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I’m Helen Kennedy. I’m a Macmillan specialist dietitian,

based at the University Hospitals of Leicester, NHS trust.

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We know that about a third of cancers

could be preventable by changing our diet and lifestyle.

And that includes things like being a healthy weight,

following a healthy diet,

a cancer protective diet,

and also taking some physical activity.

A cancer protective diet would be a diet that is high in fibre

to protect us against things like bowel cancer,

so eating plenty of whole grain foods.

We know that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is very important

because we get a lot of our essential vitamins and minerals

and phyto chemicals from fruit and vegetables.

Many people say, “Do I need to eat organic fruit and vegetables to get the benefits?”

In actual fact, organic fruit and vegetables

are just the same as normal vegetables

in terms of their vitamin and nutrient content.

Organic foods, as with other fruits and vegetables,

we need to wash fruit and vegetables well before we use it.

And this removes any pesticide residues.

We’re trying to steer people away from eating too much processed food,

which obviously has more fat and sugar and salt and contains more of these additives.

So, if we try to base our foods around fresh produce,

we naturally cut down on these anyway.

We hear a lot about cancer super foods.

In actual fact, there’s no one cancer super food.

It’s this idea of a rainbow diet, so eating foods that are all different colours,

often give us these essential nutrients.

There is some evidence to show that eating a lot of red meat,

that we increase our risk of bowel cancer.

So it’s a good idea to try to cut down the amount of red meat we eat.

There have been reports that dairy foods are not suitable for people with cancer

and are not particularly healthy, and there’s no evidence really to support this.

In fact, if people do exclude dairy products from their diet, it can be harmful

because they’re not taking essential calcium and vitamin D.

Again, if you’re wanting to follow any particular type of diet,

it’s important to discuss it first with your GP

or doctor or nurse specialist before you embark on anything.

So in terms of a cancer protective lifestyle,

it’s important to eat the right foods,

be a healthy weight, and be active.

This kind of diet’s protective against other kinds of diseases,

like diabetes and heart disease.

And people may not be able to make all of the changes at once,

but introducing small gradual changes over a period of time

can have the same impact.

Macmillan produce a range of booklets

with information about diet and a healthy lifestyle.

If people are interested, they can request these

or go to the website for more information.

The booklets talk about healthy diet during treatment

and for those people who finished treatment –

what kind of diet to eat for health and well-being.

There’s also a recipe booklet which has got lots of top tips for how people can adapt their diet.

[New speaker] For information, help, or if you just want to chat,

the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, or visit Macmillan.org.uk