Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Three studies published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association shed new light on the role of diet and cancer.
In one article, scientists who studied the eating patterns of nearly 149,000 American adults over two decades found that those who ate the most red and processed meat over a 10-year period had a 30% higher risk of colon cancer and 40% greater risk of rectal cancer compared with those who consumed the least, says Marjorie McCullough, senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society and an author of the study.
In contrast, those whose diets included lots of poultry and fish were 30% less likely to get colon cancer compared with people who ate little of those foods. The researchers speculate that it's possible poultry and fish contain factors that may protect against colon cancer.
The article reinforces the results of earlier studies that linked meat and colon cancer, Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Scientists need to do additional studies, he says, to get more detailed information about the relationship between meat and cancer.
Researchers say their findings are especially important today when many people are following popular low-carb diets and eating more red meat. Beef consumption, which began to fall in 1976, has been increasing slowly since 1993, according to the study.
Colette Heimowitz, vice president of education and research at Atkins Nutritionals, says low-carb diets don't have to include a lot of red meat. Many low-carb dieters opt for poultry, fish, nuts and tofu instead of beef. To reduce the risk of cancer, she recommends that dieters choose hormone-free meat that has not been charred.
In a second study published today, European researchers who followed nearly 286,000 women for an average of five years found that fruits and vegetables did not protect against breast cancer.
Still, people should continue eating fruits and vegetables, because research shows they do lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, said authors Petra Peeters and Carla van Gils of the University Medical Center in Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Diets rich in fruits and vegetables also might protect people from cancers of the stomach, esophagus, head and neck, and possibly the lungs and colon.
Peeters and van Gils note that they studied only women ages 25 to 70. It's possible that eating fruits and vegetables in childhood might offer protection later, though researchers didn't investigate that question.
The study's findings are consistent with other studies that have shown no link between breast cancer and other dietary factors such as fat, fiber or meat, says Heather Feigelson, a senior epidemiologist at the cancer society.
Other lifestyle changes do appear to reduce breast cancer risk. Feigelson suggests that women maintain a healthy weight, stay physically active, limit their alcohol consumption and avoid or limit the use of hormone therapy.
A third article in JAMA, in which researchers followed nearly 1.3 million Korean adults for 10 years, reports that people with high blood-sugar levels and diabetes were slightly more likely to develop certain cancers, especially of the pancreas.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
