Why is cancer incidence lower in Arab countries than the rest of the world?

https://jenci.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s43046-022-00142-3.pdf

I have been wanting to dive deeper into cancer and treatment.  This is a good place to start.

Western societies such as the USA have exponentially higher incidence of cancer than Arab countries.  Why is that?  Cancer is one of the prominent causes of death world- wide, killing about 10 million people in 2020 alone.  Most common new cancer cases were breast (2.26 million cases), lung (2.21 million cases), colon and rectum (1.93 million cases), prostate (1.41 million cases), skin (non-melanoma) (1.20 million cases), and stomach cancers (1.09 million cases).  As Middle Eastern populations become more westernized, the incidence of cancer is rising.  Why?

Among the top 10 countries reporting the highest cancer rates for men and women combined, Australia sits at the highest, with 452.4 cases reported per 100,000 people, New Zealand  422.9 cases by 100,000 people. The USA ranked the fourth highest cancer rates.  On the other hand, the reported figures from Middle East countries are much lower. The highest number of cases were Egypt and Lebanon, 159.4 and 165.8 cases by 100,000 people respectively; the lowest number was reported from Saudi Arabia and Sudan, 96.4 and 95.7 respectively.

So why are the differences so drastic?  The hypothesis is actually simple:  diet and fasting.

“Fasting Ramadan is a religious rite that extends over a course of 1 month, where Moslems refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, which is intermittent fasting, and questions have been raised about its poten- tial role in the prevention and treatment of cancer. The general theory behind intermittent fasting in cancer is the difference in how cells adapt to stress. It is believed that healthy cells can adapt much better to less nutrients in the environment. On the other hand, cancer cells con- tinue to grow, increasing the need for nutrients. In 2016, a study investigated the role of long-term nighttime fast- ing in breast cancer recurrence 36% more likely to have breast cancer recurrence than those who fasted at night 13 h or more.  The study of Southern California University suggests that fasting may enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy and may guard normal cells and promote stem cell production.”

Fasting decreases inflammation, encourages autophagy (cells degrading and recycling material to continue homeostasis), slows cancer growth, and promotes cellular regeneration.

Then there is diet.  Diets high in Turmeric reduce inflammation, prevent and treat cancer.  Cinnamon has a positive affect in encouraging cell apoptosis (death) and is an anti-cancer effective spice.  Cardamom, Saffron, Nutmeg, black seed, dill, and nigella sativa all have anti-cancer, antibacterial, antiviral, and inflammation suppression.  Arab countries also tend to smoke less and drink less alcohol, which are great cancer preventions as well.