BEST food for Abs

Food for Abs

The Abs Diet stands apart from many other diet programs because it doesn't limit dieters to a restrictive list of foods. Instead, it encourages you to base meals and snacks on these 12 power foods that provide energy, muscle-building power and disease-fighting nutrients. To make the power 12 work for you, include two or three of these foods in every meal and one or more in every snack and eat a variety of foods from each group to keep your meals satisfying and interesting.

Almonds and Other Nuts
Nuts provide fiber and protein to give you energy and help build muscle, as well as heart-healthy monounsaturated fat for satisfying flavor. Choose nuts with their skins on, and avoid salted or smoked varieties.

Beans and Other Legumes
Low in fat and calories, legumes pack filling fiber and muscle-building protein into every bite while helping to regulate your digestive system, according to AbsDiet.com. To avoid unnecessary sugar and saturated fat, stay away from baked and refried beans.

Spinach and Other Greens
Green veggies like spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts and peppers are chock full of vitamins and minerals that lower blood pressure, prevent cancer and heart disease and build your bones. They also contain powerful antioxidants that fight off the free radicals that promote premature aging.

Dairy
Non-fat and reduced-fat milk, cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese offer up calcium and vitamins to ward off osteoporosis, high blood pressure and cancer. They also provide protein to help you fill up and stay full.

Instant Oatmeal
The fiber in oatmeal not only fights heart disease, colon cancer and diabetes, it fills you up and keeps you full to prevent sudden crashes in blood sugar that leave you starving. Opt for unflavored and unsweetened oatmeal.

Eggs
Protein and vitamin-packed eggs build muscle and burn fat while fueling you up for the day and keeping you full for hours.

Turkey and Other Lean Meats
Fish, poultry and lean cuts of beef provide an assortment of vitamins and nutrients as well as hefty amounts of protein that build muscle and boost your immune system.

Peanut Butter
Salty, rich and satisfying peanut butter contains protein, vitamins and healthy unsaturated fat to build muscle, burn fat and prevent heart disease. Choose natural, trans-fat free peanut butter with no added sugar.

Olive Oil
Olive oil adds flavor to dishes while providing heart-healthy fat that lowers blood pressure, fights heart disease, boosts your immune system and helps prevent cancer.

Whole-Grain Bread and Cereal
Whole grains provide energy to get you through your day, fiber to help you feel full and satisfied and an assortment of vitamins and nutrients to ward off heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure.

Extra-Protein Whey Powder
Protein powder is an easy way to sneak extra muscle-building and belly-filling protein into your diet without adding many calories.

Raspberries and Other Berries
Berries are a healthy and low-calorie way to add flavor to virtually any meal. They're packed with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants that work to prevent heart disease and cancer while improving your memory and your eyesight.

Food to flatten stomach

AMONDS : Not only are almonds packed full of skin-boosting vitamin E and protein, but their high fibre content stops you feeling hungry. Despite the fact they are relatively high in calories – almonds themselves do not contribute to belly fat. Swap out your usual mid-morning snack for a handful and see if it makes a difference.

LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES :The quickest way to flatten a stubborn stomach? Include a portion of leafy green vegetables at every meal. Kale, spinach and romaine lettuce are all extremely low in calories, full of fiber and offer several vital vitamins and minerals that help to ease water retention without causing the bloating and discomfort that some other vegetables might do.

OLIVE OIL: Mad but true – fat CAN help you to lose weight. Poly unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil can stave off hunger pains, while olive oil itself contains a naturally-occurring chemical called oleic acid, which aids the breakdown of excess fats in the body.

GREEN TEA: Addicted to your builder’s brew? It may be time for a change. Swopping to green tea has been found to assist the body in flushing out excess fluids, helping to calm bloating around the stomach caused by water retention. What’s more, it has been found to speed up the metabolism, which can aid the burning of excess fat in the body.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: If you’re looking for a quick fix body detox, try adding a few capfuls of apple cider vinegar to your meals. It acts as a digestive tonic, helping to slay off harmful bacteria in the intestines, flush out toxins and relieve water retention around the stomach. Try adding some to vegetables during cooking or as a dressing over salad.

