In Preventing Cancer — Part 1, I listed five recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR): stay lean throughout adult life, be physically active, limit foods and drinks that promote weight gain, eat predominantly plant foods and limit red meat and processed meat consumption. Here is the second and final part:
At a Glance
1. Limit Alcoholic Drinks
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What’s the big deal?
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Strong evidence shows that alcoholic drinks are a cause of a number of cancers, such as mouth, pharynx, and larynx, oesophagus, and breast.
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All alcoholic drinks have the same effect. There are no significant difference between the types of drink. What’s important is the amount of ethanol consumed.
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However, other evidence also shows that modest amounts of alcoholic drinks are likely to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
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What can you do?
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If you consume alcoholic drinks, limit your consumption to no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women.
Modest consumption of alcoholic drinks has been shown to be protective against heart disease compared to no drinking. But, higher levels of drinking would increase your risk of the disease instead.
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Children and pregnant women should not consume alcoholic drinks.
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2. Limit Consumption of Salt;
Avoid Moldy Grains or Legumes
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What’s the big deal?
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The way food is preserved, processed and prepared affect the risk of cancer.
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Processed meats are a cause of colorectal cancer. They include meats preserved by salting, smoking, pickling, addition of chemicals, and other methods..
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Salt and salt-preserved foods are a likely cause of stomach cancer.
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Aflatoxins are a cause of liver cancer. They are toxins produced by moulds during storage of grains and legumes in hot and humid condition. This type of toxin cannot be completely destroyed by heat.
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What can you do?
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Avoid salt-preserved, salted, or salty foods, and preserve your foods without using salt. Instead of using salt to preserve your foods, considering freezing, refrigeration, and other methods of preservation with no added salt.
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Limit consumption of processed foods with added salt to ensure an intake of less than 6 g (2.4 g sodium) a day.
A major source of salt for people in high-income countries come from processed foods, such as ham and sausages, and even foods like breads and cereal products that do not taste salty. So you may already be taking high amount of salt unknowingly. As such, it is important to consciously reduce your intake of salt by cutting back on processed foods, not adding salt to your foods at table, and not using salt to preserve your food.
Note: Products advertised as ‘reduced salt’ does not necessarily mean they have low salt content. It only means that they use less salt than what they used to, or less salt than other similar products. But, in fact, they may still be high in salt.
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Do not eat mouldy grains or legumes. Avoid any grains or legumes that may have been stored for a relatively long time in warm, ambient temperatures, even though they show no visible signs of mould.
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3. Meet Nutritional
Needs Through Diet Alone
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What’s the big deal?
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High-dose supplements of some nutrients modify the risk of some cancers. Although studies have found that some supplements can prevent cancer in certain high-risk groups of people, these findings may not apply to everyone. Some of these supplements include:
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Calcium — may protect against colorectum cancer, and
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Selenium — may protect against prostate cancer.
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But, high-dose of some supplements have also been found to cause cancer. For instance, beta-carotene supplements when taken in very high dosage has been linked to lung cancer in smokers.
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What can you do?
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Dietary supplements are not recommended for cancer prevention, Choose nutrient-rich foods and drinks instead of dietary supplements. Aim to increase your intake of the relevant nutrients through your daily diet.
Self-administering of supplements are not recommended for cancer prevention and may even produce unexpected adverse effects, unless advised by your physician. The findings on calcium and selenium apply in specific settings and specific doses.
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However, dietary supplements, in addition to varied diets, may be beneficial for specific groups of people. Examples include:
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Vitamin B12 for people over the age of 50 who have difficulty absorbing naturally occurring vitamin B12;
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folic acid supplements for women who may become or are pregnant, and
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vitamin D supplements for people who are not exposed to sufficient sunlight, or some people (such as the elderly or people with dark skin) who do not synthesise adequate vitamin D from sunlight.
Note: Seek the advice from a qualified health professional before taking any supplements.
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4. Mothers: Breastfeed Your Babies
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What’s the big deal?
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Breastfeeding protects the baby as well as the mother. Human milk not only protects the child against overweight, obesity, and related cancers, lactation also protects the mother against breast cancer and possibly cancer of the ovary as well.
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Breastfeeding also has many other benefits for your child, including:
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Protection against infections and other childhood diseases in infancy;
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prevent the development of immature immune system, and
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develop the bond between mother and child.
