February 9, 2010
- Roseburg, Oregon
Diet Detective: Can You Really Prevent Cancer? – An Interview with David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D.
By Charles Stuart PlatkinAt the age of 31, while David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D., was testing his own brain-scanning machine, he discovered that he had a brain tumor the size of a walnut. When he asked his oncologist for guidance on diet and lifestyle, the answer was typical: Just do what you're doing. But according to Servan-Schreiber, now 47, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the author of Anticancer: A New Way of Life, we can do more to prevent cancer and more to control it once we have it.
Diet Detective: Cancer seems so confusing; can you give us a brief explanation as to what it is, what it does, and why we can't seem to find a cure?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Cancer cells develop all the time in a healthy body. They are simply cells that, like rebel armed bandits, have learned to escape the rules of organized society. They no longer respond to signals from neighboring cells and tissues telling them that they are overcrowding others and should stop multiplying.
We are all equipped with natural defenses that are able to counteract these rebel cells before they have become large armies, and that can prevent them from developing into dangerous tumors. When our lifestyle (85 percent contribution), or our genetic makeup (15 percent) either support cancer growth or interfere with our natural defenses, cancer develops unchecked. Once it has developed, it becomes harder to stop.
Diet Detective: What's the biggest single cancer myth?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: That cancer is a genetic lottery and that you inherit your cancer risk from your parents' genes. In reality, at most 15 percent of cancers are related to genetic vulnerabilities. Even for these, lifestyle factors play a major role in determining whether cancer will develop or not. Yes, cancer runs in families, but that is because our parents pass on their poor lifestyle habits, which matter more than their genes.
Diet Detective: You have brain cancer; can you pinpoint the cause?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: No. I don't know the cause. Cancer generally develops 10 to 35 years after exposure to cancer-promoting agents. I learned I had cancer when I was 31 years old. Perhaps it was the exposure to pesticides in the fields of my native Normandy, where I spent much time playing as a child. Perhaps some of the chemicals I was exposed to during labs in medical school. All this combined with my typical American diet and high time-pressure lifestyle.
Diet Detective: How does the traditional American diet create conditions for cancer to thrive? Do other countries do a better job in terms of cancer prevention?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Look at the American national dish: hamburger and french fries, with a white bun and ketchup. You couldn't do better if you wanted to try to promote cancer growth: red meat (the No. 1 food ingredient associated with a variety of cancers), grown on corn and soy (which remove the healthy omega-3s that are found in grass-fed meat), and bovine growth hormone (which stimulates all cell growth, including cancer cell growth); french fries: a rare vegetable that does not help slow cancer growth but, on the contrary, stimulates insulin release and thus cell growth, dipped in omega-6 inflammation-promoting oil and fried to increased oxidative stress; white bread: which again stimulates insulin release; ketchup: a rich source of high-fructose corn syrup, associated with insulin resistance and obesity.
In addition, our insistence on eating mostly meat (10.5 ounces per day, when the World Cancer Research Fund advocates 12 ounces per week) greatly reduces the amount of cancer-fighting vegetables we include every day in our diet.
The Vietnamese national dish, Pho (pronounce “Phir”), consists of a large bowl of vegetables with a few slices of meat just to add taste. A perfect anti-cancer dish.
Diet Detective: Do you believe that you can prevent cancer with diet alone?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: In a thorough review of the entire literature on cancer prevention, the World Cancer Research Fund estimates that at least 40 percent of cancers could be prevented with diet and physical activity alone.
Diet Detective: It seems as if an anti-cancer diet is similar to what we should be eating to remain healthy in general: loads of vegetables, fruit, unprocessed foods, 100 percent whole grains, fish and lean protein. Limit or eliminate meats, sugar and all processed foods – is that it?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: You pretty much summed it up. The most documented healthy diet is the Mediterranean diet. It does not “eliminate” anything really, just creates a very favorable balance among nutrients. It adds spices and herbs though, and does include some lean meats (though preferably grass fed for a good balance of omega-3s).
