Dairy foods, cheese, butter, coffee and fish get a clean bill of health. But sugary drinks – including fruit juices – can increase weight and are therefore not recommended. Nor are fast foods because they are energy-dense and lead to excess weight or obesity, which in turn increase cancer risks.
Professor Martin Wiseman, the project director, said: “This report’s recommendations represent the most definitive advice on preventing cancer that has ever been available anywhere in the world.”
Breast-feeding has a double benefit, the report says, protecting mothers against breast cancer and their babies against obesity. Mothers were advised to breastfeed exclusively for six months and to continue with complementary breastfeeding after that.
Dietary supplements for cancer prevention were not recommended, since there was evidence that at high doses they could have adverse effects. But selenium, in the diet or as a supplement, did appear to have benefits against lung, colon and prostate cancer.
Professor Mike Richards, the Government’s clinical director of cancer, said: “The WCRF report is the most authoritative and exhaustive review done thus far on the prevention of cancer through food, nutrition and physical activity. For those of us wanting to lower our risk of developing cancer, it provides practical lifestyle recommendations.”
Karol Sikora, Professor of Cancer Medicine at Imperial College School of Medicine, said: “The educational message for the public should be that there are healthy diets and unhealthy diets, but we should keep everything in perspective and not suggest rigid avoidance. Alcohol, red meat and bacon in moderation will do us no harm, and to suggest it will is wrong.”
Chris Lamb, consumer marketing manager at the British Pig Executive, said that people should continue to eat bacon “in a responsible way as part of a balanced diet”. Cancer was a “complicated subject” and could not be prevented simply by reducing intake of meat.
“Two thirds of all cancers are not caused by diet. Just by addressing the meat issues, you are not necessarily going to prevent cancer,” he said.
Mr Lamb said that the average consumption of red meats was less than 500 grams per week in any case, so many people did not need to change their eating habits at all.
He added that there were concerns amongst farmers that sales of processed meats could fall as a result of the report. “That is obviously a potential at the end of the day, but we’re hoping that consumers will think about being responsible in overall terms.”
The ten WCRF recommendations:
Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight
Be physically active as part of everyday life
Limit consumption of energy-dense foods, and avoid sugary drinks
Eat mostly foods of plant origin
Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat
Limit alcoholic drinks
Limit consumption of salt, and avoid mouldy cereals or pulses
Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone
If a new mother, breastfeed your baby
Cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention
乳制品、乳酪、奶油、咖啡以及鱼肉经评审小组认定是健康食品。但是，由于果汁等含糖饮料会增加体重因此没有在评审小组的推荐范围内。快餐也没有被推荐是因为它属高能量食品容易引起体重超标或肥胖并诱发癌症。
该项目的主任Martin Wiseman教授说：“这份报告提供了防止癌症的最可靠的建议，它们适合世界的任何区域。”
该报告还声称母乳喂养有两方面的好处：即可防止母亲患乳腺癌又可避免婴儿肥胖现象。有关专家建议母乳喂养是新生婴儿前六个月内唯一的喂养方式此后方可作为补充性的方式。
报告并没有推荐一些抗癌膳食补充剂，这是因为有证据表明补充剂剂量大了恰恰起到相反的作用。但是硒元素无论是在日常饮食还是在补充食品中都对肺癌结肠癌和前列腺癌的防治颇由益处。
迈克理查德教授是英国政府的一位从事癌症研究的临床主任。他说：“世界癌症研究基金的报告最具权威性。它从食品、营养和身体锻炼方面对防治癌症的做法进行了目前为止最为详细地审查。该报告为那些想要降低罹癌的风险的人们，提供了很实用的有关生活方式方面的建议。“
Karol Sikora是一位英帝国医学院癌症医学的教授。他说：“面向大众的指导性文章应该包含健康和非健康饮食，我们应当正确地看待一切事物不应该严格地指出到底该禁用那些东西。适当地用酒用熏肉不会对人产生危害。一味地禁用是一种错误的做法。
英国养猪业董事会消费市场部的经理克瑞斯莱博认为人们“有责任保持饮食的平衡”就不应该停止肉类的摄入。他还提到癌症的发生有着“复杂的”原因，单纯靠减少吃肉并不能防止癌症的发生。
他说“有三分之二的癌症与饮食无关。单独解决肉的问题并不一定能预防癌症的发生。”
莱博经理主张如论如何每周都应该平均吃一斤肉，所以多数人根本不必改变以往的饮食习惯。
他又补充说许多农民担心公布了该报告后肉类制品的销量会降低。“说到底，销量下降的可能性很明显，但我们更希望广大消费者能够全盘考虑为自己的身体负起责任。”
世界癌症研究基金的建议如下：
1）尽可能地把体重控制在健康的范围内的下限。
2）把身体锻炼当作日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。
3）限制高能量食物的摄入，不喝含糖饮料。
4）把植物来源的食品当作主食。
5）少吃红肉，不吃加工肉制品。
6）适度饮酒。
7）限制食盐的摄入量，不吃霉变的谷物和豆类。
8)力争单靠饮食来满足身体所需的营养（不用膳食补充剂）。
9）母乳喂养婴儿。
我们应该遵循上述建议来防止癌症。
