Put that sandwich down, now. As if the link between carbohydrates and the muffin-top spilling over your waistband wasn't bad enough, new research indicates that a high-carbohydrate diet may also influence your cancer risk and the growth of tumours.

Scientists at Canada's British Columbia Cancer Research Centre found that mice fed on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet had slower tumour cell growth than those fed a typical Western diet high in carbohydrates. While the experiments were conducted with mice, the findings appear to be strong enough to be applied to humans.

High-carb diet ... delicious but deadly?

"On the Western diet, half of the mice had tumours by middle age. On the low-carb diet, none of the mice had the tumours," said Dr Gerry Krystal, who authored the study along with colleague Dr Vincent Ho.

The mice used were predisposed to breast cancer, and had a life expectancy of two years.