some of all of these foods regularly.