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Dietary Carbohydrate, Glycemic Index, and Glycemic Load in Relation to Colorectal Cancer Risk in the Women’s Health Initiative

Kabat GC et al.
Cancer Causes and Control 2008; 19: 1291-1298

A study of the association between intake of total carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, GI, GL and the risk of developing colorectal cancer.  Subjects were 158,000 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).  Participants completed a self-administered FFQ, which enquired about usual food intake over the last three months.  In multivariate analysis, there was no association between colorectal cancer and intakes of total carbohydrate, GI, GL, sugars and fibre.  In analysis stratified by colorectal cancer subsite, there were no associations between any of the carbohydrate-related variables and cancer of the proximal or distal colon.  There was a borderline positive association between rectal cancer and increasing GL HR 1.84 (95% CI 0.95-3.56, p for trend 0.05).  There was no evidence of effect modification when analyses were carried out with strata of BMI or physical activity.

January 2009

 

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