The highest consumption of ultra processed foods is not associated with a higher incidence of colon cancer, a major American study published in the magazine PLOS Medicine.
Researchers have found, however, that what is stored in food is essential: Some types of ultrawork products are associated with lower risk and some with higher risk.
The study was conducted by Erikka Loftfield by the National Institute of Cancer ( The US NCI and included 461,682 Americans who were involved in research in 1995 and 1996, when they were between 50 and 71.
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At first, participants filled out a questionnaire about how often they eat certain foods and then followed up until 2018, an average of 18.8 years.
During that period, 10,075 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed.
ultra processed foods averaged 43 per cent of the participants’ daily intake of calories.
Those who ate more of them did not become sick more frequently than those who ate less.
Bread and cereal yes, meat products don’t
The picture is different when ultra processed foods are shared according to type. Complete seeds, fibers, milk products, and calcium products from ultra refined sources are accompanied by fewer cases of colon cancer.
Such a pattern was shown by the bread, morning cereals, and frozen sweets, and milk drinks.
By contrast, meat from highly processed sources was associated with a higher risk of the disease.
Those who ate meat and the most elaborate fish had a risk of 10 percent higher than those who ate less. Almost three quarters of the processed meat that the participants ate came from ultraworked products.
Researchers also estimated that replacing 10 per cent of the ultra processed foods with minimal processed foods was accompanied by a two – percent lower incineration of colon cancer.
Limitations to Study
The authors warn that the results may not apply to all.
Most of the participants were elderly white men, and the diet was recorded only once at the start of the study, so changes in customs during the following decades were not traced.
The supply and consumption of highly processed food has increased significantly since then, which is likely to be an underestimated current acquisition.
The study is an observer, which means that it shows a relationship but does not confirm that a certain food increases or directly reduces the risk of cancer.
Researchers also said that they could not examine the influence of aideists, such as emulsors, because they had no data on the ingredients.
The findings of the study, according to authors, support the existing recommendations: Eat whole cereals, fiber, milk products, and calcium – rich foods, and avoid processed meat. /Telegraphy/