Nutrition and Cancer

Cancer is the second biggest killer worldwide. It has been estimated that specific lifestyle and dietary measures can prevent 30–40% of all cancers. Consumption of nutrient sparse foods, such as refined flour products and concentrated sugars, consumption of red meat, low fibre intake, and disproportion of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, contributes to cancer risks. Microbiological and chemical food contaminants as well as conventional and industrial food processing methods may further increase the carcinogenicity of diets while protective agents in a cancer prevention diet include folic acid, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B-12, chlorophyll, and antioxidants such as the carotenoids, kryptoxanthin, lycopene, and lutein. Diet can also influence the gut microbes that may have positive or adverse effects on cancer risk. The authors summarize cancer prevention by functional foods and discuss the role of different dietary factors such as promoter or inhibitor in pathogenesis of different subtypes of cancer worldwide.