Global Health Asia-Pacific September 2020 September 2020 | Page 64

Column
Food for thought
Dr Ang Peng Tiam offers advice on healthy eating during chemotherapy
I do know that
studies have
indicated that
a high-fat and
low-fibre diet
is associated
with a higher
chance of
breast cancer
and colorectal
cancer.
Iwas just settling down at the canteen after church
service to eat my usual breakfast – char siew
noodles, fried wanton in laksa gravy, and fried
chicken drumlets – when my friend, who is a leading
cancer specialist, joined us.
“Would you like to have something to eat?” my wife
asked politely, offering the plate of chicken.
“No, thank you. I’m thinking of going vegetarian,”
my friend replied.
Her motivation came from a book that she was
reading. Written by a Chinese scientist, it identified
meat as one of the main causes of cancer. The book
cited an experiment, in which rats were intentionally
exposed to high amounts of a known cancer-causing
compound, a�atoxin. �roduced by fungi, a�atoxin is a
powerful carcinogen which occurs naturally in some
foods such as maize, peanut, soybean, almond and
pistachio. Half the rats were also fed meat while the
rest were not.
“The experiment showed that only the rats that ate
meat developed liver cancer,” she said excitedly.
In my mind, I was consoling myself: “Thank God I’m
not a rat!”
There are many hypotheses correlating food,
in particular meat, to cancer. I’m no expert on this
subject and have never pretended to be.
I do know that studies have indicated that a high-fat
and low-fibre diet is associated with a higher chance
of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. It’s for this
reason that as a country becomes more affluent,
62 SEPTEMBER 2020 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific.com