The links between diet and cancer are no longer any doubt

Improvements balanced diet, including regular consumption of fruit, vegetables and whole grains can prevent the onset of cancer, reaffirmed, nutrition specialists, but stressed that this nutritional message should be accompanied by recommendations Terms of lifestyle for it to bear fruit.
Cancer and diet
Cancer is primarily a degenerative disease related to our behaviors, especially food, said Professor Arnaud Basdevant, head of the nutrition department at the Hotel-Dieu in Paris, during a press conference ahead of the 44th Annual Conference of nutrition and dietetics which takes place in Paris.

This day, which brought together nearly 1,200 participants, was an opportunity for experts to review the current state of knowledge about the links between diet and cancer on the one hand, and between diet and digestive diseases on the other hand, said the doctor.

The relationship between nutrition and the risk of developing cancers are, for many years, the subject of much research. Of all the studies and reports that have resulted emerge many commonalities whose reality is now the subject of any dispute within the scientific community.

So it is with the causal role of obesity and the protective role of physical activity in the etiology of several cancers, including cancers of the endometrium, breast (postmenopausal), colon and rectum and kidney.

It is now established that the consumption of fruits and vegetables prevents the appearance of cancers aero-digestive and respiratory tracts. The risk of colon cancer increases for its parallel to the consumption of red meat and sausage, while that of the stomach is associated with a high consumption of fish and meat preserved by salting.

However, nutrients specifically involved in the biological mechanisms of carcinogenesis are far from being known and it is not uncommon for studies lead to contradictory results may result in aberrant nutrition messages for the general public, recognized Professor Bernard Guy-Grand, the nutrition department of the Hotel-Dieu.

"These contradictory results can be explained by the fact that nutrition interventions have effects in some contexts," he explained using the example of the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, the positive effects are visible in small eating this type of food, but not in those who are naturally fond of.

The role of fiber
The first results of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study, with approximately 520,000 people in 10 European countries, confirm the aforementioned links between food groups and some cancers.

They shall also highlight the role of fiber, the main sources are cereals, fruits, vegetables and legumes, in the etiology of cancers of the colon and rectum. Thus, for individuals from populations where the average fiber intake is low, doubling the total fiber intake from the diet may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 40%.

This relationship, contradicted in some studies is probably explained by the fact that the increase in fiber intake is generally associated with an overall diet modification, explained Dr. Bernard Messing, chief of hepatobiliary gastroenterology and nutrition assistance to Lariboisière hospital in Paris.

According to the three doctors together, "a good diet is definitely on the prognosis of certain tumors several years" but the nutritional message that improve diet prevents cancer development must be accompanied by more general recommendations for a modification of lifestyle (no smoking, physical activity, limiting alcohol consumption, avoiding obesity).