leukemia | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Emily

While total meat consumption, particularly hot dogs and other processed meat, poultry, and fish, seems to be related to the risk of developing different blood cancers, merely handling meat may also contribute to the risk. Pesticides seem to increase the risk of leukemia; however, choosing to buy organic can potentially mediate this risk. Pediatric CAT scans are also of concern with regards to childhood leukemia.

On the other hand, plants may have a beneficial effect as vegetarians may have only a quarter of the risk of developing blood cancers compared to omnivores. Broccoli, acai berries, sweet potatoes, phytates (found naturally in whole plant foods), curcumin (the yellow pigment in the spice turmeric), periwinkle-based drugs and coffee all seem to have protective effects against leukemia. Breastfeeding may also reduce the risk of childhood leukemia.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

32 videos

All Videos for Leukemia

Stylist applying hair dye to client’s hair

Do Hair Dyes Cause Cancer?

Is the higher rate of bladder cancer among hairdressers due to exposure to hair dyes? And what about at-home use of hair colorants?

How to Prevent Toxoplasmosis

How to Prevent Toxoplasmosis

The risk of contracting the brain parasite toxoplasma from kitty litter vs. meat.

Lead in Calcium Supplements

Lead in Calcium Supplements

Do calcium citrate and calcium carbonate have as much lead as calcium supplements derived from dolomite and animal bone?

The Antioxidant Effects of Açai vs. Apples

Açaí berries are touted for their antioxidant power, but does that translate into increased antioxidant capacity of your bloodstream when you eat them?

Does Aspartame Cause Cancer?

Does Aspartame Cause Cancer?

How should we parse the conflicting human data on intake of aspartame (Nutrasweet) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, and pancreatic cancer?

Plants with Aspirin Aspirations

Plants with Aspirin Aspirations

Should the active ingredient in aspirin be considered an essential vitamin?

The Role of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer

As many as 37 percent of human breast cancer cases may be attributable to exposure to bovine leukemia virus.

Is Bovine Leukemia Virus in Milk Infectious?

Is Bovine Leukemia Virus in Milk Infectious?

The majority of U.S. dairy herds are infected with a cancer-causing virus, but until recently, human testing for exposure was not sufficiently sensitive.

Turmeric or Curcumin: Plants vs. Pills

Turmeric or Curcumin: Plants vs. Pills

Curcumin-free turmeric, from which the so-called active ingredient has been removed, may be as effective or even more potent.

Citrus Peels and Cancer Zest for Life?

Citrus Peels and Cancer: Zest for Life?

The reason eating citrus fruits appears to protect against cancer may be because of DNA repair enzyme-boosting powers of a compound concentrated in the peel.

Is a Neutropenic Diet Necessary for Cancer Patients?

Is a Neutropenic Diet Necessary for Cancer Patients?

Immunocompromised patients, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, are often denied fresh fruits and vegetables to ostensibly protect them against foodborne illness.

Turmeric Curcumin, MGUS, & Multiple Myeloma

Which plant and animal foods are associated with the development of multiple myeloma, and what effect might the spice turmeric have on the progression of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance?

farmer carrying box of veggies

Are Organic Foods Safer?

Organic food consumption appears to reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Anti-Cancer Potential of Sweet Potato Proteins

Anticancer Potential of Sweet Potato Proteins

Sweet potatoes are not just one of the healthiest and cheapest sources of nutrition; the predominant protein is a type of protease inhibitor that may have cancer-fighting properties.

Phytates for Rehabilitating Cancer Cells

Phytates for Rehabilitating Cancer Cells

Unlike most other anticancer agents, the phytates naturally found in whole plant foods may trigger cancer cell differentiation, causing them to revert back to behaving more like normal cells.

person sitting in wheelchair in a garden

Treating Multiple Sclerosis with the Swank MS Diet

A plant-based diet may not only be the safest treatment for multiple sclerosis; it may also be the most effective.

Starving Cancer with Methionine Restriction

Methionine restriction—best achieved through a plant-based diet—may prove to have a major impact on patients with cancer because, unlike normal tissues, many human tumors require the amino acid methionine to grow.

Eating Outside Our Kingdom

A higher rate of cancer deaths among those that handle and process meat is attributed to infection with viruses, and chronic exposure to animal proteins.

More than an Apple a Day: Preventing the Most Common Diseases

Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition, and developed this brand-new live presentation on the latest in cutting-edge research on how a healthy diet can affect some of our most common medical conditions.

Cancer Risk from CT Scan Radiation

Pediatric CAT scans are estimated to cause hundreds of cancer deaths every year.

Clinical Studies on Açaí Berries

An independent review of the effects of açaí berries was recently published, including studies on immune function, arthritis, and metabolic parameters.

mother and baby breastfeeding

The Best Baby Formula

Exclusive breastfeeding for a full six months may, ironically, improve our children’s taste for vegetables—whereas children fed formula grow up with increased rates of inflammatory diseases such as asthma, cancer, and diabetes.

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.

Poultry and Penis Cancer

Poultry and Penis Cancer

The largest study to date on poultry workers found a significantly increased risk of dying from penile cancer, thought to be due to exposure to oncogenic (cancer-causing) chicken viruses, which raise consumer concerns as well.

Chicken Dioxins, Viruses, or Antibiotics?

Chicken Dioxins, Viruses, or Antibiotics?

The association between poultry and cancer may be explained by the presence in chickens’ and turkeys’ flesh of industrial carcinogens such as dioxins, oncogenic (cancer-causing) viruses, and/or the drugs that were fed to the birds.

woman's hands holding package of chicken

EPIC Findings on Lymphoma

In a study of a half million people, which was most associated with the risk of developing lymphoma? Red meat, processed meat, poultry, offal, eggs, or milk?

Coffee and Cancer

Coffee and Cancer

Coffee consumption is associated with a modest reduction of total cancer incidence.

Lung Cancer Metastases and Broccoli

Lung Cancer Metastases & Broccoli

The anti-proliferative effects of cruciferous vegetable phytonutrients may decrease the metastatic potential of lung cancer, the number one cancer killer of women.

Are Nitrates Pollutants or Nutrients?

Are Nitrates Pollutants or Nutrients?

Phytonutrients, such as vitamin C, prevent the formation of nitrosamines from nitrites—which explains why adding nitrite preservatives to processed meat can be harmful, but adding more vegetables, with their nitrite-forming nitrates, to our diet can be helpful.

Bacon and Botulism

Bacon & Botulism

The nitrite preservatives in processed meats such as bologna, bacon, ham, and hot dogs form carcinogenic nitrosamines, but also reduce the growth of botulism bacteria—forcing regulators to strike a balance between consumers risking cancer, or a deadly form of food poisoning.

When Nitrates Go Bad

When Nitrites Go Bad

Nitrites in processed meat form nitrosamines, a class of potent carcinogens found in cigarette smoke, which may explain why hot dog consumption has been associated with the two leading pediatric cancers, brain tumors and childhood leukemia.

Power Plants

Many of the most powerful drugs in modern medicine’s arsenal came from natural products, from penicillin to the chemotherapy agents Taxol® and vincristine.

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