Since many tumors take decades to grow it’s remarkable that cancer risk can so dramatically be reduced– even late in life.
Never Too Late to Start Eating Healthier
A hundred years ago, The New York Times reported on a rather sophisticated study for the time: 4,600 cases of cancer studied over seven years, suggesting that the increased consumption of animal foods was to blame. A century later, the latest review on the subject concluded that mortality from all causes put together, ischemic heart disease, and circulatory and cerebrovascular disease (such as stroke) was significantly lower in those eating meat-free diets, in addition to less cancer and diabetes.
I’m surprised they found such significant results given that people in these studies typically didn’t stop eating meat until late in life. For example, in the largest study done up until that time, up to a third ate vegetarian for less than five years, yet they still ended up with lower rates of heart disease whether they were young or old—under 60, or over 60. Whether they were normal weight or overweight, whether they used to smoke or never smoked, regardless–those who had stopped eating meat had lower risk, suggesting that decades of higher risk dietary behavior could be reversed within just years of eating healthier.
If you look at countries that switched from eating traditional, more plant-based diets to more Westernized diets, it may take 20 years for cancer rates to shoot up. It takes decades for most tumors to grow. For example, if you look in Asia, their dietary shift was accompanied by a remarkable increase in mortality rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancers. For example death from breast cancer in Japan or from prostate cancer: the line just goes straight up, but again, it can take years of a cancer-promoting diet and lifestyle. Same thing shown with migration studies. Men moving from rural China to the U.S. experience a dramatic increase in cancer risk, but tumors take time to grow.
So it’s remarkable to me that after most of a lifetime eating the standard Western diet, one can turn it around, reverse chronic disease risk with a healthier diet, even late in the game.
So, should we all start eating vegetarian? This was the editorial that accompanied the results from the largest study ever published on Americans eating plant-based diets, which found vegetarian diets associated with lower all-cause mortality, meaning those who started eating vegetarian live, on average, longer lives. Now this analysis included so-called semi-vegetarians, who ate meat at least once a month (but no more than once a week), so it’s not yet clear how bad eating meat a few times a month is for our longevity. What we can all agree on, though, is that we should limit our intake of junk food and animal fat, and eat more fruits and vegetables. Most authorities will also agree that diets should include whole grains, beans, and nuts. Instead of fighting over whose diet’s the best, it’s time to acknowledge these common features of diets associated with less disease, and instead focus our attention on helping patients avoid the intense commercial pressures to eat otherwise.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- M J Orlich, P N Singh, J Sabate, K Jaceldo-Siegl, J Fan, S Knutsen, W L Beeson, G E Fraser. Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Jul 8;173(13):1230-8
- D Li. Effect of the vegetarian diet on non-communicable diseases. J Sci Food Agric. 2014 Jan 30;94(2):169-73.
- T Huang, B Yang, J Zheng, G Li, M L Wahlgvist, D Li. Cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer incidence in vegetarians: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Ann Nutr Metab. 2012;60(4):233-40.
- F L Growe, P N Appleby, R C Travis, T J Key. Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar;97(3):597-603.
- W B Grant. A Multicountry Ecological Study of Cancer Incidence Rates in 2008 with Respect to Various Risk-Modifying Factors. Nutrients. Jan 2014; 6(1): 163–189.
- Cancer increasing among meat eaters. New York Times 1907.
- J Zhang, I B Dhakal, Z Zhao, L Li. Trends in mortality from cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, esophagus, and stomach in East Asia: role of nutrition transition. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2012 Sep;21(5):480-9.
- P C Walsh. Re: Trends in mortality from cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, esophagus, and stomach in East Asia: role of nutrition transition. J Urol. 2012 Jul;188(1):112-3.
- alimentación a base de vegetales
- Asia
- cáncer
- cáncer de colon
- cáncer de mama
- cáncer de próstata
- carne
- cereales
- comida chatarra
- diabetes
- dieta occidental estándar
- enfermedad cardiaca
- enfermedad cardiovascular
- enfermedades crónicas
- fruta
- frutos secos
- grasa de origen animal
- Japón
- legumbres
- legumbres
- mortalidad
- productos de origen animal
- salud de la mujer
- tabaquismo
- veganos
- vegetarianos
- verduras
A hundred years ago, The New York Times reported on a rather sophisticated study for the time: 4,600 cases of cancer studied over seven years, suggesting that the increased consumption of animal foods was to blame. A century later, the latest review on the subject concluded that mortality from all causes put together, ischemic heart disease, and circulatory and cerebrovascular disease (such as stroke) was significantly lower in those eating meat-free diets, in addition to less cancer and diabetes.