TOMATOES: Delicious, full of antioxidants, AND they help you to lose weight? Tomatoes are definitely among our favorite fat-fighting foods. Tomatoes have been found to reduce inflammation and water retention in the body, as well as reversing leptin resistance. Leptin is a type of protein which helps to regulate metabolic rate and appetite, so our bodies rely on it to shed those extra pounds.





GARLIC: It might make your breath smell a bit, but each clove of garlic is packed not just with toxin-battling antioxidants, but also a naturally occurring chemical called allicin. When digested, allicin reacts with the blood to create a product capable of killing off many harmful bacteria and viruses that your body may be harbouring – including in the digestive tract. A healthy gut it essential for achieve a flatter tummy – try adding a few raw cloves to your food just before serving to get the most out of it.




MELON : Half a melon contains almost twice as much potassium as bananas do, making it a low-calorie, high-antioxidant alternative that can aid the removal of excess fluids around the body. Cantaloupe melon also offers twice the recommended dose of vitamin C too, which will help to support your immune system and keep your skin in tip-top condition.






CUCUMBER: Believe it or not, cucumbers are actually a member of the melon family, and therefore have very similar slimming properties. It is a natural diuretic, which means consuming it eases water retention and bloating in the body. Why not make a slimming watercress, bean, mint and cucumber salad for a powerful tummy flattening lunch?

GINGER:Ever wondered why your sushi comes with a side of ginger? The spicy root has been used for centuries as a digestive aid, because it possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea and antioxidant properties. It also contains an enzyme called zingibain, which helps digest proteins.

PEANUTS:  Peanuts get a bad rep in the diet world, but eating a small handful as a snack in between meals could stop you from overeating, and give you the protein you need to carve a lean, flat stomach. Peanuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and fibre, as well as skin-conditioning vitamin E.

PAPAYA: Papaya contains a naturally-occurring enzyme called papain, which aids the digestion of protein. It can also help to break down food faster, easing bloating and flattening out your belly in no time.

LEMONS: Lemon to your herbal infusion as well. A well-known detoxifier, it’s a great natural weapon against water retention and could help you achieve a flatter stomach.

