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Cancer
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Preventing Cancer Through Proper Diet
Cancer is expected to surpass heart disease as the number-one cause of
death in the U.S.
Worldwide, cancer strikes ten million people a year. Experts estimate
that 30 to 40 percent of those cancers could be prevented by healthier
diets and exercise. Eating more fruits and vegetables alone could
eliminate 20 percent.
Here's an interview with John D. Potter of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center in Seattle regarding cancer prevention:
Q: Is cancer more preventable by diet than most people think?
A: Yes. The National Cancer Institute has made a whole stack of public
statements going all the way back to the 1970s about the role of diet
in preventing cancer, but they haven't stuck. I think the reason is
that people think cancer is not preventable at all, so why try diet?
But that is beginning to change.
How can cancer be prevented?
A: Two things are happening. One is that we're understanding the biology a lot better--though sometimes that means people become more fatalistic because they think, "I've got the genes, I'll get the disease."
The second thing is that people are beginning to understand that cancer is preventable despite family histories, just as heart disease is.
But cancer is a lot more complicated. Unlike heart disease, which is primarily one disease, cancer is a hundred diseases that attack different organs and that have different risk factors. The nice thing is that some of the risk factors are in common and some of those include diet. |
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