Let's eat to beat cancer

Did you know that at least 30% of cancers in the West could be prevented if people ate an optimal diet, took regular exercise and had a healthy body weight, and a further 30% could be averted by not smoking? And yet, most of us still think there's nothing we can do to protect ourselves from cancer.

A recent survey by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) shows that cancer is America's number-one health concern - yet only 20% of Americans believe it is preventable. Whereas nearly half of those surveyed thought that heart disease and diabetes could be prevented, some 80% assumed that cancer just happens.

"We have a high level of fear [about cancer] and a feeling that there really isn't much you can do about it, and that is a toxic combination," comments Alice Bender at the AICR.

Of course, cancer is a terrifying disease. Indeed, so scary is it that some refer to it in hushed tones as "the C-word," as if merely pronouncing its name could strike us dead.

In the United States, some 293,000 men and 270,000 women died of cancer last year, making it the second-biggest killer after heart diseases, American Cancer Society data show. Meanwhile, about 1.5 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. last year. Worldwide, 7.9 million people died of cancer in 2007, and this toll is set to rise by 45% to 11.5 million in 2030, the World Health Organization predicts.

Most of us have been touched by cancer - either by having the disease ourselves, or because someone we know is suffering from it. Statistically, Westerners have a 1-in-3 risk of getting cancer at some point in their lives.

And yet, there is hope. For one, modern screening methods can detect cancers earlier-on, making treatments more likely to succeed. Moreover, treatments are becoming increasingly sophisticated, are saving more lives and with longer post-treatment survival rates.

But wouldn't it be great if the number of new cancer cases itself declined, making expensive and grueling treatments altogether less necessary? This could be achieved with the help of just a few lifestyle measures including, importantly, a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and other foods with anti-cancer properties, and avoiding sugar, alcohol, refined carbohydrates, mass-produced or processed meat and unhealthy fats.

Regular physical activity in addition to a highly nutritious diet can help maintain healthy body weight - a key factor in cancer prevention. And by avoiding tobacco, we can further dramatically increase our chances of staying healthy.

Cancer doesn't happen overnight: it can take years - in some cases decades - to develop, and what we eat and drink three times a day (or not) can significantly affect whether we will develop cancer. This has been highlighted again and again by studies showing that certain populations eating a large amount and variety of natural, mostly plant-based foods - like the inhabitants of the Mediterranean basin - are less prone to cancer than those eating a diet dominated by heavily processed, energy-rich but nutrient-poor foods.

But while a nutrient-rich diet may help prevent cancer, healthy food alone cannot cure it. Once a malignant tumor is diagnosed, conventional medical treatments should be the first course of action. Nevertheless, a healthy diet eaten before, during and after treatment not only can make surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy more tolerable, but can also improve patients' chances of long-term recovery.

Join me here in exploring all facets of the cancer-prevention diet: which foods can protect us and which can do harm; how to select and prepare healthy, fresh foods when you only have little time and energy to spare; and how to integrate this way of eating into your daily life, long-term.

You can visit Conner's website for more news, views and recipes.