Lung cancer is the cause of almost one-third of all cancer-related deaths, the National Lung Cancer Partnership reports. As with all cancers, a healthy diet combined with a physically active lifestyle will reduce your risk. Additionally, consider the following diets, which may be especially helpful in the prevention of lung cancer. Like any diet, discuss the diet with your physician before starting the program.
Vegan Diet
A vegan diet forbids the consumption of any food that contains animal products. This diet obviously excludes meat like steak and pork. However, many popular foods such as cookies, ice cream and eggs also aren't allowed on a vegan diet. Instead, vegan dieters eat an abundance of fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains and nuts. A vegan diet may protect against lung cancer, E. De Stefan of the Registro Nacional de Cancer reports. In research published in the November 1997 issue of "Cancer Causes and Control," De Stefan found that people who ate cholesterol-rich diets had more than twice the lung cancer risk of those who ate minimal amounts. Cholesterol is only found in meat and animal products. Because vegan diets eliminate all animal foods, they are free of dietary cholesterol.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is rich in foods that protect against cancer. Followers of the Mediterranean diet eat an abundance of fruits, veggies and "good" monounsaturated fats, which may reduce lung cancer risk. C Fortes of Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata found that people who ate a Mediterranean diet had significantly lower lung cancer risk than those on a typical Western-style diet. His study published in the July 2003 edition of "Nutrition and Cancer" found that eating olive oil, tomatoes, white meat and carrots were were particularly protective.
Anti-Cancer Diet
Although no single group can lay claim to an "anti-cancer diet," Michael S Donaldson of the Hallelujah Acres Foundation describes what an ideal anti-cancer diet would look like. In research published in the October 2004 issue of "Nutrition Journal," Donaldson states that nearly half of all cancer cases could be prevented by adopting a diet aimed at reducing cancer risk. He states that reducing consumption of omega-6 fats, refined grains, red meat and sugar is an important step. Additionally, you should eat lots of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and seafood and consider supplementing with nutrients such as selenium and vitamin D. Donaldson reports that adopting this dietary pattern can cut lung cancer risk in half.
References
- National Lung Cancer Partnership: Lung Cancer in the United States: Facts
- "Cancer Causes and Control": Dietary fat and lung cancer: a case-control study in Uruguay.
- "Nutrition and Cancer": The protective effect of the Mediterranean diet on lung cancer.
- "Nutrition Journal": Nutrition and cancer: A review of the evidence for an anti-cancer diet
