Could there be a connection between eating habits and mesothelioma? Not everyone who is exposed to asbestos develops the disease, so there must be differences in lifestyles that account for this disparity. Almost twenty years ago, researchers from the National Cancer Institute and Louisiana State University conducted studies on whether diet could prevent cancer.

Their findings were incredible. After locating fifty-eight people with mesothelioma and fifty-eight people with similar asbestos exposure and use of tobacco (but had escaped the disease), the researchers attempted to find a connection between the prevalence of mesothelioma and eating habits. Using popular snacks, sweets, different seafoods, meats and vegetables, the researchers found interesting results. People who had developed mesothelioma ate more cake, candy, and pie than those who were cancer-free. In contrast, the participants who were free of mesothelioma ate about twice as many servings of vegetables or fruit. The one element of a diet that increased the risk of cancer more than anything else was sugar. Those who participated and developed mesothelioma were eight times more likely to have eaten dessert every day compared to those who did not. It seems that sugar somehow accelerates the progress of cancer.