Did You Know Just That Many Cancers Are Linked To A Vitamin Deficiency?

Cancer

Prevention Starts on Your Plate

Let's face it: It's really hard to see a light side of cancer. Even jokes about this deadly disease can't help but remind us of our mortality.

But one of the brightest sides of cancer these days is that so much of it seems to be preventable. Many experts believe that at least 50 percent of cancer cases could be averted with changes in diet. But because changing their diets is not an easy thing for people to do, some experts believe that supplements may be needed to make up for existing nutritional deficiencies.

"There's no one magic bullet to prevent cancer, but there are dietary changes you can make that, when combined, will certainly reduce your risk of cancer," says Patrick Quillin, R.D., Ph.D., certified nutrition specialist, nutritional director for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and author of Beating Cancer with Nutrition.

The sooner you make those dietary changes, the better your chances of never having to battle this deadly foe, Dr. Quillin says. "Cancer usually develops slowly, over many years, and goes through a number of stages," he adds.

Nutrition is most likely to have an impact on the early precancerous stages known as initiation and progression. These stages include potentially stoppable, even reversible, changes in a cell's genetic material, which are often the result of damage caused by chemical reactions in the body. Once the genetic changes are complete, however, and the now cancerous cell begins to multiply, nutrition is no longer a sole therapy option.

Researchers are still figuring out the exact details of a cancer-preventing diet, and they probably will be for a long time to come. Sometimes contradictory findings remind us that much remains to be learned about nutrition and cancer. Nevertheless, certain nutrients stand out as valiant warriors in the war against cancer. Here's what research shows.

Food Factors
Just about everything that goes in your mouth can play a role, positive or negative, when it comes to cancer. Vitamins and minerals are only part of the story. Experts offer these additional dietary suggestions to reduce your risk.

Eschew the fat. A high-fat diet ups your odds for most kinds of cancer.

Experts say that an optimum cancer-preventive diet should contain no more than 20 to 25 percent of calories from fat. That's about half of the amount of fat that most Americans eat.

To reach that goal, stick mostly with fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, fish and shellfish, lean meats and low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

Change the one-third rule. Experts used to suggest that you get no more than one-third of your daily fat allotment from each of these sources: saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats.

Saturated fats, which are hard at room temperature, include animal fats--lard and butter, for example--and hydrogenated vegetable oils, the white stuff that comes in a can. (Lots of processed foods are made with hydrogenated vegetable oils; make sure you read the labels carefully.)

Polyunsaturated fats include most vegetable oils, such as corn, safflower, sunflower and soy. Monounsaturated fats include olive oil, canola oil and the fat found in avocados.

But there is growing evidence that monounsaturated oils can help prevent certain kinds of cancer. That is why some researchers are beginning to suggest that the one-third rule be changed. They recommend that you get no more than one-fourth of your daily fat allotment from saturated fats, another one-fourth from polyunsaturates and the remaining half from the healthy monounsaturates. You can increase your use of monounsaturates by switching to olive oil or canola oil or by mixing them equally with polyunsaturated oils when you cook.

Use the freshest oils you can find, at least one expert recommends. Never use rancid oil; if it smells "off," toss it. Oils become rancid as they oxidize and produce damaging free radicals. Buy your oil in small quantities and keep it refrigerated.

Go on green.While beta-carotene has gotten most of the attention, evidence suggests that other components in vegetables may prove as powerful at licking cancer. One of them, lutein, is found in broccoli, green peas, celery, kale and spinach.

Watercress may also fight cancer. In one study, a compound in watercress called PEITC appeared to prevent lung cancer in experimental animals exposed to cigarette smoke.

Don't forget the tomatoes.While they don't contain much beta-carotene, tomatoes are packed with lycopene, a close relative with suspected health benefits. A study from Italy found that people who ate seven or more servings a week of raw tomatoes were 60 percent less likely to develop cancer of the stomach, colon or rectum compared with people who ate two or fewer servings a week. Besides tomatoes, ruby red grapefruit and sweet red peppers are good sources of lycopene.

Be a tea tippler.It turns out that tea contains substances called polyphenols that, in laboratory animals at least, have been proven to have cancer-preventing properties. "These substances act as antioxidants and neutralize cell-damaging free radicals just as vitamins do," explains Zhi Y. Wang, Ph.D., associate research professor in the Department of Dermatology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

Both green and black tea are rich in polyphenols. Based on his research, Dr. Wang suggests that you use regular tea, which naturally contains caffeine, rather than artificially decaffeinated tea, because regular tea has better cancer-protecting effects.

Gobble up garlic.This pungent bulb wards off more than evil spirits. A study from researchers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park found that garlicinhibits breast cancer cell formation. And Iowa researchers found that eating garlicat least once a week cut women's risk of colon cancer by one-third compared with women who never ate garlic.

Compounds in garlic, onions and chives--all members of the allium vegetable family--are involved in the production of enzymes that neutralize cancer-causing chemicals.

Fill up on fish.There's some evidence that omega-3 fatty acidsfrom fish such as mackerel and salmon help deter cancer. In one study, laboratory animals fed a diet high in fish oilwere less likely to have breast cancer spread to their lungs. And researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found that people who consumed large amounts of fish oil daily were less likely than normal to develop the kind of cell damage associated with skin cancer during exposure to ultraviolet light.

Save the red meat for rare occasions. Women in one study had a greater risk of precancerous colon polyps as the proportion of red meat in their diets rose. Women with the highest dietary ratios of red meat to chicken and fish had a risk of polyps that was almost twice that of the women with the lowest ratios.

Women who normally eat beef, pork or lamb every day could more than halve their risk of colon cancer by eating red meat just once a month and substituting fish or chicken on other days, report Harvard University researchers.

Have a soyburger.Animal and human cell studies have shown that soybeans contain several chemicals that have proven anti-cancer activity. One such chemical, genistein, may protect against prostate cancer by inhibiting the male hormones that promote the growth of prostate cancer, say researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Soy may also help prevent breast cancer, research suggests.

In addition to tofu, try soy milk or cheese, miso and tempeh.

Fiber up.In the bowel, fiberbulks up the stool, increases acidity and reduces the concentration of potential cancer-causing bad guys. When fiberintake goes up, colon cancer rates go down. A high-fiber diet also seems to fight hormone-related cancers such as prostate and breast cancers.

Most Americans eat about 12 grams of fibera day. Experts suggest increasing your fiberintake to 20 to 35 grams a day. You'll be well on your way to that amount if you eat a bowl of high-fiber cereal, a serving of beans, three slices of whole-grain bread, four servings of fresh vegetables and two pieces of fruit a day.

Remember rosemary.The extract from this fragrant herb is such a strong preservative that it's used in the food industry to keep foods fresh. Studies have found that animals eating even small amounts of rosemary each day are protected from cancer.

"Even using just a fraction of a teaspoon of the dried leaves every day could have potential health benefits," says Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Try rosemary on chicken, potatoes and Italian foods.

Can the Spam.Cooked sausages, cured pork, deviled ham, meat spreads, dried beef, beef jerky, hot dogs, lunchmeats, smoked fish: All contain nitrites. These are preservatives that break down in the body into cancer-causing nitrosamines. So save these foods for no more than an occasional treat, experts recommend.

And when you do indulge, down vitamins C and E with your meal. Vitamin Cneutralizes nitrosamines, while vitamin E inhibits their formation.

Don't get too sweet.Diets rich in sugar can increase your risk of cancer, studies show. Experts point out that a high-sugar diet is likely to also be high in fat and low in fiber and other nutrients.

Go easy on the alcohol. Drinking by itself can increase the risk of cancer two to three times. But mix even moderate levels of alcohol with smoking, and your risk of mouth and throat cancers skyrockets 15-fold, according to one study. Alcohol may directly irritate tissues, and it may induce marginal nutritional deficiencies that drop the body's defenses against cancer.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C., if you choose to drink, you should drink in moderation. Moderate drinking for a man is two 12-ounce beers, two 4-ounce glasses of table wine or two shots of straight spirits a day. For a woman, moderate drinking means no more than one of these drinks per day.

Be a cabbage head.Compounds found in cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts and cauliflower help the body lower levels of a type of estrogen that is thought to stimulate breast cancer. Other beneficial compounds in these vegetables may rev up production of cancer-blocking enzymes.

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