YOUR diet can lead to lung cancer, even if you’ve never touched a cigarette in your life. CANCER-CAUSING: Eating a certain diet greatly increases your risk of disease If you thought white bread, bagels and cornflakes were healthy – think again. A new study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, has found that eating high-glycemic foods can raise your risk of developing lung cancer. Researchers studied the eating habits of 1,905 newly-diagnosed lung cancer patients and 2,413 healthy people who didn’t have cancer. They found that eating a diet with a high-glycemic index (a measure of how rapidly carbohydrates elevate blood sugar levels) was linked with an increased risk of developing the deadly disease. In fact those who ate a diet rich in high-glycemic foods were a whopping 49% more likely to develop lung cancer, versus those who ate a low-glycemic diet. In a press release, senior author Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., said: “The associations were more pronounced among subjects who were never smokers. “The results from this study suggest that, besides maintaining healthy lifestyles, such as avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol consumption and being physically active, reducing the consumption of foods and beverages with high-glycemic index may serve as a means to lower the risk of lung cancer.” Experts recommend limiting your intake of high-glycemic foods and beverages such as white bread, white potatoes, puffed rice, sweets and baked goods to protect your lungs. Instead you should fill your plate with low-glycemic foods like whole grain breads, rolled oats, brown rice, quinoa and barley while loading up on plenty of fruit and vegetables. “The associations were more pronounced among subjects who were never smokers” Xifeng Wu Diets high in red meat, saturated fats and dairy products have also been shown to increase lung cancer risk. Fellow researcher Stephanie Melkonian added: “Diets high in glycemic index result in higher levels of blood glucose and insulin, which promote perturbations in the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). “Previous research suggests increased levels of IGFs are associated with increased lung cancer risk. "However, the association between glycemic index and lung cancer risk was unclear.” Currently there’s an estimated 2.5million people living with cancer in the UK and around 160,000 Brits die from the disease each year. Cancer support charity Macmillan predicts that by 2020, nearly half of us (47%) will be diagnosed at some point in our lifetimes. But experts believe that between 30% and 40% of all types of cancer can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle and diet. Source
