A cancer nutritionist has highlighted the two foods we should steer clear of if we want to lower our risk of cancer. Nichole Andrews, a registered dietitian nutritionist who refers to herself as "the oncology dietician" online, says: "I want to remind you that even though everyone's saying everything that you're eating is increasing cancer risk, it's not. There are only two foods that you eat... that increase your cancer risk".
Nichole, who specialises in oncology and claims to have assisted thousands of cancer survivors through dietary changes, identifies these two foods as alcohol and processed meats. "That is it, that's the full list," she asserts, adding: "Processed meats [are] your pre-cooked meats, so hot dogs, deli meats, sausages, bacon.".
She also clarifies that this includes "all types of alcohol, including red wine". On her Instagram account, Nichole addresses allegations about other foods often labelled as "cancer-causing", such as sugar: "As a cancer dietician, let me clarify: sugar all on its own will not cause cancer [or] have your cancer grow quicker. If you have a diet high in sugar, you're probably going to have excess calories but that can go for anything, you can have an excess of any foods and then you're going to have a calorie surplus and then you're going to gain weight, gain fat tissue and it's the fat tissue that increases cancer risk.".
She writes: "Sugar doesn’t directly cause cancer – all cells (including healthy ones) use glucose for energy. Cutting sugar won’t 'starve' cancer cells. What’s actually linked to cancer risk is excess fat tissue, which produces inflammatory hormones that promote tumor growth.".
