Plant-based foods offer a variety of health benefits, such as a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
Eating fruits and vegetables regularly can also reduce the risk of some types of cancer in men, according to the Science Alert website.
A new study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, of 79,952 men in the US found that a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds was associated with a 22% lower risk of colorectal cancer than those who ate the least amount of plant foods.
What about women?
The results of the study also suggest that reducing consumption of animal foods, refined grains, and sugars in general can provide lifelong health benefits.
Interestingly, the researchers did not find a link between vegan diets and colorectal cancer among 93,475 women in the United States.
According to Nabati – Aystok
Men are more likely
For his part, Jaehye Kim, a researcher in nutritional sciences at Kyung Hee University in South Korea, predicted, “The antioxidants found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can contribute to reducing the risk of colorectal cancer by suppressing chronic inflammation that can cause cancer.” lead to disease.”
He also explained that “since men tend to be more susceptible to colorectal cancer than women, the results of the study suggest that the reason is due to the fact that they eat more amounts of healthy plant foods and thus have a lower risk of colorectal cancer.”
African Americans
Colon and rectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer worldwide, but not everyone is at equal risk.
Researchers have discovered that a vegetarian diet is associated with the greatest improvements in colorectal cancer risk among Japanese-Americans and white men, as opposed to African-Americans.
Among white men, those who ate the healthiest plant-based foods were 24 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer later in life than those at the other end of the dietary spectrum.
In Japanese American men, the risk reduction was limited to 20%.
Smoking and obesity
“This pattern of association may be attributable to differences in non-dietary lifestyle risk factors between racial and ethnic groups,” the researchers write. “In the multiracial group, African American men had higher rates of obesity and smoking and lower physical activity than Japanese and white American men.” “.
In light of the results of the study, more research is needed to explore the different genetic and environmental factors that can play a role in colorectal cancer rates, and where diet can be appropriate according to this combination.