A new study has found that eating certain types of carbohydrates could increase your chances of developing lung cancer.
Scientists at the University of Texas found that people whose diets had high glycemic indexes (large amounts of certain carbs) were twice more likely to develop the disease than those with low indexes.
The participants who were at risk had never smoked a cigarette (tobacco is considered the leading cause of lung cancer).
According to the Mail Online, it is believed that diets with high glycemic indexes cause higher levels of blood glucose and insulin. This increases the level of a certain hormone and elevated levels of this hormone have previously been linked to lung cancer.
However it was stressed by researchers that this does not prove a definitive link between such diets and lung cancer. Even still, the suggestion is that lowering your intake of high glycemic carbohydrates could lower your risk of the disease.
In other words, the study (which, as previously mentioned, is NOT definitive) seems to suggest that it is the type of carbohydrates you eat as opposed to the amount.
Foods that are considered “high glycemic” include white bread, potatoes and puffed cereals. “Low glycemic” carbs include pasta, sweet potato and brown rice.
The findings were published in
the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention journal.
