Cancer Diet

Fewer pork sausages, Mom

Health food faddists have been saying it for years: eat right and you may reduce the risk of getting cancer. At a press conference in Washington last week, the National Academy of Sciences not only signaled its agreement with that view, it issued a 500-page report specifying just what is meant by eating right. "Our committee's recommendations should not be regarded as assuring a cancer-free life," said Dr. Clifford Grobstein, University of California biologist and chairman of the NAS panel that released the two-year study, but "by controlling what we eat we may prevent diet-sensitive cancer." Among the recommendations:

> Cut fat consumption by 25% or more, both the saturated variety of fat found in meat and whole milk products and unsaturated lipids like those in vegetable oils. Animal tests and human population studies have shown a strong correlation between fat intake and rates of cancer of the breast, colon and prostate.

> Eat less smoked, pickled and salt-cured foods, including sausages, smoked fish and bacon. In Japan, China and Iceland, where such foods are frequently consumed, there is a higher incidence of cancers of the stomach and esophagus. These foods also tend to contain nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chemicals known to cause cancer in animals.

> Eat more fruits and vegetables containing vitamin C (oranges, broccoli and tomatoes) and beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A found in squash, carrots and other yellow and green vegetables. Both substances inhibit the formation of chemically induced cancers in laboratory tests; both are associated with lower cancer rates in human populations. The committee counseled against high-dose vitamin pills because of insufficient evidence about their health benefits. High doses of vitamin A, it added, can be toxic.

The committee advised Americans to drink only "moderate" amounts of alcohol, although it did not specify how much. Alcohol consumption, particularly when combined with smoking, has been linked to mouth, larynx, liver and lung cancers. Panel members were not, however, able to confirm reports that dietary fiber reduces the risk of bowel cancer. Nor was the evidence sufficient to convince them of the prophylactic benefits of vitamin E or the perils of preservatives, food dyes and other chemical additives.

The report drew criticism from the National Cattlemen's Association, which labeled it "inconclusive and premature," and from the American Meat Institute, which said it was based on "insufficient evidence." Grobstein acknowledged that his panel was "exploring a relationship between two still largely unknowns," but he added: "I don't think we're disseminating unproven theories."

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