Cancer Fighting Halloween Tips

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month; get into the spirit by putting your jack-o'-lantern innards to good health use.

Pumpkin -- a crop that typically peaks this month -- is rich in beta carotene, and studies show that a diet high in beta carotene may help reduce the risk of cancers, including breast cancer. Add cancer-fighting flair to your weekend pancake recipe by adding 1/2 cup of pumpkin and 3/4 of a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Of course, no single food item fully guards against breast cancer, so don't skip your mammogram. Early detection dramitically increases your odds of successfully fighting this potentially devastating disease.

Carrots, kale, cantaloupe, apricots, and papaya also are smart beta carotene choices. It's not clear whether beta carotene alone is responsible for the reduced cancer risk observed as a result of eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Rather, researchers suspect that beta carotene and other nutrients in whole fruits and vegetables work synergistically to produce an anticarcinogenic effect. To get a sampling of all the good-for-you nutrients and phytochemicals that fresh produce has to offer, aim for four servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables each day.