Some excerpts:

Apiaceous And Cruciferous Vegetables Fed During The Post-initiation Stage Reduce Colon Cancer Risk Markers In Rats, The Journal of Nutrition, 15 January 2019

Conclusion: Both apiaceous and cruciferous vegetables, fed post-initiation, reduce colonic preneoplastic lesions as well as cancer stem cell marker expression in rats.

Our results suggest that, overall, apiaceous and cruciferous vegetables exert chemopreventive effects on colon cancer risk when fed to rats solely during the post-initiation stage. … However, these 2 classes of vegetables may act through somewhat different mechanisms.

In our previous study, rats fed [cruciferous vegetables] before and after carcinogen treatment had fewer ACF [abberant crypt foci] relative to a vegetable-free diet.

There is growing evidence that phytochemicals [in plants] may reduce or eliminate the self-renewal and proliferation of CSCs [cancer stem cells].

Apiaceous vegetables include carrot, celery, and parsley.
Cruciferous vegetables include all the cabbages: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale.

I’m not posting this to endorse using food as medicine, even though, in the larger scheme, food does indeed act as medicine. People like pills. They’re easy. If you claim that, say, apricot pits cure cancer or cherries cure arthritis, people will down apricot pits or cherries as they would a pill. As if the food is magic. But … many will do this in addition to eating Americans’ junk-filled standard fare. There’s no behavioral change with pills. That’s the hope and thrust of drug companies, that you will believe in the overarching effect of their pill and continue consuming a ruinous diet that will send you back for more pills.

This reminds me of my recent post about how ellagic acid in pomegranates helps IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). It doesn’t work unless the whole diet supports the right mix of microorganisms in the colon to convert it.

I’m posting this as a reminder that a plant-based diet has many benefits. When your diet is mostly plant food (oats, rice, potatoes, corn, whole grain breads and pasta, beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds), you won’t have to worry if you ate celery or pomegranates today.