The Anti-Cancer Diet II: What Not to Eat

In a previous article I was telling you about Dr David Servan-Schreiber and his book "Anticancer", which contains a lifestyle and diet plan aimed to help people protect themselves from cancer, or help their bodies fight cancer in a more effective manner. "It's a myth that cancer is transmitted primarily through genes. Genetic factors contribute at most to 15 % of cancer mortalities", he explains. He argues that we're exposed to cancer-stimulating factors mainly through our diets and choice of lifestyle - and that we can have much more control over our own health by avoiding a series of foods and consuming large quantities of other foods - for example.

Here is a list of the things we should avoid eating - as presented in an excerpt from Dr. Servan-Schreiber's book quoted by the Daily Mail.

1. Sugar

"The metabolism of malignant tumors is largely dependent on glucose consumption", Servan-Schreiber writes. Which basically means that processed sugar should disappear from our diets as soon as possible. Those who have some experience in dieting know that sugar is among the fist types of foods we're encouraged to give up when embarking on any kind of weight-loss regime, not only an anti-cancer diet. "People who want to protect themselves from cancer should reduce their consumption of processed sugar and bleached flour. That means getting used to drinking coffee without sugar, avoiding sugary snacks between meals and cutting down on puddings", the doctor writes.

2. Dairy products that come from animals fed on corn, soy and wheat

"These food sources are rich in omega-6s and contain practically no omega-3s. Omega-6 fats and hormones given to stimulate milk production can trigger the growth of fatty cells and inflammation. The switch from grass to corn-soy combinations has also eliminated another anti-cancer benefit from dairy foods", the book claims.

3. Chemically-contaminated products

"In the past 30 years the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer has tested 900 chemicals in the environment and found only one to be categorically non-carcinogenic; 95 have been identified as "known carcinogens", 307 are "possible" and 497 remain unclassified", Dr. Servan-Schreiber writes. Among these substances are pesticides sprayed on most of the non-organic food we usually buy every day at our local grocery stores. Among these pesticides he quotes a powerful pesticide called "atrazine" which is sprayed on fruit and vegetables and isn't eliminated by most water purification systems.

There is a list compiled by Dr. Servan-Schreiber with the things which he claims aggravate inflammation and thus may lead to us developing cancer.

White bread and pasta

Cigarette smoke, atmospheric pollution, domestic pollutants