SAN DIEGO -- There is now an arsenal of research that shows if you add certain vegetables and herbs to your diet, you can prevent or even stop cancer. All you have to do is make some simple changes to your weekly grocery list.

Cathy Mills is worried about cancer. Just four months ago, she was diagnosed with melanoma.

Surgeons carved out the malignant cancer before it spread and now Mills does all she can to prevent the cancer from returning.

Part of her prevention plan is to keep her kitchen stocked with fruits and vegetables containing cancer-fighting properties.

"There is no question that you can cut down the risk of developing more skin cancers if you change people's eating habits," said Dr. Steven Pratt, an opthalmologist at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.

Pratt is Mills' doctor and considered a world-renowned expert on nutrition and how it can prevent disease.

"I have been treating disease for about 30 years. Now it is about time that we prevent all the diseases I have been treating and witnessing over my medical career," Pratt said.

He said there is plenty of new research that proves adding certain fruits, vegetables and herbs to your diet can prevent or even halt some cancers.

"The best anti-cancer food on the planet is broccoli," Pratt told 10News.

Studies show a diet rich in broccoli can relieve gastritis and reduce an infection known to cause stomach cancer. And researchers say in mice studies, broccoli sprout-extract protected mice from skin cancer.

Another study showed cabbage may help protect against breast cancer.

"(Cabbage is) loaded with antioxidants and different phyto nutrients that prevent disease in the vegetable and in turn, if you eat them, it will help prevent disease in you," Pratt explained.

Researchers in Boston recently showed that ginkgo biloba appears to lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

"This is a good anti-inflammatory food or supplement because it is full of polyfemal," Pratt said.

Legend suggests garlic may ward off evil spirits, but now scientists are finding garlic may ward off carcinogens that are produced by meats cooked at high temperatures.

Adding cold water fish to your diet can help prevent more than just cancer.

"Cold water fish, like wild salmon, are also good for preventing cancer, heart disease (and) macular denegation," Pratt said.

He added blueberries can preserve your brain as you mature. Tomatoes can protect men from prostate cancer and green or black tea decreases the risk of many cancers including stomach, breast, bladder and lung cancer.

Mills radically changed her diet and hopes it will help her win her fight against cancer.

"There is nothing I can take to stop me from having further cancer, but I can change the way I eat," Mills told 10News.

Pratt is the author of "Superfoods RX" and a just-released book called "Superfoods Healthstyle."