Fighting cancer before it happens: antiangiogenetic foods

The first time I heard about foods that inhibit the formation of new blood vessels was during an anatomy class when we were discussing cancer. These foods are very beneficial to cancer prevention, because if a tumor forms in the body, it can´t grow and become cancerous without blood supply. 

This is how angiogenesis i.e. the growth of new blood vessels works (in short): a tumor is able to send a message to our bodies so that it starts growing new blood vessels toward the tumor to bring oxygen and nutrients to it. If blood vessels aren´t able to connect the tumor to the blood supply, the tumor won´t be able to develop into a malignant cancer. Also, if there are no blood vessels to connect the tumor to the blood supply, it won´t be able to send cancer cells to other body tissues, either. (1)

Dr. William Li states that it is possible that we develop tiny cancers in our bodies all the time, but because they are unable to grow without blood supply, they rarely become malignant. (1) For this reason eating antiangiogenic foods is important.

 

Lingonberries

There is a long list of foods that have been found to contain substances that inhibit blood vessel growth. These include all kinds of berries, citrus fruit, tomato, olive oil and dark chocolate, to name a few (2). A full list can be found at http://www.standup2cancer.org/article_archive/view/foods_that_fight_cancer. 

Another excellent reason to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables!

More information about angiogenesis is available on The Angiogenesis Foundation’s Internet site at www.angio.org.

 

Thank you for reading!

Anna-Kaisa

References

1. Dr. William Li. "Eat to Defeat Cancer... Every Day". Eat to Defeat Cancer. 4 Nov. 2011. Web.  13 Aug. 2013 <http://www.eattodefeatcancer.org/ >

2. Cat Vasco. "Foods that Fight Cancer". Stand Up To Cancer. Web. 13 Aug. 2013 <http://www.standup2cancer.org/article_archive/view/foods_that_fight_cancer >