prevent cancer

World Cancer Day: Foods That Prevent Cancer

World Cancer Day’ is celebrated annually on 4th of February to deepen our understanding of this killer disease. There has been enough research to validate that food acts as the most promising ammunition to fight the battle against cancer.

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1) What is the most common cause of cancer?

Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells. There are around 100 types of cancer. The most common types of cancer are – Men: Lung, esophagus, stomach, oral and pharyngeal cancers. Women: Cervix and breast cancers.

Cancer has many possible causes, the prominent ones being –

Genetics: Certain cancers run in families. For example, certain mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes greatly increase a person’s risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Smoking: Cigarette smoking accounts for around 30% of all cancer deaths. It is linked with increased risk of these cancers – lungs, larynx, oral cavity, nose and sinuses, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, cervix, kidney, bladder, ovary, colon, rectum and acute myeloid leukemia. Chewing of tobacco, a carcinogen, is linked to dental caries, gingivitis, oral leukoplakia, and oral cancer.

Diet and Lifestyle: Research shows that a poor diet and not having an active lifestyle are the key factors that can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer.

Three things to keep in mind in order to stay cancer free:

  • – Get to and stay at a healthy weight throughout your life.
  • – Be physically active on a regular basis.
  • – Make healthy food choices with a focus on plant-based foods.

2) What are the foods that up the risk of developing cancer?

Some cancers like that of the stomach have a more direct relationship with food. Foods which should be consumed in moderation to avoid the incidence of cancer are –

  • Processed meats such as bacon, sausages, lunch meats and hot dogs.
  • Choose fish, poultry, or beans instead of red meat (beef, pork, and lamb).
  • If you eat red meat, choose lean cuts and eat smaller portions.
  • Prepare meat, poultry, and fish by baking, broiling, or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling.

3) What are the preventive foods that guard against cancer?

In accordance with the most common types of cancers that our country suffers from, the following foods can help:

Oral Cancer: A diet rich in green and yellow vegetables and proper oral hygiene has been shown to offer protection against oral cancer.

Breast Cancer: Reduction of high calorie foods, increased intake of fruits and vegetables and regular physical activity is preventive.

Lung Cancer: Avoid tobacco and stay free from environmental pollutants. Increase intake of vegetables, fruits and beta carotene.

Stomach Cancer:Diets high in fruits and vegetables particularly raw vegetables, citrus fruits, and possibly allium vegetables (onions, leeks, garlic etc.), foods with high levels of carotenoid, high vitamin C intake and consumption of green tea helps prevent stomach cancers.

4) What foods help in healing cancer and how?

Good nutrition is a key to good health. Foods which are rich in Vitamin C, Beta-carotene and Lycopene are known to protect DNA from damages. Research proves that these foods help in healing cancer –

Apple: Apple contains quercetin, epicatechin, anthocyanins and triterpenoids which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help to lower the risk of cancer specifically Colorectal cancers. The apple peel is the most nutritious as the majority of Quercetin (80%) is found in it. Other cancers in which apples are known to heal are lungs, breast and stomach.

Blueberries :Blueberries have great antioxidant power, due to the presence of many phytochemicals and flavonoids like Anthocyanins, Ellagic acid and Urolithin. These are known to decrease free radical damage to DNA that leads to cancer. They also decrease the growth and stimulate self-destruction of mouth, breast, colon and prostate cancer cells.

Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Green Cabbage, Cauliflower, White Turnip, Kale, Green Collard: The Glucosinolates is converted into isothiocyanates and indoles on consumption, which decreases inflammation, one of the risk factors of cancer. Beta-carotene promotes cell communication that helps control abnormal cell growth.

Cherries: Both sweet and tart cherries are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. The dark red color comes from anthocyanins, which are antioxidants.

Cranberries: They are high on dietary fiber and vitamin C. They’re very high in antioxidant power, most of which comes from phytochemicals like anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins and flavonols, ursolic acid, benzoic acid and hydroxycinnamic acid. Proanthocyanidins and ursolic acid decrease growth and increase self-destruction of several types of cancer in cell studies.

Grapefruit: An 18th century hybrid of the pummelo and sweet orange. It is grown mainly in the Americas. Its name derives from the fruit’s appearance as it grows: grape-like clusters on trees. Grapefruit contains these naringenin and other flavonoids like limonin and other limonoids, beta-carotene and lycopene (pink and red varieties). Foods containing lycopene lower the risk of prostate cancer.

