NEW NUTRITION GUIDELINES RECOMMEND FOODS FOR PREVETING CANCER

The Journal of the American College of Nutrition will publish the six new recommendations at the end of the month. The advice is familiar, but has some surprises.

Exercise and a healthy diet have long been connected with a lower risk of cancer — but now, new research in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition is showing exactly what that healthy diet looks like.

"The overall recommendation is to favor plant-based foods," lead author Joseph Gonzales, a member of the nonprofit Physicians Committee and a registered dietitian at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said in a release. "Plants are rich in protective compounds and help consumers avoid the cancer-causing substances found in animal products. Plant-based foods also have a slimming effect, which reduces risk for all forms of cancer in the long run."

The six dietary guidelines for reducing several types of cancer, which will be published June 30, are:

1. LIMIT OR AVOID DAIRY PRODUCTS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF PROSTATE CANCER

Eating 35 grams of dairy protein a day, like 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese, ups the risk of prostate cancer by 32%. Drinking two glasses of milk does so by 60%. Taking calcium supplements also increases your risk.

So how can you get more calcium? It’s easier than you think.

"Most men only need to consume about 600 or 700 mg of calcium each day," noted study author Dr. Neal Barnard. "Green and orange vegetables, white beans and dried fruit provide ample sources of calcium. Just one serving of cooked collard greens and an orange provides more than half the calcium you need in an entire day."

2. LIMIT OR AVOID ALCOHOL TO REDUCE THE RISK OF CANCERS OF THE MOUTH, PHARYNX, LARYNX, ESOPHAGUS, COLON, RECTUM AND BREAST

Just one drink a week increases oral cancers by almost 25%. Two or three drinks a day ups the risk of colorectal cancer by 21%.

3. AVOID RED AND PROCESSED MEATS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF CANCERS OF THE COLON AND RECTUM

Fifty grams of processed meat a day, like two slices of bacon or one sausage link, heightens colorectal cancer risk by 21%. Eat 120 grams of red meat a day — the size of a small steak — and your odds of getting colorectal cancer increase by 28%.

4. AVOID GRILLED, FRIED AND BROILED MEATS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF CANCERS OF THE COLON, RECTUM, BREAST, PROSTATE, KIDNEY AND PANCREAS

Heterocyclic amines, or HCAs, are found in cooked skeletal muscle, and increase with higher cooking times and temperatures. They can alter DNA synthesis when consumed and are linked with the aforementioned cancers.

5. CONSUME SOY TO REDUCE RISK OF BREAST CANCER AND TO REDUCE THE RISK OF RECURRENCE AND MORTALITY FOR WOMEN PREVIOUSLY TREATED FOR BREAST CANCER

The new findings — which go against a common belief that soy products lead to breast cancer — show that Chinese women who had the equivalent of half a cup of cooked soybeans each day during their teen years were at a 43% reduced risk of getting the disease before menopause. Chinese women with breast cancer also lowered their risk of recurrence and mortality when they ate as such. But the source of soy should be natural, like edamame, tempeh or organic tofu, instead of soy protein concentrates and isolates, which are often found in supplements.

6. EMPHASIZE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES TO REDUCE RISK OF SEVERAL COMMON FORMS OF CANCER

It doesn't matter which you like — as long as you're eating them. In fact, women eating high quantities of any kind of fruit and vegetable slash their breast cancer risk by 11 percent. Dark, leafy greens were especially shown to cut overall cancer risk. And specifically, cruciferous veggies like broccoli and kale help cut colorectal, lung and stomach cancers, while vegetables rich in carotenoids, like carrots and sweet potatoes, lower breast cancer risk.