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1) Does Nutrition play a role in cancer?
Nutrition can play a role in many situations related to cancer including:
- A possible cause or trigger for the cancer growth
- In preventing malnutrition due to the effects of the cancer or cancer treatment side effects
- Providing improved outcomes during cancer related treatments and
- Providing better long term cancer prevention and survivorship
According to the American Cancer Society: More than 30% of cancers are believed to be diet related. The factors that influence cancer risk are related to:
- Types of food you eat
- Food/meal portion control
- Excessive intakes of macronutrients such as sugar, fat and calories
- Poor food intake
- Lack of exercise that leads to obesity
- Low intake of dietary fiber
- Low intake of plant based foods
- Excessive intake of alcohol
Dietary choices and physical activity are the two most controllable changes that can be made to avoid cancer beyond smoking.
Being overweight or obese increases your risk for the following cancers:
- Breast
- Prostate
- Colon
- Endometrium
- Kidney
- Rectum
Evidence is highly suggestive of a relationship with obesity and the following cancers
- Gallbladder
- Ovary
- Pancreas
- Thyroid
- Cervix
- Alcohol exposure is usually associated with cancers of the mouth, throat, and liver
According to the National Cancer Institute:
Early nutrition screening and assessment help find problems that may affect how well the patient's body can deal with the effects of cancer treatment. Patients who are underweight or malnourished may not be able to get through treatment as well as a well-nourished patient. Finding and treating nutrition problems early can help the patient gain weight or prevent weight loss, decrease problems with the treatment, and help recovery.
Many treatment modalities such as chemotherapy and radiation can improve cancer related symptoms; however patients are at risk for treatment related side effects in some instances. Nutrition can also be a supportive process for these patients in regards to symptoms management.
Survivorship and cancer prevention beyond treatment:
Several organizations including the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and The American Institute of Cancer Research, through various studies have agreed that there are possible variables in our lifestyle that can lead to a reduced risk of cancer. Some of the recommendations include:
- Achieving a healthy body weight
- Being physically active
- Not eating a high intake of red meat
- Increasing consumption of plant based foods
- Limiting consumption of energy dense high sugar foods such as candies, cakes, cookies
- Limiting processed foods that can be in high in fat and low in fiber
- Limiting consumption of alcohol
- Increasing physical activity 30 minutes or more five times per week
2) Where Can I get more information?
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