Cancer Preventive Diet

This has been one of my latest consultations, and I've been toying with how to reply. Like many other of my consultations, it inspired this blog post and hopefully will help more than one person on this subject. Please note that this is only a brief summary of a way to start eating with cancer prevention in mind and is not guaranteed to fully prevent cancer and/or cure it.

How to title this - that was a question in itself. "Anti-carcinogenic Foods?" "Cancer Preventive Diet?" The term "diet" gets bad connotation with it. No one likes "dieting". I wonder why most people have short term "diets" when they could turn it into a lifestyle instead. Maybe that isn't what you want to hear, and everyone could improve their dietary habits (myself included), but nutrition could be a part of the answer for so many.

There are many theories and studies on what helps prevent cancer and how we could all live more healthy, so think of this post as a piece of the puzzle. As I said, there are many ways to help prevent cancer and no one way is the answer. In this day and age, there is still a chance that you could get it, but let's try to lessen our chances, shall we? Nutrition is the best place to start when choosing to live healthier.

Easy Choices Could Lead to Hard Realities

I actually think I've heard all the excuses there could possibly be at this point.

"Eating healthy is expensive."

"I don't have the time. I need something quick and easy."

"My kids are so picky."

"We all die, might as well go happy!" 

And so many more.

Let me pick those statements apart, for a minute.

"Eating healthy is expensive."
There are ways around this, being sick is way more expensive. A friend and I are considering doing a workshop on eating healthy for cheap (cause we're both penny pinchers). Healthcare is barely affordable anymore, being preventive is the answer.

"I don't have the time. I need something quick and easy."
I understand a crazy schedule just as much as the next person. Whose life isn't crazy these days? Meal prepping is an excellent idea for people whose days run away with their schedule and they're left exhausted or tied up.

"My kids are so picky."
I've worked at a daycare for almost six years now, and have worked with children long before then. I've seen picky. Kids come around, though. Today, there are more options than there have ever been for healthier versions of kid's favorite foods. Kids definitely don't know what's best for them, that's why you're their parent, and it's important to give a child a choice. Just give them better options. You owe it to them.

"We all die, might as well go happy!"
..and more than likely living out your last years in more pain with more issues than you would've had if you had made better options when you were younger. Come on, make those choices now. Even if you think it's too late and you are ill, it's even more important if not dire you make those choices immediately. It very well could save your life.

​It's your choice to make, choose wisely.
​

The Not-So-Good Choices (And Why)

First off, what makes "junk" food harmful?

Well, that's a rabbit hole in itself so I'm going to try to be brief but thorough.

These days, it's hard to miss any information-packed articles floating around, being shared on social media and broadcasted on news stations and talk shows. A lot of people tend to shut off automatically to it, not even realizing or barely caring. That's fine, again this is your choice. It's so hard to know what is credible and reliable and what is simply a theory or the latest fad. I do my best to weed through the credible and non-credible, so at least hear me out and give what I have to say a chance.

Free Radicals
Free radicals happen on a cellular level and are due to a chemical process in bodies generated by the food we eat (as well as other factors such as the contaminated air we breathe, the water we drink, and the things we touch). An excess of free radicals can lead to what we know to be oxidative stress and can cause aging and break down of our cells. Here are a few examples of food that can cause free radicals:

• Burnt and fried foods
• Foods grown with pesticides
• Foods high in sugar (candy, cookies, sodas, etc. For any one who doesn't realize, sugar is actually inflammatory as well so limit yourself. There is a fascinating review of a study done on the effects of sugar on free radicals and antioxidant levels here.)
• Foods high in trans fat and saturated fat (especially greasy or fried meat such as bacon or burgers)
• Highly processed foods (such as chips, breakfast cereals, sausages, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, etc.)

These foods can also cause mutagens than can increase chances of gene mutation and therefore cancer.

There are also naturally occurring carcinogens in many plants.

• Sassafras contains a poisonous constituent safrole and you can read about it in my post here.

Over eating is also an issue that can be contributing to the populations affected by cancer. Obesity can increase your chances and even lead to tumor growth.

The Better Options Laid Straight

 So what can you do?

Eat food as unprocessed as possible. Typically the more processed food is the lower in nutrition it is. Here are some ways you can eat your food in it's highest nutritional form:

• Steamed - steaming your vegetables is the best way to cook with very little loss in nutrients.
• Juiced - regular detoxing can help cleanse your body of harsh chemicals and additives that negatively affect your health.
• Raw - the best way to eat most vegetables, fruits, hers, nuts, etc.

The good things you are looking for in your diet:

• Flax seed - this results of a study done on this seed shows signs of decreasing tumors possibly due to the lignans (phytoestrogenic compounds). Phytoestrogen in flax seeds sprouts, specifically lignan rich flax seeds, has been shown to lower risks of cancer.
• Green tea - green tea is starting to come out as very useful in preventing and possibly even used complementary with treatments of cancer. A study done on the use of Camellia seninsis (green tea) along with anticarcinogenic drugs found that green tea not only helped ease the side effects of the drugs but also helped increase the rates for healing due to the polyphenol compounds. You would want your green tea without sugar, and brewed fresh at home. (Bottled green tea from the store isn't the best suggestion.)
• Cruciferous vegetables - these are vegetables in relation of the cabbage. They contain an important phytocchemical known as sulforaphane that is released through chewing vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, turnips, kale, and so forth. Add one or a few of cruciferous vegetables to a meal every day, preferably steamed or raw.
• Antioxidants - many studies have been done exhaustively on antioxidants and the results are impressive. Some studies have even shown negative effects and even an increase of cancer cells due to the beta-carotene in some antioxidants. What you want to look for is food high in alpha-carotene as this antioxidant protects against beta-carotene and has cancer preventive properties. Carrots are the highest in alpha-carotene, then followed with various squashes. There are also other fruits and veggies containing alpha-carotene but they aren't as high in percentage: sweet potatoes, cabbages, bananas, avocados, etc.

So leaning towards mostly cruciferous vegetables and fruit in your diet and taking in very little meat, dairy, saturated fats, and so forth can help lower your chances. You want to take in your daily recommended vitamins and stay away from refined foods with added sugars. Raw, juiced, or steamed is recommended best for preparing your meals. If you are someone who needs a dietary regimen rather than setting up your own, try the Whole food diet or Alkaline diet. Simply change these diets as needed (replacing some things with what was listed).

I hope this helps and that you found the post informative! Comment down below with any questions or suggestions for future blog posts.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC526387/

http://chem1.bnu.edu.cn/hm/2016%20Effect%20of%20Tea%20Polyphenol%20Compounds%20on%20Antica.pdf

https://www.oncologynutrition.org/erfc/healthy-nutrition-now/foods/flaxseeds-and-breast-cancer

http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/cancer-fighting-foods

http://toxicology.usu.edu/endnote/Dietary-carcinogens-anticarcinogens.pdf

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2000/08/4839.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC526387/

​https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/