(BlackDoctor.org) -- When it comes to cancer there are no guarantees. However, there are choices you can make to significantly reduce your risks. According to research or other evidence, the following self-care steps may be helpful:

What You Need To Know:

• Focus on fiber
  Eat foods rich in fiber, especially those made with whole grains, to help reduce the risk of several cancers
  
• Find healthy fats
  Meals containing olive oil or fish help protect against cancer, and avoiding fat from meat, dairy, and processed foods may decrease cancer risk
  
• Go vegetarian
  Lower cancer risk by eating plenty of fruits, whole grains, legumes, and vegetables (especially tomatoes and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage), which helps to optimize body weight, immune function, hormone regulation, and to avoid meat-related carcinogens
  
• Avoid alcohol
  Use alcoholic beverages in moderation or not at all to reduce the risk of many cancers
  
• Get regular checkups
  Many cancers can be prevented or discovered in the early stages with screening tests available through your healthcare provider
   

These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full cancer prevention and diet article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.

Dietary changes that may be helpful
The following dietary changes have been studied in connection with cancer.

Alcohol and Cancer
Alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk of cancers of the mouth (oral/oropharyngeal cancer), throat (esophageal cancer), and voice box (laryngeal cancer), particularly in conjunction with cigarette smoking. Most studies documenting these associations also report that former drinkers have significantly lower risks for these cancers compared with current drinkers. Strong correlations between alcohol consumption and the risk of having liver cancer have also been reported.

Little is known about the effect of alcohol intake on the risk of female cancers other than breast cancer. Of the few published studies, findings have been inconsistent.

Fiber
Whole grains (such as rye, brown rice, and whole wheat) contain high amounts of insoluble fiber—the type of fiber some scientists believe may help protect against a variety of cancers. In an analysis of the data from many studies, people who eat relatively high amounts of whole grains were reported to have low risks of lymphomas and cancers of the pancreas, stomach, colon, rectum, breast, uterus, mouth, throat, liver, and thyroid. Most research focusing on the relationship between cancer and fiber has focused on breast and colon cancers.

Consuming a diet high in insoluble fiber is best achieved by switching from white rice to brown rice and from bakery goods made with white flour or mixed flours to 100% whole wheat bread, whole rye crackers, and whole grain pancake mixes. Refined white flour is generally listed on food packaging labels as “flour,”“enriched flour,”“unbleached flour,”“durum wheat,”“semolina,” or “white flour.” Breads containing only whole wheat are often labeled “100% whole wheat.”

Vegetarianism
The following two possibilities are both strongly supported by research findings:

• Some foods consumed by vegetarians may protect against cancer.
• Eating meat may increase the risk of cancer.
• Compared with meat eaters, most, but not all, studies have found that vegetarians are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer. Vegetarians have also been shown to have stronger immune function, possibly explaining why vegetarians may be partially protected against cancer. Female vegetarians have been reported to have lower estrogen levels compared with meat-eating women, possibly explaining a lower incidence of uterine and breast cancers. A reduced risk for various cancers is only partly, not totally, explained by differences in body weight, smoking habits, and other lifestyle issues.

Fruits and Vegetables
Consumption of fruits and vegetables is widely accepted as lowering the risk of most common cancers. Many doctors recommend that people wishing to reduce their risk of cancer eat several pieces of fruit and several portions of vegetables every day. Optimal intakes remain unknown.

Most doctors also recommend that people should not consider supplements as substitutes for the real thing. Some of the anticancer substances found in produce have probably not yet been discovered, while others are not yet available in supplement form. More important, some research, particularly regarding synthetic beta-carotene, does not support the idea that taking supplements has the same protective value against cancer as does consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Flavonoids
Flavonoids are found in virtually all herbs and plant foods. Consumption of flavonoid-rich onions and apples contain large amounts of one flavonoid called quercetin. Consumption of flavonoids in general, or quercetin-containing foods in particular, has been associated with protection against cancer in some, but not all, preliminary studies.

Tomatoes
Tomatoes contain lycopene—an antioxidant similar in structure to beta-carotene. Most lycopene in our diet comes from tomatoes, though traces of lycopene exist in other foods. Lycopene inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells in test tube research.

A review of published research found that higher intake of tomatoes or higher blood levels of lycopene correlated with protection from cancer in 57 of 72 studies. Findings in 35 of these studies were statistically significant. Evidence of a protective effect for tomato consumption was strongest for cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach, but some evidence of a protective effect also appeared for cancers of the pancreas, colon, rectum, esophagus (throat), mouth, breast, and cervix.

Cruciferous vegetables
Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower belong to the Brassica family of vegetables, also known as “cruciferous” vegetables. In test tube and animal studies, these foods have been associated with anticancer activity, possibly due to several substances found in these foods, such as indole-3-carbinol, glucaric acid (calcium D-glucarate), and sulforaphane. In a preliminary human study, people who ate cruciferous vegetables were reported to have a lower-than-average risk for bladder cancer.

Meat (how it is cooked) and childhood cancers
In one report, high consumption of hot dogs was associated with an almost tenfold increase in the risk of childhood leukemia when compared with low consumption. In another report, maternal consumption of hot dogs and childhood consumption of hamburgers or hot dogs at least once per week were associated with a doubling of the risk of cancers in children. A review of nine studies found an association between consumption by pregnant women of cured meat and the risk of brain cancer in their offspring. These associations do not yet constitute proof that eating hot dogs or hamburgers causes cancer in children, and evidence linking cured meat consumption to childhood cancers remains somewhat inconsistent.

In the report studying the effects of eating hot dogs and hamb