This article is a sidebar to "Exploring the role of lifestyle choices in cutting cancer risk," published in the University of Minnesota Cancer Center 2007 Annual Report.

Cancer Center member Mindy Kurzer, Ph.D., thinks that lists of "top ten foods to fight cancer" often featured in publications and on Web sites are a bit premature. Kurzer says, beyond advocating for increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in the Western diet, researchers are not at the point of recommending specific foods that the public should be consuming for cancer prevention.

"In the end, the recommendations we make are the same as 50 years ago, except that our understanding of the importance of plant foods has changed," says Kurzer. "We now know that fruits and vegetables are even more important than just the nutrients they provide, because they have cancer-preventive compounds."

Cancer Center epidemiologist Mimi Yu, Ph.D., agrees with Kurzer that individuals in this country are not eating sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables. When she is asked for nutrition advice for reducing cancer risk, Yu advocates practicing moderation when consuming any food and diversifying food choices. Yu notes that diversifying is easy with fruits and vegetables because they are color-coded.

Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute

In July, Kurzer was named the first director of the new Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives (HFHL) Institute at the University of Minnesota. The HFHL Institute stems from an interdisciplinary initiative commissioned by University President Robert Bruininks in 2003 to take advantage of the University's strengths in fields as diverse as agriculture, food science, human nutrition, public health, medicine, economics, and behavioral sciences to improve public health and public policy.

According to Kurzer, who is professor of nutrition in the University's Department of Food Science and Nutrition, "the conversion of the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives presidential initiative into an Institute reflects the University's commitment to excellence in food and health research, teaching, and outreach. The goals of the Institute are to bring together faculty from across the University, stimulate new work through grant programs, interact with external constituents, and ultimately, increase the national and international visibility of the University of Minnesota in the area of food and health."

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This story was originally published in the University of Minnesota Cancer Center 2007 Annual Report.