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There are many different reasons someone can find themselves diagnosed with cancer whether it be lifestyle or environmental factors, or in some cases there is no known cause at all. There are also all different kinds of cancer most of which there are treatment for but no definitive cure. While there are things like chemotherapy and radiation and surgery that can help eliminate cancer in the body, there is a lot of research that suggests nutrition and changes to your diet can help support the immune system to help it fight against cancer as well as prevent cancer.
The immune system is what provides resistance to disease through many different methods. We have an innate defense system that make up our first and second line of defense, this would be our skin or our microbial proteins and phagocytes and other cells. We also have our adaptive defense system that attacks particular foreign substances, this includes out T and B cells.
When it comes to diet and lifestyle, there is a lot of research that suggests that having a primarily plant based diet can greatly benefit our immune system. Having a diet the consists primary of vegetables and fruit and is low in cholesterol, fats, and processed ingredients is one of the best steps you can take to prevent cancer or begin to start treating it. Food has dietary components that can behave as antigens (Soldati, et al. 2018). For example garlic and onions and vegetables in that family have a lot of anti-carcinogenic properties. They do this by increasing detoxification systems and DNA repair mechanisms which prevent chromosomal damage (Zanini, et al. 2015. Tomatoes also have substances that can function as antioxidants that have been found to prevent chronic diseases like cancer as well as cardiovascular disease (Zanini, et al. 2015). Berries are another food that has a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties properties that can help the treatment of oncology patients.
There are a lot of different diets that are rich with ingredients like tomatoes, onions, garlic, berries, broccoli, etc that can benefit though with chronic disease. Some of these include the Mediterranean diet, a vegetarian diet, or Japanese diet. What all these have in common are a high intake of vegetables and low intake of unhealthy fats, sugars, and overly processed foods. They are also low I carbohydrates which we know increase sugars and insulin in the body. Reducing these things plays a huge role in treating oncology patients especially while undergoing things like chemotherapy treatment.
Having a consistently healthy diet rich in nutrients can help manipulate the immune system and help it regulate while it fights against disease. Having an anti-inflammatory diet can reduce risk of cancer and have cancer fighting properties that can reduce the growth of cancer.
References
Nutrition and immunity. The Nutrition Source. (2025, January 17). https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrition-and-immunity/#:~:text=A%20high%2Dfiber%20plant%2Drich,to%20stimulate%20immune%20cell%20activity.
Soldati, L., Di Renzo, L., Jirillo, E., Ascierto, P. A., Marincola, F. M., & De Lorenzo, A. (2018). The influence of diet on anti-cancer immune responsiveness. Journal of translational medicine, 16, 1-18.
Zanini, S., Marzotto, M., Giovinazzo, F., Bassi, C., & Bellavite, P. (2015). Effects of dietary components on cancer of the digestive system. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 55(13), 1870-1885.