Sunday, November 25, 2007

Nutrition and cancer

An aside from the running updates... I was just reading an article rating cancer risk factors. 30-35% of cancers can be attributed to diet. One third - that's a lot! It's obvious with rising cancer and obesity rates that something needs to be done about our diets. There is so much to be said for prevention... changing your diet for the better not only reduces your risk of cancer but also of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a whole variety of other chronic illnesses associated with obesity. The article recommended eating more fruits and vegetables but emphasized even more to reduce the consumption of red meat. "The report recommends that people who eat red meat consume less than 500 grams a week and that little or none of it should be processed meat like ham, bacon, pastrami or salami." Alcohol also seems to be a big culprit, but it's benefits in substantially reducing heart disease risk makes the situation more complicated. I think basically a good guideline is to stay away from processed foods in general as much as possible. The preservatives, "natural flavours" and dyes are trouble; steer clear!

3 comments:

nicole said...

You might be interested in a major report that was just issued about cancer and obesity. Basically, a huge study done examining the lives of cancer patients (i.e. not looking at lab mice), concluded that extra body fat (largely linked to diet) is a huge risk factor. So much so that they recommended a BMI no greater than 22. I'll see if I can find the reference for the report...

jen said...

Wow! Not surprising though. My BMI is 22! Yikes. Maybe I should skip that pie I was going to make for dessert tonight... :(

nicole said...

I know. 22 is super low. Have the pie. You burned 1350 cals today according to my heart rate monitor!