THIS being Cancer Awareness Month, the importance of diet should be emphasised. What does a diet rich in Vitamin E foods such as nuts, and whole grains (whole wheat) and soybean oil have in common? They can all help to lower the risk of lung and oral cancer among smokers by about 20 percent, a new study says. In the study of more than 29,000 male smokers in Finland, researchers found that those who had high blood vessels of alpha-tocopherol, the main form of Vitamin E, reduced their incidence of lung cancer by 1 9percent to 23 percent.

The benefits were most dramatic, the study found, among men under age 60 and among light smokers who had been using cigarettes for less than 40 percent to 50 percent. But despite the encouraging finding, the most beneficial health action smokers can take is still the same: Stop smoking.

I have to emphasise that not only for lung cancer but for oral cancers, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer and a bunch of other cancers, stopping smoking is crucial. In the study, which lasted for almost eight years, researchers took periodic blood samples to measure the levels of alpha-tocopherol, the most active form of vitamin E in humans. The levels of alpha-tocopherol were then linked to health outcomes among men in the study. There were 1,144 cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the group during the study.

The lung cancer rate reduced among men with the highest levels of alpha-tocopherol and the cancer protection was most pronounced among men with the shortest history of smoking who also had high Vitamin E levels. Although the new study involved only smokers and lung cancer, earlier studies have shown that the healthy levels of Vitamin E give some protection against disease, stroke and some other types of cancer, such as prostate cancer.

The proven benefits came only from a balanced diet that included foods rich in Vitamin E, he said. The researchers concluded the effect of vitamin pills taken by some of the men in the study. In effect, the proven benefits of Vitamin E come from eating the right foods, not from popping vitamin pills.

Clearly, there is a need for more studies to compare supplements with natural-diet sources of vitamin E. There are still uncertainties about the comparative value of vitamin pills vs nutrients absorbed naturally from foods. For instance, some studies have shown that beta-carotene, an antioxidant found in foods such as carrots, can help prevent some forms of cancer. Yet, when beta-carotene pills were given to the group of Finnish smokers, the rate of drug cancer actually increased by 16 percent.
Vitamin E-rich foods include soybean oil and other seed oils; nuts, particularly almonds, fibres, hazelnuts and walnuts, sunflower seeds and whole grains, including wheat germ.