Your daily bread carries risk of cancer
Food Rich In Glycemic Index Tied To Disease; Bagels & Cornflakes Too On High-Risk List
Consumption of foods with a high glycemic in dex (GI) such as white bread bagels, cornflakes and puffed rice may be associated with an increased risk of lung can cer, a study has warned.The findings by scientists from the University of Texas in US also unveil for the firs time that glycemic index is more significantly associa ted with lung cancer risk in particular subgroups, such as non-smokers and those di agnosed with the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) subtype of lung cancer.
In US, lung cancer is the In US, lung cancer is the second most common cancer type, but is by far the leading cause of cancer mortality . Accumulating evidence suggests that dietary factors may modulate lung cancer risk, researchers said. Diets high in fruits and vegetables may decrease risk, while increased consumption of red meat, saturated fats and dairy products have been shown to increase lung cancer risk.
Glycemic index is a measure of the quality of dietary carbohydrates, defined by how quickly blood sugar levels are raised following a meal. “Diets high in glycemic index result in higher levels of blood glucose and insulin, which promote perturbations in the insulinlike growth factors,“ said Stephanie Melkonian from University of Texas.
To clarify the associations between GI, glycemic load and lung cancer risk, researchers surveyed 1,905 patients diagnosed with lung cancer and 2,413 healthy individuals.
Dietary GI and GL was determined using published fo termined using published food GI values, and subjects were divided into five equal groups, based on their GI and GL values.
“We observed a 49% incre ased risk of lung cancer among subjects with the highest daily GI compared to those with the lowest daily GI,“ said Xifeng Wu from University of Texas.
In non-smokers, the researchers found that those in the highest GI group were more than twice as likely to develop lung cancer as those in the lowest group. Among smokers, the risk was only elevated by 31% between the two groups.The relatively mild effects of a risk factor such as GI are more evident in the absence of the dominant risk factor, researchers said.
