Cancer and Diet - Foods to Prevent Cancer
Diet plays an important part in the quest to prevent cancer. The AICR (American Institute for Cancer Research) recommends choosing mostly from plant foods such as whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables and to stop intake of sugary drinks.
Diet has been directly linked to various types of cancers including stomach, bowel, mouth, upper throat, larynx and lung. Cancer research has proven that certain foods may increase the risk while others can lower it.
Reduce Your Intake of Salty, Processed Foods
The risk of developing cancer in your lifetime can be greatly lowered by eating less salty, preserved foods and increasing foods high in fiber such as vegetables and fruits.
Also avoid salt-preserved foods such as fish, cured meats and some pickled vegetables. Eating processed or red meat might increase your cancer risk - especially stomach, pancreatic and bowel cancers.
Processed meats, such as sausages, bacon and ham, contain ingredients that can put you more at risk than eating fresh red meats. White meats such as chicken and fish aren't linked to any type of cancer and may also help keep your weight at a normal level because of their lack of saturated fat.
Certain chemicals such as nitrites and nitrates used in preserving processed meat can be transformed into cancerous chemicals (N-nitroso compounds) and cooking meats at very high temperatures while grilling can also produce cancerous chemicals (heterocyclic amines and polycyclic amines).
Eat Plenty of Fruits, Vegetables and High-Fiber Foods
Fruits and vegetables help to reduce the risk of throat, lung and mouth cancers because of their very high content of minerals, vitamins and fiber and have the added benefit of keeping you at a healthy weight because of their low calorie content.
High-fiber foods can greatly reduce your risk of cancer. Fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods may lower your risk of bowel cancer by helping your stomach produce helpful, healthy bacteria.
Try to include these types of foods in your diet plan - lentils, vegetables, beans, fresh or dried fruits, apples, rice and bananas. Also, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Water also helps flush harmful toxins from the body.
Accumulated toxins resulting from a poor diet put the body in state of dis-ease, increasing susceptibility to cancer triggers such as free radicals. Antioxidants help reduce the risk of cancer by helping to neutralize free radicals which can damage and reduce production of cells.
Fruits and vegetables that contain high levels of antioxidants include dark green, orange, red and purple fruits and veggies such as carrots, tomatoes, spinach and kale.
Cancer is a disease that is still being avidly researched. Much has been accomplished, but more needs to be done in finding out what can prevent - or cause - cancer, and that includes the foods we eat.
There is an increasing awareness that cancer is not a disease you catch, as much as a condition which develops. Whether it occurs at all, and the rate at which it develops depend on varied factors.
While some of these factors may have a genetic (predisposed) component, many are greatly influenced by lifestyle choices and behaviors. Diet is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of cancer, but other factors are also relevant.
After smoking, obesity is one of the leading causes of cancer, so a well-balanced diet is critical in reducing your cancer risk. Developing healthy lifestyle habits can also lower your risk including the cessation of smoking, losing excess weight and exercise.
Diet has been directly linked to various types of cancers including stomach, bowel, mouth, upper throat, larynx and lung. Cancer research has proven that certain foods may increase the risk while others can lower it.
Reduce Your Intake of Salty, Processed Foods
The risk of developing cancer in your lifetime can be greatly lowered by eating less salty, preserved foods and increasing foods high in fiber such as vegetables and fruits.
Also avoid salt-preserved foods such as fish, cured meats and some pickled vegetables. Eating processed or red meat might increase your cancer risk - especially stomach, pancreatic and bowel cancers.
Processed meats, such as sausages, bacon and ham, contain ingredients that can put you more at risk than eating fresh red meats. White meats such as chicken and fish aren't linked to any type of cancer and may also help keep your weight at a normal level because of their lack of saturated fat.
Certain chemicals such as nitrites and nitrates used in preserving processed meat can be transformed into cancerous chemicals (N-nitroso compounds) and cooking meats at very high temperatures while grilling can also produce cancerous chemicals (heterocyclic amines and polycyclic amines).
Eat Plenty of Fruits, Vegetables and High-Fiber Foods
Fruits and vegetables help to reduce the risk of throat, lung and mouth cancers because of their very high content of minerals, vitamins and fiber and have the added benefit of keeping you at a healthy weight because of their low calorie content.
High-fiber foods can greatly reduce your risk of cancer. Fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods may lower your risk of bowel cancer by helping your stomach produce helpful, healthy bacteria.
Try to include these types of foods in your diet plan - lentils, vegetables, beans, fresh or dried fruits, apples, rice and bananas. Also, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Water also helps flush harmful toxins from the body.
Accumulated toxins resulting from a poor diet put the body in state of dis-ease, increasing susceptibility to cancer triggers such as free radicals. Antioxidants help reduce the risk of cancer by helping to neutralize free radicals which can damage and reduce production of cells.
Fruits and vegetables that contain high levels of antioxidants include dark green, orange, red and purple fruits and veggies such as carrots, tomatoes, spinach and kale.
Cancer is a disease that is still being avidly researched. Much has been accomplished, but more needs to be done in finding out what can prevent - or cause - cancer, and that includes the foods we eat.
