Study Warns: America’s Favorite Ready-to-Eat Foods May Be Fueling Early Colon Cancer
A sharp rise in colorectal cancer among adults under 50 may be tied to the foods millions of Americans eat every day, according to a major new study from Mass General Brigham. Researchers say diets high in ultraprocessed foods—a category that includes many ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat items loaded with sugar, salt, saturated fats, and additives—are strongly associated with precursors to early-onset colon cancer.
The study, published in JAMA Oncology, analyzed more than 20 years of dietary and medical data from nearly 30,000 women in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study II. All participants, born between 1947 and 1964, underwent at least two lower endoscopies before age 50 and completed detailed dietary questionnaires every four years.
Researchers found a striking trend:
Women who consumed the highest levels of ultraprocessed foods—about 10 servings per day—had a 45% higher risk of developing adenomas compared to those who consumed the least (around three servings). Adenomas are benign but precancerous polyps that often serve as early warning signs for colorectal cancer.
“The increased risk seems to be fairly linear,” said senior author Dr. Andrew Chan, chief of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and gastroenterologist at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute. “The more ultraprocessed foods you eat, the more potential that it could lead to colon polyps.”
While previous research has connected ultraprocessed diets to colorectal cancer overall, this is the first study to specifically link them to early-onset colorectal cancer, a form of the disease that has been rising rapidly in younger adults.
Researchers also emphasized that the link held true even after accounting for other risk factors such as low fiber intake, Type 2 diabetes, and higher BMI.
The study is observational, meaning it shows a connection but can’t prove direct causation. Still, experts say the findings align with other research pointing to potential inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and chemical additives in ultraprocessed foods as contributors to disease.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News senior medical analyst not involved in the research, called the study “very exciting,” noting it adds to a growing body of evidence about the metabolic and inflammatory dangers of ultraprocessed diets.
Researchers caution that not all ultraprocessed foods carry the same level of risk, and more work is needed to identify which specific ingredients or manufacturing processes are most harmful.
But one conclusion, they say, is clear:
Reducing ultraprocessed food intake may be an important strategy for lowering early-onset colorectal cancer risk—a disease that is increasingly striking people decades before routine screening begins.
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