Eating fruits and veggies reduces lung cancer risk for smokers

Eating a diet rich in fruits and veggies may reduce the risk of lung cancer in smokers.

The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, featured up to 450,000 people in Europe, 1600 of them diagnosed with lung cancer.

The researchers studied the health benefits of up to 14 commonly eaten fruits and 26 vegetables including fresh, canned or dried products.

After studying a variety of fruits and veggies that the participants ate, the researchers noted that it appeared to be the variety of fruits and veg that was the beneficial factor, not the quantity of what was eaten.

Researchers noted that cases of squamous cell carcinoma were greatly reduced in those people who ate a variety of fruits and vegetables.

“Although quitting smoking is the most important preventive action in reducing lung cancer risk, consuming a mix of different types of fruit and vegetables may also reduce risk, independent of the amount, especially among smokers,” said H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita of the Netherlands-based National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.

“Fruits and vegetables contain many different bioactive compounds, and it makes sense to assume that it is important that you not only eat the recommended amounts, but also consume a rich mix of these bioactive compounds by consuming a large variety,” Bueno-de Mesquita said.

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