Health
Foods to eat, and not eat, to prevent cancer, according to a doctor and nutritionist
Disease prevention starts in the kitchen, according to one cancer doctor.
Andre Goy, M.D., chief physician of Hackensack Meridian Health’s John Theurer Cancer Center in New Jersey, blames a “reliance on convenience” for many Americans’ poor diets and increasing cancer rates.
The doctor estimates that more than half of all cancers are preventable with lifestyle changes — from quitting smoking and drinking, to eating a plant-based diet and exercising.
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In addition to practicing as a cancer doctor, Goy is also passionate about cooking. He’s worked as a chef in his family’s inn in the French Alps.
“It is a great pleasure to combine this into my practice of medicine and oncology,” he said.
Andre Goy, M.D., chief physician of Hackensack Meridian Health’s John Theurer Cancer Center in New Jersey, shares his nutrition tips for cancer prevention. He says disease prevention starts in the kitchen. (Hackensack Meridian Health/iStock)
Goy shared with Fox News Digital his tips for improving nutrition for overall wellness and reduced cancer risk.
Processed foods problem
Americans ate only an average of 8.2 meals at home each week — an historic low, according to a Gallup poll.
Statistics like this could contribute to the increase in cancer among young adults, according to Goy.
“The biggest problem in the American diet is a reliance on convenience rather than home cooking,” he told Fox News Digital. “As a result, we eat too many processed foods.”
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Eating ultra-processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value can increase cancer risk by causing weight gain and obesity, the doctor noted — and the risk is heightened even further when combined with alcohol use and lack of exercise.
“The biggest problem in the American diet is a reliance on convenience rather than home cooking.”
“Obesity and poor diet induce microbiome dysbiosis, a decrease in microbial diversity that leads to chronic inflammation and leaky gut, increasing your cancer risk,” said Goy.
“Ultra-processed food refined with added sugar and white flour can negatively impact the balance of gut bacteria, leaving us more susceptible to the development of cancers.”
The most effective dietary approach to reducing cancer risk, according to a cancer doctor, is to adopt a plant-based diet focusing on fruits and vegetables rather than meats and processed foods. (iStock)
Many prepared and packaged foods lack key nutrients and have chemical preservatives that can increase the risk of developing cancer, he added.
The immune system is also affected by obesity and lack of exercise, which impact the body’s ability to fight off infection and disease, Goy noted.
Best foods to reduce cancer risk
The most effective dietary approach to reducing cancer risk, according to Goy, is to adopt a plant-based diet focusing on fruits and vegetables rather than meats and processed foods.
“A plant-based diet focuses on consuming mostly or exclusively plant-based foods with a focus on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds,” he told Fox News Digital.
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Not all plant-based foods are equal, however — which is why the doctor recommends avoiding foods labeled “plant-based” that are not actually healthy, such as frozen meat substitutes that are high in sodium.
“Choose whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible,” he advised. “Focus on plant foods that are protein sources, such as quinoa, farro, black beans, buckwheat, chia seeds, hummus and peanut butter.”
“While there is no specific diet that can guarantee cancer prevention, a nutrient-rich diet may lower your risk.”
He’s encouraged many patients to consider a plant-based diet, Goy said.
“For example, a patient with lymphoma was feeling signs of lupus, such as fatigue, fogginess and achiness, with blood work suggesting inflammation,” he told Fox News Digital.
“After switching to a plant-based diet, this patient felt so much better that he was eventually able to stop seven of his medications over the next four to six months.”
Dr. Andre Goy examines a patient during a consultation at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. (Hackensack Meridian Health)
Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based dietitian and author of the book “Belly Fat Diet For Dummies,” agreed that a well-balanced diet rich in beneficial nutrients, such as fiber and antioxidants, may be protective against future cancers.
“While there is no specific diet that can guarantee cancer prevention, a nutrient-rich diet may lower your risk,” she told Fox News Digital.
Many prepared and packaged foods lack key nutrients and have chemical preservatives that can increase the risk of developing cancer, a doctor warned. (iStock)
To help lower cancer risk through dietary choices, Palinski-Wade recommends consuming more whole vegetables and fruits (seven servings per day or more); increasing your intake of foods rich in fiber such as beans, lentils, nuts and seeds; and reducing your intake of added sugars and processed, high-fat animal proteins.
“Simple, sustainable changes with a focus on more home-cooked, plant-based foods will have a huge return on investment.”
The dietitian also recommends aiming for at least 15 grams of fiber per every 1,000 calories consumed.
“High-fiber diets may help to protect against colorectal cancer and other common digestive system cancers,” she said.
Adding more plant-based proteins and reducing high-fat, processed animal meats while adding healthy fats may help to protect against a variety of cancers, according to Palinski-Wade.
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“Limit added sugar in the diet to less than 10% of total calories and focus instead on slow-digested carbohydrates, including whole grains and whole fruits and vegetables,” she advised.
“Maintaining a healthy body weight and incorporating consistent, moderate exercise can also play a large role in reducing the risk of disease.”
Dr. Andre Goy (pictured), said the most effective dietary approach to reducing cancer risk is to adopt a plant-based diet focusing on fruits and vegetables rather than meats and processed foods. (Hackensack Meridian Health)
Goy warned against getting too wrapped up in a “dieting culture.”
“Food should not be a religion,” he told Fox News Digital. “Rather than focusing on restrictions, which can become an obsession, try eating plant-based for three months, and see what it does for your health and energy levels.”
“Anything too restrictive isn’t sustainable,” the doctor went on.
“Simple, sustainable changes with a focus on more home-cooked, plant-based foods will have a huge return on investment in preventing cancer and increasing overall health.”
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A distraught mother who thought she was having a heart attack was instead hospitalized with broken heart syndrome — otherwise known as takotsubo syndrome (TTS) — less than a year after her veteran son tragically took his own life.
Dawn Turner, 57, of the U.K., lost her son in August of last year.
Just last month, the mom of three awoke with “unbearable” chest pains, she said — and called an ambulance, worried she was going into cardiac arrest. But when she arrived at the hospital, doctors told her she was suffering from the effects of grief caused by a broken heart, as news agency SWNS reported.
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TTS is a temporary, reversible heart condition often triggered by extreme emotional or physical stress, such as grief, fear or severe illness, according to experts.
Symptoms usually mimic a heart attack, with sudden and severe chest pain and shortness of breath the most common — and it primarily affects women over the age of 50.
A mom whose soldier son took his own life feared she was suffering cardiac arrest — only to be told by hospital doctors that she was feeling the effects of grief caused by a broken heart. Dawn Turner, mother of deceased soldier Rob Homans, is pictured above, April 2026. (SWNS)
Turner, of Eckington in Worcester, said, “I was [sitting] downstairs earlier that night and thought I had a bit of indigestion. I went to bed and just couldn’t get comfortable — I was breaking out in a sweat and had heart palpitations.
“Then, around midnight, I had pain down my arm and in my jaw. I was still putting it down to indigestion… My partner Paul asked me if I was all right, and I said, ‘I think I’m having a heart attack.’”
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She said she couldn’t catch her breath — “and my heart felt as though it was missing a beat and then [started] thudding again. For those moments, I truly believed I was having a heart attack.”
“Your heart is all over the place — there’s an extra beat,” Turner was told.
She said her partner called emergency services, and an ambulance arrived within five minutes.
“They came in and linked me up to an ECG. They said, ‘Your heart is all over the place — there’s an extra beat, and it’s all over the place,’” she said, as SWNS reported.
Turner was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
Turner is shown with her son in full dress uniform. He worked as an artilleryman and spent 10 years in the U.K.’s Royal Horse Artillery after joining in 2006. He was battling mental health challenges after his military service, and ultimately took his own life. (SWNS)
In emergency care, Turner was also given blood tests.
She added, “They came back and said I didn’t have the enzymes produced from a heart attack in my blood. But they said there [was] something going on.”
After undergoing more tests and seeing a cardiologist, Turner was told she had takotsubo syndrome.
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“I told [the doctor] that my heart feels broken. I told her about [my son] Rob, and she said it’s exactly that. She said it’s a real thing, and that I’d been under so much stress. The body can only take so much, and the grief and the stress can be quite physical.”
Turner’s son committed suicide in August 2025 after struggling to get help with his mental health.
He spent 10 years in the Royal Horse Artillery after joining in 2006, when he worked as an artilleryman.
Turner’s son did two tours of duty in Afghanistan, she said. After he returned to civilian life, he began suffering from a number of health conditions. She’s shown above with a flower-draped memorial to her son. (SWNS)
He did two tours of duty in Afghanistan, she said, and returned to civilian life in 2016 before suffering several worsening health conditions.
Turner, who is also the CEO of a veterans charity called Stepway, “When he left the army, he got married, and they settled down in London. He walked straight into a job as a delivery driver. But then his health took a downward spiral, and he started having digestive troubles.”
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He was eventually told he had PTSD — but those symptoms may be similar to those of mild traumatic brain injury, Turner said.
“He was deaf in one ear from using the guns,” she said. “He realized he was putting so much pressure on his marriage, so he moved back up with me. He started to build himself up — then COVID hit.”
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Turner said there were unfortunate delays as her son tried to get access to various services and facilities.
“When people lose loved ones, you’re obviously distraught, but you eventually find closure,” she said, per SWNS. “I found peace when I lost my sister in 2015. But with Rob, I can’t find closure because there’s no justice there.”
“I had never really understood that a person could become so overwhelmed by stress and grief that it physically affects the heart,” said the grieving mom. “Broken heart syndrome can look and feel like a heart attack.” (iStock)
Turner is now on the mend and hopes to be fully recovered in a couple of weeks, SWNS reported.
“Until that moment, I had never really understood that a person could become so overwhelmed by stress and grief that it physically affects the heart,” she shared. “Broken heart syndrome can look and feel like a heart attack. It was a warning sign for me, and for anyone. It can change the shape of one of your heart chambers … it can cause some serious damage.”
She added, “The cardiologist told me that thankfully, my heart itself is healthy and there was no damage, but that it will take around two weeks to a month for my heart to reboot itself.”
“Maybe the extra [heart]beat is for Rob. You are carrying on living for him,” her partner told her.
Turner was told she needed to rest, seek counseling and make lifestyle changes to reduce stress.
“Things have settled down, and I’m taking things easy — I’m pacing myself now, and I feel a lot better. Paul said, ‘Maybe the extra beat is for Rob. You are carrying on living for him.’”
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Turner said, “That broke me and healed me a little bit all at once.”
Fox News Digital previously reported that broken heart syndrome, which causes the heart to temporarily weaken, has been linked to the brain’s reaction to stress, as studies have found.
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In an article published in the European Heart Journal in March 2019, Swiss researchers said they found that the syndrome is linked to the way the brain communicates with the heart.
Broken heart syndrome, which causes the heart to temporarily weaken, has been linked to the brain’s reaction to stress, studies have found. (iStock)
Caused by intense emotional events, TTS is a rare, temporary condition that weakens the left ventricle and disrupts its normal pumping function.
The syndrome causes the heart’s main pumping chamber to change shape and get larger. The heart muscle becomes weaker, and its pumping action loses strength.
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Symptoms include sudden, intense chest pain, pressure or heaviness in the chest, along with shortness of breath.
It is treated with beta blockers and blood-thinning medicine to reduce risks of clots and other flareups.
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Eating too much salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research suggests it could trick the immune system into prematurely aging the blood vessels.
A preclinical study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has identified a biological chain reaction that links a salty diet to cardiovascular decay.
Scientists at the University of South Alabama observed that mice on a high-salt diet experienced rapid deterioration in their blood vessel function.
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After just four weeks of high sodium intake, the small arteries responsible for regulating blood flow lost their ability to relax, according to a press release.
The team found that the cells lining these vessels had entered a state of cellular senescence, a form of premature cellular aging in which cells stop dividing and release a mix of inflammatory signals that can damage surrounding tissue.
Excess salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but a new study goes deeper into its effects on the cardiovascular system. (iStock)
The researchers tried to replicate this damage by exposing blood vessel cells directly to salt in a laboratory dish, but the cells showed no harmful effects.
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This suggests that salt isn’t directly causing damage to the vascular lining but that the real culprit may be the body’s own defense mechanism, the researchers noted.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16 (IL-16), which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16, which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study. (iStock)
Once these cells age, they fail to produce nitric oxide, the essential gas that tells arteries to dilate and stay flexible.
To test whether this process could be reversed, the team turned to a class of experimental drugs known as senolytics.
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Using a cancer medication called navitoclax, which selectively clears out aged and dysfunctional cells, the researchers were able to restore nearly normal blood vessel function in the salt-fed mice, the release stated.
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By removing the decaying cells created by the high-salt diet, the drug allowed the remaining healthy tissue to maintain its elasticity and respond correctly to blood flow demands.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system into stopping the cells from dividing, the study suggests. (iStock)
The study did have some limitations. The transition from mouse models to human treatment remains a significant hurdle, the team cautioned.
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Senolytic drugs like navitoclax are still being studied for safety, and the team emphasized that previous trials have shown mixed results regarding their impact on artery plaque.
Additionally, the researchers have not yet confirmed whether the same IL-16 pathway is the primary driver of vascular aging in humans.
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