eyez0nme
11-17-2005, 08:25 PM
if eaten in prolonged period of time--everyone knows that:
Since President Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer" in 1972, that "war" has become a losing battle. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on cancer research, detection, and treatment in the United States, yet cancer remains one of our nation's top killers.
Fortunately, there's something we can do about it. According to the World Health Organization, up to 40 percent of all cancers are preventable, and one-third of all cancer deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to nutritional factors, according the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Vegan diets maximize the foods that help us fight cancer-fiber-packed grains and beans and phytochemical-packed fruits and vegetables-and minimize the foods that cause cancer. Combine these two factors, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the scientific evidence is clear: "Vegetarians are about 40 percent less likely to get cancer than nonvegetarians, regardless of other risks such as smoking, body size, and socioeconomic status."
One study compared cancer rates of vegetarians and meat-eaters in 34,000 Americans. The results showed that those who avoided meat, fish, and poultry had dramatically lower rates of prostate, ovarian, and colon cancer compared to meat-eaters.
An 11-year-long German study involving more than 800 vegetarian men found their cancer rates were less than half those of the general public. The lowest cancer rates were found in those who had avoided meat for 20 years or more. Studies in Japan and Sweden also have shown lower risk among vegetarians. It seems that with every bite of meat, we increase our risk of cancer. Luckily, we can eliminate animal products from our diets and replace them with vegetable proteins that can protect our health instead of harm it.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, arguably the foremost epidemiological researcher alive today, argues that animal proteins are the prime carcinogen in meat and dairy products. Says Dr. Campbell, "[H]uman studies also support this carcinogenic effect of animal protein, even at usual levels of consumption. No chemical carcinogen is nearly so important in causing human cancer as animal protein."
But fat is a culprit, too: Higher-fat diets raise estrogen levels, whereas plant-based diets keep it at a safe level, which doesn't promote the growth of cancer cells. Luckily, fiber-a nutrient plentiful in vegetarian diets-helps our bodies eliminate excess estrogen, thus cutting cancer risk.
***
Modern methods of raising animals for food have made matters even worse for meat-eaters. Antibiotics, hormones, heavy metals, dioxins, and various other compounds are raising the risk of cancer.
Because chickens are raised in such crowded and unhealthy conditions, they are very susceptible to disease, so in an attempt to keep them alive through conditions that would otherwise kill them, farmers feed them an array of antibiotics, including one that contains the most toxic form of arsenic. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-published in Environmental Health Perspectives in January 2004-revealed that chicken contains three to four times more potentially poisonous arsenic than other poultry and meats. Eating a typical 2 ounces of chicken a day means ingesting 3.6 to 5.2 micrograms of cancer-causing arsenic.
And arsenic isn't the only thing you need to worry about the next time someone offers you a chicken leg. More than 95 percent of our exposure to dioxin, a well-known carcinogen, comes from eating animal products (the rest is environmental; none comes from vegan foods). Researchers with the Institute of Medicine have even recommended that school cafeterias offer more foods that are low in animal fat so that children aren't exposed to unhealthy levels of dioxins, dangerous byproducts of industrial and natural combustion that can accumulate in body fat. According to Michael Taylor of Resources for the Future, "The most direct way to reduce dietary exposure to dioxins is to reduce consumption of animal fat." Remember, more than half the calories of even the leanest chicken comes from fat.
Fish, in addition to containing concentrated (and carcinogenic) animal protein, is often very high in environmental contaminants. Fish commonly contains mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organochlorine pesticides. These contaminants, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems, tend to accumulate in body fat and remain in the body for decades.
In fact, 80 to 90 percent of dietary pesticide exposure, as well as 100 percent of dietary hormone and dioxin exposure, comes from eating animal products, and many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer in human beings.
Finally, additional carcinogens form when meat is cooked. These cancer-causing chemicals, specifically called heterocyclic amines, are found in cooked red and white meats, including fish and poultry. In fact, the amount found in grilled chicken is 15 times higher than in hamburger or steak.
Stomach and Esophageal Cancer
Doctors at Yale University found that a high fat intake, animal protein, and cholesterol-found only in animal products-were associated with a higher risk of stomach and esophageal cancer. "We found that many animal-based nutrients are strongly associated with risk of developing these types of cancers," says Yale's Dr. Susan Mayne. "[P]revention strategies should emphasize increased consumption of plant foods, decreased consumption of foods of animal origin ..."
Breast Cancer
The American Dietetic Association reports that breast cancer is most prevalent in countries where women consume animal-based diets. For example, in Asia, where they consume a small fraction of the chicken, pork, beef, and dairy products that we do in the West, breast cancer is almost unheard of. T. Colin Campbell, who headed up the landmark China Study and found the consumption of animal protein diets linked to cancer and heart disease, says that China is "a country that is successfully feeding a billion people primarily on plant derived food but so far avoiding much of the major diseases affecting Western countries." However, when women emigrate to the West and adopt a Western diet high in animal products, their cancer rates increase. Dr. Dean Ornish explains, "In Japan and other countries where the consumption of animal fat is much lower, breast cancer is rare. It's not because their genes are different. When Japanese women move to the United States and begin consuming a high-fat diet, they develop breast cancer at about the same rate as Americans-more than 400 percent higher than in Japan."
Prostate Cancer
A study comparing the dietary habits of men in 32 countries found that the highest risk factors for prostate cancer mortality were meat and dairy products. By contrast, another study of men diagnosed with prostate cancer showed that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains can slow or even halt the progression of the disease. The ACS, which has launched a "Five a Day" program encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, believes that the "intake of saturated fat-animal fat from red meat and dairy products-is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer."
