23 May Healthy Carbs May Reduce Risk of Prostate Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Adriana C. Vidal, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Division of Clinical & Epidemiologic Research and
Cancer Prevention, Detection and Control Research Program and Department of Surgery Division of Urology
Duke University School of Medicine Durham, NC 27710
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Vidal: Among 430 veterans at the VA Hospital in Durham, N.C., including 156 men with confirmed prostate cancer, we found that men who self-reported a higher intake of carbohydrates were at a reduced risk of both low-grade and high-grade prostate cancer.
Moreover, we found that intake of foods with high glycemic index increased total prostate cancer risk in black men. However, a higher fiber intake was associated with reduced risk of high grade prostate cancer.
MedicalResearch: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Vidal: The findings were indeed unexpected, since it has been hypothesized that diets high in carbohydrates increase prostate cancer risk. However, the link between diet and prostate cancer has been conflicting. Also, we could not test whether extremely low carbohydrate intake has prostate cancer benefits since there were very few men consuming these diets.
MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Vidal: If these results are validated in larger studies, our findings indicate that among men consuming a western diet a good approach to reduce prostate cancer risk would be to adopt a diet rich in healthy carbohydrates, high in fiber and low in glycemic index.
MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Vidal: Future research is needed to test whether racial/ethnic differences exist in response to different diets in the context of prostate cancer risk.
Furthermore, the emerging field of nutrigenomics will help answer many of these questions, that is whether certain interactions between dietary components and genes may increase the risk of developing cancer.
Citation:
Last Updated on May 24, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD