Foods as Medicines

"Don't bother looking in the history books for what has slaughtered the most Americans. Look instead at your dinner table." Saul ( www.doctoryourself.com )
"And we have made of ourselves living cesspools, and driven doctors to invent names for our diseases." Plato
Introduction

Not only can foods be medicines, but certain foods can be harmful. The harmful foods need to be avoided.

Dairy products need to be avoided by people with lactose intolerance. This is a serious food allergy. Also avoid burnt meats, which may contain carcinogens.

The best foods are fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. They contain ingredients which fight against cancer and heart disease.

Potassium fights against hypertension. Eat foods such as bananas, which are high in water, high in potassium, low in calories, low in sodium, and have vitamin C.

Potassium

Information on potassium can be obtained at Ref. 1. Unfortunately some foods high in potassium are also high in sodium. Avoid these foods including seaweed. A lot of useful information on potassium and sodium is available for free on the Heart Failure Society of America website (2). Go to the Education Modules. If your potassium level is too high, then you don't want to eat foods high in potassium. However, most people are not in that situation.

Foods high in potassium (2) include the following:

avocados, bananas, broccoli, cantalope, dried fruits (prunes, dates, raisins), nuts, oranges and other citrus fruits, potatoes and sweet potatoes, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, whole grains, winter squash

These same foods are very healthy. They are low in sodium. They have good fiber. Soluble fiber can get rid of cholesterol. These foods are all vegan, meaning that they have no cholesterol. Spinach is a green, leafy vegetable which contains folic acid. Folic acid is considered to fight cancer.

Tomatoes have lycopene, which is considered to fight prostate cancer.

Vitamin C Against Cancer

A number of vitamins, carotenoids, and flavonoids are considered to fight against cancer. However, the most publicity has gone to vitamin C. Vitamin C is favored by Dr. Saul (3). It was favored by the late Dr. Pauling and the late Dr. Stone. Lycopene is a red carotenoid. There is also a theory that the mineral selenium fights cancer. All of these theories may be correct.

Cancer is a cluster of different diseases. One nutrient might be good against certain types of cancers. The whole situation is extremely complex. There is a strong theory that sugar feeds tumors. If you have cancer, avoid sugar. The Prostate Cancer Foundation (4) has reported this."In early laboratory models of prostate cancer, pomegranate supplements were demonstrated to delay cancer progression, reduce cell growth, increase cell death and reduce PSA in prostate cancer cell lines and xenografts." Prostate Cancer Foundation (4)
Vitamin C is considered to strenghten the immunes system as well as do other good things. Potatoes contain vitamin C, but potatoes are cooked, which can destroy the vitamin C as well as flavonoids. The good thing about potatoes is that they are high in potassium, which is good for your blood pressure.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant. Antioxidants are considered to fight against cancer and also to do other good things. They are consided to be good for the eyes (5).
A booklet called "Nutrition, Exercise, and Prostate Cancer" is free. It is published by the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Go to their website (4) and order one. They favor exercise as well as diet. I am in favor of this, but I also favor the use of supplements.
Foods High in Vitamin C
The same foods that are high in vitamin C are also high in flavonoids, which help vitamin C. Foods high in vitamin C are shown below (1):

Acerola fruit, aloe vera juice, black currant, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower, citrus fruits, citrus fruits, collards, currants, grapefruit, guava, kale, lemons, mango, oranges, papayas, parsley, potatoes, rose hips, spinach, strawberries, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, tangerines, tomatoes, watercress. Fermentation of sorbitol.
Fish Oil
A lot of claims have been made for fish oil. One claim is that it treats glaucoma. Another is that it fights against macular degeneration. Since there is no risk with fish oil and it is cheap, why not give it a try?

Conclusions
The approaches given here are cheaper and safer than drugs. However, this does not mean that you can't take any drugs in addition to the healthy foods. I take simvastatin to keep my cholesterol down. I also eat a vegan diet to keep my cholesterol down. My cholesterol is very good now, but it used to be high. The vegan diet has no cholesterol and no saturated fats.
However, fish is not on the vegan diet. Fish can have cholesterol, but the fats in cold-water fish are considered very healthy by Dr. Weil (5).

References

1. www.orthomolecular.org .

2. www. hfsa.org .

3. www.doctoryourself.com .

4. www.pcf.org .

5. www.drweil.com .