Less cancer through environmentally friendly nutrition?
Link between sustainable diets and cancer risk investigated for the first time
In a systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Regensburg comprehensively investigated the link between sustainable diets and various cancer risks for the first time. The international analysis shows: People who eat a sustainable diet have a lower risk of cancer and cancer-related deaths. "This is not only an advantage for those who eat a sustainable diet. They are also helping to protect the planet," says Marina Kasper, lead author of the study. The results, published in the Lancet Group's journal eClinicalMedicine, provide indications for a health and nutrition policy discussion.
Results: Less cancer through an environmentally friendly diet
The study includes data from over 2.2 million people from 17 international studies. The key finding: people who ate a particularly sustainable diet had a 7% lower risk of cancer and a 12% lower risk of cancer-related deaths compared to those whose diet was the least sustainable. Sustainable diets were assessed using various scientific indices that took into account both environmental aspects - such as CO₂ emissions or land use - and health-promoting food components. The consumption of organic food and the avoidance of highly processed products also played a role.
The link between a sustainable diet and a reduction in the risk of lung and stomach cancer was most evident. The results were less clear for other types of cancer, such as breast and bowel cancer.
Practical conclusions: Good for people and the environment
"The analysis provides a strong argument for sustainable nutrition as a dual prevention strategy: it protects health and at the same time preserves the natural foundations of life, i.e. the environment on which our lives depend," says Marina Kasper.
The researchers emphasize that sustainable diets are characterized by a higher proportion of plant-based and unprocessed foods and at the same time contain less meat, sugar and highly processed products - all factors that are associated with a higher risk of cancer. An additional benefit is that many of these foods - such as pulses, whole grains, nuts and fruit - are not only nutrient-rich but also resource-efficient to produce.
The researchers argue that public health policy should focus more on sustainable nutrition in future - for example through education, better labeling and health-promoting conditions in schools, hospitals and canteens. In this way, the researchers believe that individual health protection can be reconciled with global climate protection.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
Original publication
Walter Willett, Johan Rockström, Brent Loken, Marco Springmann, Tim Lang, Sonja Vermeulen, Tara Garnett, David Tilman, Fabrice DeClerck, Amanda Wood, ... Sarah E Cornell, K Srinath Reddy, Sunita Narain, Sania Nishtar, Christopher J L Murray; "Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems"; The Lancet, Volume 393
Marco Springmann; "A multicriteria analysis of meat and milk alternatives from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives"; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 121, 2024-12-2
Simone Reuter, Subash C. Gupta, Madan M. Chaturvedi, Bharat B. Aggarwal; "Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: How are they linked?"; Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 49
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