Calcium protects against colorectal cancer while alcohol and meat increase risk, study reveals

Scientists have linked alcohol and red or processed meat to increased colorectal cancer risk, while dietary calcium can offer significant protective benefits.

They saw the risk of colorectal, colon and rectal cancers was negatively correlated with milk consumption. Researchers suggest that dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer only because they contain calcium.

Researchers found inverse associations with other dairy-related factors, such as dairy milk, yogurt, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, which were primarily due to the association of these dietary factors with calcium. Cheese and ice cream are exceptions in this case.

They propose that calcium’s protective function may be related to its capacity to bind to free fatty acids and bile acids in the colonic lumen, reducing their potentially carcinogenic effects.

Calcium protection 

The study in Nature Communications followed 542,778 women in the UK over 16.6 years, finding 12,251 incident cases. Scientists examined 97 dietary factors using a targeted genetic analysis.

According to the study, taking supplements that increase calcium intake by 300 mg daily was linked to a 9% decreased risk of colorectal cancer. However, in a randomized controlled trial involving 36,282 postmenopausal women, there was no significant effect on risk. 

The risk of colorectal cancer was positively correlated with the consumption of red and processed meat, with an 8% increase in risk for every 30 g of meat consumed daily.The risk of colorectal cancer was positively correlated with the consumption of red and processed meat, with an 8% increase in risk for every 30 g of meat consumed daily. 

According to the study, higher intakes of breakfast cereal, fruit, wholegrains, carbohydrates, fiber, total sugars, folate and vitamin C were also linked to comparatively small magnitudes of decreased risks.

Growing cancer rate

In 2021, there were an estimated 1,926,425 incident cases of colorectal cancer, making it the third most common cancer worldwide, according to research. Incidents of colorectal cancer are higher in higher-income countries, such as many European countries, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with fewer, but growing incidences in lower-income countries.

The researchers say there is uncertainty about the role of diet in colorectal cancer development, but previous research has found that colorectal cancer rates in migrants changed around a decade after they adopted a new country. The study researchers believe the pattern indicates a connection between colorectal cancer and environmental factors.

Meanwhile, experts called for dietary shifts to prevent colorectal cancer in young adults as the American Cancer Society warned of the cancer’s growing risk among the US’ younger population. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine pointed to obesity, meat and dairy-heavy diets as pertinent to increased gastrointestinal cancer risk.