The World Health Organisation has said that dietary factors are estimated to account for approximately 30% of cancers in western countries, making diet second only to tobacco as a preventable cause of cancer ⁽¹⁾. In order to understand how diet can be so influential on the initiation and development of cancer, it is necessary to understand a little about cancer physiology:

Each cancer starts with one cell that has started to reproduce itself uncontrollably. This happens when some of the genes in the cell are damaged or lost, this is known as a mutation. A mutation can be caused by poor diet (other causes include toxins, poor detoxification systems and infections). It is not easy for a normal cell to turn into a cancer cell, there needs to be about six mutations before this can happen, although cells often self destruct if they carry a mutation or might be recognised by the immune system as abnormal and killed before they become cancerous.

Good nutrition can help prevent a mutation occurring in the first place (for example, folic acid is important for the cell copying process) and also by supporting the immune system, increase the chances of the mutated cell being spotted and destroyed. There are special substances found in plant foods called phytochemicals which have been shown to have cancer fighting properties, for example research has shown that curcumin found in turmeric is remarkably helpful in protecting against most forms of cancer ^{(2 & 3)} and lycopene found in tomatoes has been shown to be very protective against prostate cancer ⁽⁴⁾. Just having small amounts of these foods daily can have extremely beneficial effects.

Strong detoxification systems are important for cancer prevention as a high toxic load can increase the chances of a cancer initiating. Taking care of the liver is key, as it is the body’s organ of detoxification. This doesn’t just mean cutting down on alcohol, certain substances have powerful effects on the liver’s rate of detoxification. For example, research has shown that special nutrients found in cruciferous vegetables can increase the detoxification pathways ⁽⁵⁾.

All of my advice is evidence based and references are provided below. Using nutrition as a preventative measure against cancer is a new and exciting field and there is so much that you can do yourself once you have the knowledge. For further information, please book an appointment for a consultation so that I can draw up a personalised plan on how diet can help you in this area.

References:

1. The World Health Organisation. Cancer: diet and physical activity’s impact. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/cancer/en/. Last accessed 8 November 2008.

2. Dinkova-Kostova AT. Relation of structure of curcumin analogues to their potencies as inducers of Phase 2 detoxification enzymes. Carcinogenesis. 1999;20 (5):911-914.

3. Rinaldi et al. Curcumin activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor yet significantly inhibits benzo(a)pyrene-7R-trans-7,8-dihydrodiol bioactivation in oral squamous cell carcinnoma cells and oral mucosa. Cancer Res. 2002; 62 (19):5451.

4. Giovanucci E et al. A prospective study of tomato products, lycopene and prostate cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst 2002, 6;94 (5):391-8.

5. Talalay P et al. Phytochemicals from cruciferous plants protect against cancer by modulating carcinogen metabolism J Nutr 2001;131 (s): 3027S-33S.