A review of 1.44 million people across the United States, Europe, and Asia, showed that high intakes of dietary fibre and/or yogurt were individually and jointly associated with reduced risk of lung cancer.

The study (1) was presented in JAMA oncology and looked at existing research data involving approximately 628,000 men (mean age 57.9) and 818,000 women (mean age 54.8). The fibre (prebiotics) and yoghurt (probiotic) consumption was inversely proportional to lung cancer risk – the more people ate, the lower their risk whether smokers or not. Importantly, in the people who ate both there was an significantly higher benefit.

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The Gut-Lung Axis

Both probiotic bacteria and the foods that feed them (prebiotics) are known to strengthen the gut microbiome and, in turn, the immune response that occurs. There is now research pointing clearly to a Gut-Lung axis and this research concluded that an improved gut microbiome resulted in less lung carcinogenesis.

The benefits are not just provided by a stronger immune system; A stronger gut microbiome has benefits in reducing Lung inflammation too (2).

This is not just an issue in lung cancer but in all chronic lung illnesses such as asthma, cystic fibrosis chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many respiratory diseases (3).

Clearly, it pays you to keep your gut microbiome healthy and maximise the commensal bacteria (the ‘good’) while minimising the ‘bad’.

Go to: Heal your Gut – Heal your Body

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References

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2753175 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5762407/ https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201503-133AW