There is an increasing awareness that cancer is not a disease you catch, as much as a condition which develops. Whether it occurs at all, and the rate at which it develops depend on varied factors.
While some of these factors may have a genetic (predisposed) component, many are greatly influenced by lifestyle choices and behaviors. Diet is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of cancer, but other factors are also relevant.
After smoking, obesity is one of the leading causes of cancer, so a well-balanced diet is critical in reducing your cancer risk. Developing healthy lifestyle habits can also lower your risk including the cessation of smoking, losing excess weight and exercise.
Dairy Foods - Do They Cause or Prevent Cancer?
Research has proven that diet can either reduce or increase your chances of developing cancer. Some studies have narrowed their search for causes and prevention to dairy foods - and many are divided in their outcomes.
Cream, cheeses, butter, yogurt and milk are the most commonly consumed dairy products and the studies can only go so far in proving or disproving that they increase the risk of developing the disease.
Even though the likelihood of having consumed dairy products can't be unconditionally proven, there are clues in the studies which support the supposition that dairy was very likely a part of the diet of the person who contracted the disease.
Some studies and even anecdotal evidence have provided correlations between incidences of cancer and consumption of dairy products; comparing data from societies that have high dairy consumption to those that don't.
Certainly, other factors have to be included - such as smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, sugary drinks and processed food - but the research that's been conducted on dairy foods is important and should be considered.
Types of Cancer Linked to Dairy Foods
Some types of cancer studied extensively in dairy and cancer links are:
" Colorectal - This is one of the most common types of cancer. The colon or rectum is situated in the lower area of the digestive tract and studies indicate that some ingredients found in milk (calcium, lactic acid bacteria and Vitamin D) may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
" Stomach - Some protective factors found in milk may prevent cancer growth in the stomach while others (insulin growth) may increase the risk. Studies indicate there are no clear factors that can be determined between dairy and stomach cancer.
" Breast - The most common type of cancer in women, breast cancer risk may be reduced by dairy products. Some dairy products may even protect women from breast cancer.
" Prostate - This gland is found directly below the bladder in men and produces semen fluid. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in European and American men and studies have found that high dairy intake (especially milk) may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer because of bioactive compounds normally found in milk. Some studies indicate high probability of prostate cancer in men who have high intakes of dairy - but other studies praise dairy products for their ability to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
Are There Daily Recommendations?
Although there are no official recommendations on dairy consumption, some medical experts recommend that you limit your intake of dairy products to two glasses of milk or two servings of other dairy products per day.
Dairy consumption when it comes to preventing or reducing your risk of cancer is a mixed bag. However, many people believe that it does cause a high risk - especially when you compare populations that do not consume high amounts of dairy products (if at all) and cancer cases are almost non-existent, to those populations that do consume large amounts of dairy foods and cancer is a cause of concern.
Therefore, these studies are mostly observational rather than scientific, so consider that the evidence is there, but no real proof exists. The best rule of thumb is to consume dairy products in moderation and be sure to include fresh, fiber-laden foods in your daily diet plan.
Cream, cheeses, butter, yogurt and milk are the most commonly consumed dairy products and the studies can only go so far in proving or disproving that they increase the risk of developing the disease.
Even though the likelihood of having consumed dairy products can't be unconditionally proven, there are clues in the studies which support the supposition that dairy was very likely a part of the diet of the person who contracted the disease.
Some studies and even anecdotal evidence have provided correlations between incidences of cancer and consumption of dairy products; comparing data from societies that have high dairy consumption to those that don't.
Certainly, other factors have to be included - such as smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, sugary drinks and processed food - but the research that's been conducted on dairy foods is important and should be considered.
Types of Cancer Linked to Dairy Foods
Some types of cancer studied extensively in dairy and cancer links are:
" Colorectal - This is one of the most common types of cancer. The colon or rectum is situated in the lower area of the digestive tract and studies indicate that some ingredients found in milk (calcium, lactic acid bacteria and Vitamin D) may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
" Stomach - Some protective factors found in milk may prevent cancer growth in the stomach while others (insulin growth) may increase the risk. Studies indicate there are no clear factors that can be determined between dairy and stomach cancer.
" Breast - The most common type of cancer in women, breast cancer risk may be reduced by dairy products. Some dairy products may even protect women from breast cancer.
" Prostate - This gland is found directly below the bladder in men and produces semen fluid. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in European and American men and studies have found that high dairy intake (especially milk) may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer because of bioactive compounds normally found in milk. Some studies indicate high probability of prostate cancer in men who have high intakes of dairy - but other studies praise dairy products for their ability to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
Are There Daily Recommendations?
Although there are no official recommendations on dairy consumption, some medical experts recommend that you limit your intake of dairy products to two glasses of milk or two servings of other dairy products per day.
Dairy consumption when it comes to preventing or reducing your risk of cancer is a mixed bag. However, many people believe that it does cause a high risk - especially when you compare populations that do not consume high amounts of dairy products (if at all) and cancer cases are almost non-existent, to those populations that do consume large amounts of dairy foods and cancer is a cause of concern.
