Alcohol Alcohol is estimated to contribute to about 3 percent of deaths from cancer. Persons who drink alcohol heavily have a higher risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, and liver cancer. Although alcohol appears to reduce the risk of heart disease, other evidence also suggests that even one alcoholic drink a day is associated with breast and possibly colon and rectal cancer. Certain carcinogenic foods should be limited while others should be eliminated altogether. Salted, pickled, and smoked foods such as pickles or smoked fish, and meats treated with nitrites should be limited.
Salt appears to contribute significantly to cancer.
Meats that have been charred over a grill should be eliminated from the diet because the charred part is carcinogenic. Taking the antioxidant vitamin C through vitamin C rich foods or supplementation may protect against the cancer-causing effects of carcinogenic foods. Hot drinks have also been shown to be associated with higher esophageal cancer risk. The effect of diet on cancer may have as much to do with foods that are in a diet as foods that are not in a diet. Adopting certain dietary habits, such as reducing dietary fat and eating more soy-based foods, fiber, fruites, and vegetables, can offer some protection against cancer because they contain certain properties, such as antioxidant activity, that act as cancer blockers.