Ditch diet drinks and 6 other diet rules to help save yourself from cancer
ONE in two of us will get cancer at some point in our lives.
With bleak statistics like that, it can feel like cancer is an inevitability.
But some cancers are more avoidable than others, and we can minimise our risk of developing them by changing our diets.
A new study has found that diets may account for over 80,000 or 5 per cent of all cancer cases.
That's the same number as those associated with boozing.
Bowel cancer was found to have the highest proportion of diet-related cases, with almost 40 per cent of all cases being linked to poor diets.
That was followed by mouth cancer, with diet being responsible for 25.9 per cent.
Cancers most linked to poor diet:
- Bowel (52,225)
- Mouth, pharynx, and larynx (14,421)
- Womb (3,165)
- Breast (post-menopausal) (3,059)
- Kidney(2,017)
- Stomach (1,564)
- Liver (1,000)
The biggest dietary danger? Not eating enough whole grains - i.e carbs.
Diet rules to help lower your risk of cancer
- Eat more whole grain (like brown bread, pasta, rice)
- Eat more dairy
- Cut down on processed meat
- Eat more fruit and veg
- Reduce red meat consumption
- Stop drinking sweetened drinks
Of the diet-linked cancer cases, 16 per cent were found in obese patients.
One in four Brits is currently obese, with a third of children being classified as overweight or obese in the UK.
Low carb, high meat diets are 'killing us'
Fang Fang's team found that there is enough convincing evidence to suggest that a low whole grain, low dairy, high processed meat, high red meat diet increases your risk of bowel cancer.
Not eating enough fruit and veg was linked to mouth cancer, and processed meats increased the likelihood of stomach cancer.
And they also linked drinking sugar-sweetened drinks to obesity, which was associated with 13 types of cancer.
They include bowel, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, multiple myeloma (a kind of blood cancer) and pancreatic cancers.
Ditch the fizz
Fizzy drinks, fruit punch, sports and energy drinks that are sweetened with extra sugar are all thought to play a part in us growing fatter and more prone to cancer, the new study found.
It follows a report released back in March that found that drinking Diet Coke every day "increases your risk of dying young from heart disease and cancer".
Sugar-laden fizzy drinks were found to increase the risk of early death from any cause by a fifth - and were also blamed for fuelling a rise in cancer cases, Harvard experts said.
While swapping to diet drink - or diet versions in general - is better, drink more than four a day and you're still at risk of dying young.
Experts looked at data from 80,647 women and 37,716 men who had answered questionnaires about lifestyle factors every two years.
They found that drinking two fizzy drinks a day increased that risk by 14 per cent, while those guzzling more than two a day had a 21 per cent increased risk of early death.
They also had a 31 per cent higher chance of dying young from heart disease.
Each additional drink consumed per day increased the risk by another 10 per cent.
Which obesity-related cancers are on the rise among young people?
Rates of cancers linked to obesity are rising faster in millennials than any other generation, scientists warned back in February.
Six of 12 obesity-related cancers were found to be on the increase among millennials (aged 23-38).
In fact, Cancer Research UK says that more than one in 20 cancer cases are caused by excess weight in the UK.
They include:
- bowel
- endometrial
- gallbladder
- kidney
- multiple myeloma
- pancreas
According to the American Cancer Society, being overweight or obese has been linked to also increase your risk of other cancers, including:
- breast
- oesophagus
- non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- liver
- cervix
- ovary
- prostate
- thyroid
- upper stomach
- meningioma (a type of brain tumour)
So that list includes two of the most common cancers - breast and bowel - as well as three of the hardest to treat - pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder.
So if you want to reduce your cancer risk, you're best off trying to eat as much non-processed, whole food as possible.
Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg a day and keep your meat consumption to a minimum.
It's all about moderation but just remember, you can never eat enough veg!
It's worth mentioning that obviously, some cancers are totally unavoidable and what you eat won't always stop yourself from developing diseases.
But it's worth giving yourself a chance by filling your body with nutritious foods that are packed with anti-inflammatory properties and disease-busting antioxidants.
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