Food And Cancer … Is There A Link?

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”— Hippocrates.

- Hannah May-Lee Wong

Food holds so much meaning to people, no matter the culture. The delicacies we consume serve as nourishment and sustenance to the body. Yet, food is so much more than that—it’s social, therapeutic, a luxury and a necessity all in one. It’s no secret that a healthy diet prevents disease; helps you maintain a healthy body weight and leads to overall good health, but more and more, we discover that eating well may even be linked to the prevention of cancer.

Here are some of the ways of how the food that we consume, affect our risk of developing cancer. Note that this list is not definitive as cancer is a complex, multi-factorial disease. Carcinogens and high-risk foods do not cause cancer in every case, or all the time.

1 Reduce processed and red meats

According to Cancer Research UK, strong evidence shows that eating processed and red meats excessively may increase the risk of bowel, stomach and pancreatic cancers. Processed meat refers to canned meat (such as corned beef), meat-based sauces, sausages and ham. Red meat include beef, lamb or pork products.