4 days ago
Eating specific type of bread linked to deadly colon cancer, shock study finds
Regularly eating white, packaged bread could raise the risk of dying from colon cancer by more than a third, a new trial has suggested.
Frequently consuming ham, bacon and sugary drinks carry the same increased chance of cancer death, US researchers found.
Meanwhile, eating plenty of 'dark yellow' vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots, and drinking coffee, could offer some protection.
Over the last 30 years, young diagnoses of the disease have shot up by 80 per cent across the globe, research shows.
Scientists have suggested a host of factors are likely behind the phenomenon—from increased pollution to rising obesity and even invisible particles of plastic in drinking water.
Now, US specialists have uncovered evidence that eating a high 'inflammatory diet' is could be an 'overlooked' cause.
Foods that fall under the category include processed meats like bacon, ham and sausages, sugary drinks, refined carbohydrates like white pasta or bread and offal.
Yet dark yellow vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots, as well as coffee, wine and, surprisingly, pizza are all classed as 'anti-inflammatory foods' under the empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP)—a global tool that assesses foods on their 'inflammatory potential'.
Pizza was classed as anti-inflammatory as it contains cooked tomatoes, which are high in the powerful antioxidant, lycopene.
The study found colon cancer patients who ate more inflammatory food than 80 per cent of the volunteers had a 36 per cent higher risk of dying from their cancer than those who ate very little.
Experts, presenting the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, said that, while there is not yet enough evidence to support the anti-inflammatory diet as a recommendation for cancer patients, this may be the case in the near future.
In the study, scientists tracked 1,625 patients with colon cancer that had spread to the nearby lymph glands, but not beyond.
All volunteers completed food questionnaires about how often they consumed foods that fell under 18 food groups—nine pro-inflammatory and nine anti-inflammatory.
Over a follow-up of three years researchers found that patients in the top 20 per cent of most inflammatory diets had a 36 per cent higher risk of dying from their cancer than those who consumed least.
Those in the top 20 per cent also had an 87 per cent higher risk of death overall than the bottom 20 per cent.
When exercise was taken into account, those who consumed the least inflammatory diet and maintained the highest levels of physical activity had a 63 per cent lower risk of death.
ASCO president and top cancer specialist Julie Gralow said the findings suggested 'we need to be essentially prescribing healthy diet and exercise. The combination of the two are synergistic.'
Dr Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UK's director of research, also told MailOnline: 'This study adds to interesting emerging evidence about the role of inflammation in the progression of colon cancer.
'We need more high-quality research like this to help us uncover more about how our diet influences cancer outcomes.
'When it comes to food and cancer risk, our overall diet is far more important than any single food or ingredient.
'A healthy, balanced diet includes eating lots of fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, and healthy sources of protein like beans and chicken.
'Cutting down on processed and red meats, and foods high in fat, sugar and salt also helps.'
It comes as other research presented at ASCO found colon cancer patients who stuck to an anti-inflammatory diet reduced their risk of the disease spreading or recurring by 38 per cent.
The study, by scientists at Maimonides Medical Centre in New York, tracked the food habits of 796 patients who had been diagnosed with the disease between 2015 and 2023.
They also found consuming a diet high in ultra-processed foods raised the odds almost two and a half times.
'Ultra-processed foods increase inflammation and colon cancer risk while anti-inflammatory diets offer protective benefits,' they said.
'Dietary intervention must play a role in preventing cancer.'
Colon cancer, long considered a disease of old age, is increasingly striking people in their 20s, 30s and 40s in a phenomenon that has baffled doctors around the world.
Over the last 30 years, young diagnoses of the disease have shot up by 80 per cent across the globe.
Around 32,000 cases of colon cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK and 142,000 in the US.
