Eating vegetables can reduce cancer risk

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eating large portions of colorful fruits and vegetables, including dark green leafy vegetables, will help reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and age-related eye disease, according to a health expert.

Regina Goralczyk, the head of the carotenoid section at Switzerland Roche Vitamins Ltd, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that those vegetables and fruit contained important constituents such as lutein, zeaxathin, and lycopene that could reduce the risk of those diseases by almost 50 percent.

"We recommend people have a healthy diet and have at least five portions of vegetables and fruit in their food every day. They must also do primary prevention at an early stage of life before they suffer the diseases," she said after speaking at a seminar held by PT Rosindo Husada Pratama.

She said that people could get lycopene in watermelon, guava, papaya, apricots, and pink grapefruit.

Lycopene is a potent antioxidant and potential protector against the risk of certain types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Tomatoes or tomato-based products -- like tomato sauce and juice -- are also sources of lycopene, she added.

Citing a study conducted in the U.S. in 1999, Goralczyk said that for 67 percent of 33 prostate cancer patients that received lycopene before their surgery their cancer stopped spreading and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an indicator of prostate cancer, declined.

Another study showed that tumors were smaller in the patients who received lycopene supplements.

Goralczyk, said that lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids found in corn, brussel sprouts, and peppers helped reduce the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is the leading cause of vision impairment in general and acquired blindness among the elderly.

Lutein can be found in savoy cabbage, watercress and cooked spinach while oranges are also a source of zeaxanthin, she said.

Another speaker in the seminar, Tjahjono D. Gondhowiardjo, an ophthalmologist at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital Jakarta, said that the prevalence of AMD in Indonesia had increased along with the increased life expectancy of people.

He predicted that Indonesian women would suffer AMD at age 55. "Anticipative actions can be taken 15 years to 20 years before the disease usually emerges," he said.