In honor of Food Day today sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, I am going to begin my blogging about preventing breast cancer by writing about the type of vegetables we should be eating every day.  Some people may know that vegetables from the Brassica family like broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower are cruciferous vegetables.  Most people may not be familiar with the variety of vegetables that are actually in this family, like Bok Choy, Kale, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Watercress, Arugula, Radishes, Turnip Greens and Turnips, Parsnips, Daikon, Rutabaga, Kohlrabi, Horseradish and Wasabi.  And, there are so many varieties of broccoli, cabbage, kale, watercress and Bok Choy.   I’m in the habit of eating at least one of these vegetables every day and because there are so many of them, I’m finding it easy to do.  Tonight my daughter and I made a stir-fry dish with a variety of Bok Choy called Hon Tsa Tai that I bought from JW’s Farm at the Atherton Mill Market.

Why does eating these vegetables help prevent breast cancer?

They contain an indole called Diindolylmethane (DIM) which helps us metabolize estrogen in a beneficial way. Look for more info about DIM in a later post.