Men who consume a lot of cruciferous vegetables -- specifically, broccoli and cabbage -- may reduce their risk of bladder cancer. The higher the intake of cruciferous vegetables, the lower the bladder cancer risk. Of all the vegetables, only broccoli and cabbage intake seemed to have an impact on bladder cancer risk. Because the rate of bladder cancer in men is three to four times higher than in women, the researchers note that the findings may not apply to women.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute April 7, 1999;91:605-613.

COMMENT: It is good to see phtyonutrient-based research being published in some of the hard core traditional cancer journals. I believe this is an encouraging sign. In general, it is wise to include as many different variety of vegetables in your diet as you can tolerate. The greater the variety and the larger the volume the better. Most all of the powerful healing elements of food are in the vegetables. The grains are what is getting our culture into most disease producing conditions as they are relatively devoid of nutrients when compared with vegetables. The vegetables deserve to be at the base of the food pyramid, not the grains. They should be placed far higher up, right under sugar.