A diet high in refined cereals, and bread in particular, is associated with an elevated risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the main type of kidney cancer, according to a study in Italy.
Diet and nutrition are thought to play a role in the development of RCC, but the effect of specific food groups on the risk of this malignancy is controversial, explain Dr. Francesca Bravi and colleagues in the International Journal of Cancer.
Bravi, from Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri” in Milan, and associates elsewhere in Italy, used food frequency questionnaires to compare the diets of 767 patients with RCC in the 2 years prior to diagnosis to those of 1534 ‘controls’ who were admitted to the same hospitals for acute, non-cancer disorders.
Those who ate the highest amounts of bread — 28 portions a week — had nearly two times the risk of kidney cancer as those who ate the lowest number of portions per week, 9, she found. A “portion” was defined as 50 grams or 1.7 ounces, the equivalent of a slice or a slice and a half of bread.
Comparing the highest with the lowest intakes, consumption of bread increased the risk of RCC by 94 percent, pasta and rice by 29 percent, and milk and yogurt by 27 percent. Conversely, high intake of vegetables appeared to reduce the risk by 35 percent respectively.
Bravi speculated that the elevation in risk linked to high bread, pasta and rice consumption could be due to the blood-sugar raising effects of these foods. Eating large quantities of those foods, she said, may affect the process of getting cancer by influencing the level of substances called insulin-like growth factors, which have been implicated in cancer.
Even though more study is needed, Bravi said, “Our study suggests that a diet poor in refined cereals and rich in vegetables may have a favorable role on the risk of renal cell carcinoma.”
-International Journal of Cancer
Dr. Keith and Laurie Nemecs comments on high bread consumption tied to kidney cancer.
Interesting in this study was showing that the consumption of bread increased the risk of renal cell carcinoma by 94%. Pasta and rice by 29%, and milk and yogurt and other dairy products by 27%. Conversely they said the intake of vegetables appeared to reduce the risk by 35%. What they also showed was that eating these quantities of food may affect the process of getting cancer by affecting the level of substances of something called insulin like growth factors, which have been implicated in cancer. Also, it showed that a diet poor in refined cereals and rich vegetables may have a favorable role in the risk of renal cell carcinoma. So very simply, to sum it up it is this: When we eat bread, when we eat pasta, when we eat rice, when we eat these things that turn into sugar in our body, they have glycemic indexes. What glycemic index means is how much, and how quickly the food turns into sugar in the body. The problem is cancer eats sugar, and it eats it faster than any another cell in your body.
So if you’re eating anything that turns into sugar, the cancer cells are going to take it first and it’s going to promote further growth of cancer of any type. It does not have to be just renal cell; it’s any type of cancer. So, the more we decrease our sugar intake, the more we eat a diet of living/raw plant foods, the less sugar to grow this cancer, and also the less inflammation to cause the formation and growth of the cancer. The highest inflammatory products in the diet are refined sugars, starches and animal products that are highly acidic and highly inflammatory. The lowest inflammation foods are living/raw plant foods that are uncooked, plant in origin. So how are we going to become cancer protective? We’re not going to just focus on one thing which is our food our diet; we’re going to focus on 7 Basic Steps to Total Health, to prevent cancer and all other diseases from forming in our body.
