Re Preventing Cancer: Does Diet Matter?
Diet does matter. It is a myth to believe that what
we put in our mouths does not affect us. Every cell in
the body is made only and completely from the food we eat
( with a little help from oxygen). Every mechanism that
drives our metabolism is comprised of elements that are
derived from the food that grows out of the earth and
contains all the known nutrients, pesticides, fertilizers,
growth enhancers and every other molecule that we put into
the environment.
The myth persists, because when we eat a food it
promptly disappears down our esophagus , however this
does not mean we can forget about it. Foods are either
digested or excreted and in both cases are intimately
involved with very sensitive organs, the gut, then the liver
and then all the rest of us. If we open the hood of our
car and throw a monkey wrench into the engine , the first
time it may be spit out. Constant wrench throwing will
eventually change the way in which the engine works and so too
will our bodies when we constantly expose them to molecules
that were never designed for human consumption.
We nutritionists have only in the past few decades really
accepted that nutrients/foods can optimize our health rather
than just prevent deficiency diseases. Recent failures such
as Vitamin E probably not preventing heart disease and fibre
likely not preventing colon cancer mean only that we have
not yet been asking the right questions. You will become what
you eat so choose wisely.
James Friel Professor of Nutrition
and Pediatrics University of Manitoba
Winnipeg