Replacing 10% of your intake of ultra-processed foods with minimally processed foods is linked with 2% lower incidence of bowel cancer, according to our new analysis of data from more than 460,000 U.S. adults. However, we also found no association between total ultra-processed food intake and bowel cancer incidence. That said, intake of wholegrains, fibre, dairy, and calcium from ultra-processed food sources was associated with lower bowel cancer incidence.
Eating ultra-processed meats was associated with higher bowel cancer incidence. Ultra-processed foods includes things such as store-bought biscuits, instant noodles, sugary drinks, processed meats and chips. Overall, our findings suggest the label “ultra-processed” alone doesn’t tell the full story about bowel cancer risk.
What’s in the food seems to matter. Choosing wholegrains and limiting processed meat aligns with current evidence-based guidance. Researchers and policymakers should avoid treating all ultra-processed foods as one group as this may mask differences linked to disease risk.
Higher intakes of wholegrains, fibre, dairy, and calcium and lower intakes of processed and red meat have been associated with lower bowel cancer risk. Importantly, these food groups and nutrients are in lots of foods, from minimally processed to ultra-processed (as defined by the Nova classification system). Prior studies evaluating the association between ultra-processed food intake and bowel cancer risk have been inconsistent.
Some have found that higher intake is associated with higher bowel cancer incidence, while others have found no association. To find out more, we looked to a large data set from the U.S. We analyzed data from over 460,000 U.S. adults who were between the ages of 50 and 71 and cancer-free when they enrolled in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study in 1995-96.
Participants answered questions about demographics, health conditions, and lifestyle factors, including smoking, physical activity and dietary intake. We used data on eating frequency and portion size to estimate the daily amount of ultra-processed food each participant usually consumed. We defined ultra-processed food using the Nova classification system.
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