Your body is composed of 60 trillion magnificent cells, and what are you doing to protect their precious DNA? According to The Nutrition Reporter’s Jack Challem, sickness is often spurred by DNA-harming free radicals. In fact, Challem adds, “the research is unequivocal that free radicals damage DNA and that this deterioration leads to aging and many diseases, including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s.”

So how to guard against DNA damage and, you know, maybe live forever? “If you stop to look at your genes, which are made of DNA, and what your DNA is made of, you eventually come back to vitamins and other nutrients as biological building blocks,” Challem says. “The low-tech solution, eating well and taking some vitamins, is the cheaper and better solution.”

To get your vitamins in the form of chocolatey goodness, chow down on a Vitalicious Muffin. Providing 100 percent of your RDA for 10 vitamins and minerals - as well as four grams of protein - the Deep Chocolate VitaMuffins are “just yum,” says Gail Goldberg. “Plus only 100 calories and lots of fiber.”

...continued: Defend Your DNA

Eating an antioxidant-packed combo of tomato and broccoli can help fight prostate cancer more effectively than consuming either food on its own, according to a new study from the journal Cancer Research. Researchers fed lab rats the human equivalent of 2.5 cups of cherry tomatoes (or one cup of tomato sauce) and 1.5 cups of broccoli daily, finding that those amounts significantly slowed tumor growth.

To get your fill of those anticancer veggies, read up on the tomato- and broccoli-rich recipes included in cookbooks like The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen, which Sean considers “a must-have for the vegetarian home cook.” For Fanny The Fairy, it’s all about Leith’s Vegetarian Bible, since “vegetables are too good to be just an side dish.” And my favorite veggie cookbook is Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, a wonderfully thick recipe collection that Liz at Pocket Farm dubs “my bible.”

One more reason to finally start flossing: A new study from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that gum disease might increase your risk for pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health studied data on about 48,000 men, finding that those with periodontal disease had a 63 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those with healthy teeth and gums.

To safeguard your gums and possibly lower your cancer risk, use a ThisNext-approved floss each time you brush your teeth. Some smart choices: superminty Glide Comfort Plus Floss, GUM Eez-Thru Flossers (dubbed “as good as [flossing] gets” by Caryl Chinn), and AP-24 Gentle Action Dental Floss (“Never had a cavity, don’t plan on getting one!” boasts shopcaster Hannah Teter). Or try the recently ThisNext-blog-featured Reach Clean Paste Floss, of which Matt Nando says: “I doubted, but am converted. This kicks major butt.”

Inspired by Kristopher’s recent call to “think pink” and turn our attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’ve been trolling my favorite health sites to find some natural and easy-to-incorporate solutions for breast cancer prevention. In my scouring I’ve discovered a number of cancer-fighting foods and herbs, many of which turn up in various forms around ThisNext. And while many shopcasters give a nod to the health-boosting properties of their picks, others simply spout their love for some primo products that just might possess secret anti-cancer superpowers.

One of the most oft-recommended consumables for breast cancer prevention, green tea is packed with free-radical-battling antioxidants. Yumi Chen likes her green tea nice and chilled, as in Ito En’s line of bottled teas. Brandon W., Gordon, and Fanny the Fairy all prefer Mariage Frères Matcha Tea, which Fanny uses in her green tea tiramisu and creme brulée (and we’re pretty sure that either dish must be sort of like how heaven would taste). My personal fave of the earthy-green stuff is Republic of Tea’s Sip for the Cure Pink Rose Green Tea, a very delicate, rose-infused blend that helps benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

...continued: Naturally cancer-fighting

Ex-Playgroup Mommy interrupts her normal, joyful, personal and funny blog with an important message for us all:  Feel Your Boobies. “Feeling your boobies could save your life - especially if you are under 40 and haven’t had a mammogram yet (like me, although I should have had my baseline mamo already..better get that done!). So Pass this on to all the women in your life.” You can learn more at www.feelyourboobies.org, a site and a group that focuses on creating cool products to raise awareness and educate women, primarily those under 40, about the importance of self-breast exams. And hey: do it now.