Green Tea: Since ancient times, tea has been used as both beverage and medicine. Both black and green teas contain numerous active ingredients, including polyphenols and flavonoids, which are potent antioxidants. One class of flavonoids called catechins has recently become the focus of widespread study for their anti-cancer potential. Tea is the best source of catechins in the human diet, and green tea contains about three times the quantity of catechins found in black tea. In laboratory studies, green tea has been shown to slow or completely prevent cancer development in colon, liver, breast and prostate cells. Other studies involving green tea have shown similar protective effects in tissues of the lung, skin and digestive tract.

Winter Squash/Pumpkins: They contain Alpha and Beta carotene which is converted to Vitamin A inside the body. The yellow pigmented lutein, zeaxanthin helps to filter high energy ultra violet rays that can damage our eye’s lens and retina. Lab studies suggest that dietary intake decreases the chances of skin cancer related to exposure from sun.

Walnuts: The major actives found in walnut are – Elligtannins, Gamma-tocopherol, Alpha-linolenic acid, phytosterols and Melatonin. Laboratory studies show that consuming walnuts helps in breast cancer, colon tumor and prostate cancer. The studies also show decreased damage to DNA by regular consumption of walnut.

Source: NDTV

Cancer-Fighting Diet: 6 Tips to Reduce Your Risk

Cancer-Fighting Diet

Following six diet guidelines can reduce your cancer risk, researchers say. The advice is a combination of what foods to limit or avoid, and which ones to eat.

The recommendations, which appear in the June 30 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, were spearheaded by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group known for its advocacy of plant-based diets and alternatives to research on animals.

Perhaps not surprising for an organization that encourages plant-based diets, the advice highlighted the benefits of fruits and vegetables, and recommended limited consumption of meat. But dieticians and doctors not involved with the report say the guidelines are reasonable.

The guidelines are based on a review of published studies, albeit cherry-picked to highlight the advantages of a plant-based diet. The recommendations are to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits; eat more soy products; limit dairy; limit or avoid alcohol; avoid red meats and processed meats; and avoid grilled, broiled or fried meats. [10 New Ways to Eat Well]

“The overall recommendation is to favor plant-based foods,” said lead author Joseph Gonzales, a registered dietician with the PCRM. “Plants are rich in protective compounds, and help consumers avoid the cancer-causing substances found in animal products.”

PCRM’s recommendations are similar to those offered by cancer research organizations such as the American Cancer Society, although arguably more extreme in terms of what they say to avoid.

“It’s never a bad idea to cut back” on red meat or alcohol, as the PCRM recommends, said Colleen Doyle, a registered dietician and director for nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society. But you don’t need to be a teetotaler or vegetarian to significantly reduce your cancer risk, she added.

The recommendations

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, to help reduce overall cancer risk. Most doctors agree. “It is an incontrovertible fact” that a plant-based diet lowers your risk of cancer and heart disease, said Dr. Paul Talalay, a distinguished service professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who was not involved in this study. The reason fruits and vegetables help lower cancer risk is that they contain protective compounds, such as the phytochemicals that Talalay discovered in broccoli in the 1990s, that reduce the risk of several cancers and, as reported this June, the toxic effects of the pollutant benzene.

2. Eat soy products to reduce both the risk and recurrence of breast cancer. Soy products — such as edamame, tempeh and tofu — also have protective properties and, if substituted for red meat, can help reduce exposure to fats and other chemicals that promote cancer and heart disease.

3. Limit or avoid dairy products to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.Studies have linked dairy to prostate cancer, but the culprit might be calcium. Yet other studies suggest that consuming dairy products might prevent colorectal cancer. Dolye said men should consider limiting dairy if they have a family history of prostate cancer.

4. Limit or avoid alcohol to reduce the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colon, rectum and breast. The PCRM reports that one drink per week increases the risk of mouth, pharynx and larynx cancers by 24 percent; two to three drinks per day increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent.

As with the dairy recommendation, the dangers depend on which studies you read. Mouth, pharynx and larynx cancers are rare in nonsmokers, so a 24-percent risk increase isn’t something to fret over. Also, a drink a day seems to promote heart health. The American Cancer Society recommends that people limit their alcohol intake to no more than two drinks per day for men, and one per day for women (in part because of women’s smaller average body size).

