Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 September 1991 — The traditional Hawaiian diet: an anti-cancer diet [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The traditional Hawaiian diet: an anti-cancer diet

The Wai'anae Diet Program will be running in Wai'anae onee again this month with another committed group of Hawaiians from the Wai'anae coast. This time, we will be looking at the long-term effect of the diet on

health risk factors including a sustained change in diet. In previous articles, I talked about the impact of the Wai'anae Diet on risk factors for heart disease such as cholesterol and in reversing diabetes. This month, I would like to talk about its potential value in the control of cancer. According to a 1987 report from the Office of Technology Assessment in Washington D.C., Native Hawaiians have among the highest rates of cancer in the nation, running almost equal to that of African-Americans. Hawaiians have the highest rates in the nation for breast cancer and for lung cancer in women and stomach cancer in men. Although there are no records of the rates of cancer among ancient Hawaiians, it its believed that the rates were low judging by the rarity of

findings of bone metastases (spread of cancer to the bone), among the many ancient skeletal remains that were examined in the past. This contrast between modern cancer rates and those among ancient Hawaiians may be due to the anti-cancer properties of the traditional Hawaiian diet. Modern studies suggest that many dietary factors have an effect on certain eommon cancers. For example, there is some correlation between excess fat intake and higher rates of breast cancer and colorectal cancer and possibly prostate and ovarian cancer. There are studies that find a correlation between overweight (and there is evidence that ancient Hawaiians were not generally overweight) and cancer of the gallbladder, breast, endometrium, eolon and prostate. There are also studies that suggest that certain foods protect against cancer. The high consumption of fruits and vegetables seems to reduce the risk of cancers such as colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and stomach eaneei . More specifically, beta carotene seems to have a protective effect against lung cancer, vitamin C against stomach cancer, and dietary fiber against cancer of the eolon and rectum.

The traditional Hawaiian diet has all of these properties that could protect against cancer. It is low in fat- — from approximately 7-12 percent whieh is mueh lower than the current nahonal average of 37 percent fat. It promotes weight loss in obese Hawaiians as demonstrated in the Wai'anae Diet Program. It is high in vegetable and fruit content. This high vegetable and fruitcontent means that the diet is high in fiber. An analysis of a five-day sample of the traditional Hawaiian diet by Claire Hughes, native Hawaiian nutritionist and acting director of the state Department of Health, nutrition branch, shows that the diet was also high in beta-carotene (388 percent of the RDA) and vitamin C (190 percent of the RDA). Eating the old Hawaiian way as demonstrated by the Wai'anae Diet not only causes weight loss, a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol, and a reduced risk of diabetes by controlling blood sugar, it may also provide foods that protect against another disease that kills Hawaiians, cancer. Dr. Shintani, physician and nutritionist, is the director of preuentiue medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensiue Health Center. A majority of its board and its 18,000 clients are of Natiue Hawaiian ancestry. _ _ _ 1

'Ai Pono, E Ola

By Terry Shintani, M.D.