Food as Food

It is estimated that about 30 to 60 percent of all cancers are linked to diet. Thus food choices might help to prevent a lot of new cancer cases each year. Full-fledged cancer is a long time happening. That means you have years in which to literally starve or feed a potential cancer. Two to three decades are typical and four to five decades are not unusual from the time a single cell suffers genetic changes, or mutations, until a tumor appears.

The exciting news is that what you eat may interfere with cancer process at many stages, from conception to growth and spread of the cancer. Food can block the activation of certain carcinogens before they can initiate cancer. Food compounds can turn up the body's detoxification system, preventing the genetic rape of cells, a prelude to cancer. Food chemicals in cells determine whether a cance r- causing virus or natural cancer promoter like estrogen can turn cancerous. Antioxidant food substances and phytochemicals can snuff off carcinogens, and even repair some of the cellular damage. Even after cells have massed into still-benign tiny structures that can grow into dangerous tumors, food compounds can intervene to stop further growth or actually shrink the patches of precancerous cells or eruptions. Diet, though far less powerful at later stages, may still influence the metastasis or spread of cancer. Wandering cancer cells need the right condition in which to attach and grow. Food agents can foster a hostile or favorable environment. The right foods even after the cancer is diagnosed may help prolong your life. The ways food can influence cancers are complicated, not fully understood, and intertwined with many other factors. But even if your genetics and life style are against you, your diet may still make a tremendous difference in your cancer odds. Certain foods, however, may actually cause cancers through their carcinogenic constituents.