The second section looks at the specific foods or groups of foods that're the best, discusses the particular phytochemicals they contain and how they're beneficial. The authors run a laboratory and most of the information comes from their own research. (You might think, wow, that sounds dodgy, but I'll discuss why I don't think that at the end.)
Just quickly, the foods listed are (I've left out some I don't like or can't eat):
* cruciferous vegetables - best are brussels sprouts and collard greens. Also very good are broccoli, cauliflower, kale and bok choy - best cooked lightly and chewed to release compounds - at least 4-5 serves per week.
* garlic - at least 1 clove per day - best if crushed or chopped - also onions, shallots and leeks are good.
* soy products - best are soy flour, soy beans (edamame), miso - also good is tofu (not soy sauce!) - 40-60g per day, or equivalent 25mg of isoflavone (for miso soup this would be 3 serves) - suggests to increase quantity gradually and don't eat more than recommended.
* turmeric - apparently this stuff is especially good! - 1tsp a day, must be eaten in conjunction with 1/2tsp pepper (preferably black).
* green tea - preferably best quality, from Japan rather than China - 3 cups per day, equally spaced throughout the day, steeped for at least 5 minutes and no more than 10.
* berries - best are raspberries (make sure to eat the seeds), strawberries and blackberries - also good are blueberries, bilberries and cranberries - frozen and dried are fine, juice is not quite as good.
* Omega-3 fatty acids - you can get them from oily fish, blech! I prefer to take capsules instead. I take them for my eczema anyway, so there's no need to change anything there.
* Citrus fruit - oranges, lemons, mandarines, grapefruit.
* Tomatoes - best thoroughly cooked, in conjunction with an oil (olive oil is best) - fresh is better than canned - tomato paste is also good as it's more concentrated - 2 meals per week
* red wine - up to 2 glasses per day - wine from a cooler, more humid climate is better
* chocolate - dark, 70% cocoa or more - 50g per day
* cinnamon and cocoa powder (minimum 2tsp per serve) - the only problem with these is that it's hard to eat enough to get the benefits. Plus adding milk cancels them out.
Other foods with benefits are:
* carrots, potato, squash, cabbage (white and red), soymilk, pecans, cherries, plums, avocado, peaches, mangoes, apricots, red beans, artichokes, potatoes (russet), asparagus, sweet potato, radishes, spinach, alfalfa, barley, basil, rosemary, black tea, capers, celery, chilli, clove, eggplant, fennel, aniseseed, coriander, ginger, lentils, lettuce, parsley, mushrooms (esp. shiitake), thyme, wheat bran, wakame.
The third section discusses how best to go about things. There are 3 main principles:
1. Diversity - make sure you eat a variety of foods, as there are different essential phytochemicals in different foods.
2. Regularity - it's important to eat some or all of these foods every day.
3. Effectiveness - consume the food or drink in the correct way for it to be most effective, e.g. steeping green tea for at least 5 minutes, or eating turmeric and pepper together.
They point out that it pays to look at certain traditional diets: the Mediterranean and Japanese (and to some extent, the Indian). All the above foods feature heavily in one or all of these cuisines, and people from those areas have very low rates of cancer. So if you're not able to go into detail analysing what you're eating, for whatever reason, if you stick to those cuisines you should be fine.
They point out very strongly that you shouldn't substitute supplements for fresh food, and they go into detail about why. This was the part of the book that really sold me. In other books I've read, they go on and on about what you should/shouldn't do, and then at the end they say, "and guess what? I have the perfect diet/multivitamin/drink/workshop to help you out with that!" So this book was a breath of fresh air. They're not trying to sell you anything. That's why I've taken so much time and effort to take note of what they've said.
It's an extra reason to feel good about eating those brussels sprouts! And you have to eat chocolate and drink wine every day. I can cope with that............ ;)