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?
EPIC Findings on Lymphoma
Doctor's Note
Why was there so much more lymphoma and leukemia risk among those eating just a small serving of chicken a day? That’s the subject of Chicken Dioxins, Viruses, or Antibiotics?. And see Vegetarians Versus Healthy Omnivores for a discussion of overall cancer rates. The EPIC study also compared obesity rates in omnivores, flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans. See Thousands of Vegans Studied.
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Poultry and Penis Cancer; Poultry Paunch: Meat & Weight Gain; Treating an Enlarged Prostate With Diet; Eating Green to Prevent Cancer; How To Reduce Dietary Antibiotic Intake; and How Tumors Use Meat to Grow.
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Why was there so much more lymphoma and leukemia risk among those eating just a small serving of chicken a day? That’s the subject of my next NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day (coming on Monday). And see yesterday’s video for a discussion of overall cancer rates. The EPIC study also compared obesity rates in omnivores, flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans. See Thousands of Vegans Studied. There are also hundreds of other videos on more than a thousand subjects.
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You are my Morning Report! To bad you don’t post on the weekends!
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Not sure of the technical difficulty but this particular video will not load to play.
Thanks.
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It’s playing for me. Could the trouble be at your end? Anyone else having a problem, I wonder?
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Working great presently. Thanks!
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Hm. It’s playing fine for me. Could the trouble be at your end?
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Didn’t this study also find a significantly higher rate of bowel cancer among the vegetarians? What is your take on that?
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Dr. Greger did say the study had some interesting findings that he would address later before he quoted the conclusion in the previous video “Vegetarians Versus Healthy Omnivores”. I take that as meaning he will address that issue over the course of the next week.
It does appear to contradict all of the common risk factors, though. “Low fiber, high fat diets. Sedentary lifestyle. Obesity. Diabetes. Smoking, and alcohol consumption” are a number of risk factors provided by the Mayo Clinic that usually aren’t attributes of vegetarians. Old age is a risk factor, perhaps mean age was higher for the vegetarian participants? Perhaps the excessive low calorie handicap (just as much fruits/veggies as omnivores) played a role. Inflammatory bowel diseases are a risk factor, which could be related to grain consumption in the vegetarian group assuming they had a gluten intolerance or celiac, diagnosed or not. There are a number of possible confounding variables, but I haven’t bothered to spoil the fun of this video series by checking myself.
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Would that still be the case if it was organic, cage free, grain fed chickens?
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yes, even when you are purchasing your chickens with those labels on them the risk factors still apply. they still have the same saturated fats and cholesterol in it. it also has to do with the fecal matter the animals live in and around “cage free” doesnt mean they have much more space to move around and “organic” just means they are fed organic food.
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Why do you think follicular lymphoma was increase with yogurt and cheese consumption? Statistical variance?
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But, Dr. Greger, don’t tell me I have to give up eating my tails and eyeballs. I just love them! Jus’ kiddin’ this is another magnificent vid from you. Thanks!
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Have you done any videos on vegans having low white blood cell counts? My white blood cell count is 2.7 and they are sending me to an oncologist and hematologist. I hear it is common in the plant based community to be send to these specialists for low white blood cell counts.
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Was the amount of antibiotics and other synthetic chemicals in the chicken considered? The healthiest people on the planet eat plenty of animal products. Check out westonaprice.org.
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chw777: The Weston Price Foundation sounds legitimate and catches a lot of lay people. However, that group is notorious for giving out misinformation. It is filled pseudo science and outright wrong info. The Foundation does not even accurately represent the views of Weston Price as he wrote them down. If you want to learn about the ways in which you have been lied to, the following videos about the Weston Price foundation and their claims are very helpful. http://plantpositive.com/display/Search?moduleId=19496100&searchQuery=weston+price
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After you watch a video or two from the list on the left, notice the list of videos on the right. You will see that that website also includes a whole lot of information about societies which eat a lot of meat, such as the Innuit. Even ancient Innuit mummies show signs of heart disease and cancer. And that’s not even from a very old person. Do not be fooled by the Plant Positive website name. The videos are a great scholarly work which are supported by the actual science.
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Since you expressed an interest in the healthiest societies on the planet, I thought I would mention the Blue Zones, which are largely plant based cultures. The traditional Okinawans are one of the 4 blue zone cultures. They have one of the highest 100+ populations (and going strong at that age too). And here’s the point, the traditional Okinawans had less than 4% of their calories from animal products. If you want some quick info about the Okinawans and their diet, here is a very short NutritionFacts video: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-okinawa-diet-living-to-100/
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If you are still with me, I highly recommend a summary video from NutritonFacts a great way to start to learn about the science of nutrition. It’s fun and a real eye opener: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-leading-causes-of-death/ There are three other summary videos on the home page if you want to get 100% caught up.
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What was the source of the meats and poultry …factory farmed? This would be a key factor in these studies. What did the study have in place for controls; Smokers, non-smokers, excessive alcohol intake, sedentary/active lifestyle, levels of stress, sleep habits.
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Stands to reason that eliminating poultry from the diet of someone who has non-hodgkins lymphoma could improve the condition??? since follicular especially tends to ebb and flow?? Thoughts??
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I am trying to help a friend who is fighting 3 types of lymphoma, 2 of which are aggressive which evolved/transformed from Follicular lymphoma. Can you please tell us, what are the most potent power foods to help rebuild white blood cells after heavy hemotherapy? I know about vitamin C and selenium; is nutritional yeast good? Any recommendations are appreciated … and what about these apricot kernels i am reading about ? Safe? How many per day would be therapeutic with aggressive lymphomas?
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Hi, Joanne Nemia. Your friend is lucky to have a concerned and supportive person like you on his or her side! Apricot kernels have not been discussed on this site, as far as I can tell. The active ingredient in them, amygdalin, also called laetrile and “vitamin B 17” has been studied as a cancer therapy. Consuming apricot kernels can result in cyanide poisoning, and the effectiveness of apricot kernels as a cancer therapy has not been demonstrated. Given the available information, I cannot honestly tell you that there is a safe or therapeutic amount for apricot kernels. You might be interested in these:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27002407
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00520-006-0168-9
I don’t know of specific foods for rebuilding white blood cells after cancer treatment. A diet consisting of a variety antioxidant-rich, colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds is likely to be supportive for someone battling cancer. I am not aware of any special benefits from nutritional yeast, although it does provide B vitamins. I hope that helps!
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Hi, I am vegan 10 years. I have recently been diagnosed with indolent follicular lymphoma. (Actually I’ve had it for 8.5 years. A biopsy was mis-read as benign back then). I am told I do not need treatment at this time. I have two choices to try to get rid of it. Can you comment. 1) Supervised water-fast at True North. I have already been accepted as a good candidate but this would require at least 3 weeks away from my home in NYC and finding pet-sitters for my 4 cats. 2) Protocel, do you know anything about it? Thanks in advance.
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I’d go with the fast. Protocel appears to have been proven worthless:
“No animal study or human study of Cancell/Cantron/Protocel has been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal to show that it is safe or effective in treating cancer.”
Ref– https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cancell-pdq
Dr. Ben
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