60 Food Facts that will make you go WOW

1. The oldest evidence for soup is from 6,000 B.C. and calls for hippopotamus and sparrow meat.
2. Pringles once had a lawsuit trying to prove that they weren’t really potato chips.
3. Pound cake got its name from its original recipe, which called for a pound each of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.
4. Ripe cranberries will bounce like rubber balls.
5. An average ear of corn has an even number of rows, usually 16.
6. Consuming dairy may cause acne.
7. Most wasabi consumed is not real wasabi, but colored horseradish.
8. Central Appalachia’s tooth decay problem is referred to as Mountain Dew mouth, due to the beverage’s popularity in the region.
9. Apples belong to the rose family, as do pears and plums.
10. Oklahoma’s state vegetable is the watermelon.
11. One of the most popular pizza toppings in Brazil is green peas.
12. About 70% of olive oil being sold is not actually pure olive oil.
13. Real aged balsamic vinegar actually costs anywhere from $75 to $400 or more.
14. Store bought 100% “real” orange juice is 100% artificially flavored.
15. The most expensive pizza in the world costs $12,000 and takes 72 hours to make.
16. The winner of the 2013 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest consumed 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
17. The Dunkin’ Donuts in South Korea offer doughnut flavors such as Kimchi Croquette and Glazed Garlic.
18. Chocolate was once used as currency.
19. There is an amusement park in Tokyo that offers Raw Horse Flesh-flavored ice cream.
20. The tea bag was created by accident, as tea bags were originally sent as samples.
21. A Cinnabon® Classic has less sugar than a 20-oz. bottle of Pepsi.
22. Castoreum, which is used as vanilla flavoring in candies, baked goods, etc., is actually a secretion from the anal glands of beavers.
23. Humans are born craving sugar.
24. Radishes are members of the same family as cabbages.
25. The red food-coloring carmine — used in Skittles and other candies — is made from boiled cochineal bugs, a type of beetle.
26. Casu Marzu is a cheese found in Sardinia that is purposely infested with maggots.
27. The softening agent L-cysteine — used in some bread — is made from human hair and duck feathers.
28. The potentially fatal brain mushroom is considered a delicacy in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the upper Great Lakes region of North America.
29. If improperly prepared, fugu, or puffer fish, can kill you since it contains a toxin 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide.
30. It is almost impossible to find out what all the ingredients are that Papa John’s uses in its pizzas.
31. Coconut water can be used as blood plasma.
32. Milt, which is a delicacy around the world, is fish sperm.
33. McDonald’s sells 75 hamburgers every second of every day.
34. Ranch dressing contains titanium dioxide, which is used to make it appear whiter. The same ingredient is used in sunscreen and paint for the same effect.
35. Three plates of food at a Chinese buffet will net you about 3,000 calories.
36. To make jelly beans shiny, shellac is used, which is made from Kerria lacca insect excretions.
37. One fast food hamburger may contain meat from 100 different cows.
38. Ketchup was used as a medicine in the 1800s to treat diarrhea, among other things.
39. Fruit-flavored snacks are made with the same wax used on cars.
40. Peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re legumes.
41. No matter what color Fruit Loop you eat, they all taste the same.
42. The most expensive fruit in the world is the Japanese Yubari cantaloupe, and two melons once sold at auction for $23,500.
43. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
44. When taken in large doses nutmeg works as a hallucinogen.
45. Eating bananas can help fight depression.
46. Canola oil was originally called rapeseed oil, but rechristened by the Canadian oil industry in 1978 to avoid negative connotations. “Canola” is short for “Canadian oil.”
47. Honey is made from nectar and bee vomit.
48. Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing.
49. Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurants were created by the inventor of the Atari video game system, Nolan Bushnell.
50. The twists in pretzels are meant to look like arms crossed in prayer.
51. “SPAM” is short for spiced ham.
52. To add nutrition, a lot of milk, juice, and yogurts enrich the food with EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. In other words, your OJ contains fish oil.
53. There’s an enzyme in pineapple called bromelain that helps to break down proteins and can also ruin your tastebuds.
54. Apples float in water, because 25% of their volume is made of air.
55. The popsicle was invented by an 11-year-old in 1905.
56. Crackers, like Saltines, have small holes in them to prevent air bubbles from ruining the baking process.
57. The reason why peppers taste hot is because of a chemical compound called capsaicin, which bonds to your sensory nerves and tricks them into thinking your mouth is actually being burned.
58. One of the most hydrating foods to eat is the cucumber, which is 96% water.
59. There are 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world, and if you tried a new variety each day, it would take you 20 years to try them all.
60. The most popular carrots used to be purple.

