Exactly 57 grams of nuts per week halve the colorectal cancer risk

The consumption of nuts can prevent the return of colorectal cancer
Colon cancer is a disease that can easily lead to the death of those affected. Researchers have now found that eating certain nuts may help reduce the risk of colorectal cancer return.

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston found that consuming at least 57 grams of tree nuts a week in colorectal cancer survivors significantly reduces the risk of colorectal cancer recurrence. The physicians publish the results of their study at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Certain types of nuts may protect against recurrence of colon cancer. These nuts include, for example, almonds or cashews. Also, the probability of dying from recurrent colon cancer is significantly reduced by the consumption of nuts. (Image: George Dolgikh / fotolia.com)

Consumption of nuts can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer recurrence by 42 percent
For their study, the experts analyzed questionnaires on food intake from a clinical trial of 826 patients with stage 3 colorectal cancer. At this stage, the cancer spreads to nearby lymph nodes. The results of the current study show the health benefits of consuming nuts in previous colon cancer. If colon cancer survivors consume at least 57 grams of tree nuts (about 48 almonds or 36 cashews) in one week, the likelihood of cancer return is reduced by about 42 percent. In addition, the risk of colorectal cancer declining by 57 percent, compared with people who did not eat nuts, explain the scientists.

Advantages arise only with the consumption of so-called tree nuts
All patients in the study were previously treated by surgery and chemotherapy to beat their colorectal cancer. The advantage of the new disease risk could only be achieved by eating tree nuts, but not by the consumption of peanuts, the researchers say. The reason could be that peanuts are actually legumes. Legumes have a different metabolic composition than tree nuts.

Proper nutrition can improve long-term survival of patients
This study shows that something as simple as eating nuts can make a difference in long-term survival of a patient, say the authors. The effects of a healthy diet are often overlooked by doctors and their patients in the treatment of cancer.

Diabetes and obesity affect the risk of colon cancer
The team of researchers focused their research on nut consumption because previous studies had already shown that eating nuts can reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes. These are known to be factors that also affect the risk of recurrence and death in colorectal cancer, the researchers explain.

Further research is needed
The findings should be particularly interesting for colorectal cancer survivors of stage 3 colon cancer who want to prevent recurrence of the disease, the researchers report. Further studies are now needed to investigate whether tree nuts are also associated with better health effects in other stages of colorectal cancer, the authors say. (As)