People are being urged to avoid excessive consumption of two popular foods after researchers found a link between them and a deadly disease. According to a new study, eating red meat and sugar may increase your chances of developing bowel cancer.
This disease is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK, with over 44,000 diagnoses each year.
It is also particularly deadly, causing the second highest number of cancer deaths each year.
And in recent years, it has raised even more concern in medical circles as the number of young people diagnosed with the condition has increased.
Between the early 1990s and 2018, the number of adults aged 25 to 49 diagnosed with bowel cancer, also known as colon cancer, increased by 22% in the UK.
Although it is not known exactly what causes this trend, it has been hypothesized that diet could be to blame.
And these latest findings support the idea that what we eat is a significant factor in bowel cancer risk.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), also found that people under the age of 50 who had been diagnosed with bowel cancer had lower levels of citrate.
Citrate is produced when food is converted into energy and was found to be lower than in older individuals diagnosed with colon cancer.
Speaking to Medical News Today, Dr. Suneel Kamath, senior author of this study and a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic, explained, “Our study used a technique called metabolomics, the study of the body’s breakdown products and the building blocks of production.
“Because metabolomics measures how each individual interacts with our environmental exposures, such as diet, air quality, etc., it is a way to bridge the gap between our nature (determined by genetics) and nutrition (determined by our exposures).
“We found that a carbohydrate breakdown product called citrate (also called citric acid) is found more in older people with colon cancer than in younger people with rectal cancer.”
The study included 170 participants who had been diagnosed with colon cancer, 66 of whom had young-onset colon cancer and 104 had intermediate colon cancer.
The researchers identified several metabolites whose levels differed between the two groups, including citrate and cholesterol.
They found significant changes in metabolic pathways related to carbohydrate and protein metabolism in young rectal cancer compared to the average colon cancer.
These findings indicated that factors such as excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or red meat and obesity, which contribute to excess energy intake, may be risk factors for developing bowel cancer at a younger age.
Dr Kamath added: “These findings, which are somewhat preliminary and require further study, suggest that focusing on reducing obesity and also reducing the consumption of red meat and sugar in our diet could help prevent cancer, particularly colon cancer.
“It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean ‘sugar feeds cancer’ in those who already have cancer, but reducing sugar consumption in healthy people who don’t have cancer can help prevent it.”
To reduce your risk of bowel cancer, the NHS advises you to:
- Eat a healthy diet that includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day
- Stay active and exercise regularly
- Lose weight if you are overweight
- Stop smoking
- Drink less alcohol
- Eat less red and processed meat.
