THE POWER OF POSITIVE EATING | 1, 2, 3, 4

SHOULD I JUST EAT MY VEGGIES?

Sure, these "eat positive" messages might sound like just another way of getting you to finish your broccoli. But there's more to it. It's a good idea to learn to love veggies, fruits, grains, and cereals for their own sakes - rather than just as a substitute for the fatty, deep-fried, and sugar-loaded heart bombs that are truly your passion - for the same reason your mother said that while you could love anyone, it's just as easy to love somebody with a future.

The plant-based strategy offers you a future. A good one. An exhaustive, four-year AICR-sponsored review of 4,500 different studies linking diet and cancer found that eight of 10 reports clearly indicate fruits and vegetables protect against cancer. "It's not that fat is no longer an issue in terms of fighting cancer and other illnesses," says the AICR's Polk. "It's that the evidence showing fruits and vegetables are protective is so convincing. We're not saying it's possible that eating fruits and vegetables may lower cancer risk. We're saying there's convincing evidence that it will." Just five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day, research shows, could drop overall cancer rates by as much as 20%.

In general, diet is crucial in maintaining good health. It's estimated that half of all breast cancers could be sidestepped with better eating habits. Three of every four cases of colon cancer could be prevented. Up to one out of every three cases of lung cancer could be derailed. Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are the common denominators in all of these dietary solutions.

YEAH, BUT WILL I LIKE THEM?

Are you kidding? Think of a ripe, succulent tomato in a simple summer salad. A juicy, sweet mango, or orange, or tangerine. Fresh berries in your pancake syrup. Zucchini or other vegetanles adding crunch to your macaroni and cheese. Fresh-baked bread. A Greek-Style Burger With Feta Aioli kicked up a notch with roasted red bell peppers. Sure - you can still have beef. It's full of protein, iron, zinc, and other important nutrients you need. Ditto with chicken, pork, and fish. The point is just to cook them in a healthful way and remember that they're part of a full plate, not the whole enchilada (which are A-OK, to, by the way).

We could go o - and actually, we do. Month after month for the past 13 years, we've been showing you how these powerful foods, on their own and combined in hundreds of tempting ways, can also be some of the tastiest things you've ever put in your mouth. Judging by our booming readership - now 6.7 million, more than any other food magazine in the world - we have a following. We don't say that to brag, but to demonstrate that this approach works. It works because people like it. We're positive.

STRONG SHOWING

The health power of vegetables and fruits is well-documented. Among the most potent:

SOYBEANS harbor potent cancer-fighting chemicals called isoflavones.

BROCCOLI has stockpiles of sulphorophane, a phytochemical that boosts the effectiveness of enzymes that block growth of cancerous tumors.

TOMATOES are chock-full of lycopene, a potent hedge against prostate cancer.

LIMA BEANS, APPLES, AND OATS contain fiber known to be effective in lowering cholesterol levels.

GREEN BEANS, full of folic acid, a potent B-vitamin, can help protect against certain birth defects and possibly heart disease.

WHOLE GRAINS can lower heart-disease risk by about 30% for women who eat just two-and-a-half servings per day - roughly the amount in two slices of whole-wheat bread and one bowl of whole grain cereal.

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