The American Institute for Cancer Research put out a report that's all over the news.... basically repeats what everyone has known.
Summary:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/six-good-eating-habits-help/story.aspx

report:

http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/?p=ER


I love the number 1 guideline:

Quote :

"Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight"

Cause that's going to be so easy for an obese america who's been obsessed with weight loss since the 1950s.

11/2/2007 10:09:05 AM

Yeah, read it on BCC a couple of days ago:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7069914.stm

Quote :

"The World Cancer Research Fund carried out the largest ever inquiry into lifestyle and cancer, and issued several stark recommendations. They include not gaining weight as an adult, avoiding sugary drinks and alcohol, and not eating bacon or ham. Everyone must also aim to be as thin as possible without becoming underweight. "

11/2/2007 10:17:27 AM

Quote :

"How to Not Get Cancer"

die young...

11/2/2007 10:25:26 AM

Quote :

"They include not gaining weight as an adult, avoiding sugary drinks and alcohol, and not eating bacon or ham. Everyone must also aim to be as thin as possible without becoming underweight."

I think I would rather get cancer.

11/2/2007 10:28:05 AM

haha ^

11/2/2007 10:30:03 AM

skinny people get cancer too

11/2/2007 10:31:13 AM

I think I'll continue being "overweight" with a fairly low bodyfat, thankyou. I'll also contiue eating lean red meat. The other recommendations on diet, aren't that big of an issue (from the bbc ).



[Edited on November 2, 2007 at 11:00 AM. Reason : ]

11/2/2007 10:59:44 AM

no sugary drinks, alcohol, bacon or ham

what the shit? fuck you cancer

11/2/2007 11:06:04 AM

you gotta die of something eventually anyway

11/2/2007 11:07:14 AM

Quote :

"not eating bacon or ham"

pigs give you cancer?

11/2/2007 11:07:19 AM

Sounds more like ways to avoid heart disease.

11/2/2007 11:13:22 AM

I think I'd rather have thirty or forty more years of fun before dying a horrible death than I would living fifity or sixty horrible years.

11/2/2007 11:54:37 AM

I bet all of the wine associations are having a conniption over this report after all those years of good press about the health benefits of red wines.

Don't get me wrong, I think the antioxidants in red wine are great at combating free radicals which can help prevent cancer. There probably is some health benefit to drinking a glass per day. It's just that there are plenty of other non-alcoholic foods that are packed with antioxidants too (grapes, blueberries, blackberries, pomegranates, etc.)

11/2/2007 12:10:44 PM

NO HAM??????????????????????



wtf is that bull shit. Ham is delicious.

11/2/2007 12:14:27 PM

Quote :

"However, two-thirds of cancer cases are not thought to be related to lifestyle, and there is little people can do to prevent the disease in these circumstances."

per the BBC article.

also

Quote :

""Alcohol, red meat and bacon in moderation will do us no harm, and to suggest it will is wrong." Antonia Dean, a specialist at Breast Cancer Care, said: "it is notoriously difficult to examine the potential role of diets or other lifestyle factors on breast cancer, as it is hard to isolate specific influences or establish how they might interact with each other. "

11/2/2007 12:22:21 PM

Its just the flavor of the month as to what causes cancer, in my opinion. Next year they'll say that spinach has links to cancer.

11/2/2007 12:35:36 PM

story not found

11/2/2007 12:53:11 PM

Quote :

"Its just the flavor of the month as to what causes cancer, in my opinion."

right.... next month they'll tell us that living a healthy lifestyle has nothing to do with not getting cancer?
maybe some of the specifics will be different, but the overall point will remain the same for a long time - be healthy (eat well, remain relatively lean, exercise) and you'll get less cancer. i doubt that's going to change.

11/2/2007 1:11:25 PM

Quote :

"However, two-thirds of cancer cases are not thought to be related to lifestyle"

66% is not related to lifestyle. I wonder how much smoking/lung cancer contributes to the remaining 33% and how much of whatever is left over after that is related to obesity.

11/2/2007 1:31:09 PM

^ You left out skin cancers from overexposure. I bet that accounts for more cases than obesity.

11/2/2007 2:04:28 PM

Quote :

"I'll also contiue eating lean red meat. "

No one said anything about avoiding red meat.

Quote :

"pigs give you cancer?"

They said BACON and HAM, not PORK or PIG MEAT.

But they really should have said CURED MEAT, because there are plenty of beef and chicken canned cured meat products as well.

SODIUM NITIRTE, that's what has been linked with cancer for the past God knows how many decades. And that's added to all cured meats. Yes, that includes all hot dogs, frankfurters, canned beef and pork products, sausages (unless fresh, I *guess*), breakfast meats, etc.

I have been avoiding sodium nitrite like the plague ever since I came to know of it, ~1.5 decades ago.

11/2/2007 2:08:18 PM

Quote :

"RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE: Limit red meat Limit alcohol Avoid bacon, ham, and other processed meats No sugary drinks No weight gain after 21 Exercise every day Breastfeed children Do not take dietary supplements to cut cancer"

obviously red meat include lean red meat, but limit, doesn't mean no, either.

I will continue eating lots of it, esp grass fed.

11/2/2007 2:12:19 PM

Sorry I missed that out, thanks.

Yeah see it is interesting as you pointed out also, they suggest limiting red meat, but avoiding processed/cured meats.

Lean red meat, IF it is free-range and grass-fed, is one of nature's wonder foods. But if you really want free-range AND grass-fed, it is mighty expensive.

Since you have experience, where do you get yours, and how many times more expensive is it compared to commerical meat?

Check these out:

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/index.html
http://www.blackwing.com/index.php

I would love to order all the products from those websites one day.

