Eat less meat and more fish
Some studies suggest that vegetarian diets might reduce the cancer. British researchers used data from 472,377 participants with an average of 56 years in the British Biobank Study to determine the risk of total and specific cancers. Participant diets were classified as: 1) meat eaters (meat eaten > 5 times weekly), 2) low meat eaters (meat eaten (< 5 times weekly), 3) fish eaters (fish intake and no meat intake), and 4) vegetarians (no meat or fish intake).
After accounting for confounding factors and compared to meat-eaters, low-meat eaters, fish-eaters, and vegetarians had significant 2, 10, and 14 percent lower risks of developing any type of cancer during an average of follow-up of 11 years. For colorectal cancer, only low-meat-eaters showed significantly reduced risk (9 percent) compared to meat-eaters. For post-menopausal breast cancer, only vegetarians showed significantly reduced risk (18 percent) compared to meat-eaters, largely due to vegetarian women’s lower body-mass index. For prostate cancer, only fish-eaters and vegetarians showed significantly reduced risks (20 and 31 percent) compared to meat-eaters. The authors cautioned that some cancers may not arise from diet-related causes, plus incomplete accounting for confounding lifestyle factors, such as smoking, might affect the results.
Limit ultra-processed foods
The global prevalence of cancer is expected to rise by 47 percent from 2000 to 2040. In higher-income countries, like the US, cancer has surpassed cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of premature death for adults aged 30-70. The good news: Much of the anticipated increase in cancer death can be prevented by a better diet and other healthy lifestyle choices. Accumulating evidence suggests that ultra-processed foods (UPF) may increase cancer risk. Researchers address this concern using data from 197,246 participants with an average age of 58 years in the UK Biobank study. Information from five 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires classified foods consumed as 1) unprocessed or minimally processed, 2) processed culinary ingredients, 3) processed, and 4) ultra-processed according to the NOVA classification. The average UPF intake for all participants was 22.9 percent on a grams per day basis and 48.6 percent on a calories per day basis.
Increasing consumption of UPF was associated with several unhealthy measures at baseline, including obesity, lower physical activity, and poorer diet. Compared to participants in the lowest quartile of UPF intake, participants in the highest quartile has significant 7, 25, 52, and 63 percent higher risks of any cancer, lung, brain, and B-cell lymphoma cancer, respectively, over 10 years of follow-up. Similarly, compared to participants in the lowest quartile of UPF intake, participants in the highest quartile has significant 17, 38, and 91 percent higher risks of dying from any cancer, lung, and ovarian cancer, respectively. All these results accounted for a range of confounding factors. Unexpectedly, higher intake of UPF predicted lower risk of head and neck cancers. UPFs might increase risk of developing or dying from cancer via higher intakes of calories, saturated fats, salt, and sugars, and lower intakes of fiber and micronutrients. In addition, harmful chemicals might migrate from packaging materials into UPFs. Reducing your consumption of industrially prepared, ready-to-eat, highly processed foods might reduce your risk of cancer.
Fiber up
Longitudinal studies from North American and Europe show that higher intakes of dietary fiber predict lower risks of chronic diseases. A new study used data from 9,246 Korean participants with an average age of 52 years in the Cancer Screenee Cohort to see if higher fiber intakes predicted lower risk of gastrointestinal tract cancers. Consistent with previous studies, participants with daily fiber intake above the median value of 17.8 grams per day had significant 37 percent lower risk of developing gastrointestinal tract cancers over a median follow-up of 8 years and after adjusting for confounding factors. The above level of daily fiber intake is similar to that of typical Americans. If you follow the healthy lifestyle choice of Eat Better, you’ll increase your fiber intake from fruits, vegetables, and beans. Plus, you’ll likely lower your risk of gastrointestinal cancers and other chronic diseases.
Limit sugar-sweetened drinks
The known risk factors for liver cancer explain only about 40 percent of diagnosed liver cancer. Longitudinal studies show that high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages predicts increased risk of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers. Researchers in China and the US used data for upwards of 100,000 post-menopausal women with an average age of 63 years at baseline in the Women’s Health Initiative to determine links between sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages and risk of liver cancer. Compared with women who reported consuming less than three 12-ounce servings of sugar-sweetened beverages per month, women who reported more than one serving per day had a significant 85 and 68 percent higher risks of developing or dying of liver cancer, respectively, during a median follow-up of 21 years and after adjusting for many confounding factors. These same levels of consumption of artificially sweetened beverages were not significantly linked to either risk of post-menopausal women developing or dying from liver cancer. Post-menopausal women who drink lots of sugar-sweetened drinks appear to be at substantially higher risk of developing or dying from liver cancer.
Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and vegetables oils
Specific dietary factors appear to increase (meat, dairy) or decrease (fruits, vegetables) the risk of prostate cancer. Would a plant-based diet reduce the risk of prostate cancer progression? Researchers tested this idea with data from 2,062 participants with a median age of 65 years in the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Research Endeavor. All participants had diagnosed prostate cancer. The plant-based diet included 7 healthful plant foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, and tea and coffee), 5 unhealthful plant foods (fruit juice, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, potatoes, and sweets or desserts), and 6 animal foods (animal fats, dairy, eggs, fish and seafood, meat, and miscellaneous animal-based foods). For the plant-based diet index, both the healthful and unhealthful plant foods were scored positively. For the healthy plant based diet score, the unhealthy animal foods were scored negatively.
Compared to the lowest quartile of plant-based diet score, participants in the highest quintile had a significant 47 percent lower risk of any type of prostate cancer progression during 6.5 years of follow-up and after adjusting for confounding factors. Participants in the highest quintile of plant-based diet scores ate an average of 4.4 daily more servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains than participants in the lowest quintile. Curiously, the comparable reduction of risk of prostate cancer progression was only a statistically non-significant 19 percent for the healthy plant-based diet. Thus, eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and vegetables oils may limit progression of prostate cancer (much of which is undetected in middle-aged and older men).
Salt and gastric cancer
Health authorities commonly recommend limiting table salt (sodium chloride) intake in order to reduce sodium intake and lower the risk of high blood pressure and other ills. Alas, measuring sodium intake accurately remains a challenge except for small-scale research. Measurement problems may account for conflicting results regarding how much daily sodium intake harms health. Researchers in Germany used data from 471,144 UK Biobank participants with an average of 56 years to evaluate risk of gastric cancer. Food-frequency questionnaires provided data for daily intake of sodium (as salt) grouped according to rarely/never, sometimes, usually, and always added to food at table. After adjusting for confounding factors and compared to participants who reported “rarely/never”, those who reported “always” had a significant 41percent higher risk of developing gastric cancer over a median follow-up of 11 years. Given the difficulty of accurately measuring sodium intake, how about if you sometimes rather than always salt your food?
What to do
Increase your consumption of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts, and decrease your consumption of ultra-processed foods, animal-sourced foods such as meat and dairy, and salt.
