USM Nutrition Expert Agrees Diet Plays a Significant Role in Cancer Prevention

Wed, 09/20/2023 - 09:36am | By: Van Arnold

Can proper nutrition, supported by a change in dietary habits, help prevent cancer? For Teresa Walker-Cartwright, lecturer in the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), the answer is an easy one.

“Yes, diet does play a huge role in reducing the risk of cancer as well as reducing the risk of most medical conditions,” she said. “For dietitians, food is medicine!”

Nichole Andrews, a registered dietitian nutritionist and cancer nutrition specialist who works with patients and survivors in Kennewick, Washington, shared six tips for cancer prevention in a recent report by Fox News Digital. These include:

• Discover the power of plant-based eating
• Put the right proteins on your plate
• Choose the right whole grains
• Ensure sufficient fiber
• Embrace healthy hydration
• Lower sodium to reduce stomach cancer risk

Walker-Cartwright agrees with the suggestions made by Andrews and offers some advice on foods to avoid and those that should be added to our diet.

“I would say things we could delete from our diet to lower cancer risk would include: added sugars, refined carbs, trans and saturated fats, processed food, fried and grilled foods,” said Walker-Cartwright.

She continued, “Things to add would be fresh fruits and vegetables (specifically cruciferous veggies like cabbage, broccoli, collards and green leafy vegetables such as spinach), more fiber, plant-based proteins, healthy fats such as avocados, fatty fish (salmon), and nuts.”

The American Cancer Society notes that Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease. For most Americans who do not use tobacco, the most important cancer risk factors that can be changed are body weight, diet, and physical activity. At least 18 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the US are related to excess body weight, physical inactivity, excess alcohol consumption, and/or poor nutrition, and thus could be prevented.

Along with avoiding tobacco products, staying at a healthy weight, staying active throughout life, and eating a healthy diet may greatly reduce a person's lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer.

The role diet plays in the fight against cancer has been well-established for many years. The question remains: are more people following the recommended guidelines now than before?

“I feel as though we are doing better in some respects,” said Walker-Cartwright. “People are getting more frequent check-ups and utilizing improved technology, fast-food restaurants are offering healthier choices and allowing people to customize their orders (such as cooking chicken breasts with cooking spray instead of butter, or adding salad dressing on the side), and physicians and other healthcare professionals are recognizing the role that a healthy diet can play in overall health.”

Summertime grilling has long been a staple in neighborhoods across the country. To amplify a point Walker-Cartwright made earlier, she explains that cooking out often and putting foods directly on the grill is a carcinogenic cooking practice.

“If you do grill meat, rub it with a fresh ground rosemary rub prior to cooking it, and wrap it in foil before putting it on the grill so that the meat does not come into direct contact with the smoke,” she said. “Also, if you eat your grilled steak with a cruciferous vegetable such as broccoli or cabbage, you reduce the carcinogens in that meat.”

Diet and cancer prevention go hand-in-hand. So, remember to lower the sugar intake, limit the red meat, leave that peel on the apple and skin on the potato logs for beneficial fiber. Oh, and don’t forget the importance of exercise.

“Exercise should always be mentioned when it comes to any medical condition, as well as regular checkups, and if things feel ‘off’ with your body or if you have a family history of cancer, be sure to get yourself checked,” said Walker-Cartwright. “If cancer is detected early, it can increase your lifespan substantially.”

To promote physical activity and encourage faculty, staff, students, and community members to work together toward improving their health and well-being, the USM School of Kinesiology and Nutrition became a registered Exercise is Medicine® On Campus (EIM-OC) partner with the American College of Sports Medicine in 2021.

The vision of EIM-OC is to see all campus and community members across multiple disciplines discover, share and adopt the principles of EIM-OC to help change the culture of chronic disease prevention and management campus-wide. Through various events and initiatives, students and faculty involved with Exercise is Medicine® at USM work to promote the kind of physical activity and healthy eating Walker-Cartwright discussed.

Read the full Fox News Digital report.