As the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma has become 15 times more widespread over the last half-century, according to Coco Masters at Daily Rx. But a new Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology study found that “people who physically ‘map’ their moles, by marking the location of their existing moles on an image of their back or torso, were better able to detect new growths than those who didn’t mole-map,” Masters reports. To keep your skin healthy and cancer-free, break out the camera and start mapping now.

Something about that greasy coating inside the microwave popcorn bag has always skeeved me out - and with good reason, since Vicki Blankenship at the Cancer Blog reports that chemicals used in the coating may break down into the suspected carcinogen perfluorooctanoic acid. To cut the cancer risk, Vicki recommends this recipe:

Vicki’s Healthy Popcorn

1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

1 cup organic popcorn

In a medium sauce pan melt the coconut oil and pour popcorn kernels into the pan and cover. When popcorn starts to pop, shake the pan slightly above the heat of the burner until popcorn stops popping. I usually count to five slowly and if no kernels have popped in five seconds then pull it away from the heat. There will always be unpopped kernels but you don’t want to burn the ones that popped. Salt to taste.

File under “too good to be true”: Dr. Bill Bailey at Traditional Naturopath points us to a study finding that eating pizza regularly helps cut your risk for esophageal, colon, and mouth cancers. Chalk it up to lycopene, the antioxidant that gives tomatoes their bright-red hue. Of course, as Dr. Bailey notes, “you could get the lycopene without eating the pizza.” But it’s nice to know that we’re getting some benefit upon tearing through a few slices of pie.

Maybe next we’ll discover that Chinese take-out prevents heart disease.

Now here is a just plain remarkable woman: Dana of Think Pink — a mother, a home-schooler, a “lister” who has a truly fascinating set of 100’s (and more), a thoughtful Christian who speaks freely and clearly about her beliefs…and a ten-year survivor of breast cancer who has a lot of smart, brave things to say to us all. Kind’a hard not to fall in love with her gentle, highly personal and still down-to-earth blog.

Soy is widely considered to be among the healthiest of foods, and evidence suggests it can even help prevent cancer. For many of us, integrating soy into our diets may be challenging. But if you think soy is nothing more than a bland, white brick, then pick up your chopsticks. Marc of Mental Marsala regales us with not one, not two but three spectacular presentations of this superfood: Sauce, soup and slab.

We just love it when bloggers reach out and help others live better, and what could be better than healthy food that’s easy on the eyes and palate?

Self-described as “just another Perl-hacking, meditating, music-making, ecovillage-building, Vancouver-living guy,” Keith Grennan blogs about living with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at Keith vs. The Pineapple. Always illuminating, Keith details his experiences with chemo, posts photos from his latest trip to Magic Cuts, keeps us updated on projects like creating a Hodgkin’s blog aggregator, and shares recipes such as his very own Magic Tea. Made with herbs selected from Gaia Garden, the healing blend contains immune-boosting astralagus, mineral-rich nettles, and other herbs sure to enrich your health.

The Cancer Blog isn’t just for those dealing with the disease - there’s also a wealth of info on prevention, along with regularly posted recipes that feature anti-cancer foods. For anyone looking to give his or her diet an all-over healthy makeover, The Cancer Blog suggests checking out new book Foods That Fight Cancer by biochemist Richard Beliveau. To get started, try loading up on these good-for-you eats: cranberries, citrus fruits, dark chocolate, green tea, flaxeed, and garlic - which, when freshly crushed, is “by far the best source of anti-cancer compounds,” Beliveau claims.

Further proof that pink is the new black: Sanyo and Qwest are teaming up to offer a new cotton-candy-colored cell phone that gives 10 percent of its profits to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Sponsors of the Race for the Cure, the Komen Foundation works to fight breast cancer by funding research grants and supporting education, screening and treatment projects in communities around the world. According to bcancer.com’s Breast Cancer Blog, the “pink phone with a heart” boasts “all new and nice features like a sleek design, dual LCD displays, a built-in camera, walkie-talkie-style communication, wireless download capabilities and an external speaker.” That’s fabulous news to us at ThisNext, who flip over great products that let us shop with our values and end up with an uber-cute new gadget at the same time.