5. Avoid red and processed meats to reduce the risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. Following this advice may help prevent heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Large studies from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that regular consumption of red meat — particularly processed meats such as sausages and cold cuts — will shorten your life.

This news doesn’t need to ruin your summer cookout plans. Doyle said to “exercise common sense” and that the occasional hamburger or hotdog, even grilled (uh-oh, see the next recommendation), is fine. The broader issue, she said, is reducing consumption to reduce risk, given your risk profile and family history.

6. Avoid grilled, fried and broiled meats to reduce the risk of cancers of the colon, rectum, breast, prostate, kidney and pancreas. The reason is that cancer-causing chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are created when creatine and amino acids in skeletal muscle, aka meat, are cooked at high temperatures. Even the smoke from grilled meat can contaminate grilled vegetables, which otherwise don’t have HCAs.

Cancer risk reduction doesn’t guarantee cancer avoidance. According to the World Health Organization, up to 30 percent of all cancers might be caused by a poor diet. The rest are attributed to smoking, pollution and genetics, which may affect you no matter what you eat.

Source: yahoo news

Oh Baby: Giving Birth 10 Times May Reduce Mom’s Cancer Risk

Women who give birth to 10 or more children may have a reduced risk of cancer, a new study from Finland suggests. Researchers examined cancer risk in nearly 5,000 Finish women who gave birth at least 10 times before 2010.

Over a three-decade period, there were 656 cases of cancer in these women, about 200 fewer cases than would be expected based on cancer rates in the general Finnish population, the study found.

In fact, the rate of new cancer cases was 24 percent lower among women who delivered 10 or more babies compared to those in the general population, the researchers said.
This overall reduction in cancer risk came mainly from decreased rates of breast cancer and gynecological cancers, including ovarian and endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus lining). For these cancers, the rate of new cancer cases was about 50 percent lower in women with 10 or more deliveries, compared to the general population.

The researchers aren’t sure whether the findings apply to women who have just one, two or three children, but plan to conduct another study to find out, said study researcher Dr. Juha Tapanainen, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Helsinki University Central Hospital.
Pregnancy and cancer risk

In the study, women who had 10 or more babies were about five years younger when they gave birth to their first child, compared to average Finnish women. It’s known that becoming pregnant at a young age helps protect against breast cancer, Tapanainen said.
Women who give birth before age 20 have about half the risk of breast cancer as those who give birth for the first time after age 30, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some researchers hypothesize that this is because pregnancy speeds up the process of breast cell maturation, and that mature cells are more resistant to cancer, Tapanainen said. So, women who have children at younger ages develop mature, cancer-resistant breast cells sooner.

Previous studies have also found that giving birth to at least five children reduces the risk of breast cancer. This may be because pregnancy halts the menstrual cycle, so the breast cells of women who have many pregnancies are exposed to less estrogen, according to the American Cancer Society. (Exposure to estrogen is thought to increase the risk of breast cancer.)

The halting of ovulation, and the hormone changes that period in life causes, may also play a role in the reduced risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers.
Many women in the new study who had 10 or more children were members of the Laestadian movement, which is part of the Lutheran Church in Finland, the researchers said. Women in this group are similar to average Finnish women in terms of their lifestyle, but their religion prohibits the use of contraceptives.

Studies on the effect of hormonal contraceptives on cancer risk have been inconclusive, but some studies suggest that the contraceptives reduce the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer. Thus, it’s possible that if Laestadian women in the study also took contraceptives, and still had multiple pregnancies, it would even further reduce their risk of these cancers, Tapanainen said.

Risks of many pregnancies

The study further linked having 10 babies with a reduced risk of basal cell skin cancer, and an increased risk of thyroid cancer. But the researchers don’t know the reason for this link.

Researchers noted that women who are able to have 10 or more children are likely healthier than women in the general population. But this factor alone is unlikely to explain the link between having 10 babies and the reduced risk of these cancers, Tapanainen said.

In general, the findings suggest that having more children doesn’t result in an increased occurrence of cancer, Tapanainen said. The protective effect is seen after five births, and is even greater with 10 births, Tapanainen said.
Despite the reduced risk of cancer, giving birth to five or more children does come with its own dangers, increasing the risk of pregnancy complications, such as premature birth and hemorrhaging after delivery.

Source: Yahoo news