The Links Between Diet And Cancer

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The Link Between Diet and Cancer

Every year, 1.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer and more than 500,000 people die from the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 30% of these deaths can be attributed to diet. This means that the average person can greatly lower his risk of getting cancer simply by changing his diet. There is, of course, no guarantee against cancer, but the lifestyle choices that we make now can have a huge impact on our lives in the future. (http://www.aicr.org/expert1.htm)

What diet factors increase my risk of cancer?

The majority of the studies done on the link between diet and cancer indicate that there is a relationship between high fat intake and an increased risk of cancer. High fat diets have been shown to increase the rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancer. But a low fat diet was not found to reduce the risk of cancer when compared with the average American diet of 30% fat. This is because calorie intake needs to be reduced along with the fat intake. A combination of low fat and low caloric intake is greatly effective in reducing the risk of acquiring cancer. (http://www.cc.columbia.edu./cu/healthwise/0913.html)

Biologically, a low fat and low calorie diet makes sense. When excess calories are consumed, the body's metabolism is stimulated to divide cells more rapidly. With more cells being produced, there is a statistically greater risk of something going wrong during the dividing process. And since obese people have a larger number of cells in their bodies, there is a higher chance that one of these cells will become cancerous. (http://realtime.net/anr/dietcanc.html)

Other diet factors affect your chance of acquiring c...

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...eir effects on our health.7 Scientists don't currently know which specific foods we should eat to prevent cancer. In the future we may be able to control cancer, along with many other diseases, simply by consuming a specific combination of foods.

References

1. Petering, H.G. (1986) Diet, nutrition and cancer. Progress in Clinical and

Biological Research 222:207-229.

2. Petering, H.G. (1986)

3. Mettlin, C. (1987) Levels of epidemiological proof of diet and cancer with

special references to dietary fat and vitamin A. Progress in Clinical and

Biological Research 259:149-159

4. Mettlin, C. (1987)

5. Mettlin, C. (1987)

6. Mettlin, C. (1987)

7. Yang, C.S., Pence, B.C., Wargovich, M.J., and Landau, J.M. (1996) Diet,

nutrition, and cancer prevention. Advances in Experimental Medicine and

Biology 401:231-8

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