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What can you do?
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Aim to breastfeed your infants exclusively up to six months and continue with complementary feeding thereafter, unless advised otherwise by qualified health professional. By giving human milk to your infants and young children, you are giving them an early head start in cancer and chronic disease prevention.
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5. Cancer Survivors: Follow the
Recommendations for Cancer Prevention
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What’s the big deal?
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As treatment for many cancers is increasingly successful, cancer survivors are also living long enough to develop new primary cancers or other chronic diseases.
Hence, the earlier recommendations which aim to reduce the risk of those conditions would also apply to them, except for those who are undergoing active treatment, or who have been advised otherwise by a qualified professional.
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Cancer survivors refer to people who are living with a diagnosis of cancer, including those who have recovered from the disease.
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What can you do?
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If you are a cancer survivor, you should consult an appropriately trained health professional on your nutritional needs.
Given the increased importance of food, nutrition, physical activity, and body composition in cancer survival, people who are diagnosed with cancer should consult an appropriately trained health professional as soon as possible.
If you are planning to take any high-dose supplements, consult your physician and/or a qualified nutrition professional who can evaluate the safety and efficacy of the supplements.
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You should also aim to follow the recommendations for diet, healthy weight, and physical activity by WCRF/AICR, unless advised otherwise. There is growing evidence that physical activity and other measures that control weight may help to prevent cancer recurrence, particularly breast cancer. Cancer survivors are also likely to gain health benefit, and a sense of control, from regular physical activity at levels that they can sustain.
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6. Putting Knowledge into Practice
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What’s the big deal?
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You and I don’t live in isolation. Our behavior and the decisions we make every day have impact not just on ourselves, but also on the people around us — family members, friends, co-workers, and eventually the society. Collectively, we have a decisive and lasting effect on the policies and actions of industry and governments.
When you apply the knowledge on how to prevent cancer into your daily life, you will also influence the people around you, and they will be encouraged to do the same. Take for instance the simple decision of buying food from the grocery store.
By choosing nutritious, minimally processed, or low-salt foods over highly processed, sugary, salt-preserved or convenience foods, you are not just protecting you and your family’s health. You are also eliminating the need for self-administered supplements, indirectly minimizing sedentary lifestyle, influencing your friends and co-workers to eat healthily (“You never seem to fall sick. What’s your secret?”) as well as telling the food industry your preference for healthy foods. What you do, do make a difference.
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What can you do?
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Support organizations and initiatives that aim to improve public and personal health and to prevent chronic diseases including cancer.
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Develop policies and set examples within the household and community to promote healthy eating,
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Make personal, household, family, and community good health and protection against disease your priorities when making major decisions.
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Use independent nutrition guides, food labels, and other reliable information when planning household supplies and purchasing foods and drinks.
*Note: There are other WCRF/AICR recommendations for policies and cancer prevention actions for other sectors of society, such as multinational bodies, government and industry. But, only those for people as members of communities and families, and as individuals will be discussed in this post.
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Conclusion
Studies consistently tell us that as people’s lifestyle and diet change when they move from one part of the world to another, and as countries become increasingly more industrialized, patterns of cancer also change. These show that cancer is influenced by environmental factors, not just genetic make-up of individuals. And if left unchecked, cancer will likely increase, not decrease, over time.
Environmental factors can be modified. By not smoking, avoiding or reducing exposure to polluted air both outdoor and indoor, contaminated water, infectious agents and radiation; as well as by paying attention to other environmental factors such as food, nutrition, physical activity, and body composition that we have discussed earlier, the most common cancers can be prevented.
However, while it is important to look at the environmental factors outlined in the WCRF/AICR reports, it is also crucial not to neglect the wellness of our mind and spirit. For it is the mind and the spirit that drive our behavior and determine the health of our body.
For instance, when you are under stress or feeling depressed, you are less likely to pay attention to the needs of your body and give the food and physical activity it requires for healing. Instead, you are more likely to perform actions that seem to alleviate your miseries but which in fact perpetuate your miseries unknowingly. When these actions are repeated for enough times, they become long-term habits that are detrimental to your health. So an awareness of the contents in our mind and knowing how to relate to them are important to everyone, not just for cancer prevention, but also for personal well-being.
