Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Linda
Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive forms of human cancer, with a 5-year survival rate of only 3%. Being diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer means, on average, about 6 more months of life. Pancreatitis, which is chronic inflammation of the pancreas, may lead to pancreatic cancer.
Eating a varied plant-based diet may be an effective way of preventing cancer, including pancreatic cancer. One study found two handfuls of nuts per week may help protect against pancreatic cancer. Phytate, found in beans, grains, nuts, and seeds, may inhibit the growth of different cancer cells, including those of pancreatic cancer. Curcumin has been tested against different cancers, including pancreatic cancer, and may provide temporary relief to some pancreatic cancer patients. Coffee consumption has been linked with a reduced incidence of pancreatic cancer.
The nitrite preservatives in processed meat have been significantly associated with pancreatic cancer. Bacon and chicken consumption may significantly increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. Well-cooked meat and deep-fried food intake may be associated with increased risk of different cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Research involving poultry workers indicates that cancer-causing viruses in poultry may explain increased risks of death from liver and pancreatic cancers. The largest study on nutrition ever has linked the consumption of animal fat and animal protein with pancreatic cancer.
The Ayurvedic herbal formulation, Triphala, may be helpful in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, samples have been found to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals, so one has to be cautious.
For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.
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Certain spices and the quinine in tonic water can boost GLP-1, but at what cost?
How common are serious potential side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, such as suicide, pancreatitis, bowel obstruction, thyroid cancer, and pancreatic cancer?
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I quantify the risks of colon and rectal cancers from eating bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausage, and lunch meat.
Losing weight can reduce sciatica, hypertension, and cancer risk, and reverse type 2 diabetes.
How few eggs should we eat to reduce the risk of prostate, ovarian, colon, and breast cancer?
The relationship between the consumption of eggs and other cholesterol-rich foods and cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium, pancreas, and throat.
What does the best available balance of evidence say right now about what to eat and what to avoid to reduce your risk of cancer?
The natural plant-based sweeteners stevia and monk fruit (Luo Han Guo) are pitted head-to-head against aspartame and Splenda.
If even light drinking can cause cancer, why don’t doctors warn their patients about it?
How should we parse the conflicting human data on intake of aspartame (Nutrasweet) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, and pancreatic cancer?
Should the active ingredient in aspirin be considered an essential vitamin?
Curcumin-free turmeric, from which the so-called active ingredient has been removed, may be as effective or even more potent.
If studies from the 1970s showed cancer patients treated with vitamin C lived 4 times longer and sometimes even 20 times longer, why isn’t it standard practice today?
Energy density explains how a study can show participants lose an average of 17 pounds within 21 days while eating a greater quantity of food.
Carcinogens in grilled and baked chicken may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, while curcumin, the yellow pigment in the spice turmeric, may sometimes help even in advanced stages of the disease.
Within hours the blood of those fed walnuts is able to suppress the growth of breast cancer cells in a petri dish. Which nut might work best, though—almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, or walnuts?
The association between cancer and the consumption of deep-fried foods may be due to carcinogens formed at high temperatures in animal foods (heterocyclic amines and polycyclic hydrocarbons) and plant foods (acrylamide).
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.
Dramatically lower cancer rates in India may in part be attributable to their more plant-based, spice-rich diet.
Cancer-causing viruses in poultry may explain increased risks of death from liver and pancreatic cancers.
Those who eat meat risk food poisoning from undercooked meat, but also exposure to cooked meat carcinogens in well-cooked meat. By boiling meat, non-vegetarians can mediate their risk of both.
Because certain tumors such as breast cancers thrive in settings of low-grade inflammation, our immune response can sometimes facilitate tumor growth.
For decades, studies on Gerson therapy for cancer have questioned its safety and efficacy. But, what does the latest head-to-head trial of a Gerson-style regime, versus chemotherapy, show in terms of survival and quality of life for pancreatic cancer ?
Coffee consumption is associated with a modest reduction of total cancer incidence.
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.
Triphala, a combination of three fruits—amla, bibhitaki, and haritaki—is the most commonly used herbal formulation in Ayurvedic medicine, and may have powerful anticancer properties. Unfortunately, one in five Ayurvedic herbal dietary supplements were found contaminated with lead, mercury, and/or arsenic.
Breast cancer can take decades to develop, so early detection via mammogram may be too late.
A landmark study pitted 34 common vegetables against 8 different lines of human cancer cells.
