Certain types of cooking oils could be causing a surge in colon cancer among young Americans, a government-funded study suggests.
Consuming large amounts of seed oils – including sunflower, canola, corn and grapeseed oils – has long been linked to inflammation in the body.
But now a study has found that tumors from more than 80 colon cancer patients were analyzed and may also increase the risk of one of the fastest growing forms of the disease.
Researchers found that patients’ tumors contained high levels of bioactive lipids, microscopic fatty compounds produced when the body breaks down seed oils.
These lipids are believed to be dangerous in two ways: they promote inflammation that helps cancer grow, and they prevent the body from fighting tumors.
The researchers urge people to move away from seed oil and instead focus on oils with omega-3 fatty acids such as olive oil and avocado oil.
America’s top cancer and heart disease agencies say there is no evidence that moderate amounts of seed oil contribute to these conditions. But there is a growing movement against these substances, due to studies suggesting they cause inflammation and increase the risk of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Robert F Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has stated that Americans are “unknowingly being poisoned by them.”
A study from researchers in Florida suggests that seed oils and other ultra-processed foods may lead to inflammation and cause an increase in colon cancer rates.
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The findings come as rates of colon cancer have risen among young Americans.
Diagnoses in people under 50, which are classified as early-onset, are expected to increase by 90 percent between 2010 and 2030 in people aged 20 to 34.
No cause has yet been identified, but ultra-processed foods are thought to play a role because they contain fats, sugars and other chemicals that lead to inflammation in the digestive tract.
Authorities such as the American Heart Association also suggest that there is no evidence that seed oils in moderate amounts cause inflammation.
In fact, the agency said earlier this year that there is “no reason to avoid seed oils and plenty of reasons to eat them,” because they could lower cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease and stroke.
But the University of South Florida team that conducted the latest research said Americans are consuming too much of “these bad oils.”
By some estimates, the average American consumes nearly 100 pounds of seed oil per year, which is about a thousand times as much as in the 1950s. Seed oils became popular in the United States after World War II due to advances in agriculture.
The latest study, published Tuesday in the magazine Gutlooked at 81 tumor samples from patients with colorectal cancer aged 30 to 85 years.
Just over half of the patients had stage three or four cancer, while a third were in stage two.
The team found that colorectal cancer patients had significantly higher levels of bioactive lipids in their tumors than healthier fats.
Carly Barrett, from Kentucky, was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 24 after discovering blood in her stool and experiencing abdominal pain
The findings come as doctors race to find the cause of rising colon cancer among young, fit Americans like Jelena Tompkins (left) and Joe Faratzis (right).
Seed oils naturally contain fatty acids, including omega-6 fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
These fatty acids are converted into bioactive lipids in the plant seed through a complex biochemical process.
When consumed, the acids are synthesized in a part of the plant cell called the plastid, which produces and stores food.
This causes them to form into longer chain fatty acids called arachidonic acid. Enzymes then convert arachidonic acid into eicosanoids, a type of bioactive lipid.
Finding bioactive lipids in the colon suggests that the body has metabolized them, which happens by eating foods containing omega-6 fatty acids. These have been linked to inflammation in the colon when consumed excessively.
In the case of colon cancer, inflammation causes cells to continually divide and regenerate in the colon, making them more susceptible to cancer-causing mistakes such as mutations.
Chronic inflammation also suppresses the immune system’s ability to destroy those abnormal cells.
Dr. Timothy Yeatman, study author and professor of surgery at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said: ‘It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have more inflammation in their bodies.
‘We now see this inflammation in the intestinal tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal. When your body lives on ultra-processed foods every day, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”
The Florida researchers said that given the findings, a treatment aimed at resolving inflammation with unprocessed healthy fats such as fish oil could help restore the body’s healing mechanisms.
Dr. Yeatman said: ‘This has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment, going beyond medicines to harness natural healing processes.
“It’s a critical step toward addressing chronic inflammation and preventing diseases before they start.”