A vegetarian diet, by reason of its low content of saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and animal proteins, and its high concentrations of folic acids, antioxidants, and phytoestrogens-shown to be effective in inhibiting the growth or in promoting the regression of serious coronary pathologies-constitutes a barrier against a number of chronic degenerative diseases, cancer among them. And that is not all. Fruits and vegetables-besides contaminating us much less than some other foods-are troves of precious substances that enable the neutralization of carcinogenic agents and that 'dilute' the concentration of diseased cells and reduce their proliferation. All of these advantages, as well as many others, emerged from studies on populations in the last century.