11/2/2007 2:17:01 PM

Quote :

"I wonder how much smoking/lung cancer contributes to the remaining 33% and how much of whatever is left over after that is related to obesity. "

Even if after smoking and drinking is taken out as a risk factor, it doesn't matter how small the numbers are related to obesity. If that remains your number 1 risk-factor, it's well worth it to you to eliminate that factor as much as possible.

think about the way economists or accountants look at fixed vs. variable costs for producing a product. Say you sell a product for $1. $0.70 of each product is a fixed cost and, for whatever reason cannot be reduced or changed (e.g. the raw material is in limited quantity and you simply cannot get it any cheaper). Then you spend another $0.20 on variable cost, like labor, quality assurance, advertising, etc. That leaves you with a $0.10 net profit per part. Now when management wants to increase your profit and market forces prevent them from raising the price, the only thing they can do is cut cost. If $0.70 is fixed, the only cost they can cut is the $0.20 variable cost. If, somehow, they can cut variable expenses down to $0.10/part, then all of a sudden the net profit is $0.20, a 100% increase in profit. I don't think any manager would have a problem with that.

the same is true for cancer risk. If 66% of your cancer risk is completely genetic or non-related to lifestyle, then there's nothing you can do about that. That's just a risk (cost) you'll have to accept, and you might as well ignore it. You only have an impact on the 34% of the risk. Say heavy alcohol usage can account for 10% and smoking can account for 15% of that lifestyle-related risk, then you're down to 9% risk left up to other lifestyle related activities, for the sake of argument say sun exposure is 5% and obiesity is 4%.

Now in this case, obiesity being "only" 4% of the overall risk of getting cancer isn't a big deal. But then you start subtracting out all the things that don't matter to you. Take out the 66% of non-lifestyle-related risks that you can't control, then take out the 10 and 15% smoking and drinking risks, because you don't smoke or drink. Then you're left with 9% from sun and obiesity. This 9% is the only part of your cancer risk you have control over. Say you're a fatass who likes to sunbathe, though, and now you have some choices to make. If you decide to stop eating fatty foods and lean down to a managable weight, you have dropped your cancer risks from 9% to 4%, effectively cutting your self-induced risk in half If you decide to stop sunbathing and lose weight (and continue to not drink or smoke), then at least you can say that you have done everything in your power to prevent getting cancer. The rest is up to genetics and whatever masicistic higher power you believe in.

Quote :

"I think I'd rather have thirty or forty more years of fun before dying a horrible death than I would living fifity or sixty horrible years. "

Nothing in those recommendations preclude you having a "fun life"

11/2/2007 2:25:52 PM

I get mine from local farmer's markets, and earthfare. They do cost more, but I can't remember exactly how much more--it's been probably a month or more since I've had some.

Here's one of the local farmer's http://www.baucomsbest.com

[Edited on November 2, 2007 at 2:48 PM. Reason : there are prices on the farm's website]



[Edited on November 2, 2007 at 2:50 PM. Reason : Baucoms's beats earthfare's usually (i think)]

11/2/2007 2:46:57 PM

Quote :

"skinny people get cancer too"

lance armstrrong anyone

11/2/2007 3:39:11 PM

I'm skinny and I got cancer.

11/2/2007 3:43:31 PM

^^ i don't really know much (anything) about testicular cancer, but I'm betting the main risk-factors for testicular cancer are mostly in the 66% of cancer factors that are not determined by lifestyle.

11/2/2007 3:45:27 PM

i had cancer as a 12 year old kid who was healthy, thin and in shape

11/2/2007 3:47:07 PM

yes, congratulations. Let's continue with the anecdotal evidence.

What parts of "non-lifestyle-related risk factor" don't you understand

11/2/2007 3:51:15 PM

you must take into consideration that this report is the latest educated guess about preventing something that relatively little is known about. medical knowledge of cancer has made great strides but is still very limited.

11/2/2007 4:04:52 PM

cancer is going to happen

you can only replicate shit so many times before it fucks up

same thing with computer hard drives, the rate of write failure is something like 10^-15 or 10^-18

it will happen with enough use

same with people...just enjoy life

11/2/2007 4:12:30 PM

Quote :

"Lance armstrong"

Quote :

" i don't really know much (anything) about testicular cancer, but I'm betting the main risk-factors for testicular cancer are mostly in the 66% of cancer factors that are not determined by lifestyle."

i wonder what the risk factors of taking "performance inhancing drugs" are

11/4/2007 1:30:25 AM

Here, I will fix it for ya:

Quote :

"i wonder what the risks factors of taking "performance inhancing [sic] drugs" are"

risk factor != risk

11/4/2007 4:50:01 AM

Mutations are a natural part of life.

Sooner or later it's gonna happen in the wrong scenario = cancer.

The only way to not get cancer is to not live long enough to get it.

11/4/2007 4:57:12 AM

I feel like the guy who sells free range beef at the farmer's market doesn't charge that much more than commercial beef. Then again, I don't eat beef that often so I don't really know what it goes for in the supermarket.

Earthfare is woefully overpriced imo.

11/4/2007 5:37:33 AM

anyone with a prostate is going to get cancer. those things grow like a bitch

11/4/2007 7:08:44 AM

I feel baucom's prices is about what you pay at the counter for the better beef at HT. And, YES, Earthfare is a rip off.

11/4/2007 10:39:34 AM

It's like cancer can read my mind

11/4/2007 11:17:42 AM

Quote :

"Nothing in those recommendations preclude you having a "fun life""

I really enjoy:

alcohol
red meat
processed meat
sugary drinks

These things are fun to me.

11/5/2007 12:37:32 AM