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A plateful of prevention

Two Masonic Cancer Center experts explain how the choices you make around the dinner table could influence your cancer risk

By Carolyn Bernhardt
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Did you know the choices you make around the dinner table could influence your cancer risk?

“There is pretty good evidence that cruciferous vegetables, high fiber, and fresh berries should be protective against cancer,” says Stephen Hecht, PhD, Wallin Land Grant Professor of Cancer Prevention at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, who studies specific compounds in vegetables and their effects on cancer risk.

Conversely, processed meats, red meat, and well-done meat can increase cancer risk, particularly for colorectal and prostate cancers, according to Robert Turesky, PhD, Hecht’s Masonic Cancer Center colleague and holder of the inaugural Masonic Chair in Cancer Causation. Turesky’s research focuses on how long-term exposure to chemicals in cooked meats such as heterocyclic amines (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) damages DNA, leading to cancer.

Fortunately, there are ways to lessen your exposure to these harmful chemicals, even while keeping some meat in your diet.

“Life is to be enjoyed, it’s short, and there are things you can do to minimize your risk,” Turesky says.

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LINKED TO CANCER
Charred meats: Cooking meat at high temperatures while grilling or barbecuing causes the harmful chemical compounds HAAs and PAHs to form and damages the genome. DNA repair enzymes can fix some damage but not all, Turesky says, leading to mutations during cell division. His research has shown an association between HAAs and an increased risk of prostate and colorectal cancers. Antioxidant-rich marinades can help reduce the formation of these harmful compounds. Also, according to Turesky, “If you cook your meats at lower temperatures, you can lower the amount of these carcinogens by 5- or 10-fold.”
LINKED TO CANCER
Processed meats: Meats that have been preserved by curing, salting, smoking, drying, or canning, such as bacon, ham, sausages, and deli meats, often contain sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite gives processed meat its pinkish color and functions as a preservative. It also can undergo a chemical reaction at room temperature that leads to the formation of nitrosamines, some of which have been linked with colorectal cancer, Turesky says.
LINKED TO CANCER
Red meats: Other research has found a DNA damage pattern in tumors after high red meat consumption, linking red meat to colorectal cancer. Scientists suspect that Neu5Gc, a sugar in red meat, might trigger immune reactions that lead to inflammation and DNA damage.
LINKED TO CANCER
Alcohol: “The data on alcohol and cancer is stronger and more reliable than that on cooked red meat,” Turesky says. “Research links alcohol to oral, stomach, esophageal, breast, and some colon cancers more convincingly than it does for cooked red meat.” Studies consistently show that frequent consumption of alcohol (two to three glasses per day) is a risk factor for breast cancer in women. Moderate or no alcohol consumption is the best approach, Hecht says, because of this well-documented risk.
LINKED TO PREVENTION
Cruciferous vegetables: Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, watercress, and cabbage contain a class of compounds called glucosinolates, says Hecht. Chewing these vegetables converts glucosinolates to cancer-preventive isothiocyanates. One such compound, phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), has been shown to help prevent cancer in animal studies. Isothiocyanates give raw cruciferous vegetables their sharp taste. Cooking them reduces the sharp taste by inactivating the conversion process. You can still get a cancer-preventive benefit from cooked cruciferous vegetables, Hecht says—just not as much as you get from eating them raw.
LINKED TO PREVENTION
Turmeric: Turmeric contains curcumin, which can support joint health, improve digestion, enhance brain function, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Hecht says more research is needed to fully understand its effectiveness.
LINKED TO PREVENTION
Berries: Hecht says many lab studies and small, focused clinical trials have shown that anthocyanins—the pigments that give blackberries, cranberries, and raspberries their color—show cancer-preventive activity.

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