Dr Maree Brinkman
Research into potential associations between dietary factors and cancer risk has tended to move away from investigating single foods and nutrients over the past several years and focussed more on entire dietary patterns. Recent publications have highlighted the benefit of following a ‘healthy dietary pattern’ which includes eating a wide range of nutritious foods ranging from high amounts of vegetables/legumes and wholegrains, modest and lower quantities of fruit, lean protein from animal or plant based sources, and a low intake of healthy/unsaturated fats.  Whereas an ‘unhealthy’ diet such as the ‘Western’ or ‘Inflammatory’ dietary pattern, which are both typically high in red meat, processed foods, sugar, and saturated fat is becoming more and more associated with chronic health problems and potential risk of disease.
While the less healthy dietary patterns are more readily identifiable and described, you will note that there can be subtle differences in terms of what constitutes a ‘healthy dietary pattern’ according to the population of interest and its ancestry, traditions, food availability etc. Overall, however, you will see that there are definite health benefits from eating a diet that is high in plant-based and unprocessed foods, and low in saturated fat. Other dietary factors, such as the amount and type of protein and dietary sources of other nutrients, will often need to be tweaked based on a particular population’s dietary guidelines, and then further adjusted to the individual’s nutritional needs and food preferences.
A recent study combined the dietary data from two large American prospective cohort studies (The Nurse’s Health Study and Health Professional Follow-up Study) comprising over 119,000 participants and reported that greater adherence to ‘healthy dietary patterns’ resulted in lower deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease. It also found that there was lower mortality from neurodegenerative disease associated with higher scores from two specific dietary patterns, the Alternative Mediterranean Diet (AMED) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI).
A systematic review also examined the effects of different dietary patterns on breast cancer risk, prognosis, and quality of life. After an extensive search of the scientific literature, the authors included 47 relevant studies from a wide range of geological locations in their investigations. Despite the limitations of the systematic review, including diverse populations, findings, dietary patterns, and study outcomes, beneficial dietary patterns were reported to include: the ‘Mediterranean diet’, the ‘plant-based diet,’ the ‘anti-inflammatory diet’ and the ‘dietary approaches to stop hypertension’ (DASH) diet. Further research would help to confirm and clarify these potential associations and the underlying biological processes involved.
Many people will also be interested in a recent scientific paper that has been published on a possible association between metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions that can often occur together such as obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and insulin resistance) and aggressive prostate cancer. Following a healthy dietary pattern, keeping your weight within the healthy weight range, and keeping active are excellent behavioural strategies to prevent developing metabolic syndrome along with regular check-ups with your doctor.