Dietary information

Diet and cancer

Whilst there is still a long way to go until we fully understand the role of diet in cancer risk and occurrence, we are starting to understand more with ongoing emerging evidence.
What links are there between diet and the risk of cancer?

Being overweight or obese

We know that being overweight or obese (particularly carrying extra weight around the stomach area) can cause multiple health problems, including increasing the risk of several different cancers. It is therefore essential, to aim to have a healthy body weight. Following a healthy balanced diet, adhering to recommended portion sizes and being physically active will help with this.

Drinking alcohol

Alcohol is not good for health and is linked with increasing the risk of at least 10 different cancers. It is important to limit our alcohol intake and not go above the government recommendations of 14 units per week with at least 2 alcohol free days weekly. You should aim to have no more than 2-3 units in one day.

Red meat and processed meat

Red meat and processed meat increase the risk of stomach and bowel cancers. You should not eat more than 500g of red meat a week. Red meat is beef, pork, lamb and goat; it includes minced meat. Processed meat (smoked, cured or meat that has had salt or chemical preservatives added) should be avoided, e.g. corned beef, bacon, hot dogs, ham chorizo, salami, pepperoni, and pastrami. If sausages and burgers have not been smoked, cured or had preservatives added to them, then they are considered to be red meat rather than processed meats.

Salt

Foods preserved by salt probably increases the risk of stomach cancer. Whether foods high in salt, or salt itself is a cause, is less clear. However it is known that a high salt intake is not good for health, e.g raising blood pressure. Therefore, try to limit foods preserved by salt, such as processed meats, salt preserved vegetables e.g pickled vegetable ginger and cabbage), and salt preserved fish. Aim to limit your salt intake to no more than 6g per day. Note that salt can be hidden in a lot of foods.

Sugar

There has not been a strong link found between sugar and increasing cancer risk. There has been an influx of press and articles suggesting that ‘sugar feeds cancer’ however this is based on poor science as all of our cells need glucose to function – whether they are cancer cells or healthy cells. However, diets high in sugar are commonly high in calories. This can lead to being overweight or obese which has been found to increase the risk of several different cancers and it can contribute to poor dental health. Therefore, it is recommended to try to limit sugar in your diet and follow a healthy balanced diet.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables reduce your risk of getting cancer (for example mouth, throat, and lung). It is important to eat a minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day and to aim for a variety of different fruit and vegetables. One portion is roughly 80g (or 150ml of juice) and includes fresh/frozen/tinned/dried. You should aim to ‘eat a rainbow’ to get a full spectrum of all the different vitamins and minerals.

Fibre

Fibre in the diet is important for reducing the risk of bowel cancer. Fibre is found in fruit and vegetables wholegrains, pulses, nuts, and seeds. Try to include these foods in your diet.

Tips to increase fibre in your diet:

Choose wholemeal bread/ pasta/ rice instead of the white varieties
Choose cereals that are high in fibre (and low in sugar) e.g. shredded wheat, plain porridge oats, or weetabix
Substitute meat for beans and pulses e.g. use lentils in a curry or lasagne, or have a bean burger
Try to include beans and pulses in your diet e.g. add them to a casserole, or have a mixed bean salad
Choose seeds, nuts, wholewheat crackers, or fruit to snack on
Add extra vegetables to your evening meal

There is an overwhelming amount of information on diet and nutrition available, especially with cancer in mind. It is important that if you are doing your own research on diet and cancer that you choose reputable and evidence based information sources.

We have a variety of our own diet advice sheets to help with many of the more common side-effects and concerns and these are listed at the bottom of this page

Macmillan also have a variety of excellent, trusted resources:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/treatment/coping-with-treatment/complementary-therapies/diet-and-food-supplements

If you would like to know more about diet and cancer, we recommend the following websites:

Macmillan.org.uk - https://www.macmillan.org.uk

NHS Live well – www.nhs.uk/live-well

Cancer research UK – www.cancerresearchuk.org

World Cancer Research Fund – www.wcrf-uk.org

British Dietetic Association – Food Facts -https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/home