Ten things you can do
now to reduce your risk of Cancer
A healthy diet will not cure you of cancer. However, a wholesome diet and an active
lifestyle can reduce your risk and may even enhance the efficacy of your
chemotherapy. Here’s why.
1.
Eat more
cruciferous vegetables: One characteristic that sets cruciferous vegetables
apart from other vegetables is their high glucosinolate
content. Glucosinolate hydrolysis products
could help prevent cancer by enhancing the elimination of carcinogens before
they can damage DNA, or by altering cell-signaling pathways in ways that help
prevent normal cells from being transformed into cancerous cells.
2.
Flavor
your food with herbs: While herbs are most known for their anti-inflammatory
properties, curcumin
in particular appears to inhibit cancer growth and expedite cancer cell death.
3.
What are
flavonoids?: Flavonoids
are a class of chemicals found in berries, coffee, tea, green vegetables, herbs
and legumes such as soybeans. Consumption of certain subclasses are associated
with a reduced risk of many kinds of cancers including cancers of the digestive
tract, lung, breast, prostate, kidney and thyroid. Possible mechanisms include
increased cancer cell death, reduced DNA mutation rates and inhibition of
metastasis.
4.
Fruits
& Veggies-More Matters™: The results of numerous case-control studies
indicate that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of
developing a number of different types of cancer, particularly cancers of the
digestive tract (oropharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum) and lung. A
recent systematic review and meta-analysis
conclusively showed that that consumption of apples is associated with a reduced
risk of cancer in different anatomical sites.
5.
Folate:
Folate is a B vitamin needed
to regulate DNA expression and to build new cells. Deficiencies are most commonly associated
with neural tube defects but are also associated with an increased risk of
cervical, breast, colon, brain and lung cancer. High levels can be found in spinach,
beef liver, black-eyed peas, Brussel sprouts and asparagus.
6.
Healthy
Fat: Dietary fat is enjoying a bit
of a renaissance due, in part, to the health benefits attributed to phytosterols, a type of
fat derived from vegetable oils and nuts.
Limited data from animal studies suggest that very high intakes of
phytosterols, may inhibit the growth of breast and prostate cancer. Studies to confirm these effects in humans
are in progress.
7.
Choline: Choline
is an essential macronutrient that is found in eggs, legumes, cuciferous and
leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds. Diets low in choline increase the risk for cancers,
most notably liver cancer, due to increased DNA mutation rates.
8.
Does
sugar feed cancer? All cells use glucose to grow but cancer cells consume
it in particularly high amounts. This is why a radiolabeled form of glucose is
used to detect cancer cells in PET scanning. Bottom line-get rid of added sugar.
9. Eat less animal protein: In his
documentary, Forks Over Knives, T. Colin
Campbell describes how communities
that transition from a plant-based to an animal-based diet show an increase in
cancers, even in children. Protein intake influences the levels of the growth
hormone IGF-I (Insulin Growth Factor-1), which not only affects the growth of
healthy cells, but can also encourage cancer cell growth. This trend can be reversed as communities transition
back to a plant-based diet.
10.
Eat Whole
Grains: Dietary
fiber from whole grains may reduce the risk of cancers of the dietary
tract, particularly the colon. This is
because higher fiber intakes are known to speed up the passage of stool through
the colon, allowing less time for potentially carcinogenic compounds to stay in
contact with cells that line the inner surface of the colon. Clinical studies
to confirm this hypothesis are underway.
11. Bonus suggestion: Even if you have a poor
diet you can still reduce your risk of cancer through exercise.
Women with high estrogen levels in their blood have increased risk for breast
cancer. Since exercise lowers blood estrogen, it helps lower a woman’s
breast-cancer risk. Exercise also reduces other cancer growth factors such as
insulin.
