Your Grandmother Didn't Know the Science. But She May Have Been Right.

Your grandmother did not know the science. But she may have been right.

Research published in peer-reviewed journals shows that people who followed a traditional Cantonese diet - vegetables, fish, Cantonese soup, Chinese herb tea - were associated with significantly lower liver cancer risk compared to those who switched to a high-meat, processed food diet. Those who made the switch had nearly double the risk.

For ethnic Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, this matters more than most.

Liver cancer is the most common cancer among ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore. The primary driver is Hepatitis B, but diet is a significant and modifiable risk factor that sits alongside it.

The generation that emigrated kept the old ways. The generation that followed, in many cases, traded them for convenience. The research suggests the trade may have come with a cost.

You do not need to go back to everything your grandparents did. But some of it was working.

Understanding your risk is the first step. Knowing your options is the second.

Sources

• Lan Q-Y et al., Oncotarget, 2018, PMC6021235
• Systematic review of 30 studies, Nutrients, 2021, PMC7826815