60 Food Facts

1. The oldest evidence for soup is from 6,000 B.C. and calls for hippopotamus and sparrow meat.
2. Pringles once had a lawsuit trying to prove that they weren’t really potato chips.
3. Pound cake got its name from its original recipe, which called for a pound each of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.
4. Ripe cranberries will bounce like rubber balls.
5. An average ear of corn has an even number of rows, usually 16.
6. Consuming dairy may cause acne.
7. Most wasabi consumed is not real wasabi, but colored horseradish.
8. Central Appalachia’s tooth decay problem is referred to as Mountain Dew mouth, due to the beverage’s popularity in the region.
9. Apples belong to the rose family, as do pears and plums.
10. Oklahoma’s state vegetable is the watermelon.
11. One of the most popular pizza toppings in Brazil is green peas.
12. About 70% of olive oil being sold is not actually pure olive oil.
13. Real aged balsamic vinegar actually costs anywhere from $75 to $400 or more.
14. Store bought 100% “real” orange juice is 100% artificially flavored.
15. The most expensive pizza in the world costs $12,000 and takes 72 hours to make.
16. The winner of the 2013 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest consumed 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
17. The Dunkin’ Donuts in South Korea offer doughnut flavors such as Kimchi Croquette and Glazed Garlic.
18. Chocolate was once used as currency.
19. There is an amusement park in Tokyo that offers Raw Horse Flesh-flavored ice cream.
20. The tea bag was created by accident, as tea bags were originally sent as samples.
21. A Cinnabon® Classic has less sugar than a 20-oz. bottle of Pepsi.
22. Castoreum, which is used as vanilla flavoring in candies, baked goods, etc., is actually a secretion from the anal glands of beavers.
23. Humans are born craving sugar.
24. Radishes are members of the same family as cabbages.
25. The red food-coloring carmine — used in Skittles and other candies — is made from boiled cochineal bugs, a type of beetle.
26. Casu Marzu is a cheese found in Sardinia that is purposely infested with maggots.
27. The softening agent L-cysteine — used in some bread — is made from human hair and duck feathers.
28. The potentially fatal brain mushroom is considered a delicacy in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the upper Great Lakes region of North America.
29. If improperly prepared, fugu, or puffer fish, can kill you since it contains a toxin 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide.
30. It is almost impossible to find out what all the ingredients are that Papa John’s uses in its pizzas.
31. Coconut water can be used as blood plasma.
32. Milt, which is a delicacy around the world, is fish sperm.
33. McDonald’s sells 75 hamburgers every second of every day.
34. Ranch dressing contains titanium dioxide, which is used to make it appear whiter. The same ingredient is used in sunscreen and paint for the same effect.
35. Three plates of food at a Chinese buffet will net you about 3,000 calories.
36. To make jelly beans shiny, shellac is used, which is made from Kerria lacca insect excretions.
37. One fast food hamburger may contain meat from 100 different cows.
38. Ketchup was used as a medicine in the 1800s to treat diarrhea, among other things.
39. Fruit-flavored snacks are made with the same wax used on cars.
40. Peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re legumes.
41. No matter what color Fruit Loop you eat, they all taste the same.
42. The most expensive fruit in the world is the Japanese Yubari cantaloupe, and two melons once sold at auction for $23,500.
43. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
44. When taken in large doses nutmeg works as a hallucinogen.
45. Eating bananas can help fight depression.
46. Canola oil was originally called rapeseed oil, but rechristened by the Canadian oil industry in 1978 to avoid negative connotations. “Canola” is short for “Canadian oil.”
47. Honey is made from nectar and bee vomit.
48. Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing.
49. Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurants were created by the inventor of the Atari video game system, Nolan Bushnell.
50. The twists in pretzels are meant to look like arms crossed in prayer.
51. “SPAM” is short for spiced ham.
52. To add nutrition, a lot of milk, juice, and yogurts enrich the food with EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. In other words, your OJ contains fish oil.
53. There’s an enzyme in pineapple called bromelain that helps to break down proteins and can also ruin your tastebuds.
54. Apples float in water, because 25% of their volume is made of air.
55. The popsicle was invented by an 11-year-old in 1905.
56. Crackers, like Saltines, have small holes in them to prevent air bubbles from ruining the baking process.
57. The reason why peppers taste hot is because of a chemical compound called capsaicin, which bonds to your sensory nerves and tricks them into thinking your mouth is actually being burned.
58. One of the most hydrating foods to eat is the cucumber, which is 96% water.
59. There are 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world, and if you tried a new variety each day, it would take you 20 years to try them all.
60. The most popular carrots used to be purple.

Natural Ways To Cleanse Your Liver

Your liver is like the maid of your body, cleaning up all the toxins you put into it, and therefore keeping all internal systems running smoothly. The modern diet, environmental pollutants, and our increasing dependence on toxic personal care products have put our livers on serious overtime.
For this reason, it’s important to know how to clean your liver thoroughly and effectively – oh, and naturally.
1. Warm Lemon Water – Warm lemon water is a great way to detox your liver every single morning. This isn’t lemonade, so don’t add sugar or anything else. Just purified water and a healthy dose of fresh lemon juice. Some experts, like author A.F. Beddoe who wrote the book Biological Ionization as Applied to Human Nutrition, also believe that the liver produces more enzymes in response to water with lemon than to any other food. Vitamin C helps to produce glutathione, which is necessary to cleanse toxins from the liver. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, which reduces free radical toxicity within the body. It’s found in fresh fruits and vegetables and is great at boosting the immune system and staving off colds and the flu.
2. Garlic – Add some garlic to your cooking or thinly slice a clove into your next salad. Garlic contains sulfur compounds that can help activate enzymes in the liver. It contains allicin and selenium, which are both good for liver protection.
3. Green Tea Cleanse and protect the liver. Green tea, and hot water with lemon can help to stimulate liver cleansing. Herbs such as dandelion root, burdock, and milk thistle are also safe and effective against protecting the liver. Drink 1-2 cups of tea a day and a lot of water after that. Liver Cleanse Tea flushes and clears the liver of congestion and toxins, restoring the organ to full function.
4. Avocados – As if you need another reason to add avocados to your diet, a Japanese study found that avocados contain compounds that can protect the liver from damage. When compared with 21 other fruits, avocados had the most promise in protecting the liver from galactosamine, a “powerful” toxin that has been shown to produce a liver damage much like human viral hepatitis.
5. Cilantro – This versatile herb can be added to just about any dish, including salads or smoothies. This herb can help remove heavy metals from the body, something your liver could be struggling with right now.
6. Turmeric – Another powerful spice with a long list of benefits, turmeric is said to not only protect the liver from damage, but also encourage regeneration of liver cells. In addition, it increases natural bile production and aids in keeping the body toxin-free.
7. Drink at least 2 quarts of water daily. Our body is 70% water and needs to stay hydrated frequently. Water naturally flushes the body of chemicals, toxins, and impurities through urination, expiration, and sweating. Dehydration compromises the body’s ability to filter toxins.
8.Breathe deep; fill your lungs with air. Deep breathing is an excellent way to relax or relief stress. Breathing deeply circulates oxygen throughout the body, which encourages detoxification through the skin, expiration, lymph, blood, kidneys, liver, etc.
9.Transform stress by emphasizing positive emotions. Stress causes the body to release hormones that increase the toxin levels in the body and leaving the body depleted of essential nutrients, and unable to protect against diseases and infections. Therefore by eliminating stress or transforming stress into positive emotions or a positive outcome you can naturally flush out your system of toxic hormones and chemicals.
10.Hot-Cold Shower.Begin this detoxifying process with a hot shower for about 3 minutes. Switch to cold water for 30 seconds. Switch between hot and cold water several times. This encourages detoxification by stimulating blood circulation throughout the body.

