Diet and Cancer page 3

This does not mean that you should not eat any animal protein or that you should not eat any products with sugar in them. What leads to cancer is persistent exposure to carcinogens and persistent consumption of cancer-friendly foods. So don't eat a lot of protein every day and don't eat cakes, sweets and other foods with added sugar and refined flour on a regular basis. If you want to enjoy a nice, juicy steak once every couple of weeks, do so, and if you want to have a sweet dessert every once in a while, go ahead. Just don't eat processed sugar every day, and limit your protein consumption.

Athletes or people that for some other reason expend a lot of energy, on the other hand, need more protein and glucose than the average person. If you fall in this camp, go ahead and eat all the protein you need, but try to get it from the best sources, which include fish, poultry, and soy. Get all the carbs you need to fuel your activities, but get them from the best sources, which include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you need a quick boost before a physical activity, you can even have a chocolate bar or some other sugary product. Just make sure to burn off what you eat.

This leads to the question of how to know what your caloric needs are. It all depends on your goals.

If you are an athlete trying to build muscle, and you are lifting weights but are not growing as you would expect, you probably need more protein. However, if you have a sedentary job and don't get much exercise, odds are you are already eating too much protein and too many energy foods. The best way to know is simply by looking at yourself in a mirror: if you are overweight you are probably consuming too many calories. Even if you are an athlete and you find yourself with excessive body fat, you are eating too many calories. Appendix I lists the calorie requirements for different kinds of people.

Smoked, salty, and overcooked (burnt) foods, especially if they are some form of animal protein, are believed to be cancer-promoting. It is believed that the high stomach cancer rates of the Japanese are due to their high consumption of salty, pickled foods.

Organic is a term used to refer to foods that are grown or raised "naturally", as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago. Organic foods lower the risk of cancer because they have not been exposed to cancer-promoting substances. These substances include hormones that animals receive and the pesticides and fertilizers that their food receives. Pesticides, fertilizers and preservatives are used on most fruits, vegetables and grains that we buy at the grocery store, and the residues that are left on the food are absorbed by our bodies. These chemicals can weaken our immune system and can also cause direct damage to cell's DNA. Organic foods usually contain more phytochemicals and more minerals because the soil they are grown on hasn't been depleted of nutrients and minerals. This applies to fruits, vegetables, grains (and flour), red meat, poultry, dairy products and even some seafood. Organic animal meat is usually referred to as "free- range".

Dairy products have carcinogenic effects because of the hormones that cows are injected with and the pesticides and fertilizers that are used on their food. They are also dangerous because of their typically high fat content. In addition, adults do not need milk. People should avoid dairy products as much as possible. Two alternatives to dairy products are discussed in the Recommendations section below, namely the consumption of organic dairy products and the replacement of dairy products with soy based products such as soy milk.

Juices usually contain the same cancer preventers as the fruits and vegetables they come from. What's more, some studies have shown that juices can contain more antioxidants than their respective fruits and vegetables. In order to obtain the full benefits of juice, make sure it does not have any added sugar, as sugar has the negative effects already mentioned.

Red meat has hormones that are fed and injected into animals (unless they are organic, free-range). Meat has fat, which means that bile is used in its digestion. Bile itself is in a way carcinogenic since it is very similar to certain cancer-causing hydrocarbons. In addition, a substance called glucuronide carries many toxins bound for elimination in your stool. However, these toxins often become unbound. Since it takes longer to digest meat, it is in contact with the colon wall longer along with bile and glucuronide and its associated toxins, meaning that you are increasing your chances of developing colon cancer. Meat contains iron, which can be a cancer promoter because it aids in oxidative reactions (free radical generation). Meat is usually high in sodium as well.

As mentioned earlier, fiber is an extremely important part of any cancer prevention program.