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A plant-based diet can help lower the risk of developing cancer

On this edition of Your Call, we continue our discussion on rising cancer rates by taking a deeper dive into diet, lifestyle, environmental toxins, and other factors. Dr. Urvi Shah, a cancer survivor, recommends that people get at least 80 to 90 percent of calories from unprocessed plant foods. She says she's looking for progress, not perfection.

What does the latest science and research say? What else needs to be studied?

Guests:

Dr. Urvi Shah, cancer survivor, myeloma specialist, hematologist-oncologist, assistant attending physician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Vanita Rahman, clinic director of the Barnard Medical Center, certified nutritionist, and former internal medicine doctor at Kaiser Permanente, where she launched a plant-based weight loss program

Resources:

American Cancer Society: Annual Report: Cancer Mortality Continues to Drop Despite Rising Incidence in Women; Rates of New Diagnoses Under 65 Higher in Women Than Men

American Cancer Society: Proportion and number of cancer cases and deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in the United States, 2019

Keck School of Medicine of USC: Large-scale study explores genetic link between colorectal cancer and meat intake

World Health Organization: Cancer: Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat

The Mayo Clinic: Plant-based diet is encouraged for patients with cancer

International Agency for Research on Cancer: Ultra-processed foods are associated with increased risk of cancer and cardiometabolic multimorbidity

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.
Marisa Orozco is a producer on KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.