Natural Foods to Detox your Body

Detoxing has become bit of a trend with all the different fasting formulas and super foods that are out there. Unfortunately, most of the popular “detoxes” really aren’t safe for you and aren’t healthy either. If you want to detox your body, did you know it can be as simple as eating the right foods? Here’s a list of 10 foods you can enjoy if you really want to cleanse your body.:





1. Avocados - Do you love avocados so much you would put slices of them on just about any food you eat? There’s no reason to feel guilty about doing this, especially because this is such a great food for you to eat. Avocados are packed full of antioxidants, including glutathione. This detoxes the body by transporting harmful toxins right out of it. By reducing the chemicals and toxins in your body you will be healthier and feel better.

2. Cranberries - These might be great for preventing urinary tract infections, but they can also get rid of toxins inside of your body. These get rid of waste from the body and are antibacterial so they remove toxins.

3. Cabbage – This food has sulfur inside of it, which is essential when it comes to breaking down chemicals in the body. Sulfur can help get rid of everything from pesticides to prescription drugs, which could be harmful if they stuck around.

4. Lemons – These are great in drinks and recipes, but they are also packed full of vitamins and antioxidants. These protect the liver and they get rid of chemicals inside of the body. Consuming lemons on a regular basis can improve health.

5. Broccoli – If you’re the type of person who doesn’t like broccoli, you should try it out once again! It’s full of antioxidants that can cleanse your body. It’s also high in enzymes that help to get your digestive system running efficiently. Raw broccoli is best because it has a high level of nutrients inside of it.

6. Garlic – Packed full of sulfur, this is another great food to use for body cleanses. It also has antibiotic properties so it can help internally heal your body. There are a lot of advantages to eating garlic on a regular basis; it’s even available in supplement form!
7. Beets – These can be incorporated into a lot of different recipes or they can be eaten raw. They are full of betaine and pectin, which help protect the liver and the digestive system. These can cleanse the body so you have fewer toxins.

8. Grapefruit – This fruit helps cleanse the digestive system and it can prevent kidney stones from developing. It’s also low in natural sugars and calories, so it’s great for dieting.

9. Sunflower Seeds – These are great to snack on and can detox the liver so it’s healthier. It can also get rid of harmful toxins floating around in the body. In addition to this, it prevents cholesterol from building up and causing body damage.

10. Lentils – These aid the digestive system to cleanse and detox your body. Lentils also lower the cholesterol and help balance the blood sugar inside of your body.

