Regularly eating packaged white bread could increase the risk of dying from colon cancer by more than a third, a new study has suggested.
Frequent consumption of ham, bacon and sugary drinks carries the same increased risk of death from cancer, American researchers found.
Meanwhile, eating lots of 'dark yellow' vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots, as well as drinking coffee, may offer some protection.
In the last 30 years, early diagnoses of this disease have increased by 80 percent worldwide, research shows.
Scientists have suggested a number of possible factors behind this phenomenon – from increased pollution to rising obesity and even invisible plastic particles in drinking water.
Now, American specialists have uncovered evidence that eating a 'high inflammatory' diet may be an 'overlooked' trigger.
Foods that fall under this category include processed meats like bacon, ham, and sausages, sugary drinks, refined carbohydrates like pasta and white bread, and organ meats.
However, dark yellow vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots, as well as coffee, wine and, surprisingly, pizza, are all classified as 'anti-inflammatory foods' according to the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Profile (EDIP) model – a global tool that rates foods according to their 'inflammatory potential'.
Pizza is classified as anti-inflammatory as it contains cooked tomatoes, rich in the powerful antioxidant, lycopene.
The study found that colon cancer patients who consumed more inflammatory foods than 80 percent of participants had a 36 percent higher risk of dying from cancer compared to those who ate very few of these foods.
Experts, presenting the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, said that, although there is not yet enough evidence to recommend an anti-inflammatory diet for cancer patients, this may soon happen.
In the study, scientists followed 1,625 patients with colon cancer that had spread to surrounding lymph nodes, but not beyond.
All participants completed questionnaires about the foods they consumed, divided into 18 food groups – nine pro-inflammatory and nine anti-inflammatory.
After three years of follow-up, the researchers found that patients who had the most inflammatory diet (20 percent higher) had a 36 percent higher risk of death from cancer compared to those with the least inflammatory diet.
Also, those with the most inflammatory diet had an 87 percent higher risk of death from any cause compared to the group with the healthiest diet.
When physical activity was also taken into account, those who had the least inflammatory diet and did more physical activity had a 63 percent lower risk of death.
ASCO president and renowned oncologist Julie Gralow said the findings suggest that “we need to fundamentally prescribe a healthy diet and physical activity. The combination of the two has a synergistic effect.”
Dr Catherine Elliott, director of research at Cancer Research UK, told MailOnline:
“This study adds to the growing body of interesting evidence about the role of inflammation in the progression of colon cancer. We need more high-quality research like this to find out more about the impact of diet on cancer outcomes. When it comes to nutrition and cancer risk, overall diet is far more important than any single food or ingredient. A healthy, balanced diet includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy sources of protein such as beans and lean meats like chicken. Reducing your intake of processed and red meats, as well as foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, also helps.”
Meanwhile, another study presented at ASCO found that colon cancer patients who followed an anti-inflammatory diet reduced their risk of the disease spreading or coming back by 38 percent.
The study, conducted by scientists at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, followed the eating habits of 796 patients diagnosed between 2015 and 2023.
They also found that consuming a diet rich in ultra-processed foods increased the risk by 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 should have a role in cancer prevention."
Colon cancer, long considered a disease of old age, is increasingly occurring in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s – a phenomenon that has puzzled doctors around the world.
In the last 30 years, early diagnoses of this disease have increased by 80 percent globally.
Around 32,000 cases of colon cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK and 142,000 in the US. /Express newspaper/
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