Western diet increases the risk of colon cancer

specific to them nutrition In western industrialized countries such as Germany and the United States Higher consumption of red and processed meats, sugar and refined carbohydrates, According to a recent study, this combination has a negative effect on the composition of the intestinal flora, which risk of colorectal cancer increases.

a working group of Brigham and Women’s Hospital In Boston, Massachusetts (USA) was able to use data from over 134,000 participants to prove that a western diet with Increases risk of colon cancer is connected. The increased risk appears to be due to adverse changes in certain intestinal bacteria, the team reports in the journal “gastroenterology,

Gut bacteria analyzed in gut tumors

subjects had more than 1,000 cases of colon cancer, The researchers analyzed the genomes of some intestinal bacteria found in intestinal tumors. These were specialized strains of widespread intestinal bacteria. Escherichia coli,

Harmful protein discovered in gut bacteria

E. coli strains discovered in tumors showed a specific protein in itself, which in technical jargon Polyketide Synthase (PKS) referred to as. Gut bacteria with this protein were especially common in people who had a diet high in sugar, red and processed meats, and refined carbohydrates and white flour products.

Polyketide synthase favors mutation

presence of E. coli was associated with an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer with pks, As the researchers emphasize, pks encodes an enzyme that has been shown to Supports mutation in human cells,

On the other hand, the presence of E. coli strains without pks was No is associated with an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Western diet favors PK in gut bacteria

according to the study author Dr. Shuji Ogino From Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the results of the overall study support the hypothesis that Western diet increases the incidence of Escherichia coli with polyketide synthasebecause of which Increases risk of colon cancer,

first study of this kind

“This is the first study to link a Western diet to specific pathogenic bacteria in cancer.”, Dr. Ogino in short. In another study, the working group would now like to clarify which components of the Western diet most support the buildup of harmful proteins in intestinal bacteria. (VB)