How would you imagine a cancer prevention diet? If you pictured an eating plan based on fresh produce, with plenty of fruit and veg and no junk food, you'd be right.
Experts have created a new set of guidelines, based on a thorough review of all the evidence that points at diet as contributing to cancer.
Interestingly, most of their recommendations tie in with everyday healthy eating habits, like the ones described on this site. But there are a few surprises, the main one being that being even a little overweight can increase the risk of cancer.
The anti-cancer diet report runs to 500+ pages, but the conclusions can be boiled down to just 10 tips to avoiding cancer through healthy eating.
CANCER PREVENTION DIET
1 Stay skinny That's right. Putting on weight is a serious no-no at any stage of life. The WCRF talk about it in terms of Body Mass Index (weight in kg divided by height in metres squared), which measures height in relation to weight, and is a useful rule-of-thumb for assessing obesity. You'll often find weighing machines at health centers, gyms and medical surgeries which will automatically give you a BMI reading, or you can use this BMI Calculator.
The healthy range for a BMI is between 20 and 25, but this new report suggests that lighter is better, and that you should aim for a weight that's as low as possible within the normal range. That could present quite a challenge, as there's can be a difference of more than 2 stone (around 30 lb) between the top end of the normal range and the bottom. If you've been happily thinking that a BMI of 24 or 25 was just fine, it could be time to reassess and start reducing.
A high body mass has been linked to endometrial cancer for some years, and is also implicated in other cancers, of the kidney, bowel, oesophagus and pancreas, as well as being a factor in post-menopausal breast cancer.
2 Keep activeHealthy eating and exercise go hand in hand. Take that brisk walk every day, leave the car at home and go on foot, find a sport you enjoy. Regular - daily - exercise is a must, and has been clearly shown to help prevent cancer.
3 Stay off junk food High in fats and sugars, fast foods are one of the main culprits behind the massive rises in obesity in both the UK and America, so wise up on the Junk Food Facts.
You're much better off eating wholefoods and high fiber foods like unrefined cereals, grains and pulses. Cut out soft drinks as well, because they simply tempt you to sip your way to excess blubber. Fruit juices are fingered here. They're high in sugars, and too much can contribute to obesity, which the cancer prevention diet is at pains to avoid. Cut them out, eat a whole fruit instead, or limit your intake to one small glass daily, which counts as one portion of fruit.
4 Pile on the fruit and veg Get those five a day (or more) portions of fruit and veg every single day.
5 Cut back on red meat Include no more than 500g (cooked weight - about 750g raw) red meat a week. Steer clear of processed meats like ham and bacon. The World Cancer Research Fund report says that these raise cancer risk by 10%. Find out more Meat Facts.
6 Drink less alcohol This was a tricky area for the report recommendations. The optimum level of alcohol intake in a cancer prevention diet would be zero, because it increases the risk of several cancers, including mouth, throat and breast cancer. Problem is that small amounts of alcohol are known to cut the chances of heart disease, so the panel compromised by recommending just one alcoholic drink daily for women, two for men.
7 Keep salt intake to below 6g daily Keep a close eye on food labels, stay off salt-laden junk foods and don't add extra salt at the table.
8 Get the nutrients you need through your food Vitamin and mineral pills are not recommended by the report.
9 Breast is best Babies should be breastfed exclusively for six months whenever possible.
10 Follow the same rules if you've had cancer Cancer survivors are advised to follow the cancer prevention diet to help prevent recurrences.
