Watch what's on your plate today. It could shape your health tomorrow. The food you choose may either fuel colon cancer or help heal tumors in the future. New research reveals that ultra-processed foods and seed oils used in cooking are key drivers behind the rising colon cancer rates in the U.S.
Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of the elderly, is now spiking at an alarming rate among young people. Studies suggest that unhealthy dietary habits, particularly the rise of the Western diet rich in processed foods and unhealthy oils, are to blame.
Seed oils, commonly used in cooking processed foods, are cheap, vegetable-based oils that are chemically processed from seeds like canola (rapeseed), corn, grapeseed, and sunflower. Although processed foods make life easier and food tastier, they are a well-known risk factor for several metabolic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
In a recent study, researchers examined how these foods impact the body's natural healing processes. By examining 162 tumor samples from colon cancer patients, they found that the tumors contained an "excess number" of inflammation-causing molecules and "a shortage" of healing molecules.
"It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies. We now see this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won't heal – if your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow," said Dr. Timothy Yeatman, a co-author of the study in a news release.
According to the new study, the solution to the inflammation also lies in the plate, choosing healthy fats like avocados instead of seed oils can help in healing. The new findings open the door to a new, natural treatment approach called resolution medicine which aims to restore dietary balance to more effectively combat colorectal cancer.
"Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume. Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalance the immune system and drive chronic inflammation," explained Ganesh Halade, a researcher of the study.
