So…Fruits and Veggies Can Increase Your Cancer Risk Now? Huh?

A recent study found something surprising about young, healthy, non-smokers who have lung cancer — in short, people who don’t fit the typical profile of lung cancer patients. 

The research, which comes from USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that some of the surveyed patients had healthy diets full of fruit and vegetables. So what gives? Could the things we’ve historically been told are super healthy….actually increase our risk of getting cancer?

Not necessarily. This is one study. It looked at one group of people. It doesn’t prove anything about the link between fresh produce and lung cancer.

But the researchers call their findings counterintuitive…and according to an abstract for this study, this raises questions for them. They surmise that there could potentially be some unknown environmental factor at play here, and researchers point out pesticides used on produce as a potential explanation for this link.

Once again, though: Remember that one study doesn’t prove anything. There’s no reason to banish all fruit or all vegetables from your life right now.

Here’s what is so hard about all this. We are constantly being told something different when it comes to health and wellness, and it already feels impossible to keep up with all the shifting advice. Now, we can file this under “one more thing for us to wonder about” — because this study honestly brings up more questions than answers, and it seems even the researchers are scratching their heads a bit.

I’m not a medical expert, but I am a journalist who has covered a lot of health research. I can’t offer any advice on the health of it all, but I can help you sort through information, because so much of my job as a journalist is just that — combing through information and figuring out what is worth holding on to and what isn’t.

And here’s my take on this particular research: We don’t have evidence that fruits and veggies are going to increase your risk of developing lung cancer. This study creates something for the researchers to attempt to learn more about…not something for us to stress over.