You can Stand Up to Cancer by making sure you eat lots of these top 10 Cancer-Fighting Foods. How many of these are you eating regularly?

1. Garlic – Hard to say how much of this pungent herb you need to eat each day to prevent cancer… even the experts don’t know. But many studies have shown that garlic helps prevent cancer in the esophagus, stomach and colon. What’s a little bad breath in exchange for something this good for you?

2. Berries – What’s not to love about blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries? Not only are they a fantastic source of antioxidants, fiber and Vitamin C… they may help prevent cancers of the bladder, lung, breast and esophagus.

3. Tomatoes – Whether you eat them fresh or out of a can, tomatoes are rich in the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene (that’s what gives them their red color!). Tomatoes are also full of Vitamin C and beta-carotene, and studies show that they have the potential to fight prostate cancer.

4. Cruciferous vegetables – Veggies like kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and bok choy all fall into this cancer-fighting category. These vegetables contain phytochemicals that may prevent stomach cancer and cancers of the mouth and larynx, uterine lining and cervix.

5. Green Tea – Over the last 10 years, the popularity of green tea in this country has exploded. As most of us know, it’s been widely consumed in Japan, China and other Asian countries for centuries, where the incidence of cancers of the esophagus, stomach and colon are significantly lower. Green tea contains the antioxidant catechins, which some researchers believe may help protect against cancer and slow tumor growth.

6. Whole Grains – We all need more of the good grains in our diets… whole grains that have all three parts of the grain kernel (germ, bran and endosperm)… like oatmeal, barley, whole wheat and even popcorn! Corn tortillas are made of whole grains… flour tortillas are not. Whole grains are full of fiber that helps reduce the risk of colon cancer.

7. Turmeric – When I was in Grenada, I met a woman selling raw turmeric (it looks like big grub worms when it is raw, and saffron colored once it’s dry and ground). Besides cooking curry, she uses this spice as an herbal remedy to prevent stomach ulcers and other intestinal disorders. Now, new research shows that it may prevent and slow the growth of several types of cancer… including stomach, breast and mouth cancers.

8. Leafy Green Vegetables – If you eat romaine lettuce, kale and spinach, then you are on the right track for preventing breast, skin, lung and stomach cancer. These vegetables, and others like chard, mustard and collard greens are rich in fiber and antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein.

9. Grapes – What? Grapes? I’ve been conditioned to think of grapes as nature’s sugar bombs. Well, they are full of sugar, but the skins of red and purple grapes are packed with the antioxidant resveratrol… which has the potential to keep cancer from forming in the liver, breast, stomach and lymphatic system.

10. Beans – I grew up eating beans, and I still love them, so I’m glad beans are one of the Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods. Dry beans and peas are mega sources of fiber, protein and folate. Studies have shown that folate helps reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.

There you have it: easy, simple things that you can eat to lower your risk of getting cancer. So, stand-up! Get to the grocery store or the farmer’s market and start eating better.

It’s easier than you realize… and you have everything to gain.

Note: My information was gathered from the doctors at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, whom successfully treated my mother for breast and colon cancer. My mother’s cancer is in remission. Other information sources include the American Cancer Society  and The American Institute for Cancer Research.

My son went to war… and the weapon he carried was a camera.

Even though he wasn’t armed and fighting while in northeastern Afghanistan, as a journalist embedded with U.S. troops, Carlos witnessed the deadly horrors of battle while under fire in one of the country’s most dangerous and hostile valleys.

My son went to war, but I know I’m lucky. He came home.

The riveting documentary of his experience, The Hornet’s Nest, offers a soldier’s-eye view of what it’s really like to wonder, from second to second, if you’re going to die in a remote part of the world far removed from those you love. This is not a scripted movie… this is the real deal with heart-breaking consequences.

When my son announced he was going to Afghanistan with his father (my former husband), I knew I couldn’t stop him. I was his age when I left a comfortable job as a CNN producer in Washington, D.C. to cover the wars in Central America in the 1980s. I guess, in a sense, Carlos joined the family business.

Knowing that Carlos shot the movie’s captivating shaky-cam video while bullets whistled above his head is gut wrenching. I watched the film with him beside me. Some of the families of the soldiers featured in the movie will never be able to do this.

The movie is not all bang-bang. There’s a terrific scene with members of an all-female Medevac team, who risk their lives helping extract wounded soldiers from the battlefield. The story of these women alone is incredibly compelling.

But the movie never lets you forget you are in the middle of hell.

What is it about people who run head-on into dangerous places like war zones? Believers in a cause? Adrenaline junkies? Journalists? Fools? I’m not just talking about people like my son (and me, if I’m playing fair). There are plenty of soldiers you hear from in the movie who go back for a third and fourth deployment… some of whom die doing what they love, leaving sorrow in their wake.

A moving memorial service for six fallen soldiers is, perhaps, the toughest part of the movie. Their surviving colleagues decorate makeshift altars with the only things they can offer… a can of Coca-Cola, a personal name-patch ripped from their uniform, a photograph. A tribute to a friendship forever lost.

The Obama administration announced last week that U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, will be completely ended no later than 2016.

This haunting movie doesn’t offer any judgment about the war or America’s role in it. Only the ugly reality of combat in real time.

Like I said… I was lucky.

My oldest son came home.

This time.

For information about where the movie, The Hornet’s Nest, is showing in your area, click here.