A high glycemic diet may increase the risk of lung cancer

Those who eat a diet with a high glycemic index may be at significantly increased risk of lung cancer, according to a study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Glycemic index, often shortened to GI, is a measure of how much and how fast carbohydrates in a food can raise blood glucose levels. The higher the index, the quicker the sugar, which is what the carbohydrates gets turned into, will get into the blood.
High-GI foods include white bread, some rice, pineapple, and other sweet things. Low-GI foods include those such as sweet potato, legumes and lentils.
Data on 1,905 research participants who have lung cancer was analysed, as was the data of 2,413 controls without lung cancer.
The participants underwent interviews asking about their health history and dietary behaviours.
The participants were then split into quintiles based on their diet’s GI, as set out in the 2008 International Tables of Glycemic Index. It was found that those in the highest quintile for a GI diet were 49 per cent more likely to develop lung cancer than those in the lowest quintile.
The researchers looked at the results of the participants who had never smoked, cutting that factor out of the equation and seeing if the data still followed the same pattern. With smokers removed from the data, those in the upper quintile for a high-GI diet were 55 per cent more likely to develop lung cancer than those in the lower quintile.
Dr Xifeng Wu, from the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas, commented: “Although smoking is a major, well-characterized risk factor for lung cancer, it does not account for all the variations in lung cancer risk. This study provides additional evidence that diet may independently, and jointly with other risk factors, impact lung cancer etiology.”
Although some factors can majorly affect our risks of cancer, we need to be aware that the smaller factors, namely, our daily diet, also works to keep us healthy.
The study did hold some limitations, however, as the researchers admitted that they were not able to determine whether the participants had heart disease, high blood pressure, or other metabolic conditions such as diabetes, which could have skewed the results.
No matter what, though, a balanced diet and plenty of daily exercise will help to keep you healthy and feeling good.

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