Processed food and ready-to-eat meals increase the risk for colorectal cancer by around 30 percent.
The cancer is the third most common in the US, and researchers estimate that processed food is a major cause. Strangely, the risk was seen only in men.
Researchers from Tufts University analysed responses from more than 200,000 participants, which had been collated over 25 years.
They found a link between the cancer and processed meats such as meat, poultry and fish-based ready meals. Sugar-sweetened drinks also increased the risk.
But women who ate yoghurt seemed to be protected from the cancer. “Foods like yoghurt can potentially counteract the harmful impact of other ultra-processed foods in women,” said Fang Fang Zhang, one of the researchers.
Overall, men who ate the most processed food were 29 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer than men eating the least amount.
The association may be stronger still. The data came from people in the healthcare industry, who may be more aware of eating a healthy diet, said Zhang. People in the general population may be eating more processed food, and so could be at a far higher risk of developing the cancer.
BMJ, 2022; e068921; doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068921
