Diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer

[Dominique]

WCRF (World Cancer Research Fund) and AICF (American Institute for Cancer Research) recently published their Third Expert Report, titled "Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: a Global Perspective". It’s huge (thousands of pages), but is also available as a 116-page summary.

IMO it’s good reading for anyone interested not just in cancer, but also in general health, as their recommendations would equally apply to the prevention of a bunch of other common diseases, like diabetes, coronary heart disease etc. 

Here is a graphic summarizing the recommendations:

I know it may sound like stating the obvious (most people understand one is better off maintaining a healthy weight than being obese, being physically active rather than inactive etc.), but there’s a lot of information on why that is, and it’s always good to have a view on the big picture, what really matters.

I like their scientific, evidence-based, non-ideological approach, as examplified by the fact nothing is black and white (e.g. "eating this type of food will cause cancer, eating that other type will cure it"), but rather everything is on a spectrum. When evaluating risk factors, grading criteria go from "strong evidence" to "substantial effect on risk unlikely", with "convincing", "probably", "limited evidence", "limited - suggestive" and "limited - no conclusion" in between.

More information can be downloaded as separate reports, for instance on Meat, fish and dairy products, Body fatness and weight gain, on specific cancer types (e.g. breast, prostrate etc.). The full list of downloadable chapters is available here.

[Baltoscott]

Wow!  What a wealth of information.  Thanks for posting, @Dominique.

[WendyB]

Good information! Thanks!

[Homefrontgirl]

Very interesting reading.  Thanks for sharing.  The graphic alone is informative.  I'm curious to read the section of the report that addresses supplements for cancer prevention.  That is something I wasn't familiar with.

[Dominique]

You’re welcome, @Homefrontgirl! Supplements are covered on pages 64-65 of the summary report, as well as in the report on Other dietary exposures.

The take-home message is that "for most people, consumption of the right food and drink is more likely to protect against cancer than consumption of dietary supplements".