By Julie Stefanski MEd, RDN, CSSD, LDN, CDE<\/p>\n
If you had to pick one area of medical nutrition therapy that has the greatest amount of misinformation perpetuated by social media, would you pick cancer?\u00a0 Certainly, information geared towards weight loss dominates twitter and Instagram, but cancer misinformation can harm someone at a very vulnerable spot in their life when decisions about care are crucial to good outcomes.<\/p>\n
Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND<\/a> a Nutrition Advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research is on a mission to correct social media misinformation when it comes to cancer.\u00a0 Recently Karen has found a significant amount of grossly misinterpreted facts surrounding the landmark report on diet, physical activity and cancer that was jointly released by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund this past spring. This report which can be accessed here<\/a> is considered the most authoritative analysis of the body of worldwide cancer research.<\/p>\n Unfortunately several social media posts stating that dairy causes cancer have been attributed to the AICR\/WCRF report and this misinformation has been shared extensively across the Internet.<\/p>\n Do We Need to Give Up Dairy To Reduce Cancer Risk?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe AICR\/WCRF report actually has no recommendation pro or con on dairy due to limited evidence. However, it notes a probable reduction in colorectal cancer risk with dairy, so information in any blog post that says dairy is discouraged is blatantly incorrect regarding the report’s findings,\u201d\u00a0Karen explained.<\/p>\n Whether or not to consume cow\u2019s milk products is a question that is often asked of registered dietitian nutritionists.\u00a0 In terms of cancer, Karen points out how difficult it is tease out this information from the research. \u201cWhile dairy products, and increased calcium consumption, are associated with\u00a0lower risk\u00a0of\u00a0colorectal\u00a0cancer, the AICR\/WCRF report found data on many other types of cancer including ovarian and breast to be too limited to draw any conclusion.\u00a0 She added, \u201cWhile limited evidence does suggest potential for increased risk of\u00a0prostate cancer\u00a0with diets high in dairy products or calcium, the\u00a0relationship is\u00a0unclear<\/u>\u00a0when analysis is stratified by prostate cancer type. Evidence rated “limited” is not strong enough to support any recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n Consumption of red and processed meat is a separate area that the report concluded there was enough evidence to make a recommendation.\u00a0 Karen elaborated, \u201cThe AICR\/WCRF report identifies red meat that is not processed as a reasonable choice as part of a diet to reduce cancer risk, if amounts are limited to no more than 12-18 ounces\/week. Processed red meat is identified as a food to \u2018eat little, if any\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is it so difficult to tease out what foods effect cancer risk?<\/strong><\/p>\n As an expert in nutrition and cancer Karen shared that it\u2019s often difficult to break down recommendations into simple guidelines.\u00a0 \u201cFirst, cancer is complex. Scientists try to piece together research results about mechanisms in short-term controlled trials, and results regarding associations (which are not cause-and-effect) from observational studies,\u201d explained Karen.\u00a0 \u201cResearch shows potential for diet to play a role at multiple stages in the process of cancer development, which generally spans may years. Even in cohort studies with long follow-up, diet assessment may miss some times that are important. For example, emerging evidence suggests that at least for some cancers, diet, physical activity and body composition at time periods from early life and in adolescence could play a role. Almost all long-term studies are missing this information.\u201d<\/p>\n Some studies may also focus on isolated cells or the mechanism of action in animals.\u00a0 While this can provide valuable information, animals may not digest or metabolize nutrients or other compounds in exactly the same way as humans.\u00a0 Other factors such as our microbiome and individual differences in our genetic polymorphisms may impact our unique risk.<\/p>\n Our Diets Are Complex <\/strong><\/p>\n Evidence suggests that overall dietary pattern and the way nutrients work together is much more important to cancer risk than single nutrients.\u00a0 Rather than focusing on small, individual studies that focus on single foods for dietary advice, Karen recommends focusing on the big reports which put the individual studies in context.\u00a0 \u201cThe AICR\/WCRF report notes a potential for a 40% reduction in cancer risk by keeping the whole package of AICR\/WCRF recommendations for a plant-focused (not necessarily plant-exclusive) diet, adequate physical activity, avoiding\/limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco, and avoiding excess sun.\u201d<\/p>\n While we can’t correct all nutrition misinformation on the Internet, together we can make sure we’re not sharing posts which are not factual or evidence-based.<\/p>\n For reputable cancer organizations to follow on social media Karen recommends:<\/strong><\/p>\n American Institute for Cancer Research<\/a>\u00a0 (on Twitter:\u00a0 @aicrtweets<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 ) Check out Karen\u2019s other social media picks for cancer focused info:<\/strong> And you can connect with <\/strong>Karen\u00a0@KarenCollinsNutrition on Facebook<\/a>;\u00a0@KarenCollinsRD<\/a> on Twitter<\/p>\n Julie Stefanski MEd, RDN, LDN, CDE is a Food, Nutrition & Dietetics subject matter expert for OnCourse Learning, a Relias Company and a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.\u00a0 You can connect with her on social media @foodhelp123 on Twitter<\/a> and I<\/a>nstagram.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Julie Stefanski MEd, RDN, CSSD, LDN, CDE If you had to pick one area of medical nutrition therapy that has the greatest amount of misinformation perpetuated by social media, would you pick cancer?\u00a0 Certainly, information geared towards weight loss dominates twitter and Instagram, but cancer misinformation can harm someone at a very vulnerable spot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,96,1],"tags":[22,151,23,152,52,26],"class_list":["post-5964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-103","category-december-2","category-uncategorized","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-diet","tag-cancer-prevention","tag-cows-milk","tag-dairy","tag-oncology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10482,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions\/10482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n*AICR also has a blog where RDNs may find helpful commentary on headlines; subscribing is an option —\u00a0blog.aicr.org<\/a>
\nNational Cancer Institute<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 (on Twitter:\u00a0 @NCIprevention<\/a> )
\nOncology Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (on Twitter:\u00a0 @onc_dpg<\/a>)
\nWorld Cancer Research Fund International\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 (on Twitter:\u00a0 @wcrfint<\/a>)
\nAmerican Cancer Society<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 (on Twitter:\u00a0 @AmericanCancer<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 )
\nCenters for Disease Control – Cancer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Twitter:\u00a0\u00a0 @CDC_Cancer<\/a> )
\nAmerican Association of Cancer Research<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 (Twitter:\u00a0\u00a0 @AACR<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\nDanielle Penick, MS, RD, CSO, LDN \u00a0 — @DaniellePenick<\/a> on Twitter;\u00a0\u00a0 @Survivors’ Table on Facebook<\/a>)
\nJulie Lanford, RD, CSO, LDN — @CancerDietitian<\/a> on twitter
\nAnne McTiernan, MD, PhD — (researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) – @AMcTiernan<\/a> on Twitter
\nJulie Gralow, MD – medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer who offers helpful insights, too — @jrgralow<\/a> on Twitter<\/p>\n