Food that can prevent Cancer and its Recurrences

If the question in your mind is that "Do anti-cancer super foods really work?" then the answer to this question is -- yes, they really do.  There are many Foods in the worlds that can prevent cancer and stop recurrences which is seen in many cases.While studies are ongoing, and in many cases experts still don't know exactly how these super foods work, there's strong evidence that certain fruits and vegetables rich in plant-based nutrients can both prevent tumors from starting and halt their growth. Here, the top foods to work into the family diet if you'd like to cut cancer risk or help those with cancer recover. And who wouldn't?

BlueBerries:

The anti-cancer properties of all these berries are so strong that researchers have developing concentrated supplements and other products such as purees and concentrates.
The rich, dark colors of blueberries, Brazilian acai berries, raspberries and cranberries come from phytochemicals that protect against numerous types of cancer. Most recently, researchers at the University of Florida found that the active ingredient in acai berries destroyed cancer cells when tested in cell cultures. And blueberries and muscadine grapes contain compounds that recent research shows cause cancer cells in the liver to self-destruct. In studies particularly important to women, cranberries have recently been discovered to be an important weapon in the fight against deadly ovarian cancer. Studies reported at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society found that ovarian cancer cells that were becoming resistant to platinum chemotherapy – the standard of care for ovarian cancer – became six times more sensitive when exposed to a compound in cranberries.

GREEN TEA
One of the first plant-based chemicals to be studied for its anti-cancer properties, catechins -- the chemicals in green tea -- have been known for some time to prevent and reduce recurrence of breast and other cancers. With this particular chemical, experts even know why: a chemical known as EGCG inhibits breast tumor growth, a University of Mississippi study shows. Just two cups a day is enough to do the trick
.

Garlic
Numerous studies over the years (more than 30 different studies to date) have documented the anti-cancer properties of garlic. The strongest evidence so far has focused on digestive cancers, but garlic appears to protect against all types of cancer, including breast and prostate. According to the National Cancer Institute, an analysis of seven different large-scale population studies showed that the more raw and cooked garlic a person consumed, the lower his risk of stomach and colorectal cancer; one study found that middle-aged women who regularly consumed garlic had a 50 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer. Scientists have isolated two active ingredients in garlic, allicin and allyl sulfur, and demonstrated that they prevent and fight cancer in both animals and humans; you can take garlic in supplement form but the capsules must be enteric-coated to protect these active ingredients. Add crushed, fresh garlic to your meals whenever possible; some experts also recommend waiting 15 minutes between peeling and chopping the garlic to get the full effects of the active compounds.

Broccoli and Cabbage
British researchers made headlines last year with a study that showed that men with early signs of developing prostate cancer prevented tumor growth by eating broccoli four times a week. Other studies have shown anti-cancer benefits from eating cabbage, brussels sprouts, and other cruciferous vegetables.

Onions and Leeks
According to the National Institutes of Health, studies of people from Southern Europe who eat a diet high in garlic and onions show a direct relationship between high consumption of "allium" vegetables (all types of garlic, onions, and leeks) and reduced risk of many common cancers.

Tomatoes
Harvard researcher Edward Giovannucci reviewed 72 different studies published by the National Cancer Institute, and concluded that lycopene, the active chemical in tomatoes, lowered the risk of many different cancers, particularly prostate, breast, lung and colon cancer. Subsequently, the FDA conducted a review of its own and disagreed, refusing food companies' request to label tomato products with an anti-cancer health promotion message. However, many experts believe the FDA's process was flawed and that tomatoes will be vindicated by further studies. The good news: cooking tomatoes seems to enhance the effects of lycopene, qualifying tomato-based spaghetti sauce as a nutritional powerhouse. Bring on the pasta

Turmeric
The orange-yellow spice turmeric, best known for its role in Indian curries and other Asian dishes, fights cancer because of an active ingredient, curcumin, that's a powerful antioxidant. Researchers at Ohio State University in Columbus reviewed numerous animal studies and concluded that curcumin demonstrated anti-cancer effects at virtually all stages of tumor development. Researchers in France and Britain also have been studying curcumin's action in the laboratory and concluded that it prevents and slows tumor cell growth. The great news about turmeric is how easy it is to work into the diet, because you don't need very much. Add a teaspoon of the spice to soups, salad dressings, meat and pasta dishes and you'll reap the preventative effects.

Watch out, though; according to the American Cancer Society, turmeric made certain anti-cancer drugs less effective when studied in animals and test tubes. Cancer patients shouldn't add a lot of turmeric to their diets or take curcumin supplements without talking to their doctors first.