39 delicious foods that are linked to a lower risk of cancer

In general, whole grains, nuts, and beans all have a decent dose of fiber.

Studies suggest that people who eat more whole foods, including whole grains, are more likely to live longer, cancer-free lives than people who rely on processed foods for sustenance.

Look for breads and pastas that are labeled "100% whole wheat" or "100% whole grain." Remember, wheat flour is only about 25% whole wheat. You can also try incorporating more barley, quinoa, Ethiopian teff, or wild rice into your meals.

Phytochemicals are what give fruits and vegetables bright colors, odors, and flavors.

Once inside our bodies, phytochemicals help defend us against disease. They reduce inflammation, which has the potential to make cancer more likely. Plus, they act like ingestible body guards, keeping the things we eat, drink, and breathe from becoming cancer-causers in the first place, while also preventing and repairing DNA damage.

Beta carotene is found in foods like carrots and sweet potatoes. People who eat a beta carotene-rich diet have lower instances of cervical cancer and slight reductions in breast cancer risk.

Zinc-rich items like hummus and beans feed us beneficial zinc finger proteins that are crucial for healthy DNA.

People who eat carotenoid-rich foods like dark leafy greens and sweet potatoes can convert the chemicals in those plants into nutrients like vitamin A.

Vitamin A is essential for developing healthy embryos, keeping tissues healthy, and ensuring the immune system functions properly. It's better to eat foods rich in vitamin A and shy away from supplements, since those can lead to liver problems.

When we chop, chew, and digest cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and celery, they break down into biologically active compounds that both protect our cells from DNA damage and kill cancer cells, at least in animal tests.

Scientists are still determining if these processes work the same way in humans that they do in animals, though.

Studies suggest that eating lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables, which are generally reddish or pinkish, reduces a person's risk of developing several kinds of cancer.

There's a chance that it could even help provide some protection against sunburns— which can up a person's odds of developing skin cancer— but more research on that is needed.

Iodine is an essential mineral: The body uses it to make thyroid hormones, which help control our metabolism. Studies suggest that having too much or too little iodine in your system can play a role in tumor growth.

Good dietary sources of iodine include: cheese, yogurt, milk, certain fish like cod, tuna, and shrimp, as well as seaweed.

A study of more than 75,000 women in the US found that those who said they consumed more than two ounces of nuts per week had a lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer than women who rarely (if ever) opted for nutty snacks.

Some nuts appear to be more potent than others. Brazil nuts contain a hefty dose of selenium, an essential element for human health. The fatty South American tree seeds aren't technically nuts at all (like almonds, they're really seeds), but they still show promise in reducing people's risk of cervical and prostate cancers. Eating just two Brazil "nuts" per day may be enough.

The fungi have been safely and effectively used alongside radiation and chemotherapy for three decades in Japan and China.

Scientists still want to know more about how mushrooms work in the body, but the evidence so far is compelling. Observational studies of Chinese people suggest that eating just one mushroom a day can help reduce a person's breast cancer risk.

"It's probably, to the best of my knowledge, the most potent naturally occurring anti-inflammatory," Ajay Goel, a biophysicist who researches cancer, recently told Business Insider.

Goel's studies in both animals and humans suggest that curcumin can help kill treatment-resistant cancer cells and may make some cancers less resistant to chemotherapy.

Where Goel is from in India, turmeric is an essential part of almost everyone's daily diet.

"They don't even recognize," he said, "but it's protecting them from a lot of disease."

It's tough to know exactly how much garlic and onions is the winning dose, because much of the research on their anti-cancer properties to date has been observational. Still, in studies conducted around the world, scientists consistently find a link between eating more garlic and onions and developing less gut cancers like colon cancer.

Some of the most recent research on this effect came in a 2019 study of over 1,600 Chinese men and women. The results showed that those who ate the most allium blooms had 79% lower odds of developing colon cancer than people who rarely enjoyed these foods.

Coffee drinkers consistently have lower rates of endometrial (uterus), prostate, liver, mouth, throat, and breast cancers.

Scientists aren't sure about the connection between tea and lower cancer risk yet, but some good evidence suggests that green tea, which is rich in polyphenols, might disturb the way cancer cells divide and multiply and slow down blood-vessel formation around tumors.