Focus cancer prevention efforts on nutrition
Proper diet could prevent 4 million cases annually
Your mother told you to eat your peas and carrots, and various health care agencies have agreed with that advice for years. But Americans still aren’t cleaning that part of their dinner plates. A new report on cancer and nutrition shows that if they did, the incidence of cancer would drop by 20% or more each year in the United States.
Around the world, between three and four million cases of cancer could be prevented annually if people would eat at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables and follow other simple recommendations such as exercising regularly and limiting consumption of red meat and alcohol, according to a recently released report called Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. Fifteen international researchers spent four years reviewing more than 4,500 epidemiological and laboratory research studies on the link between diet and cancer. What they found is that 30% to 40% of cancers are directly linked to diet and related factors and that 60% to 70% of cancers in the United States are preventable through dietary change, weight control, exercise, and not smoking. Diet, the report says, is the most important factor in cancer prevention and seems particularly related to cancer of the colon, rectum, endometrium, and prostate.
"This is a landmark report because it reviews so many studies and shows that many cancers are preventable," says Melanie Polk, RD, director of nutrition education at the Washington, DC-based American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). The AICR, along with the London-based World Cancer Research Fund, paid for the project. "Cancer is a very expensive disease, and if we don’t intervene, the costs of dealing with it around the world will be catastrophic."
The 650-page report gives dietary recommendations and practical suggestions for action to support cancer prevention. Recommendations include:
* Choose most of the food you eat from plant sources. Eat five or more servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables each day, and eat other foods such as breads, cereals, grain products, rice, pasta, or beans several times each day. Studies have shown that compounds within foods help protect against potential cancer-causing agents in the environment.
* Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources.
* Avoid red meat or at least limit consumption to less than three ounces daily. Studies have shown that although meats are good sources of high-quality protein and supply many important vitamins and minerals, they have been linked to cancers at several sites in the body, especially colon and prostate.
* Limit alcohol consumption to less than two drinks per day for men and one for women.
* Be physically active, getting one hour of physical activity each day.
* Limit adult weight gain to 11 pounds or less. The report notes that studies have shown that being active and physically fit on its own appears to reduce the risk for some cancers and that obesity appears to increase the risk for some cancers.
Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical activity for the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society, says health care professionals should study the report’s findings and look for ways to communicate them to patients. "Let patients know about cancer from a prevention point of view," she says. "Let them know they do have control and that they don’t have to give up all their favorite foods or run a marathon to make a difference."
Eat your fruits and vegetables
Doyle suggests delivering quick messages any time patients visit your office. When nurses are taking patients’ blood pressure, for example, they can ask if the patients are exercising and eating vegetables. Remind patients that five servings of fruits and vegetables really isn’t that much, considering that one serving equals only a half-cup of broccoli, less than what most people would put on their plates. Other quick tips to pass on to patients include keeping dried fruits in their desks at work for healthy snacks, requesting a healthy meal in advance when booking airline travel, and taking the stairs or choosing a parking space that requires a walk to the destination. It’s also important to note that choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables is much better than sticking with a couple of items all the time.
"The most effective tool for getting this information across is health care professionals, especially doctors," Doyle says. "Patients are more likely to make a change if their doctors recommend it."
Polk adds that physicians and nurses should applaud patients when they do make changes. If, for example, nurses notice a weight loss when weighing patients, they should mention it to the patient and encourage their efforts. When taking patients’ family histories, physicians should pay attention to evidence of cancer in the family, Polk says, so they can make an even more concerted effort to get those patients on the right track for nutrition and exercise.
[For more information on diet and cancer, contact: Melanie Polk, RD, director of nutrition education, American Institute for Cancer Research, 1759 R St. NW, Washington, DC 20009. Telephone: (202) 328-7744. Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical activity, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251. Telephone: (404) 329-7575.]
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