Diet Detective: What are some of the most surprising foods that help fight cancer?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: I was very surprised that the spice turmeric (the yellow powder that is the basis of curry) was so thoroughly documented to be a powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agent – though only when mixed with black pepper or with ginger. And also green tea. Who would have thought that such a simple beverage could have such powerful effects in the body?
Diet Detective: What are some of the most surprising foods and products that may cause cancer?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: The most surprising cancer-promoting agents to me are white sugar and white flour. I had never heard of their relationship to cancer before. But also the demonstration that water heated in plastic containers (as we do when we put plastic cups or bowls in a microwave) leaches bisphenol A in doses that are enough to cancel out the benefits of chemotherapy in mice.
Diet Detective: What about the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load — can you explain briefly why they're important in an anti-cancer diet?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: A food has a high GI or GL if it raises blood glucose (and insulin) soon after you eat it. Insulin stimulates cancer growth; therefore, foods with a high GI/GL stimulate cancer growth. They do not cause cancer (like cigarettes do, for example), but give it more strength. There is a Web site developed by the research lab at the University of Sydney, Australia, where the GI concept was developed, which lists all foods by GI/GL: www.glycemicindex.com.
Diet Detective: Can you tell us how and why stress feeds cancer and suggest ways to achieve life balance and good nutrition to combat it? On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest, 10 being highest) how much does stress and anxiety contribute to cancer?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: It is not stress itself that matters, but our reaction to stress. Prolonged reactions of despair and powerlessness are associated with disturbed levels of cortisol secretion and noradrenaline, which affect immune cells and their ability to fight off cancer growth. They also stimulate inflammation (which is why some reactions to stress are associated with a variety of inflammatory disorders), and inflammation feeds cancer growth.
Learning simple stress-management techniques, which could be as simple as proper breathing during times of unrelenting pressure, can help move us out of helplessness and counteract these cancer-promoting consequences.
According to the few prospective studies available, prolonged hopelessness seems to contribute approximately as much as a high glycemic diet to the progression of cancer.
Can you please comment on the following:
Diet Detective: Cell phones?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Nobody knows for sure whether or not cell phones cause cancer. But existing studies are certainly not reassuring. Those that find no effect have looked at less than five years of use. We would never see an effect of cigarettes on lung cancer with less than five years of smoking! Those that have looked at 10 years of cell phone use have found roughly a doubling of the risk of developing a brain tumor on the side of phone use. While waiting for more definitive data, it is important to learn how to use our beloved cell phones in a way that really reduces risk. And to not let our children have one until they turn 15.
Diet Detective: Microwaves?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Microwave ovens emit radiations that are similar to those of cell phones (though more powerful, obviously). I think it is prudent to stay away from the oven while it is in operation. Especially if you already have cancer.
Diet Detective: Artificial sweeteners (including stevia)?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Existing animal studies suggest there may be a risk with most artificial sweeteners, except xylitol (a natural birch and corn extract), which seems really safe. My suggestion is to avoid them if you already have cancer.
Diet Detective: Food additives?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Recently, animal studies have demonstrated that phosphate-based food additives stimulate the growth of lung tumors. I inform all my patients with lung cancer to avoid these additives, which are common in processed foods (cured meats, industrial baked goods and most industrial sodas).
Diet Detective: Can you give us a brief physiologic and biological explanation of how exercise, yoga and meditation can help prevent cancer?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: There is solid research showing that these approaches help reduce negative reactions to stress, help balance the autonomic nervous system (adrenaline vs. acetylcholine pathways of the “visceral” nervous system), and therefore help reduce changes in cortisol and adrenaline that impair the immune system's defense against cancer and feed inflammation. This is how they work.
Diet Detective: What do you do to reduce stress?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: I re-oriented my professional activities toward what gives most meaning to my life (helping people help themselves and regain hope in the face of cancer, rather than focusing on publishing more scientific papers). I do 15 minutes of yoga every morning, and I make sure to shift into yogic breathing whenever I feel stress may be coming on. I bike every day to and from work. I focus my emotional and social life on people with positive attitudes, and I cultivate this in myself.
