Cancer – switch it off
According to a study published in PLOS Genetics, a common genetic variant carried by one in three people significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer if your diet includes processed meat. The study investigated how diet influences our genetic predisposition for cancer. It involved over 18,000 people from the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. We already know that eating processed meat is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer but this study revealed, that for about a third of the population who carry this specific genetic variant, the risk is even higher. Whether you develop colorectal cancer or not depends both on your genes and lifestyle. And whilst you can’t change your genes, your diet can either switch some of them on or off. This study found that although red and processed meat increases your risk of colorectal cancer, vegetable, fruit and fibre intake lowers it. Let food be your medicine!
Figueiredo JC et al., 2014. Genome-Wide Diet-Gene Interaction Analyses for Risk of Colorectal Cancer. PLoS Genetics. 10 (4) e1004228.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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