Day One Hundred and Twenty Four!!!!

Fat! Cancer promoter? Or Killer? (dun dun duuuuuunnn)!


Your diet and weight management can aid in the prevention of cancer. There are anti-cancer compounds in fruits and veggies, the most important consideration is the colour and the variety of colours of the food you choose to eat. 


Cruciferous veggies contain something called indoles. Indoles down regulate the production of cell devision in the cancer process and act as negative estrogen regulators. So eating vegetables that contain indoles can alter the negative effects of estrogen regarding estrogen based cancers. So what are cruciferous vegetables? Cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables as well as beetroot. Indoles are found in white and green cruciferous vegetables. 


Lycopene is found in most red fruits and vegetables and is a plant nutrient with antioxidant properties. It is found in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon, papaya, red carrots, red cabbage, mangos but not strawberries or cherries. Lycopene plays multiple roles in the prevention of cancer. 


Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables contain carotanoids which have been found to decrease the risk of breast cancer in post menopausal women. These foods, such as; carrots, corn, cantaloupe, turmeric, egg yolks, rutabagas, bananas, squash, oranges, and apricots are all cancer prevention powerhouses.
 
Blue and purple foods contain anthocyanins which can repair the DNA damage that is the first step of cancer development. These include; blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, radishes, plums, red cabbage, and black berries.


Green vegetables contain folic acid which is needed for DNA synthesis; beens, spinach, salad leaves, green peppers, and citrus fruits all provide cancer preventatives. Green tea is rich in polyphenols, found in red wine, grape juice, dark berries, and cherries.


Vitamin D, vitamin E, and selenium has been found to be effective in the prevention of an assortment of cancers.  


Poor diet is estimated to amount to 30-35% of cancer cases. There was a large study conducted (The Nurses Health Study) which tracked diet, lifestyle, and disease in more than 80,000 nurses, published in 1982. Over 600 cases of breast cancer had occurred among nurses during the first 4 years of the study. What was found was, that the less fat the women confessed to eating the more likely they were to get breast cancer. 


There have been many studies done since, with the same results. For every 5% of saturated fat calories that are eaten, replacing carbohydrates in the diet, the risk of breast cancer was found to decrease by 9%. 


Another report suggests that low fat high calorie diets led to more tumours (at least in rats) than high fat low calorie diets, and interestingly enough there was no tumour production found in underfed rats, regardless of how fatty their diet was. Eating only 75% of the typical daily calorie requirements, these rats could eat 5x as much fat as usual and be cancer free!


Societally, high fat has been the culprit of both weight gain and cancer. The equation used is that high fat = high calories =obesity=increased cancer risk. Yet, interestingly enough based on studies that have been conducted since the 1980’s the equation actually needs to change.