Low Glycemic Foods Reduce Cancer

Low Glycemic Foods Reduce Cancer

Stabilize blood sugar, quell cancer promoters

by Kelley Herring

Did you know the food you eat impacts your body's production and function of hormones, inflammatory substances and immune factors that play an important role in cancer? It's true!

One of the most important elements in preventing cancer is keeping your blood sugar stable. That's because high-glycemic foods fuel cancer’s fire by elevating insulin and cancer-promoting growth factors - like insulin-like growth factors (IGF)

Numerous studies have found high glycemic diets are associated with the most common cancers. Let's take a look:

In the Women’s Health Study of 39,876 women followed for 8 years, positive associations were found between dietary glycemic load (GL) and overall glycemic index (GI) and risk of colorectal cancer in women.
Investigators from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm and University of Athens studied 150 Greek men to evaluate the role of hormones involved in prostate disease. The study found that men with higher levels of IGF-1 had a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
A recent study involving over 2,500 Italian men bolstered the evidence for the role of IGF and prostate cancer, showing a direct relation between dietary GI and GL and prostate cancer risk.
The Nurses’ Health Study II examined the intake of dietary carbohydrate, glycemic load, and fiber in relation to the risk of breast cancer among 90,655 women. Although dietary carbohydrate, glycemic load and glycemic index were not related to breast cancer in the overall study, an association and increased risk was found for women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or higher.
Using a retrospective food frequency questionnaire, the Nurses’ Healthy Study II interviewed 47,355 women and found that a higher dietary glycemic index during adolescence was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

To help guard against cancer, keep your blood sugar in check by choosing low glycemic carbs like beans, sweet potatoes and foods made from 100% whole grain.

And remember, all of the recipes on our site are low glycemic, so eat up to keep cancer risk down... deliciously!

Cut Prostate Cancer Risk by 48%

The Physicians’ Health Study evaluated more than 20,000 men and found that those eating this food five times a week had a 48% lower chance of death from prostate cancer than the men who ate less than one weekly serving.

See p. 23 of Fats That Heal, Fats That Harm to learn more and then find hundreds of recipes with this cancer-fighting ingredient on our website.

Click here to learn more...

Higginbotham S, Zhang Z, Lee I, Cook N, Giovannucci E, Buring J, Liu S. Dietary glycemic load and colon cancer risk in the Women's Health Study. JNCI 2004;96:121-129.Higginbotham S, Zhang Z, Lee I, Cook N, Buring J, Liu S. Dietary glycemic load and breast cancer risk in the Women's Health Study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2004;13:65-70. Holmes M, Liu S, Hankinson S, Hunter D, Willett W. Dietary fiber, carbohydrates and breast cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159:732-9. Terry PD, Jain M, Miller AB, Howe GR, Rohan TE. Glycemic load, carbohydrate intake, and risk of colorectal cancer in women: a prospective cohort study. J Natl Cancer Inst 2003;95(12):914-6.Augustin LS, Galeone C, Dal Maso L, Pelucchi C, Ramazzotti V, Jenkins DJ, Montella M, Talamini R, Negri E, Franceschi S, La Vecchia C. Glycemic index, glycemic load and risk of prostate cancer Int J Cancer. 2004 Nov 10;112(3):446-50

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