Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.
People who eat the most healthy plant foods have a 44% lower risk of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers, a new study has found.
Researchers from Chongqing Medical University in China analyzed 101,748 US adults from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, following them for almost nine years. There were 421 cases of pancreatic cancer. Those in the top quarter of the healthful plant-based diet index had a 44% lower risk than those in the bottom quarter, and the top quarter of the overall plant-based index had a 26% lower risk. A diet heavy in refined grains, sugary drinks and sweets went the other way, with 38% higher risk. The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
It is an observational study, so it shows a link rather than cause. The authors conclude:
In this US population, adherence to a healthy plant-based diet confers a lower risk of pancreatic cancer, whereas adherence to a less healthy plant-based diet confers a higher risk.
Quality clearly matters, as the paper shows: think whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit and nuts rather than chips and carbonated drinks.
It comes a few months after a 19-year study linked a healthy plant-based diet to 20% lower bowel cancer risk in men.
The evidence for whole plant foods keeps on growing!