Study Reveals No Connection Between Fruits and Vegetables and Lowered Risk of Cancer

[The Straight Story]

Study Reveals No Connection Between Fruits and Vegetables and Lowered Risk of Cancer

A new study has come as a big disappointment to people who have been following a healthy diet in an attempt to ward of the risk of cancer.

The study questions the efficacy of fruits and vegetables in lowering the risk of cancer. It claims that there is little evidence to prove that fruits and vegetables are anti- carcinogenic.

Lead author of the study, Dr Paolo Boffetta, MPH Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sina, stated, "A very small inverse association between intake of total fruits and vegetables and cancer risk was observed in this study. Given the small magnitude of the observed associations, caution should be applied in their interpretation".

For some people, this news is disheartening since it is well known that very few measures prove effective against cancer. Others may pay little heed to the study and continue with their diet rich in the fruits and vegetables, in an attempt to keep cancer at bay. They may continue to place their belief in results of earlier studies which asserted that a diet rich in the same can keep an incurable disease like cancer away.

A report published in 1997 had maintained that there the anti- carcinogenic properties of the same have been substantiated by sufficient evidence. It had made claims that these can ward of respiratory and gastric cancers.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Well...I guess I can stop loading up on blueberries and pomegranate juice now.

That blows.

[tridim]

2. The fruit of the Cannabis plant has anti-cancer properties.

:shrug:

[tabatha]

3. Link?

[FarCenter]

9. Abstract is here

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/djq072

Full text is not free.

[mike_c]

4. unfortunately, the best defense against cancer is dying early of something else....

Cancer is first and foremost a degenerative disease. It can start at any time, of course, but the risk increases with every year we live. Living a healthy lifestyle likely helps many of us avoid early onset, but I doubt there's much we can do to prevent it from happening altogether except dying earlier.

[TwilightGardener]

6. I really think it's almost 100% immune system. Even if you have a gene

that predisposes you to a certain type of cancer, even if you have environmental factors going against you (cigarette smoke, whatever), your immune cells are supposed to recognize and take out cells that have started to go funky. But sometimes the immune system just falls down on the job (stress, aging, fatigue, other illness). That's my theory, anyway.

[ChickMagic]

10. This is my take on it too

If humans live long enough, they'll get cancer. Some just get it earlier than others.

[protocol rv]

5. The study is flawed because...

It only considers first order derivatives. Eating mostly fruits and vegetables yields a much longer lifespan. Cells have a tendency to deteriorate with age, which yields higher cancer rates, this means the lowered cancer risk from eating mostly fruits and vegetables is offset by the higher cancer rates which result from the longer life span.

This is similar to saying that smoking cigarettes reduces the risk of cerebral embolism. As it turns out, since smoking cigarettes kills smokers at a much younger age, they don't live to the age where cerebral embolism becomes a significant problem.

[Redbear]

8. Good points.

Interesting editorial in response to the Boffetta study.

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/djq098

[tabatha]

13. There is an apple and an apple.

A raw organic apple may be more effective than a cooked apple with other detrimental ingredients.

[MineralMan]

7. This just in: Bacon Effective in Cancer Prevention

Ha! :rofl:

[tandot]

11. What about all the pesticide that most fruits and veggies are loaded with?

Maybe there is a difference between people eating organic fruits and vegetables and those eating non-organic?

edit, Link:

http://www.ewg.org/newsrelease/EWG-New-Pesticide-Shoppers-Guide

The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of some pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

The Shopper’s Guide has been developed by EWG based on data from nearly 87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2007 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. First produced in1995, the 5th edition has been updated to reflect the latest information about pesticides on produce.

[tabatha]

14. Exactly

and how about types of veges and fruits - high and low glycemic.

[Demeter]

12. Fight Cancer With Good Genes and Safe Environment And Healthy Living

You need all three. No tobacco, no nukes, no empty calories, no tanning. Also no Superfund sites.