A cancer patient credits his morning glass of broccoli juice with halting the disease. Ray Wiseman’s claim has prompted more research into the vegetable’s healing powers. Doctors told Mr Wiseman they did not expect him to survive, when they diagnosed him five years ago.

But scans show that his cancer has stopped spreading  -  vastly improving his chances of a recovery. The grandfather, 79, puts his health down to the tumbler of broccoli juice that his wife prepares for him each day.

Mr Wiseman, who lives in Braunstone, Leicestershire, said: ‘I take this juice every day. I know it’s done me good.  I suppose it would be the same for everybody.’

His wife Joan, 72, started giving him the juice after a friend told her about the healing benefits of green vegetables. For each half-tumbler dose she combines a head of broccoli with some apples and carrots to improve the taste.

She said: ‘We believe my husband’s incredible luck is down to broccoli. I hope our experience can help other cancer sufferers.  ‘The juice is a mess to make but it’s something we have been happy to clear up. He now just takes it as second nature.
‘If anybody else’s husband is suffering from cancer and they are not getting on too well, it could help them.’

Scientists from Cancer Research UK have asked her for the recipe, to further study the vegetable’s benefits.  Recent medical studies have highlighted the possible cancer-beating powers of broccoli.

British scientists at the Institute of Food Research found that men who ate one daily portion had altered patterns of gene activity in their prostates, suggesting that the chemicals in the vegetable might be able to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

According to a report published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006, natural chemicals found in certain vegetables, such as broccoli-cauliflower and cabbage, can enhance DNA repair in cells, which could help stop them becoming cancerous.

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said: ‘There’s a lot of research that’s focused on broccoli and the healing properties that the vegetable contains.  ‘If taken, broccoli needs to be with a healthy diet that is high in all fruit and vegetables.  ‘This can also reduce the chances of developing cancer.’

Around 10,000 are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year in the UK . It is the fifth most common form of the disease and affects more men than women.

A member of the cabbage family, broccoli is rich in vitamin C and has properties that boost the human immune systems that fight viruses, bacteria and cancer.  Studies have found that boiling broccoli can reduce its anti-cancer compounds, but steaming and microwaving do not.

My current rant is against financial advisers who suggest borrowing in a currency with a low interest rate to purchase a home in a different country. That can work, but most people don’t understand the real risk.

For instance, some would find the appeal it purchasing a house in New Zealand using the Singapore dollar, which has a much lower interest rate than the New Zealand dollar. But there is danger in gambling with foreign currency using borrowed money.

Let’s say the new house will cost NZ$100,000. The bank will lend a maximum 80 percent of the cost. The bank will lend it in either Singapore dollar at an interest rate of 2 percent, or NZ dollars at an interest rate of 10 percent. But financial advisers often fail to tell you this critical point: based on pure interest rate theory, the NZ dollar will depreciate against the Singapore dollar by the differential of the interest rates of 2 per cent and 10 percent.

Of course, currencies and interest rates fluctuate for many reasons. The point is that if the bank has loaned you the maximum of NZ$80,000 in z. foreign currency equivalent whose value then rises, the bank will consider you to be in debt for more than NZ$80,000. A friend of mine in this situation, whose loan is far greater than NZ$80,000, recently received notice — a “margin call” — from her bank requesting a further S$175,000 to make up the difference, and she is now sick with worry.

And be aware. If you rely on NZ-dollar rentals from your new home to pay your Singapore-dollar mortgage, you are back in the currency risk trap. New Zealand dollar rental payments can in theory depreciate against the Singapore dollar over time, meaning that you risk receiving less when the rental is converted to Singapore dollars—and thus bringing in less to service your Singapore borrowings.

In some cases, the bank will allow you to give the margin-call money to them to hold on deposit, which you can earn interest on, but you continue the same risk of speculating with currencies using borrowed money. In fact, if you read the small print in your loan agreement you may find that the bank also has the right to demand a revaluation of the house if New Zealand property prices slide instead of increase. If the house valuation goes down, this has the same potential result of a margin call, in that your loan may now exceed 80 percent of the value of your house.