A recent study found that eating foods rich in antioxidants may be associated with a reduced risk of cervical cancer, adding further evidence to the importance of diet in preventing certain diseases.
The study was based on an analysis of data from 1,044 American women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2018, including 174 women with cervical cancer and 870 women without.
The researchers focused on measuring the amount of antioxidants participants obtained from food, using the Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI). This index relies on food intake questionnaire data to estimate the level of antioxidants in each participant's diet.
After taking into account other factors that can influence the risk of cervical cancer, the researchers found that each one-unit increase in the CDAI index was associated with an 11.4% decrease in the prevalence of cervical cancer.
The results also showed that women who scored highest on the index had a 55.8% lower prevalence of cervical cancer compared to women who scored lowest.
Further analyses showed a linear inverse relationship between the composite dietary antioxidant index and the prevalence of cervical cancer, i.e., a higher level of antioxidants in the diet was associated with a lower prevalence of the disease.
The researchers confirmed that these results suggest that consuming foods rich in antioxidants may play a role in preventing cervical cancer, but they stressed the need for further future studies to confirm this relationship and understand the mechanisms that may explain it.
The study results do not prove that antioxidants directly prevent cervical cancer, but they do indicate a link between higher consumption and a lower prevalence of the disease.