Therefore, these studies are mostly observational rather than scientific, so consider that the evidence is there, but no real proof exists. The best rule of thumb is to consume dairy products in moderation and be sure to include fresh, fiber-laden foods in your daily diet plan.
Cancer and Sugar - Does Cancer Feed on Sugary Foods?
Cancer has a sweet tooth and sugar is its best friend for development and growth. Preventing cancer has a lot to do with how you live your life and which diet you choose. Diets high in white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour and other carbohydrate-rich foods are highly dangerous if you are motivated to prevent cancer.
Sugar is the main diet for cancer-type tumors and cells and helps them grow and expand. Your body's healthy cells feed on sugar too, but sugar feeds cancer cells at a rate of 10 to 12 times that of healthy cells. In fact, sugar water is used to detect the presence of the cancer cells on a sugar frenzy during a PET scan.
Cancer cells also flourish in a highly acidic environment and sugar has a pH that's 10 times more acidic than the perfect blood pH of 7.4.
Your immune system is also affected by the presence of sugar in the system. Sugar lowers phagocytosis, a vital immune system response necessary to maintain a healthy immune system. Since sugar is in so many things we consume, it adds up to a severe suppression of your immune system's function throughout the day.
What About Sugar Substitutes?
Sugar substitutes can negatively affect your body almost as much as sugar itself. Many sweeteners contain ingredients such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose which contribute to such cancers as leukemia and bladder cancer.
Stevia is considered one of the good sugar substitutes and is a natural herb derived from South America. When looking for sweeteners, honey is a far better option for your health than refined sugar.
Sugar - A Vicious Circle
Obesity is another result of consuming too much sugar - and obesity is a scientifically-proven cause of cancer. Excess body fat can negatively affect the esophagus, gallbladder, pancreas, rectum and breast and sugar feeds the developing cells.
When you consume sugar, the pancreas releases insulin into the body. The breast is one of the parts of the body which contains insulin receptors and reacts negatively to the high levels of insulin being released by promoting cell growth. Too much sugar has been proven to more than double the risk of developing cancer of the breast.
Added sugar in all its forms is highly unnatural to the human diet. Our cave-man ancestors had access to sweeteners very rarely, and our biology has not evolved to deal with the daily inclusion of sugar, especially in the quantities we subject our bodies to.
Since sugar is in most everything we eat, it's best to learn the hidden sugars in such items as salad dressings, canned foods and most processed foods so you can cut down whenever possible.
Sometimes you can be fooled by the label on foods that don't list sugar as an ingredient. Look for hidden sugars such as fructose, maltose, glucose and lactose which are simply disguised forms of sugar.
A naturally balanced diet plan which contains as little added sugar as possible is best to keep cancer at bay and also to prevent other lifestyle diseases effectively.
Sugar is the main diet for cancer-type tumors and cells and helps them grow and expand. Your body's healthy cells feed on sugar too, but sugar feeds cancer cells at a rate of 10 to 12 times that of healthy cells. In fact, sugar water is used to detect the presence of the cancer cells on a sugar frenzy during a PET scan.
Cancer cells also flourish in a highly acidic environment and sugar has a pH that's 10 times more acidic than the perfect blood pH of 7.4.
Your immune system is also affected by the presence of sugar in the system. Sugar lowers phagocytosis, a vital immune system response necessary to maintain a healthy immune system. Since sugar is in so many things we consume, it adds up to a severe suppression of your immune system's function throughout the day.
What About Sugar Substitutes?
Sugar substitutes can negatively affect your body almost as much as sugar itself. Many sweeteners contain ingredients such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose which contribute to such cancers as leukemia and bladder cancer.
Stevia is considered one of the good sugar substitutes and is a natural herb derived from South America. When looking for sweeteners, honey is a far better option for your health than refined sugar.
Sugar - A Vicious Circle
Obesity is another result of consuming too much sugar - and obesity is a scientifically-proven cause of cancer. Excess body fat can negatively affect the esophagus, gallbladder, pancreas, rectum and breast and sugar feeds the developing cells.
When you consume sugar, the pancreas releases insulin into the body. The breast is one of the parts of the body which contains insulin receptors and reacts negatively to the high levels of insulin being released by promoting cell growth. Too much sugar has been proven to more than double the risk of developing cancer of the breast.
Added sugar in all its forms is highly unnatural to the human diet. Our cave-man ancestors had access to sweeteners very rarely, and our biology has not evolved to deal with the daily inclusion of sugar, especially in the quantities we subject our bodies to.
Since sugar is in most everything we eat, it's best to learn the hidden sugars in such items as salad dressings, canned foods and most processed foods so you can cut down whenever possible.
Sometimes you can be fooled by the label on foods that don't list sugar as an ingredient. Look for hidden sugars such as fructose, maltose, glucose and lactose which are simply disguised forms of sugar.
A naturally balanced diet plan which contains as little added sugar as possible is best to keep cancer at bay and also to prevent other lifestyle diseases effectively.