Prawns on top of lentils
Beans are good for the heart, according to a little rhyme but could they also cut your chances of developing bowel cancer?
Eating pulses, brown rice, green vegetables, kidney beans and dried fruit has been found, in a newstudy, to cut your risks by up to a third.
Calfornian researchers found that having brown rice just one day a week cut the risk by 40 per cent, while eating cooked green vegetables everyday reduced the danger by 24 per cent.
Eating these food reduces the risk of developing polyps - small growths in the lining of the bowel which can become cancerours - by a third.
The scientists from Loma Linda University in California also found eating dried fruit at least three times a week cuts the risk of developing the growths by almost a quarter.
The team reviewed data from 2,818 people collected in the 1970s and then carried out a follouw-up survey to identify cases of rectal polyps.
Study author Dr Yessenia Tantamango said that the high fibre content in these foods helped make them potent weapons in the fight against bowel cancer.
Dr Tantamango, whose findings were published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, added: "Pulses, dried fruits, and brown rice all have a high content of fibre, known to dilute potential carcinogens.
"Additionally, cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, contain detoxifying compounds, which would improve their protective function. Eating these foods is likely to decrease your risk for colon polyps, which would in turn decrease your risk for colorectal cancer.
"Our study confirms the results of past studies that have been done in different populations analysing risks for colon cancer."
Femalefirst Taryn Davies