Do you like organic foods? Your chances of some cancers may fall

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.

The researchers found a link between organic food consumption and a lower risk of cancer, even after taking into account other cancer risk factors.

"We took into account various factors that may be involved in the relationship," Baudry said, "such as socio-demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors, as well as a family history of cancer, or a diet more healthy in terms of nutrients and food consumption.for these factors has not substantially changed the results. "

Organic foods are grown without pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals. Studies have shown that people who consume organic foods have less pesticide residues in their urine, she noted.

"Pesticide exposure has been associated with a higher cancer risk" in previous studies, Baudry said.

More specifically, said Guinter, this study corroborates the results of a British study that also linked the consumption of organic foods with a lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"Whenever you see a result that is reproduced in this way, you find it a little more believable.There is good biological plausibility behind that," explained Guinter.

According to Dr. Frank Hu, director of nutrition at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health, animal studies have shown that pesticides can increase damage to DNA, which can increase the cancer risk. Chemicals can also disrupt the endocrine system.

But, said Guinter and Hu, there is still not enough human evidence on which to base new dietary recommendations.

People should eat well and maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise to prevent cancer, Hu said. Reducing the consumption of alcohol will also help.

"Basically, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, whether they are conventional or organic, can improve the overall quality of food and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including cancer," said Hu, the main author of an editorial accompanying the new study.

The report was published online on 22 October in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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More information:
Association of the frequency of consumption of organic foods with the risk of cancer, JAMA Intern Med. Posted online 22 October 2018. DOI: 10.1001 / jamainternmed.2018.4357, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2707948.