If you're anything like me, the "C" word leaves you trembling. But today there is very good news to report: Research suggests you can improve your odds of never getting cancer and/or improve your chances of recovering from it. Not with a drug or surgery, although those methods might be quite effective. This is all about the power on your plate, and it's seriously powerful.
A 2012 analysis of all the best studies done to date concluded vegetarians have significantly lower cancer rates. For example, the largest forward-looking study on diet and cancer ever performed concluded that "the incidence of all cancers combined is lower among vegetarians."
That's good news, yes. But what if we're looking for great news? If vegetarians fare so much better than meat-eaters, what about vegans? Is that an even better way to eat? We didn't know for sure until now.
A new study just out of Loma Linda University funded by the National Cancer Institute reported that vegans have lower rates of cancer than both meat-eaters and vegetarians. Vegan women, for example, had 34 percent lower rates of female-specific cancers such as breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer. And this was compared to a group of healthy omnivores who ate substantially less meat than the general population (two servings a week or more), as well as after controlling for non-dietary factors such as smoking, alcohol, and a family history of cancer.
Why do vegans have such lower cancer risk? This is fascinating stuff: An elegant series of experiments was performed in which people were placed on different diets and their blood was then dripped on human cancer cells growing in a petri dish to see whose diet kicked more cancer butt. Women placed on plant-based diets for just two weeks, for example, were found to suppress the growth of three different types of breast cancer (see images of the cancer clearance). The same blood coursing through these womens' bodies gained the power to significantly slow down and stop breast cancer cell growth thanks to just two weeks of eating a healthy plant-based diet! (Two weeks! Imagine what's going on in your body after a year!) Similar results were found for men against prostate cancer (as well as against prostate enlargement).
How may a simple dietary change make one's bloodstream so inhospitable to cancer in just a matter of days? The dramatic improvement in cancer defenses after two weeks of eating healthier is thought to be due to changes in the level of a cancer-promoting growth hormone in the body called IGF-1. Animal protein intake increases the levels of IGF-1 in our body, but within two weeks of switching to a plant-based diet, IGF-1 levels in the bloodstream drop sufficiently to help slow the growth of cancer cells.
How plant-based do we need to eat? Studies comparing levels of IGF-1 in meat-eaters vs. vegetarians vs. vegans suggest that we should lean toward eliminating animal products from our diets altogether. This is supported by the new study in which the thousands of American vegans studied not only had lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, but significantly lower cancer risk as well.
This makes sense when you consider the research done by Drs. Dean Ornish and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn; they found that a vegan diet caused more than 500 genes to change in only three months, turning on genes that prevent disease and turning off genes that cause breast cancer, heart disease, prostate cancer, and other illnesses. This is empowering news, given that most people think they are a victim of their genes, helpless to stave off some of the most dreaded diseases. We aren't helpless at all; in fact, the power is largely in our hands. It's on our forks, actually.
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I appreciate (and agree with) the ideals associated with respecting other living things and the environment we all depend on but all of the above work hand in hand. What's ultimately good for us is what is ultimately good for all life on the planet. Separating them into separate objectives misses the point don't you think?
Thanks for sharing your story. I've been dairy free since I was diagnosed and treated 12 years ago.
Continued best health to you this New Year and for many...many more!
THANK YOU! When I was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer at the age of 38 I had no idea at the time that what was on my plate and in my glass could possibly make me sick. I stumbled on a terrific book that made the diet connection for me and when I discussed it with the chief of oncology -that was it! I have not eaten dairy in over 12 years and eat only very limited amounts of minimally processed, hormone free meat. (Rural china has the lowest breast cancer rates in the world - there's no dairy in their diet.)
I look forward to reading all the comments but first wanted to give you a HUGE thank you! This former breast cancer patient (over 12 years ago) wanted to lend my support to all those that are speaking the truth, burning the pink ribbons and telling us the truth - we can prevent breast cancer.
Best health always and best wishes for a safe and happy new year.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/398.full.pdf
About 375k people were tracked in 10 European countries. An association was found with meat intake and weight gain. Chicken was the biggest culprit:
“In conclusion, our results indicate that meat intake is positively associated with weight gain… Our results are therefore in favor of the public health recommendation to decrease meat consumption for health improvement.”
“Weight gain was also positively associated with poultry, red meat, and processed meat intakes… The strongest association was shown for poultry.”
For people who want to learn more about veg and health, Freston's books are great. I also really like Dr. Neal Barnard's work. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/21-Day-Weight-Loss-Kickstart-Dramatically/dp/0446583812
Get started now here:
www.ChooseVeg.com
Even the American Dietetic Association, based on all the science that exists, agrees that vegetarian and vegan diets are healthier than diets that include animal products.
http://www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357
Your blanket statement about vegan diets puts you at odds with every reputable health body in the country, from the American Heart Association to the American Cancer Society, as well as all of the top nutrition researchers. Even the USDA agrees that vegan diets tend to be healthier than those that include animal products.
Cheers,
Bruce
p.s. B12 deficiency hits meat-eaters more than it hits vegans; everyone should be taking a supplement and getting tested to make sure their levels are healthy.
B-12 doesn't come from meat, eggs or dairy, it comes from bacteria. The animals simple collect it from the soil bacteria in their feed and, in the case of ruminants, some from the bacteria in their rumen. And factory animals with an unnatural diet are a poor source, so like Bruce says B-12 deficiency isn't just a plant eaters issue. As a result everybody should take a B-12 supplement to make sure they get enough.
And you sound like a researcher, so please review the summaries of peer reviewed papers at nutritionfacts.org and report back on how the hundreds of studies showing that a plant based diet does indeed have substantial health benefits got it all wrong. Not appealing to authority here, but to observed facts and the theories that explain those facts.
Neal Barnard was on the Thom Hartmann show friday night. Because of the shooting tragedy that interview won't get much attention - not that Thom H. is the right person to challenge Barnard on his views anyway. The almost, no actual religious fervor, which Barnard displays for his narrow diet view needs discussion. The good doctor has some good points but is hardly the only prescriptor for our optimal diets. My family usually lives a little too long on a varied diet which includes high quality meats, dairy and fermented products.
First link is very specific to Australia, to the point of great discussion in the article of kangaroos raised for meat by the author, a kangaroos-for-meat industry ally.
Second link's article presents conclusions that are wobbly at best, but this thought, in the article's closing, sums up what the article proposes: "... Davis argues that people may be morally obliged to consume a diet based on plants and grazing ruminants in order to cause the least harm to animals." So Davis isn't definite - he uses the "may be" phrase - even when talking about grazing ruminants - andt over 90% of cows eaten in the USA are raised on factory farms; he's not even thinking about the zillions of chickens, turkeys, and fish raised for food, or even what goes into the diets of dairy animals killed when their cruelly enhanced production goes down. You are correct. More animals do die for animal product eaters than die for vegans. When eaters of animal products attempt to compare the deaths of animals for their diet to deaths of animals killed for the vegan diet, they precede unknowingly, or possibly with an intentional anything-goes-to-defend-unnecessary-killing ploy.
A poor diet is just one thing that can strain genetics, the others are toxicity, mental stress, lack exercise and a poor spiritual foundation. This is what the wise have been saying all along, "lifestyle is what causes cancer and all disease.
Doc Blake
Polyphenols - 56% loss
Antioxidant activity - 38% loss
Vitamin C - 89% loss
Maybe paleo people and most vegans and vegetarians have something in common after all. They are "cooked-foodists." And consequently screwed.
Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22744944
Paleo Nouveau Guy.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.2998/abstract