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Scott Webb: Diet is thought to be responsible for about 30 to 40% of all cancers. And though no food or diet can prevent cancer. Some foods make your body the healthiest. It can be by boosting your immune system, keeping your risk for cancer as low as possible. And joining me today to help us all understand how we can reduce our risk of getting cancer by eating a healthier diet is Abby Emerick, Cancer Dietician at the Franciscan Health Cancer Center in Indianapolis. This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. Abby, thanks so much for joining me today. We're talking about nutrition and cancer and the correlation between the two. And we know that Indiana has one of the highest obesity rates in the country. So what are the health risks associated with obesity?

Abby Emerick: Obesity definitely has obviously been associated with many diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, but more importantly, what we're talking about today is cancer and how that is we know body fat is a metabolically active organ. And so too much body fat can increase cancer risk in several ways. We know that fat cells produce estrogen and high levels of estrogen have been linked to cancers, such as breast cancers and endometrial cancers. They also produce a variety of proteins, like high levels of insulin and other hormones, which also may turn in spur cancer cell growth, and then people that have excess body fat also produce cytokines. And these are substances that just are led to chronic inflammation, which ultimately increases your risk of cancer. So important to note that the fat in your midsection is more active in producing these hormones and cytokines. So the people that are more apple-shaped might actually have the higher risk, so the bigger waster conference and even more important that we want to focus on some weight management.

Host: Definitely. And when it comes to lowering our risk for certain types of cancer, how does nutrition help us to lower our risk?

Abby Emerick: So basically, we kind of do eventually become what we eat and how we fuel our bodies is ultimately going to impact on future disease states. So, you know what we put into our bodies, we want to be choosing nutrient rich things that are going to give us the vitamins and minerals, the protein, the carbs. So there's no doubt about it that, and more of a plant-based diet helps lower cancer risks. So this includes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are included in that. And now I know we're on this craze right now with keto and low carb, as far as weight management, but whole grains also have a place in that. So a lot of times it's been shown that at least two to four servings of fruit per day and four to eight servings of non-starchy vegetables is what's recommended. And these are going to be your cancer-fighting things. So the American Institute of Cancer Research, they have their own list of foods that they've kind of shown that to help fight cancer.

And basically, I was just telling my patients that the more a variety, your fruits and vegetables are the better and the richer in color they are the better too. Sorry, I typically say if it can stain your shirt, there's a good chance that it's going to be great in cancer-fighting. It's also important to note that with fruits and vegetables coming out of being in Indiana and summer is now, well, Summer's now gone produces sometimes coming out of season. And so it's okay to choose frozen versions of fruits and vegetables and as well as canned versions. So you can still get some nutrients from those. It's just really important that you aren't choosing versions that have lots of added sugars or like the canned fruits that have added like heavy syrups. And then like the vegetables that aren't canned with lots of salt, but so if you're choosing lower versions of those, then you can still get some nutrients as well as just using the fruits and vegetables that are in season.

So, the AICR at the American Institute of Cancer Research, some of those good fruits and vegetables and cancer-fighting foods are your apples, blueberries, your cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cherries, carrots, tomatoes, and then you also have kind of your beans. Your coffee is actually a great cancer-fighting food, tea, and some healthy nuts, such as walnuts are also great.

Host: You know, I'm glad to hear about coffee because I'm definitely enjoying a cup right now as I do a couple of times during the day. So I knew there were some health benefits there, right? So, and good three to point out that yes, of course in summer in season, great to eat fresh, you know, fruits and vegetables, but we can still eat healthy out of a can provided we look at for some of those markers and things that you've talked about. And I want to have you talk about when we talk about lowering inflammation and improving our immune systems, how specifically do foods in our diet affect those things?

Abby Emerick: So, they, one is just one they're giving us are the vitamins and minerals that we need that help repair and regenerate cells keeping our bodies strong. They also have antioxidants. So there's a variety of antioxidants out there. And that's typically, you know, you have different antioxidants for different colorful fruits and vegetables like anthocyanin’s and flavonols and carotenoids, which is kind of very technical. So that's why I always just say the more variety, the diet and the variety of colors, the better, but it's those that are the antioxidants that are kind of scavenging out what we call free radicals, which kind of attack ourselves and make us sick. So, and lead to that chronic inflammation. So I guess layman's terms, it's the antioxidants, the vitamins and minerals, the whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains as a whole. That really do that.

Host: That sounds good. And when you talk about colorful foods, of course, it's just more fun to eat colorful foods when we look at a plate and there's a lot of color on there, it just, it seems more inviting, right? It's yeah, more exciting to eat colorful foods. Let's talk about something that, though it doesn't cause cancer. And specifically I'm speaking about sugar. So sugar doesn't cause cancer, but it can increase our risk for cancer, right?

