Diet and mouth cancer

Scientists estimate that 10-15% of mouth cancers are caused by eating an unhealthy diet.

One way to reduce your risk of mouth cancer is by eating at least five portions of differently-coloured fruit and vegetables per day.

Diet and cancer

Eating a healthy diet can reduce your risk not only of mouth cancer, but of a number of different cancers as well. These include cancers of the bowel, oesophagus, stomach and breast.

The link between diet and cancer is complex and difficult to unravel. This is because our diet is made up of lots of different foods and nutrients. Most of these affect our risk of cancer, often in combination with one another. The genes you inherit also affect the way diet influences your cancer risk.

How are we finding out more?

Scientists need to conduct very large studies to see which specific foods and nutrients in foods protect us from cancer, and which may cause it.

Cancer Research UK is helping to fund the largest-ever study of diet and health, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, or EPIC study. This is helping us to understand the complex links between diet and cancer and its results are already providing us with firmer answers.

For now, we know about the general types of food that can help to keep us healthy. And we know that a balanced diet will help to maintain a healthy body weight, which can itself reduce the risk of many cancers.

What is a healthy diet?

A healthy diet is one that is high in fibre, fruit and vegetables, and low in red and processed meat and saturated fat.

For more information and advice on eating well and having a healthy diet, you can visit our healthy eating pages.