Since President Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer" in 1972, that "war" has become a losing battle. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on cancer research, detection, and treatment in the United States, yet cancer remains one of our nation's top killers.
Fortunately, there's something we can do about it. According to the World Health Organization, up to 40 percent of all cancers are preventable, and one-third of all cancer deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to nutritional factors, according the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Vegan diets maximize the foods that help us fight cancer-fiber-packed grains and beans and phytochemical-packed fruits and vegetables-and minimize the foods that cause cancer. Combine these two factors, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the scientific evidence is clear: "Vegetarians are about 40 percent less likely to get cancer than nonvegetarians, regardless of other risks such as smoking, body size, and socioeconomic status."
One study compared cancer rates of vegetarians and meat-eaters in 34,000 Americans. The results showed that those who avoided meat, fish, and poultry had dramatically lower rates of prostate, ovarian, and colon cancer compared to meat-eaters.
An 11-year-long German study involving more than 800 vegetarian men found their cancer rates were less than half those of the general public. The lowest cancer rates were found in those who had avoided meat for 20 years or more. Studies in Japan and Sweden also have shown lower risk among vegetarians. It seems that with every bite of meat, we increase our risk of cancer. Luckily, we can eliminate animal products from our diets and replace them with vegetable proteins that can protect our health instead of harm it.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, arguably the foremost epidemiological researcher alive today, argues that animal proteins are the prime carcinogen in meat and dairy products. Says Dr. Campbell, "[H]uman studies also support this carcinogenic effect of animal protein, even at usual levels of consumption. No chemical carcinogen is nearly so important in causing human cancer as animal protein."
But fat is a culprit, too: Higher-fat diets raise estrogen levels, whereas plant-based diets keep it at a safe level, which doesn't promote the growth of cancer cells. Luckily, fiber-a nutrient plentiful in vegetarian diets-helps our bodies eliminate excess estrogen, thus cutting cancer risk.
***
Modern methods of raising animals for food have made matters even worse for meat-eaters. Antibiotics, hormones, heavy metals, dioxins, and various other compounds are raising the risk of cancer.
Because chickens are raised in such crowded and unhealthy conditions, they are very susceptible to disease, so in an attempt to keep them alive through conditions that would otherwise kill them, farmers feed them an array of antibiotics, including one that contains the most toxic form of arsenic. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-published in Environmental Health Perspectives in January 2004-revealed that chicken contains three to four times more potentially poisonous arsenic than other poultry and meats. Eating a typical 2 ounces of chicken a day means ingesting 3.6 to 5.2 micrograms of cancer-causing arsenic.
And arsenic isn't the only thing you need to worry about the next time someone offers you a chicken leg. More than 95 percent of our exposure to dioxin, a well-known carcinogen, comes from eating animal products (the rest is environmental; none comes from vegan foods). Researchers with the Institute of Medicine have even recommended that school cafeterias offer more foods that are low in animal fat so that children aren't exposed to unhealthy levels of dioxins, dangerous byproducts of industrial and natural combustion that can accumulate in body fat. According to Michael Taylor of Resources for the Future, "The most direct way to reduce dietary exposure to dioxins is to reduce consumption of animal fat." Remember, more than half the calories of even the leanest chicken comes from fat.
Fish, in addition to containing concentrated (and carcinogenic) animal protein, is often very high in environmental contaminants. Fish commonly contains mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organochlorine pesticides. These contaminants, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems, tend to accumulate in body fat and remain in the body for decades.
In fact, 80 to 90 percent of dietary pesticide exposure, as well as 100 percent of dietary hormone and dioxin exposure, comes from eating animal products, and many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer in human beings.
Finally, additional carcinogens form when meat is cooked. These cancer-causing chemicals, specifically called heterocyclic amines, are found in cooked red and white meats, including fish and poultry. In fact, the amount found in grilled chicken is 15 times higher than in hamburger or steak.
Stomach and Esophageal Cancer
Doctors at Yale University found that a high fat intake, animal protein, and cholesterol-found only in animal products-were associated with a higher risk of stomach and esophageal cancer. "We found that many animal-based nutrients are strongly associated with risk of developing these types of cancers," says Yale's Dr. Susan Mayne. "[P]revention strategies should emphasize increased consumption of plant foods, decreased consumption of foods of animal origin ..."
Breast Cancer
The American Dietetic Association reports that breast cancer is most prevalent in countries where women consume animal-based diets. For example, in Asia, where they consume a small fraction of the chicken, pork, beef, and dairy products that we do in the West, breast cancer is almost unheard of. T. Colin Campbell, who headed up the landmark China Study and found the consumption of animal protein diets linked to cancer and heart disease, says that China is "a country that is successfully feeding a billion people primarily on plant derived food but so far avoiding much of the major diseases affecting Western countries." However, when women emigrate to the West and adopt a Western diet high in animal products, their cancer rates increase. Dr. Dean Ornish explains, "In Japan and other countries where the consumption of animal fat is much lower, breast cancer is rare. It's not because their genes are different. When Japanese women move to the United States and begin consuming a high-fat diet, they develop breast cancer at about the same rate as Americans-more than 400 percent higher than in Japan."
Prostate Cancer
A study comparing the dietary habits of men in 32 countries found that the highest risk factors for prostate cancer mortality were meat and dairy products. By contrast, another study of men diagnosed with prostate cancer showed that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains can slow or even halt the progression of the disease. The ACS, which has launched a "Five a Day" program encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, believes that the "intake of saturated fat-animal fat from red meat and dairy products-is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer."