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Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario
Negri, Via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milano, Italy.
garimoldi@marionegri.it
Most epidemiological
data suggest a protective role for fruits
and vegetables in the prevention of several
common epithelial cancers, including digestive
and major non-digestive neoplasms.
The relation
between frequency of consumption of vegetables
and fruit and cancer and myocardial infarction
risk was analysed using data from a series
of case-control studies conducted in Italy.
For
digestive tract cancer, population attributable
risks for low intake of vegetables and fruit
ranged between 15 and 40%. A selected number
of antioxidants showed a significant inverse
relation with breast and colorectal cancer
risk, although the main components responsible
for the favourable effect of a diet rich
in vegetables and fruit remain undefined.
Fish
tends to be another favourable indicator
of reduced cancer risk. In contrast, subjects
reporting frequent red meat intake showed
a relative risk consistently above unity
for several common neoplasms. Whole grain
food intake was consistently related to reduced
risk of several types of cancer, particularly
of the upper digestive tract neoplasms.
Epidemiological
evidence of the relation between fiber and
colorectal cancer indicated a possible protections.
In contrast, refined grain intake was associated
to increased risk of different types of cancer,
pointing to a potential role of insulin-like
growth factor 1 (IGF-1).
A low risk diet
for cardiovascular disease includes high
consumption of fish, vegetables and fruit,
and hence rich in ascorbic acid and other
antioxidants, thus sharing several aspects
with a favourable diet for cancer.
PMID: 11894740 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |
