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Text in the center: In addition to the 10 Recommendations, notice the text in the center of the infopic: "Not smoking and avoiding other exposure to tobacco and excess sun are also important in reducing cancer risk. Following these Recommendations is likely to reduce intakes of salt, saturated and trans fats, which together will help prevent other non-communicable diseases."
What did I notice? Six recommendations pertain to what we put in our mouths! Five are negative (what NOT to do); one is positive (what to do). The positive recommendation encourages us to consume a plant-based diet!
Source: AICR's 10 Recommendations are explained in detail in this 92-page document: WCRF - AICR Recommendations (2018). A summary is available here: 10 guidelines for cancer prevention.
- Be a Healthy Weight
- Be Physically Active
- Eat whole grains, vegetables, fruit & beans
- Limit 'Fast Foods'
- Limit red and processed meat
- Limit sugar sweetened drinks
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Do not use supplements for cancer prevention
- For mothers: breastfeed your baby, if you can
- After a cancer diagnosis follow our Recommendations, if you can
Overlap with WFPB: When I study Recommendations 3 thru 7, I see a huge overlap with Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) guidelines! Each and every recommendation is in harmony with the broad strokes of WFPB.
Animal Products? Note that AICR Recommendations don't explicitly say 'Reduce Animal Products' or 'Strive for Zero Animal Products'. However, we get some hints towards that direction from their New American Plate which shows how to assemble actual food plates.
Processed Foods? AICR guidelines don't mention 'Reduce / No Processed Foods' either. They do mention individual guidelines like 'Limit "Fast Foods"', 'Limit Processed Meat' and 'Limit SSBs (Sugar Sweetened Beverages)', but not a blanket guideline like 'Reduce Processed Foods' or 'Zero Processed Foods'. In constrast, WFPB is a stricter food system; WFPB advocates often emphasize diligently eliminating all sorts of processed foods from our food system.
Refined Sugars? AICR does mention 'Limit SSBs (Sugar Sweetened Beverages)' but they don't mention if we should eliminate refined sugar altogether (even from homemade preparations like breakfasts, desserts and so on). WFPB advocates consistently ask us to eliminate refined sugars.
Salt? AICR encourages low salt; their 2007 guideline actually mentioned "Recommends that people avoid adding salt at the table or in cooking." All WFPB doctors advocate low salt; most (not all) recommend that zero salt is best.
Oil? In contrast to AICR recommendations, WFPB is a stricter food system with heavy emphasis on 'No Oil' guideline. AICR recommendations don't mention oil.
Another infographic with the same 10 recommendations — please click to magnify it:
Source: WCRF - AICR Recommendations (2018)
What kind of food plates does AICR recommend? See AICR: New American Plate.
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