Health: Can you fight cancer by making the right food choices?

There are no proven ways to prevent cancer but what you eat can help to reduce your risk of getting it

Asparagus And Breast Cancer

News broke earlier this year linking the consumption of asparagus with accelerating breast-cancer-cell growth. Studies in mice found that asparagine, a compound first found in asparagus but also present in other foods (other veg, meat and dairy products) appears to drive the spread of the disease to other organs. Whereas reducing it dramatically reduced the number of secondary tumours.

The researchers (from Britain, America and Canada) said asparagine appeared to help cancer cells change so that they spread easily from the breast, through the bloodstream, to other organs where they grow into secondary tumours. Suppressing levels of asparagine appeared to reduce that spread, but did nothing to prevent breast tumours from forming in the first place.

Baroness Delyth Morgan from the charity Breast Cancer Now said the findings were promising but further studies were needed to see whether they’d have the same impact on patients.

The Obesity Link

Being overweight is the biggest cause of cancer after smoking. It’s linked to more than one in every 20 UK diagnoses.

‘Fat in your body doesn’t just sit there doing nothing,’ says cancer expert Clare Hyde from Cancer Research UK. ‘It’s involved in sending signals throughout your body telling cells what to do and when to divide. Extra fat can encourage too much cell division and growth, causing cancer to start and continue growing.’

Research shows that many cancer types are more common in people who are overweight/ obese, including two of the most common (breast and bowel) and three of the hardest to treat

(pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder). Recent studies show that, after menopause, obese women have a 30% higher risk of breast cancer than women of a healthy weight.

Your overall cancer risk increases with the more weight you gain and the longer you’re overweight for. But the good news is that losing extra weight reduces that risk. And the double whammy is that the exercise and healthy food you do and eat to lose weight reduces your cancer risk further.

A Healthy Weight

Aim for a waist measurement of less than half your height, and/ or a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.1 and 24.9, says Woman’s Weekly’s Dr Melanie Wynne-Jones.

‘If we need to lose weight and keep it off, we can cut down, count calories, follow a diet plan, join a slimming club or go online. They can all work (aim realistically to lose six pounds a month) but only if we’re truly committed.’

So pick the right time, ask family/friends for support, and if you think it may help to change your thinking or boost self-belief, consider mindfulness or cognitive behavioural therapy.

Plant Foods

Base your diet on fruit, veg, wholegrains and pulses (lentils, beans and peas). These foods should make up three-quarters of your plate.

Eating plenty of them, instead of high-sugar, high-fat foods, will help you maintain a healthy weight, and research shows that a high-fibre diet with plenty of wholegrains (cereals and grains, such as rice, oats, pasta and bread) decreases your bowel-cancer risk by moving food quickly through your bowel.

Fruit and veg are packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, which help protect your body’s cells from damage, which can lead to cancer.

There are different types of phytochemicals in different fruit and veg, so eat a variety of at least five portions a day, although experts say 10 would be better.

It’s Never Too Late

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been eating a particular diet, changing it will have an impact on your cancer risk. ‘And there are other benefits to a healthier diet,’ says Clare, ‘including more energy and better sleep.’