My Bladder Cancer Fight

The American Cancer Society has always had an interest in the relationship between cancer and nutrition to cancer.

The fact that nutrition play a role in various stages of cancer is clear. What is still not clear is to what degree does nutrition play is still unclear. These are important issues with great public health implications.

Research is pointing to the importance of the role that nutrition plays in preventing cancer or contributing to cancer. Researchers are searching for the ideal diet to reduce the risk of cancer. This research has prompted the
American Cancer Society to come up with nutritional guidelines. The relationship between dietary ingredients and cancer is very elusive and many more questions remain to be answered.

There is some evidence that nutrients from supplements are effective in the prevention of cancer. if you are not receiving the required vitamins and minerals in you day to day diet, then a vitamin mineral supplement may be required. If you are not eating proper meals, for example lunches, then a replacement drink like Boost and Ensure are a good source of nutrition.

The American Cancer Society stress that a diet with ample variety of fruits and vegetables go a long way in providing some protection against cancer. These foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, biochemical compounds and fiber ingredients that may help in the risk of cancer. By eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables means that an individual is unlikely to eat large portions of fat and high calorie foods.

The American Cancer Society has found that a diet rich in vegetables and fruits showed a reduction in the risk of colon cancer in both men and women.

Weight management with plenty of exercise is the strongest evidence of cancer prevention. Regulate the amount of alcohol intake and stop smoking. it is recommended that women have only one drink of alcohol per day and men no more that two drinks per day.

These factors weight management, exercise, alcohol and smoking have been the most researched areas in the prevention of cancer.

It has been shown in animal studies that a low-fat diet reduces the cancer risk.

Epidemiological studies have been less conclusive and suggest that the risk of some kinds of cancer, such as colon cancer, may be more impacted by a low-fat diet than other kinds of cancer. The situation is further complicated by the fact that there are many kinds of fat, and some kinds of fat may have different effects on cancer risk than others. Fats may be saturated or unsaturated, and there are different kinds of saturated and unsaturated fats. Also, in high-fat diets, it is sometimes hard to distinguish whether an effect is due to the fat present or to the diet being high in calories.

Epidemiological Studies

“Obese individuals are at risk for certain types of cancer,” Wahida Karmally, PhD, RD, Columbia University associate research scientist and director of nutrition, tells WebMD. She urges Americans to lose weight with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables because they are a powerhouse of antioxidants and help people feel full, so they eat fewer calories.

Obese Individuals

“We have strong evidence that a healthy diet containing lots of fruits and vegetables is beneficial to good health and can reduce risk for cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, and others,” says Karmally.

Healthy Diet

Cancer risk can be reduced by making a few changes in ones lifestyle. Some of the changes are:

• a better diet

• more exercise

• restrict alcohol consumption

• stop smoking

• reduce stress

Many people find making changes in their lifestyle very, very difficult.

To be continued in next post…..

Posted on May 24th, 2008 by Neil
Filed under: Bladder Cancer - Background, My Cancer, Nutrition