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Fruits and Veggies Lower Smoker’s Lung Cancer Risk 23 Percent

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables daily can reduce the chances of epidermoid, also known as squamous cell, lung cancer, especially for smokers. Researchers say focus on variety can cut lung cancer as much as 23 percent.

Adding more Fruits and Veggies Slashes Lung Cancer Risk even More

Eating more than 8 “subgroups” of fruits and vegetables cut lung cancer risk, compared to consuming less than 4 types of fruits and vegetables.

Co-author of the study, María José Sánchez Pérez, director of the Granada Cancer Registry at the Andalusian School of Public Health explains, “This research looks more deeply into the relationship between diet and lung cancer. Aside from the amount consumed, it’s also important to take into account the variety. A varied diet reduces the risk of developing this cancer, above all in smokers”.

The most significant impact is in smokers. For every two types of fruits and vegetables added, epidermoid lung cancer risk dropped another 3 percent, and then another 4 percent for each subgroup of fruit or veggie – …”so if smokers increase the variety of fruit they eat they could have a lower risk of developing this type of cancer”.

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) included 500,000 study participants from Europe who were followed an average of 8.7 years. Complete dietary information was obtained from 452,187 participants; 1,613 were diagnosed with lung cancer. The researchers used Diet diversity scores (DDS) to measure fruit and vegetables intake of the study participants.

The findings that eating a variety of fruit and vegetables reduces the chances of epidermoid lung cancer are encouraging, but the researchers emphasize smoking cessation is the best strategy for preventing lung cancer. Diet did not have an impact on adenocarcinoma and small and large cell carcinoma and the effect of the foods was found in smokers.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention: doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0489

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