Diet Rich in Vitamin A Lowers Stomach Cancer Risk by Half

Dietary data of over 36,000 women and 45,000 men analyzed in Sweden revealed that high intakes of vitamin A (retinol, alpha- and beta –carotene) may reduce the risk of gastric cancer by as much as 44%.

Stomach cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in the world, according to the European School of Oncology, and there are 800,000 new cases every year. It is Japan’s most common form of cancer.

Led by Susanna Larsson from the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden), the research team investigated carotenoid intake from foods only (dietary intake) and from foods and supplements combined (total intake) and the incidence of stomach cancer amongst the 45,338 men of the Cohort of Swedish Men and the 36,664 women in the Swedish Mammography Cohort.

Study results have been reported in an article appearing in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

However despite such findings, it should be noted that high Vitamin A intake is not advisable to the following population groups:

• women who are pregnant or thinking of having a baby (too much vitamin A can cause development defects in unborn babies)
• people at risk of bone fractures: post-menopausal women and older people

Find more details from the full report.

[article abstract]