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in collaboration with
Laurent Chevallier (doctor in internal medicine and consulting physician in nutrition)
Medical validation:
December 08, 2022
Following a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and legumes could protect you from colorectal cancer. Explanations.
While numerous studies have already highlighted the link between red meat and the increased risk of colorectal cancer, few have highlighted the preventive effects of plant foods.
A plant-based diet
In this study – published in the journal BMC Medicine – researchers recruited 79,952 men and 93,475 women.
The primary endpoint was the incidence of colorectal cancer. The foods were also classified into different categories: healthy plant foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, legumes, tea and coffee…), less healthy plant foods (refined cereals, fruit juices, potatoes… ) and foods of animal origin (animal fat, dairy products, eggs, fish or seafood, meat, etc.).
The participants’ diets were then compared to the rate of occurrence of colorectal cancer.
Results ? During an average follow-up of 19.2 years, 4976 colorectal cancers were identified.
The men who consumed the most “healthy plant foods“were the ones with the lowest risk of developing tumours.
On the other hand, no preventive effect (of the plants) was observed in women.
“Greater adherence to plant-based diets high in healthy plant foods and low in less healthy plant foods is associated with a reduced risk of CRC in men, but not in women. The strength of the association in men may vary by race, ethnicity, and anatomical subsite of tumors“, conclude the researchers.
A point of view shared by Dr. Chevallier, medical consultant in nutrition.
“This study confirms what we already know. Eating plants and fibers in abundance makes it possible to dilute the toxins in a magma and to limit their exposure to the mucous membrane. As for insoluble fibers, they increase intestinal transit“.