Love Organics? Your chance for some cancers may fall

MONDAY, Oct. 22, 2018 (HealthDay News) – It may be profitable to pay extra for these expensive organic fruits and vegetables: New research suggests that eating them could help you avoid a cancer diagnosis.

The study found that people who ate the most organic foods had a 25% lower risk of cancer compared to those who ate the least.

Specifically, the consumption of organically produced foods was associated with a 34% reduction in breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, a 76% reduction in the risk of all lymphomas, and a reduction in the risk of breast cancer. 86% of the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, said lead researcher Julia Baudry. She is a scientist at the Center for Research and Epidemiology and Statistics of the Sorbonne Paris Cite.

"If our findings are confirmed, organic food consumption could contribute to cancer prevention," said Baudry, although the study did not prove that they had directly provoked lowering the risk of cancer.

And people should not stop eating fruits and vegetables if they can not afford more expensive options from organic farming.

Filling your fruit and vegetable diet is known to reduce your risk of chronic disease and cancer, whether organic or not, said Baudry and other experts.

Mark Guinter, Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Cancer Society, said: "More importantly, you must make sure you consume your fruits and vegetables, avoid your red and processed meat, and eat grains. These are established relationships with cancer, reproduced in many populations. "

Guinter added that "if people are interested in modifying their diet or buying foods known to help prevent their risk of cancer, these would certainly be ways to go rather than just buying organic products."

For this study, Baudry and his colleagues analyzed data from nearly 69,000 people participating in an ongoing French study on associations between nutrition and health.

Participants all completed questionnaires on their consumption of organic products. These included fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish, eggs, bread and other foods.

They also completed annual questionnaires on the state of their health, including cancer cases, and were followed for an average of 4.5 years.