Cutting energy-dense carbohydrate-containing foods may help reduce cancer risk

Recent years have brought more attention to the role of carbohydrates in our diets and the differences between healthy and unhealthy carbs, most often in the context of weight control. A new study highlights one more reason to avoid sugary beverages, processed foods and other energy-dense carbohydrate-containing foods—cutting them may help reduce your risk of cancer.

In the new study, regular consumption of sugary beverages was associated with a 3 times greater risk of prostate cancer and higher intake of processed lunch foods such as pizza, burgers and meat sandwiches doubled prostate cancer risk. By contrast, healthy carbohydrate-containing foods like legumes, non-starchy vegetables, fruits and whole grains were collectively associated with a 67 percent lower risk for breast cancer.

"One of the most important findings here is that the type of carbohydrate-containing foods you consume can impact your cancer risk," said Nour Makarem, a Ph.D. student at New York University and the study's lead author. "It appears that healthy carbohydrate sources, such as legumes, tend to protect us from cancer, but non-healthy ones, such as fast foods and sugary beverages, seem to increase the risk of these cancers."

Makarem will present the research at the American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting during Experimental Biology 2016.

The study is based on the health records of 3,100 volunteers tracked since the early 1970s. Researchers began tracking participants' diets through detailed food frequency questionnaires starting in 1991. For the new study, Makarem and her colleagues categorized all of the study participants' food sources by glycemic index—a measure of dietary carbohydrate quality based on an item's relative impact on blood sugar levels as compared to a reference food—and glycemic load, a measure of both the quantity and quality of carbohydrates in a given food item. They then analyzed the results in relation to volunteers' cancer rates.


"Our study showed very strong associations between certain foods and cancer, in particular with prostate cancer," said Makarem. "There had not been very many studies on food sources and prostate cancer previously."


"Americans consume almost half of their added sugars in beverages," said Makarem. "Sugar-sweetened beverages have been shown to increase the risk of obesity and diabetes, and our study documents that they may also have a detrimental impact on cancer risk."




"Current cancer prevention guidelines recommend avoiding sugary drinks and limiting the consumption of energy-dense foods, which tend to be high in refined carbohydrates," said Makarem. "I think our findings add to the body of evidence behind this recommendation and strengthen the associations between these types of food and cancer."

One caveat that Makarem noted is that the volunteers involved in the study were 99 percent Caucasian. Further study is needed to determine if these associations hold true in more ethnically-diverse groups.


Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)


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