The onset of cancer has been linked to a number of dietary issues, with certain foods seen as contributing to the development of cancer cells in the human being. At the same time, the specific relationship between diet and cancer remains largely unproved at this time, though the public may believe that our diets are loaded with cancer-causing contaminants. The only element found to lead to increased cancer risk is high alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption is associated with about three percent of the cancers in this country, and heavy drinkers show an increased incidence of cancers of the liver, pancreas, esophagus, larynx, mouth, and throat. As little as one or two drinks a day several times a week contributes to a higher incidence of breast cancer.
Among the factors known to affect cancer rates are heredity, viruses, ionizing radiation, chemicals, and alterations in the immune system. Studies now suggest that these elements may interact in a multifactorial, sequential process leading to malignancy. Cancer is essentially a genetic process, and inherited gene abnormalities or those induced by a virus or damage from an outside source are then subject to a series of sequential mutations in time leading to a single cell that is malignant and that proliferates as a clone. One of the external factors may be diet, which could account for 40 percent of cancers, though the causative relationship remains unclear. Obesity is a risk factor for a number of cancers, such as those of the breast, colon, uterus, and prostate, and dietary fat and low dietary fiber are associated with a high incidence of colon cancer.
Many people are concerned about food additives and their possible contribution to the onset of cancer. There are thousands of such additives in the food supply, and most have not been tested for cancer-causing potential. Some additives that have been associated with cancer in animals have been banned, such as some o...