Diet, healthy eating and cancer

Eating a healthy, balanced diet can reduce your risk of cancer. Experts think that about a quarter of all cancer deaths are caused by unhealthy diets and obesity.

Our diet influences our risk of many cancers, including cancers of the bowel, stomach, mouth, foodpipe and breast.

You can reduce your cancer risk by eating a healthy, balanced diet that is:

high in fibre, fruit and vegetables
low in red and processed meat, saturated fat and salt.

"Superfoods"?

There are often stories in the media about specific foods or "anti-cancer diets" that are meant to be particularly good for us. But you shouldn’t rely on so-called superfoods to reduce the risk of cancer. They cannot substitute for an general healthy, balanced diet.

Ten Top Tips

Cancer Research UK and Weight Concern have joined forces to develop Ten Top Tips for a healthy weight. These tips have been designed to fit into your daily life and are based on the best scientific evidence.

In this section

What foods and nutrients affect your risk of cancer?
The facts behind some common food controversies.
Find out about the the EPIC study, the largest study on diet and cancer ever undertaken.
Read about the scientific evidence that links diet to cancer.
Get some quick and easy meal ideas for a healthy, balanced diet
Read our tips for:
- getting five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
- developing healthier eating habits
- understanding food labels
- eating healthily on a budget
- encouraging your children to eat healthily.