There are claims that kiwis, which can be easily found in supermarkets, are good for cancer prevention.

At first, it might be easy to think of this as just another common "health food story."

However, if you look into actual research, it's not entirely baseless. That said, there isn't enough evidence to definitively state that eating kiwis prevents cancer.

The first reason kiwis are gaining attention is their vitamin C and various antioxidant components.

Our bodies produce reactive oxygen species during normal metabolic processes every day.

If there are too many reactive oxygen species, they can cause oxidative damage to the DNA in our cells.

This accumulation of DNA damage is one of several factors related to the cancer development process.

After having healthy individuals consume kiwis for a certain period, studies showed improved antioxidant status, reduced oxidative DNA damage, and increased ability to repair damaged DNA.

On this point alone, it's quite impressive. However, saying that "DNA damage has decreased" is not the same as saying "the number of cancer patients has decreased."

There is still a lack of conclusive evidence showing that tracking tens of thousands of people who eat kiwis daily for decades has definitively lowered cancer rates.

A 2019 review of existing studies on kiwis and cancer confirmed some possibilities, but only eight studies met the review criteria.

Among those, there weren't many intervention studies involving people. The researchers concluded that kiwis might be related to direct or indirect anti-cancer effects.

Still, since kiwis are a fruit, they provide dietary fiber and can aid in bowel movements. A diet rich in dietary fiber is said to be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) states that there is strong evidence that consuming foods high in dietary fiber lowers the risk of colorectal cancer. Fiber can reduce the time it takes for contents to move through the intestines, affect gut microbiota, and help maintain a healthy weight.

However, it would be misleading to think that kiwis contain a special "anti-cancer substance" that eliminates cancer cells.

What's more important is the consumption of vitamins, dietary fiber, and various plant-based components found in kiwis.

In fact, the WCRF recommends a dietary habit of regularly consuming a variety of plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes rather than focusing on a single fruit.

Therefore, I believe it's most accurate to describe kiwis not as "fruits that prevent cancer" but as "fruits that are good to include in a diet favorable for cancer prevention."

Eating a kiwi doesn't mean you don't have to worry about cancer. Conversely, eating kiwis daily doesn't mean it's pointless.

Maintaining a lifestyle that includes eating enough fruits and vegetables, ensuring dietary fiber intake, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, avoiding smoking, and limiting excessive alcohol consumption is essential.

Cancer prevention is not a matter that can be solved by a single food; rather, it's the result of accumulating these small habits over time.

In summary, current research on kiwis can be encapsulated in one sentence: while it has not been proven that kiwis directly prevent cancer, there are studies involving humans that show reduced oxidative DNA damage and antioxidant effects, and there is evidence that a diet rich in fruits high in dietary fiber can help lower the risk of certain cancers.

There's no need to view one or two kiwis eaten daily as a miraculous anti-cancer remedy.

However, seeing them as a small piece of a healthy diet could be a good habit to adopt.