Biscuits, sweets, and sausages ‘increase men’s risk of bowel cancer’
Cookies, candy, carbonated drinks and sausages may increase the risk of colon cancer in men, a study suggests.
Ultra-processed foods — including instant soup and noodles and sweet or savory packaged snacks — have been linked to higher rates of the disease, researchers said.
US academics examined data from three long-term health studies involving more than 46,000 men and nearly 160,000 women.
Participants were followed for 24 to 28 years, and during this time 3,216 cases of colon cancer were identified.
The researchers, from Tufts University in Boston, assessed the diet using food questionnaires, which were completed by participants every four years.
Men who ate the most ultra-processed foods were 29 percent more likely to develop colon cancer than those who ate the lowest amount — but the link was not found in women.
However, when the researchers, whose study is published in the British Medical Journal, looked at subgroups of ultra-processed foods, they found that women who consumed the most ready meals had a 17 percent higher risk of colon cancer compared to those in the lowest consumption group.
