This diet can reduce the risk among males
A plant-based diet high in healthy plant foods – such as whole grains, vegetables and legumes – and low in unhealthy plant foods, including refined grains, fruit juices and added sugars, is associated with a risk lower incidence of colorectal cancer in men. This was discovered by researchers from Kyung Hee University, South Korea, in their new study published this Tuesday in the online journal BMC Medicine.
A plant-based diet would reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 22%
Among a population of nearly 80,000 American men, those who ate the highest average daily amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of colorectal cancer than those who ate lower amounts. Data for the study was collected from participants living in Hawaii and Los Angeles between 1993 and 1996, with an average age of 60.
However, the authors identified no relevant association between the nutritional quality of plant-based diets and the risk of colorectal cancer among a population of 93,475 US women.
According to Dr. Jihye Kim, lead author of the study, who spoke in a statement, “Antioxidants found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may help reduce colorectal cancer risk by suppressing chronic inflammation, which can lead to cancer”. The professor at the Department of Medical Nutrition at Kyung Hee University adds: “As men tend to have a higher risk of colorectal cancer than women, we propose that this may help explain why consuming greater amounts of healthy plant-based foods was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer in men but not in women.”
Correlation does not mean causality: the limits of the study
The authors found that the association between the nutritional quality of plant-based diets and the risk of colorectal cancer in men varied by race and ethnicity. For example, among Japanese American men, the risk of colorectal cancer was 20% lower compared to 24% for Caucasian men. In contrast, the authors did not find a significant link between plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk in African-American, Latino, or Hawaiian men.
However, the researchers caution that their study is only observational and therefore cannot conclude that the plant-based diet is actually the cause of the reduced risk of colorectal cancer. Especially since there are certain limitations to this study, for example the authors did not take into account the beneficial effects that foods such as fish and dairy products could have had on reducing the risk of colorectal cancer in their analyzes. “Further research is needed to confirm the results.”emphasizes Dr. Jihye Kim.