Abby Emerick: That is a big diet myth that's about sugar causes or sugar feeds cancer, but you're right. So extra sugar in the diet is what kind of just obviously tends to expand our waistlines. And then it's also when we have excess sugar in the diet, that's what stimulates excess insulin. And when we're already a society filled with obese people, then they typically have something called pre-diabetes or insulin resistance. So it kind of triggers more insulin to be excreted from her pancreas to pick up that sugar molecule when we eat lots of sugar. So just overall, we want to be mindful of that. And then we're seeing that effect as far as excess sugar in the diet, even effecting our heart health and cholesterol values. So yeah, we can limit the added sugars. Then we're going to helpfully limit the added inches on our waistline.

Host: Yeah, of course. And we would all like to shed a few pounds some of us have a disease like obesity, but we could all shed a few pounds and being, as you say, mindful of sugar and trying to cut that down is good for a variety of reasons. And when we talk about preventing cancer, why is avoiding alcohol and drugs so important?

Abby Emerick: Alcohol, despite some evidence linking some alcohol to protection of lowering heart disease, like such as red wine, this doesn't correlate to cancer risk. So alcohol can increase our cancer risk. It's one, it's an irritant to the mouth and the throat. And it leads to that oxidative stress, which leads to damage inside the cells that might increase the cancer. Alcohol and its byproducts can also damage the liver leading to inflammation and scarring. So we've also kind of know that alcohol consumption has been linked to several cancers. There is data on that such as head and neck cancers, esophageal cancer, liver, breast, and colorectal cancer. So we really want to make sure one, if you don't drink, don't go ahead and start picking up that habit. And especially if you think it's going to protect your heart. So it's best probably just to avoid it. But if you do drink no more than one drink for women, two drinks for men a day.

Host: As we wrap up here today, Abby, I want to have you explain, go through this with us here, how a better diet, more exercise or targeted exercise, and just healthier lifestyle, healthier habits can help lower our risks for cancer. As we head into flu season, there's just a lot of good reasons to eat better, to exercise more, to live healthier. Why don't you take us through some of those?

Abby Emerick: Just diet in general, like I said, you know what we put in our body, we ultimately can kind of help what, how our body reacts to the common colds and the illnesses that are going around. And so, the better nourished we are and the better fueled we are getting those good macro nutrients, like your carbs, fat, protein, and then also your micronutrients, those vitamins and minerals, then we're going to give our body the best bet to keeping it healthy. So when we're having good fiber and we're getting those good and just overall, our body works well, it gets great, as far as writing itself of waste and preventing constipation and kind of ridding the toxins out of our body that way. When we hydrate with lots of water, we're flushing our system just through simple urination. And then people like to always do, let's say like, detoxes, I hear a lot about that. Like, what detox should I do? Or what cleanses do I need to take? Or Supplements? And honestly, I tell people to remember the three P's. And so you detox your system naturally when one, you have a bowel moment. So, we'll say poop when you do that, you excrete that waste from that, sorry. And then when you urinate, so when you pee, you are excreting toxins, and then when you perspire and sweat.

And so, when you are getting active, you are excreting toxins through your skin as well. And then, you know, it's just good cardio-Respiratory getting your heart rate up and exercise in general, that is also going to help our immune system. So when you do those three things daily, you're doing pretty good about detoxing your system naturally, and don't really need anything. And so that's really important going into the long winter months. And then it's sometimes it's dreaded around the holidays, cause there's always going to be those extra sweets. And then if we're always really busy, but I think it's safe to say that we all probably spend so much time on social media or having that extra screen time that we don't like to say we have time to exercise when really when we kind of reevaluate our time, we probably do have, you know, 20 minutes here and there. And that's the thing is a lot of times people think they have to do exercise all at one time. And really you can do 10 minutes in the morning, take a 10 minute lunch break and go for a walk or 10 minutes in the evening and really kind of breaking up that away. And it's really just about being accommodating. I mean, you can add health and be healthy and do lifestyle tips and tricks without really just feeling like this is a horrible thing for you. You can make it enjoyable.

Host: Yeah. There's no doubt. And there's a lot to unpack there, but I love that the three P's. Abby, great having you on today, as we wrap up finally here. Anything else you want to tell people about the work you do specifically for Franciscan Health?

Abby Emerick: Well, I just love working with oncology patients and just empowering them through good nutrition. And I see the patients that put nutrition as a priority. They tend to always feel well and they tolerate their treatments better. And so, I get to see as they're going through treatment, but you know, there's also, I try to live it out and then, you know, trying to do prevention too. I don't want to see necessarily lots of people in our practice, we want to prevent that cancer. There is just ultimately the power of nutrition. And I think it really helps it not only mentally, but physically, and then also sometimes emotionally how you feel. So there is nutrition and healthy living and exercising. It's a mind, body, spirit type of practice.

Host: That's a great way to end and a perfect way to say it. The mind, body spirit, all important, and we can help ourselves by eating better exercising, living a little healthier, so great having you on today, Abby, and you stay well.

Abby Emerick: Thank you.

Host: To learn more about cancer prevention, visit Franciscanhealth.org/cancer care. And we hope you found this podcast to be helpful and informative. This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb stay well.