Tadashi Kohagura writes:
My way of advising Yuki Masuda is
to try to make her understand the links between lifestyle choices like
diet and health problems such as breast cancer, and I am able to divide
my advice into four matters. First of all, she is approximately 15 kilos
overweight. So I want to make her understand that too much fat is linked
to breast cancer. Fats that are common in some diets have been linked to
an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women who intake many processed
and fast foods, for example, margarine whose contents contain the highest
levels of trans fatty acids, were 40 percent more likely than women with
lower levels of fat intake to develop breast cancer. In this case, it is
necessary for her to try to reduce 15 kilos at least to guard against breast
cancer.
The second piece of advice for her is that she needs to improve her eating
habits to guard against cancer. She eats quite a bit of beef and pork and
she cooks a lot of her food using sweet coconut oil or margarine and she
dislikes most vegetables and she prefers to eat Western-style desserts
like rich cakes and ice cream. Occasionally she likes to eat three or four
desserts at one time. Beef and pork, what we call animal foods, are excellent
sources of protein, iron, zinc, and B vitamins, as are beans, nuts, and
seeds. Animal foods are indispensable but we should not eat too much of
them. Protein from animal sources can be a cause of arteriosclerosis. And
sweet coconut oil and margarine provide calories but little else nutritionally.
So sweet coconut oil or margarine should be improved on by substituting
vegetable oil which is a rich source of vitamin E. And Western-style desserts
like rich cakes and ice cream have high levels of sugar which become energy
but the remainder become fats. Mrs. Masuda should especially try to eat
vegetables and fruits, because these foods are plentiful sources of vitamins,
minerals, biochemical compounds, and fiber-ingredients that may help to
reduce cancer risk.
Moreover, eating enough fruits and vegetables means an individual is likely
to eat proportionately less fatty and high-calorie foods. Fruits and vegetables
are chemically very complex, and contain many biochemicals that may contribute
to reduction of cancer risk.
The third piece of advice is that
she needs to reduce drinking alcohol because she is a moderate drinker.
The best established dietary risk factor is alcohol intake, which appears
to increase risk for breast cancer even among moderate drinkers. If she
drinks alcohol everyday, she will have to limit consumption of alcoholic
beverages.
The fourth piece of advice is that her way of life needs to be improved.
She says "I try to diet, I try to skip eating breakfast," but
she says, "after a few days of dieting like this, I have to have something
sweet and delicious." However this way of dieting is bad for her health.
And she likes to stay at home and she doesn't exercise much. So she has
to exercise more. The best way for her is walking. She doesn't have to
think she must do hard exercise, because even light exercise can do her
some good.
Finally, my overall advice to Mrs. Masuda is that she had better eat more
vegetables, not eat so much beef and pork, and start taking a walking.
She should become aware that she is too fat and she lacks exercise, and
most important, she must make up my mind from the bottom of her heart to
be on a diet and to pay attention to her health.
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