Diet makes all the difference with pancreatic cancer risk

Thursday, November 18, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer 

(NaturalNews) What you eat plays a critical role in determining whether or not you develop cancer, indicates a new report published in the journal Nature. Pancreatic cancer takes nearly 20 years to develop in the body, but its onset, growth, and spread is largely determined by the types of food a person eats, and whether or not those foods feed or starve the cancer cells.

According to an analysis by Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and oncology at Hopkins' Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, and her colleagues, it takes nearly 12 years for the first cancer cells to develop in the pancreas. It then takes another nearly seven years for them to grow, followed by at least another year for them to spread. It is only in the last two-to-three years that the disease actually starts to kill a person.

Conventional detection methods are typically unable to detect pancreatic cancer early enough to do much about it, and prevention methods are rarely spoken about by conventional medical experts. However, there are numerous studies that point to ways people can help prevent the disease from taking hold. After all, there is at least a 20-year window to start making the proper dietary changes now before it is too late.

A 2009 study published in Cancer Causes and Control suggests that eating meat, at least conventionally-raised meat, increases pancreatic cancer risk. Table sugar and potatoes are also implicated, each associated with roughly a 100 percent increased risk of developing the disease.

Highly cooked potatoes are known to contain cancer-causing carcinogens as well (http://www.naturalnews.com/acrylami...), and processed sugars produce insulin-like growth hormone, which studies have shown encourages the growth of cancer cells.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables have been shown to reduce cancer risk, as have vitamin E, vitamin C, and potassium. There are many other foods, supplements, and herbs that help to prevent cancer as well (http://www.naturalnews.com/cancer.html).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite...