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Cancer is nation's second most deadly disease, so it's a good thing that scientists are now looking at ways that food can help to prevent as well as fight cancer. In the decades to come, we'll probably hear about major breakthroughs in medicine that will allow you to heal your body using nutritious foods instead of toxic drugs.

But what can you do today to help your body stay healthy and avoid cancer?

One way is to eat a lot more nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables and especially juices that you choose yourself from organic fruits and vegetables. Avoiding packaged foods in foods that have no nutritional value is key for your overall health and not just to help ward off cancer.

There are many great foods that you can eat that will boost your overall health and help arm your body to fight cancer and perhaps some of the best are foods rich in phytochemicals such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower and cabbage. The dark green leafy vegetables like romaine lettuce and spinach are packed with lutine and fiber as well as carotenoids which all contain cancer fighting substances. You want to eat generous amounts of foods that contain the vitamins A, E and C which are antioxidants that help protect you from cancer by fighting free radicals in your body.

Tomatoes have been getting a lot of press lately as a cancer fighting superfood since they are good sources of vitamins A, E and C as well as containing the antioxidant phytochemical lycopene which also helps prevent heart disease. Eating them cooked will help you absorb more of the lycopene and you can enjoy them this way in pasta sauces and by adding slices of tomato your pizza. But that doesn't mean that you should avoid them raw because raw tomatoes contain important enzymes so you can add these to your sandwiches or use them to make fresh juice.

Watermelon taste great in the summer, but did you know that it's packed with antioxidants and has about 80% of the daily requirement that you need for vitamin C. It's also loaded with beta-carotene which your body uses to make vitamin A as well as lycopene. Watermelon taste great and slices, but in the summertime it's also fun to just throw some of the blender and make a great nutritious smoothie.

If you want to reduce your risk of rectal and colon cancer load up on the cabbage. This cruciferous vegetable is rich in fiber and also contains almost half of the daily requirement of vitamin C that is recommended.

I don't know if carrots will actually help your eyesight but they have a lot of fiber and are a great source of beta-carotene and contain about three times the daily requirement of vitamin A which can help boost your health and help you fight illness like cancer.

Speaking of fiber, did you know that a mere quarter cup of kidney beans has the same amount of fiber as well as protein is 2 ounces of red meat? And if you love pasta, switching to whole wheat will also give you a good source of fiber plus if you add in some broccoli you get even more fiber as well as a load of vitamin A and C. For dessert throw in some strawberries and blueberries and maybe even a helping of low-fat yogurt for even more cancer fighting goodness.