A recent study led by Imperial College London and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that increasing levels of folate (vitamin B9) and folic acid in the diet can reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 9%.
The research used data from over 70,000 individuals and examined the impact of folic acid supplementation and food naturally high in folate – such as leafy green vegetables (spinach, rocket), cruciferous vegetables, wholegrains, pulses, and fruit (particularly citrus) – on bowel cancer risk.
“Increasing your vegetable intake is an easy way to increase your intake of folate, with some added health benefits,” says Bowel Cancer Australia’s Nutritionist Jo.
“Try adding a side of lightly dressed green leaves (spinach, rocket) to your dinner or throwing some spinach into a stir fry or pasta just before serving. You could also try incorporating chopped vegetables into your morning or afternoon tea, adding extra vegetables (spinach, zucchini, mushrooms) to pasta sauces such as bolognaise, or having an end of week vegetable drawer ‘clean out’ by making a big vegetable soup or stir fry,” she added.
Folate has garnered considerable attention in recent years in the field of bowel cancer research due to its role in key bodily processes that have direct implications on carcinogenesis (cancer formation).
The study noted an inverse association of folate – dietary, supplement, and total (dietary and supplement) – with overall bowel cancer risk. The estimates were similar for dietary and total folate, which supports the notion that dietary intake of folate (without supplementation) may be effective in preventing bowel cancer.
The inverse association was stronger in males (11% lower risk) than in females (6% lower risk).
Interestingly, the study also demonstrated that two locations on the genome interact with folic acid supplementation. It has been suggested that folate is involved in the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, and a deregulation of the serotonergic system (a collection of neurons and nuclei distributed along the brainstem that affect neurotransmitter pathways) may be linked to bowel cancer.
