Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet in sensible portions—in addition to other lifestyle habits—helps provide a panoply of benefits to physical and mental health. Reducing excess body weight, sugar and alcohol intake, for example, may help prevent heart disease. A healthy diet may also help reduce the risk of cancer.

Generally speaking, a healthy diet doesn’t mean you have to eliminate some foods completely, says Carolyn Lammersfeld, Vice President of Integrative Care Services at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA).

“The current dietary guidelines from the American Institute for Cancer Research are to reduce red meat and processed meats, primarily because of the association with colon cancer risk,” Lammersfeld says. “Eating more of a plant-based diet with whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean proteins and some fish makes sense for all people, but particularly for people with cancer. It’s helpful for heart health and to reduce the risk of a secondary cancer.

The American public is constantly bombarded with nutritional dos and don’ts. Eat this, not that. Lammersfeld cautions cancer patients, in particular, to do their homework about common food myths.

Read more about these myths from the experts at Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

About Cancer Treatment Centers of America®
Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) is a national network of five hospitals that serves adult patients who are fighting cancer. CTCA® offers an integrative approach to care that combines advancements in genomic testing and precision cancer treatment, surgery, radiation, immunotherapy and chemotherapy, with evidence-informed supportive therapies designed to help patients physically and emotionally by enhancing their quality of life while managing side effects both during and after treatment.

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