Life Over Cancer Blog

Cut Your Cancer Risk by Avoiding the Meat Counter

Sometimes medical studies don't just uncover new health-related facts - they also serve as useful reminders.  One that does just that appeared in the August 2 online edition of the medical journal Cancer.  In this study, researchers found that additives in processed meats - including nitrites, heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - can contribute to bladder cancer.

In the study, researchers followed the study participants – approximately 300,000 men and women aged 50-71 years – for seven years and tallied the results of the dietary questionnaires they completed.  They found 854 people diagnosed with bladder cancer, with those who had the most nitrite in their diets – from all sources including meat – and those with the highest intake of nitrate plus nitrite from meats, had a 28-29% increased risk of developing bladder cancer, compared to those with the lowest intakes.

The association of processed meats - including bacon, and a slew of luncheon meats - commonly called "cold cuts" – with cancer is not new.  There have been earlier studies that found similar links.  For example:

High Fructose Corn Syrup May Cause Pancreatic Cancer

From time to time a study comes across my desk that validates a long-held belief.  This happened this past week.

What interested me the most about this study was that it strongly contradicted what the mighty marketing arm of the food industry wants us to believe; that is, that one of their key ingredients, high fructose corn syrup - or HFCS - is harmless - "So enjoy!"

In the study, published in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center UCLA reported that fructose - including HFCS - may cause pancreatic cancer.  The researchers found pancreatic cancers use fructose to trigger a key cellular pathway that guides cell division, accelerating cancer cell proliferation.

While it has long been known that cancers use simple sugars like glucose to grow, Anthony Heaney, senior author of this new study, and associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery, said this is the first time researchers have found a link between fructose and cancer proliferation.  Fructose, the researchers found, has a more profound affect than glucose in fueling cancer growth.  Because it is so much cheaper for food manufacturers to use HFCS than cane sugar, we find it in an astounding number of foods ranging from soups to snacks; even many foods labeled as "natural."

Preventing a Recurrence of Cancer

According to the National Cancer Institute, there are over 12 million cancer survivors in the US today.  And that number is expected to grow, as the population ages, treatments improve, and tests find the disease earlier.

Cancer survivors face a myriad of health challenges, not to mention the daunting fear the cancer will return.  However, once a patient is deemed “in remission,” they are typically disconnected from care – as well as any attending support – and told to come back in three to six months where diagnostic scans or blood tests will determine if the cancer has returned.  I suggest a far more pro-active, empowered approach:  a remission maintenance plan that offers cancer survivors a personalized program to regain control of their health, restore vitality and protect against the cancer returning.  At the Block Center, once a patient has completed their treatment, we personally tailor a comprehensive Remission Maintenance program for them that includes:  therapeutic nutrition, exercise, mind-spirit care, and anti-tumor therapies.