Nutrition and Cancer: Do’s and Don’ts


What we eat — and don’t eat — is directly related to our health. Poor diets lead to poor health outcomes, including cancer.

Dr. Donald Abrams, integrative oncologist at UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, is an expert on nutrition and cancer. Dr. Abrams says you can never overstate how important the food we eat is to our health. He says nearly 50% of the most common cancers can be prevented by eating well, maintaining a healthy weight and active lifestyle, not smoking, using sunscreen and getting vaccinated.

Dr. Abrams reviews the latest research on how the foods we eat increase the risk of cancer. To help prevent cancer, he recommends:

  • Eating a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts
  • Eating omega-3 seafood
  • Limit eating red and processed meat and dairy
  • Limit eating refined carbohydrates like sugar, white flour, and white rice
  • Season with garlic, ginger, onions, turmeric
  • Drink green tea and red wine (if alcohol is consumed)

Watch Nutrition and Cancer: Do’s and Don’ts.