According to researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, eating a starchy and sugary diet increases one's risk of lung cancer, even if smoking isn't involved. By starchy and sugary, this refers to carbohydrate-rich food like white rice, white bread, and cornflakes. This in turn puts people who enjoy cereals and white bread sandwiches for breakfast at risk.
This is so, mainly because these foods have a high glycemic index, or GI. It is a familiar term for diabetics: it is mainly food which raises blood sugar and stimulates the release of insulin. This also includes food like melons, bagels, and pineapples.
Smoking is still a major risk factor, but it's just part of the equation.
"Although smoking is a major, well-characterized risk factor for lung cancer, it does not account for all the variations in lung cancer risk," said the study's senior author, Xifeng Wu, MD, PhD. "This study provides additional evidence that diet may independently, and jointly with other risk factors, impact lung cancer etiology."
The study also says the risk is further increased if one frequently smokes.
To reach this conclusion, Dr. Wu and her colleagues assessed over 1,905 lung cancer patients and compared them to 2,415 people without cancer. They were then asked to give information about their lifestyle habits, particularly their dietary behaviors. The research team then calculated the GI values.
Participants who were found out to have the highest GI rating were 49% more at risk for lung cancer than the people who had the lowest.
Among non-smokers, the team found that the people with the highest GI were twice as likely to develop lung cancer than those who belonged at the lowest GI group.
"The results from this study suggest that, besides maintaining healthy lifestyles, reducing the consumption of foods and beverages with high glycemic index may serve as a means to lower the risk of lung cancer," Wu concluded.
Although the association between high GI foods and lung cancer sounds rather farfetched, it's not the first time the former has been linked to cancer. Previous studies established the link between high GI and stomach cancer.
