5 Cancer-Fighting Garden Herbs

By Veronica Peterson, Editor, Healthy & Green Living

Oh, the lovely bounty of nature. As the weather warms, home gardeners around the country are able to look no further than their backyard for flavorful herbs to add that farmstead layer of taste to their dinner entrees. We’ve always known they’re yummy but now we know they offer a heck-of-a-lot more than just flavor.

Everyday garden herbs possess legions of medicinal properties and, when eaten in conjunction with healthy vegetables and spices, have powerful cancer-preventive properties. “The easiest, least-expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet,” says Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, PhD, MPH, RD, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute in a recent article. Below are five, easily-found, herbs you might consider eating more of.

Rosemary

Commonly used in cooking, the leaves of this garden herb have a noticeable woody fragrance, thanks to the fatty acids of terpenes, a naturally occurring substance that encourages the cancer cells in tumors to stop reproducing and eventually die.

Today, research has discovered that when the terpene from rosemary is given alongside the chemotherapy drugs Adriamycin and Velban, cancer cells may begin to absorb the chemotherapy that they had previously resisted. In many cases the plant’s natural terpene either brought about the demise of the cancerous cells or helped reduce their spread.

Next: Parsley

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Interstellar D.

7:24AM PDT on May 7, 2013

thanks

May 7
send a green star

Cynthia B.

11:21AM PDT on May 6, 2013

Very informative thanks so much

May 6
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Joy S.

5:59AM PDT on May 5, 2013

I grow herbs in my greenhouse and also outside...they are in the ground now. Thanks!

May 5
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Dale O.

9:05PM PDT on Oct 7, 2012

Autumn is here and soon it will be too cold for most of the herbs growing in my balcony garden. One can move them indoors but sigh, it just isn't the same as the summer time growth of these tasty and valuable herbs!

October 7
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Lee G.

10:02AM PST on Feb 1, 2012

I appreciate your information on the green vegetables, but as far as cancer, you also need tomatoes to make them work on cancer.My vegetables are carrots cabbage onion & tomatoes.The cure takes 6 months,eat them everyday, you can have cheese & meat, while avoiding sugar & coke.
Sugar is the cause, The vegetables are the cure. For cholestrol you need 45 minutes of sunshine each day, but vitamin D will work too.Some cooking oil ( vitamin E) is essential to protect you from hardening of the arteries. Canola oil (is not) a good food product. All other are oils are fine. My foods are stir fry vegetables in chili & spagetti sauces.
These foods battle most general cancers, high blood pressure, hemmorhoids, intestinal bleeding, pallops.Good spices are garlic, ginger, cayene pepper,turmeric,Black pepper,& chili powder.

February 1
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Nick I.

9:59PM PDT on Jun 18, 2011

Great article. It's obvious that you've done your homework. I really liked that you described how each of them work, and that you've mentioned the chemo drugs involved in the relevant research studies. Thanks so much for sharing this info.

June 18
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pulse N.

10:55PM PDT on Jun 18, 2010

Interesting

Peter B.

6:18PM PDT on Jun 18, 2010

Thanks for a great article

Sydney W.

6:31AM PDT on Jun 18, 2010

interesting thanks:)

Steven J.

11:35AM PDT on Jun 16, 2010

I just planted my first garden on the patio of my place in Toronto. So far it's going very well. The tomatoes spinach and green beans are coming in beautifully! Now the next step I think is planting some herbs. Would it be too late in the season to do that now? Like I said first time, just learning, i have no idea.