Diet Detective: Can you pinpoint what helped control your brain cancer?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: I think a combination of all of these. I believe strongly that there are synergistic interactions when you start to combine nutrition, physical activity, stress management and reduction of toxicity in the environment.
Diet Detective: Why don't all doctors recommend the anti-cancer lifestyle you describe?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Because they focus on what they do best: prescribing high-tech interventions such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery and don't think of lifestyle interventions as “real medicine.”
Diet Detective: What do you consider the world's three most perfect foods to help prevent cancer, and why?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: The spice turmeric, broccoli and green tea. Because they are so easy to add to a regular diet and have so much scientific evidence to back them up.
Diet Detective: You talk about omega-3s from fish (DHA and EPA) as cancer-preventing – what if you don't eat fish? What other sources do you recommend? What about algae (commercial.martek.com/)?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: It is possible to get some of the anti-cancer benefits of omega-3s from plant sources such as flax seeds, flax seed oil, canola oil or simply watercress or lamb's lettuce. There is now also a form of DHA (a long chain omega-3 fatty acid that until now was only available in fish or other animal sources) produced from algae. This is the form that is added to infant formula. A list of commercial products that contains this DHA can be obtained from consumer.martek.com.
For people who do not eat fatty fish at least two or three times a week (salmon, mackerel, sardines – even canned, if with olive oil), it is possible to get some of the benefits of a high fish diet from high-quality fish oil supplements (aim for 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids – EPA + DHA – per day).
Diet Detective: What's your favorite healthy ingredient? From looking at your book, I would say garlic. Correct me if I'm wrong, and if I'm right – why garlic?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: My favorite is green tea. Because it is so simple, tastes so good, comes in so many different forms, is so easy to carry around with me when I travel, gives me a great pickup, has so many positive health effects in addition to its anti-cancer properties (it is an antioxidant, too, and it reduces blood pressure), and is so esthetically pleasing. Garlic is great, too, of course, but can be more of a challenge to include in your lifestyleday in and day out.
Diet Detective: What's always in your fridge?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Omega-3 eggs, for a very quick meal (sunny side up, fried in olive oil with garlic, turmeric, black pepper and a sprinkle of agave nectar).
Diet Detective: What food would we never find in your fridge?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: So many, I cannot begin to list them, but certainly no ice cream.
Diet Detective: Which historical figure can you relate to most?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: I never thought of myself as akin to a historical figure, but of course I have a lot of admiration for Ignaz Semmelweis,who discovered that he could practically eradicate mortality from childbirth in his hospital simply by asking doctors to wash their hands — and who was largely ignored because this was not considered a “serious medical intervention.”
Diet Detective: Do you eat any “junk food”? If so, what's your favorite?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: Sorry, I don't. I occasionally enjoy eating a few french fries (one or two) but don't go much beyond that. I do eat chocolate every day, though. But, of course, dark chocolate that is 70 percent cocoa (or more) is an anti-cancer food!
Diet Detective: As a person who's dedicated himself to public health, what's the one message you wish you could get into people's heads?
Dr. Servan-Schreiber: That there are no magical cures for cancer, but that we all have tremendous control over our health and well-being through the choices we make in our lifestyle every day. And that most people who started living their lives more consciously after they developed cancer now can't understand why they didn't start living that way before, simply because it's so much more enjoyable!
Diet Detective: Thank you!!!
____________________________________
CHARLES STUART PLATKIN is a nutrition and public health advocate, founder of DietDetective.com, and host of the new WE tv series I Want To Save Your Life. Copyright 2008-2009 by Charles Stuart Platkin. All rights reserved. Sign up for the free Diet Detective newsletter and iTunes podcast at www.DietDetective.com
Foods That Prevent Or Inhibit Cell Growth In Certain Cancers
According to David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D. author of Anticancer: A New Way of Life (Viking, 2008), the following prevent or inhibit cell growth in certain cancer.
Many of the foods above have been shown to repress cancerous cell growth by more than 80%. Note that garlic, onions, and leeks rank highest among the most effective foods for all the cancers listed.
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