In a study from Kyung Hee University, scientists found that eating a plant-based diet rich in healthy plant foods is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in men.
A healthy plant-based diet includes whole grains, vegetables, and legumes, and is low in unhealthy plant foods, such as refined grains, fruit juices, and added sugars.
Colorectal cancer is the third-most common cancer worldwide, and the risk of developing colorectal cancer over a lifetime is one in 23 for men and one in 25 for women.
Although previous research has suggested that plant-based diets may play a role in preventing colorectal cancer, the impact of plant foods’ nutritional quality on this association has been unclear.
In the current study, researchers found that among a population of 79,952 American men, those who ate the highest average daily amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of colorectal cancer, compared to those who ate the lowest amounts of healthy plant foods.
However, the team did not identify any strong associations between the nutritional quality of plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk in 93,475 American women.
They speculate that the antioxidants found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains could contribute to lowering colorectal cancer risk by suppressing chronic inflammation, which can lead to cancer.
As men tend to have a higher risk of colorectal cancer than women, this could help explain why eating greater amounts of healthy plant-based foods was linked to reduced colorectal cancer risk in men but not women.
The team also found that the association between the nutritional quality of plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk among men varied by race and ethnicity.
Among Japanese American men, colorectal cancer risk was 20% lower for those who ate the highest amount of healthy plant foods per day than for those who ate the lowest amount.
Among white men, those who ate the highest amount of healthy plant foods had a 24% lower colorectal cancer risk than those who ate the lowest amount.
The team did not identify any significant associations between plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk among African American, Latino or Native Hawaiian men.
They suggest that the association between plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk may have been strongest in Japanese American and white men due to differences in other colorectal cancer risk factors between racial and ethnic groups.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about dairy products linked to higher cancer risk, and vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that coffee could help some men fight prostate cancer, and results showing common depression drug may stop cancer growth.
The study was conducted by Jihye Kim et al and published in BMC Medicine.
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