Why a Plant-Based Diet is Good for Your Health | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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Studies continue to support a link between obesity and increased risk for certain cancers. Eating a healthy, plant-based, balanced diet can not only help you manage your weight, but may also help reduce your risk for developing certain cancers, while supporting your immune system, helping you feel well during treatment, and promoting healthy survivorship.


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I’m Stacy Kennedy, a nutrition specialist for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Welcome to Eating Well During Cancer. Today I’d like to talk to you about why a balanced, plant-based diet is good for your health.

Studies continue to support a link between excess body fat or obesity and the risk for cancer. We know that eating a healthy, plant-based, balanced diet can help you not only manage your weight but may also help reduce your risk for developing certain cancers, helping support your immune system to feel well during treatment, and also help to promote survivorship.

Eating balanced diet means choosing primarily unprocessed or minimally processed natural, fresh foods in abundance. In addition to that, drinking plenty of water and choosing a plant-based or lean protein is another important part of a balanced diet. A plant-based diet means that the majority of foods you're eating are coming from plants. These include bright, colorful fruits and vegetables, but also other foods, like spices and herbs and seasonings, as well as nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans, and legumes.

It’s important to think about a variety of colorful foods, because those colors signify a lot of nutrition. Whether it’s a bright red like a beet, which are full of important phytonutrients to support your health, or bright, beautiful yellow like a mango, the color signifies a lot of vibrancy and a lot of nutrition.

Choosing local foods as often as possible will help not only increase the amount of vitamins and phytonutrients, but can also help to put away some concerns around pesticides or other contaminants. Certain foods are also important to choose as organic, and for more information on which foods are best to get organic, for recipes and lots of tips on how to create your own plant-based diet, we encourage you to visit our website or download our free app. On behalf of the nutrition department at Dana-Farber, I’m Stacy Kennedy.

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