Eating foods like broccoli and soy has been linked to lower cancer rates, and California researchers say that they may have discovered what underlies this protective effect. Using cells in a lab dish, a team led by Erin Hsu, a graduate student in molecular toxicology at the University of California, Los Angeles has found that genistein, an isoflavone in soy, and diindolymethane (DIM), a compound made in the gut when broccoli is digested, reduce the production of two proteins needed for cancers to spread.

Salmon is a super-food even compared to other oily fish like mackerel and herring. According to a study that breaks new ground, salmon’s omega-3 fatty acids are especially protective against prostate cancer for men who have one specific, common variation in a single gene.

Maria Hedelin PH.D.

Maria Hedelin, a scientist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden has found evidence that the protective effect of salmon and marine fatty acids apply with extra potency to men with a genetic variation in the COX-2 gene, which is a gene that helps regulate the body’s production of inflammatory chemicals called prostaglandins.

High intake of marine fatty acids and oily fish, especially salmon, Hedelin’s study found, “is strongly associated” with decreased relative risk of prostate cancer.

Not all fish are as beneficial. This study found that “high intake of lean fish and shellfish is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.”