Thought for Food Blog

Does Changing Your Diet and Lifestyle Reduce the Risk of Cancer?

In studies of diet and cancer incidence worldwide, ‘Western’ diets – if there is such a thing – typically high in fat and meat and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, present a higher risk of colon and breast cancer.

There are some indications that increasing your fibre intake will reduce your risk of colon cancer, and that increasing intake of foods like soy – found in foods like tofu and soy milk – will reduce prostrate and breast cancer risk.

Cancer | IFIS Publishing

‘People in different countries have very different risks of cancer and the type of cancer they may experience’, said Professor Ian Rowland, Director of Research and Head of the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, the University of Reading.

When people emigrate from a country of low cancer incidence to an area of high cancer incidence, they often acquire the cancer incidence of the country they’ve moved to. This shows it’s not racial or genetic factors that are involved – it’s actually something to do with the lifestyles we lead and the diets we follow.’

Recently the University of Reading have been studying a team of volunteers who have steadily increased their fruit and vegetable consumption from one to two portions per day to seven per day over several weeks, while the researchers apply a series of tests to determine changes to their cancer risk. The study has revealed that as the volunteers increased their fruit and vegetable intake, the level of DNA damage in their blood cells – a key marker of cancer threat – declines. This suggests that UK Government advice to eat more fruit and vegetables may well result in lowering cancer risk, although you may need to eat more than five portions a day.

Currently the university are investigating the cancer fighting potential of a range of plant foods and their natural components such as cruciferous vegetables (like watercress, broccoli and cabbage), various berries and olives.

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet of a food type which will guarantee a low cancer risk; you really need to overhaul your whole dietary pattern and lifestyle, including exercising, avoiding becoming overweight and not smoking. From the research and studies being done at the University of Reading, it seems moving to a more plant-based diet, incorporating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, could be a very good approach.

The Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Group is part of the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences. It has an international reputation for its research into the relationship between diet and the risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cancer.

(Image Credit: markusspiske at www.pixabay.com)



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