600,000 cases of cancer 'may have been avoided' | Irish Examiner

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More than four in 10 cancers could be avoided if people made changes to their lifestyle, according to Cancer Research UK. Life style changes such as smoking cessation , balanced diet and weight management would have prevented 600,000 cases of various cancers.
Smoking accounted for more than 314,000 cases in the past five years, the charity said.
A further 145,000 cancers might have been averted if more people ate a balanced diet low in red and processed meat and salt, and high in vegetables, fruit, and fibre.
Maintaining a healthy weight could have prevented around 88,000 cases, while tens of thousands of cancers were linked to excess alcohol, failing to protect the skin from sun, and lack of exercise. Read the whole article here:
600,000 cases of cancer 'may have been avoided' | Irish Examiner

Alkaline Diet:Fad or cancer cure?

Photo: CHRISTOPHER JONES

By Victoria Lambert

Has the Marchioness of Worcester’s 'alkaline diet’ helped her beat cancer?There’s no evidence that certain foods can cure the disease, despite much research on the subject.

The Marchioness of Worcester – environmental campaigner, mother of three, film-maker and thoroughly modern Marchioness – was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.

Who could fail to be cheered by the news that the Marchioness of Worcester – environmental campaigner, mother of three, filmmaker and thoroughly modern Marchioness – is in remission from breast cancer? The Marchioness was diagnosed in 2009. Next year, she will join the 85 per cent of women who survive it longer than five years. Although Tracy, married to the Duke of Beaufort’s heir Harry, has not talked about her cancer before – “it is so boring” – her story is now attracting attention thanks to her controversial views on what aided the treatment.

For while confirming she underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the Marchioness, a former director of the Soil Association, the charity that promotes organic food, added that an “alkaline diet”, which bans processed food, meat and alcohol, helped her overall health. “My doctor said he had never known anyone be quite so well. I would put it down to complementary medicine and 'alkalining’ my body. I am almost religious about it now.”

Despite making clear the diet was an “additional” therapy, the Marchioness’s enthusiasm has caused some concern. Will the alkaline diet find its way into the panoply of cancer “cures” at the expense of mainstream medicine?

Diet-based alternative cancer regimes are not new, many draw heavily on a system developed by the German physician Max Gerson in the 1920s, which suggests that cancer is due to the accumulation of unspecified toxins. To rid the body of these, the patient must eat a predominantly vegetarian diet, including hourly glasses of organic juice and dietary supplements. Patients also receive enemas of coffee, castor oil and even hydrogen peroxide.

By contrast, Tracy Worcester’s diet sounds relatively normal: treatment centers on making body fluids such as urine less acidic apparently by increased consumption of raw vegetables, supplements such as omega 3, and avoiding meat. The claims of efficacy centers on theories that acid somehow “fosters” disease, or that cancer cells can grow faster in an acid environment.

Thousands of studies are carried out on foodstuffs to see if eating or avoiding them will have an effect on cancerous cells. We are assailed by well-researched accounts of the benefits of vegetables and fruits.
However, we know the vast majority of cancer is due to environmental factors: researchers from the University of Texas put it at 90-95 per cent in a 2006 report in the journal Pharmaceutical Research. Their conclusions? Cancer prevention involves increased ingestion of fruits and vegetables, moderate intake of alcohol, caloric restriction, exercise, minimal meat consumption and use of whole grains.
But the key is that this is preventive advice – not the basis of a curative regime. Jean Slocombe, Cancer Research UK’s senior information nurse, says: “Many breast cancer patients feel better and more in control of their illness when they do something proactive such as following a certain diet. But there is no strong scientific evidence to suggest that eating organic foods and following alternative diets can treat breast cancer or reduce the risk of it coming back.”
Robin Pritchard, spokesman for the Dimbleby Cancer Care charity, says: “A lot of research we have funded has found that any kind of complementary therapy can have a really positive effect, improving the sense of wellbeing.”
Learning how to eat healthily may even help recovery, found a 2011 report in the British Journal of Cancer. Evidence suggests that a low-fat, high-fibre diet might be protective against cancer recurrence and progression.
So might the Marchioness’s akaline diet have had more than a placebo effect? 

While countless books suggest alkaline eating can make you slimmer and fitter, scientists point out that the body self-regulates so efficiently that it’s virtually impossible to change the pH balance of its fluids. And the American Institute for Cancer Research warns that the idea that we can become “less acid” is a “myth”. 

Interestingly, though, a 2011 Canadian review in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health of published scientific literature found an alkaline diet could have some benefits, including improved bone health, reduced muscle wasting, as well as mitigating chronic diseases such as hypertension and strokes. Lead researcher Dr Gerry Schwalfenberg said: “Alkalinity may result in added benefit for some chemotherapeutic agents that require a higher pH.” 
Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9772928/Has-the-Marchioness-of-Worcesters-alkaline-diet-helped-her-beat-cancer.html 

Cut out alcohol if you aim to get slimmer

New Year dieters should cut alcohol out of their diets to lose weight as it contains hundreds of ‘hidden’ calories, cancer campaigners have said.

Alcohol such as beer has 'hidden' calories Photo: Alamy

By Stephen Adams

Drinkers obtain about 200 calories a day from booze on average, but few know that it is almost as energy-dense as fat, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

It has found that few count ‘liquid calories’ when assessing how much they consume while on a diet.

Meanwhile, Cancer Research has found that almost four out of 10 people break their New Year’s resolutions within a fortnight, while only one in 11 sticks it out to the six-month mark.

Both charities are trying to get people to reduce their alcohol consumption during the traditional January detox, because research indicates the drug causes 13,000 cancer cases every year in Britain.

Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: "The calories in alcoholic drinks account for a significant proportion of a drinker's calorie consumption while providing little, if any, nutritional benefit.

"Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
"Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don't include them when calculating their daily consumption."
She added: "This is important from a cancer perspective because, after smoking, being overweight or obese is the biggest risk factor.”
While fat contains nine calories per gram, few people know that pure alcohol comes a close second with seven calories per gram, she noted.
A pint of Stella Artois contains about 255 calories - the same as a Mars bar - while a large (250ml) glass of white wine has roughly 200 calories.
Ms Mendoza added: "There is also strong scientific evidence that alcohol itself is a cancer risk factor - possibly through damaging our DNA - in cancers of the breast, bowel, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver."
Drinking alcohol has long been known to have a protective effect on the heart, but doctors say this is only really a benefit in men over 40 and post-menopausal women.
Cancer Research UK, which polled 4,000 adults, found 39 per cent gave up their resolutions within two weeks and only nine per cent lasted to six months.
Close to half of people (45 per cent) blame lack of willpower for their lack of ability to stay the course.
It is challenging people to keep off alcohol and raise money for the charity in January by taking part in its ‘Dryathon’.
The whole article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9774362/Dieters-should-cut-booze-to-ditch-pounds.html