There’s a lot of information about cancer prevention and cancer treatment available on the internet. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what's fact or fiction.
Here we're addressing five common cancer beliefs - and shedding light on which are true, which are false, and which need a little more explanation.
1. If you’re trying to lose weight, lose the fat in your diet! Cutting all fat will speed weight loss and is a healthy way to lose weight.
Fiction. While you’ll lose weight if you cut out any calorie-rich group of foods (and fats have more calories per gram than either protein or carbohydrates), completely eliminating fat from your diet is a bad idea! Besides providing important calories for the energy you need to do your daily activities, fats provide essential fatty acids critical to many biological processes. Additionally, good fats line the membranes of cells, helping them provide much needed anti-inflammatory activity. Fats are also important for absorbing essential nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins. For a healthy diet, be sure to eliminate unnatural fats, called trans fat, found abundantly in margarine, hydrogenated oils, as well as many baked goods, processed and convenience foods In addition, reduce or eliminate saturated fats found in milk, cheese, butter, red meat, pork and poultry.
This is, unfortunately, fact. And, in spite of Nixon declaring a “war on cancer” in 1971, cancer mortality has not significantly changed since 1950.
3. Moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial for cancer prevention.
No, definitely not. It's been known for a long time that alcohol increases the risk for cancers of the upper aerodigestive organs, but this is at higher levels of consumption (around 3 or 4 glasses a day). However, there is recent strong evidence that even one glass a day of an alcoholic beverage can cause a small but significant increase in breast cancer risk.
4. When you’re undergoing treatment for cancer, it’s very important to rest whenever you can. The more you rest, the more energy you have to fight the disease.
Fiction. In fact, more and more research is showing that even modest amounts of exercise – ideally tailored to the individual needs of the patient – not only enhances quality of life, but can have a positive impact on treatment tolerance, and even on outcome! There is also evidence, however, demonstrating that rest is not only important, but an essential aspect of care. For example, one study showed that the more marked the difference in resting/sleep activity and daytime/waking activity, the better colon cancer patients tolerated and responded to treatment. Evaluating rest-activity rhythms and training in circadian fitness is an important area of care implemented in the Block Center.
5. Raw vegetables have more nutrients than cooked vegetables.
This one's a little complicated. Though there is some research suggesting that some vegetables may have more nutritional value when eaten raw, your body may better be able to digest and absorb some phytochemicals when vegetables are lighted cooked in a healthy oil (for example, tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil). The Block Center’s recommendation: eat a mixture of cooked and raw vegetables and make sure to include plenty of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and bok choy.
For more information on The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, visit BlockMD.com.
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