I’m surprised they found such significant results given that people in these studies typically didn’t stop eating meat until late in life. For example, in the largest study done up until that time, up to a third ate vegetarian for less than five years, yet they still ended up with lower rates of heart disease whether they were young or old—under 60, or over 60. Whether they were normal weight or overweight, whether they used to smoke or never smoked, regardless–those who had stopped eating meat had lower risk, suggesting that decades of higher risk dietary behavior could be reversed within just years of eating healthier.
If you look at countries that switched from eating traditional, more plant-based diets to more Westernized diets, it may take 20 years for cancer rates to shoot up. It takes decades for most tumors to grow. For example, if you look in Asia, their dietary shift was accompanied by a remarkable increase in mortality rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancers. For example death from breast cancer in Japan or from prostate cancer: the line just goes straight up, but again, it can take years of a cancer-promoting diet and lifestyle. Same thing shown with migration studies. Men moving from rural China to the U.S. experience a dramatic increase in cancer risk, but tumors take time to grow.
So it’s remarkable to me that after most of a lifetime eating the standard Western diet, one can turn it around, reverse chronic disease risk with a healthier diet, even late in the game.
So, should we all start eating vegetarian? This was the editorial that accompanied the results from the largest study ever published on Americans eating plant-based diets, which found vegetarian diets associated with lower all-cause mortality, meaning those who started eating vegetarian live, on average, longer lives. Now this analysis included so-called semi-vegetarians, who ate meat at least once a month (but no more than once a week), so it’s not yet clear how bad eating meat a few times a month is for our longevity. What we can all agree on, though, is that we should limit our intake of junk food and animal fat, and eat more fruits and vegetables. Most authorities will also agree that diets should include whole grains, beans, and nuts. Instead of fighting over whose diet’s the best, it’s time to acknowledge these common features of diets associated with less disease, and instead focus our attention on helping patients avoid the intense commercial pressures to eat otherwise.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- M J Orlich, P N Singh, J Sabate, K Jaceldo-Siegl, J Fan, S Knutsen, W L Beeson, G E Fraser. Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Jul 8;173(13):1230-8
- D Li. Effect of the vegetarian diet on non-communicable diseases. J Sci Food Agric. 2014 Jan 30;94(2):169-73.
- T Huang, B Yang, J Zheng, G Li, M L Wahlgvist, D Li. Cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer incidence in vegetarians: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Ann Nutr Metab. 2012;60(4):233-40.
- F L Growe, P N Appleby, R C Travis, T J Key. Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar;97(3):597-603.
- W B Grant. A Multicountry Ecological Study of Cancer Incidence Rates in 2008 with Respect to Various Risk-Modifying Factors. Nutrients. Jan 2014; 6(1): 163–189.
- Cancer increasing among meat eaters. New York Times 1907.
- J Zhang, I B Dhakal, Z Zhao, L Li. Trends in mortality from cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, esophagus, and stomach in East Asia: role of nutrition transition. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2012 Sep;21(5):480-9.
- P C Walsh. Re: Trends in mortality from cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, esophagus, and stomach in East Asia: role of nutrition transition. J Urol. 2012 Jul;188(1):112-3.
- alimentación a base de vegetales
- Asia
- cáncer
- cáncer de colon
- cáncer de mama
- cáncer de próstata
- carne
- cereales
- comida chatarra
- diabetes
- dieta occidental estándar
- enfermedad cardiaca
- enfermedad cardiovascular
- enfermedades crónicas
- fruta
- frutos secos
- grasa de origen animal
- Japón
- legumbres
- legumbres
- mortalidad
- productos de origen animal
- salud de la mujer
- tabaquismo
- veganos
- vegetarianos
- verduras
Comparte "Never Too Late to Start Eating Healthier"
Puedes compartir este material en la red o impreso bajo nuestra licencia Creative Commons. Deberás atribuir el artículo a NutritionFacts.org y agregar la liga a nuestro sitio en tu publicación
Si se realizan cambios en el texto o video original, se debe indicar, razonablemente, lo que ha cambiado en relación con el artículo o el video.
No se puede usar nuestro contenido para propósitos comerciales.
No puede aplicar términos legales o medidas tecnológicas que restrinjan a otros a hacer cualquier cosa permitida aquí.
Si tienes alguna duda, por favor Contáctanos
Never Too Late to Start Eating Healthier
LicenciaCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
URLNota del Doctor
How amazing the human body is if we just treat it right! This reminds me of videos like Lifestyle Medicine: Treating the Causes of Disease or How Many Meet the Simple Seven? where simple changes can lead to tremendous differences in health outcomes. So please don’t allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good. Any movement we can make towards improving our diet can help. Though the earlier the better: See Heart Disease Starts in Childhood and Back in Circulation: Sciatica and Cholesterol.
You might also be interested in my newer 2023 video, Strategies to Eat Less Meat.
Si no lo has hecho aún, puedes suscribirte a mis videos de forma gratuita haciendo click aquí. Lee esta información importante sobre las traducciones aquí.