Cargando…

Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy

Background: The quantity, quality, and type (e.g., animal and vegetable) of human food have been correlated with human health, although with some contradictory or neutral results. We aimed to shed light on this association by using the integrated data at country level. Methods: We correlated element...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Penuelas, Josep, Krisztin, Tamás, Obersteiner, Michael, Huber, Florian, Winner, Hannes, Janssens, Ivan A., Ciais, Philippe, Sardans, Jordi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7579602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33022999
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197240
_version_ 1783598628580884480
author Penuelas, Josep
Krisztin, Tamás
Obersteiner, Michael
Huber, Florian
Winner, Hannes
Janssens, Ivan A.
Ciais, Philippe
Sardans, Jordi
author_facet Penuelas, Josep
Krisztin, Tamás
Obersteiner, Michael
Huber, Florian
Winner, Hannes
Janssens, Ivan A.
Ciais, Philippe
Sardans, Jordi
author_sort Penuelas, Josep
collection PubMed
description Background: The quantity, quality, and type (e.g., animal and vegetable) of human food have been correlated with human health, although with some contradictory or neutral results. We aimed to shed light on this association by using the integrated data at country level. Methods: We correlated elemental (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) compositions and stoichiometries (N:P ratios), molecular (proteins) and energetic traits (kilocalories) of food of animal (terrestrial or aquatic) and vegetable origin, and alcoholic beverages with cancer prevalence and mortality and life expectancy (LE) at birth at the country level. We used the official databases of United Nations (UN), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health, and Eurobarometer, while also considering other possibly involved variables such as income, mean age, or human development index of each country. Results: The per capita intakes of N, P, protein, and total intake from terrestrial animals, and especially alcohol were significantly and positively associated with prevalence and mortality from total, colon, lung, breast, and prostate cancers. In contrast, high per capita intakes of vegetable N, P, N:P, protein, and total plant intake exhibited negative relationships with cancer prevalence and mortality. However, a high LE at birth, especially in underdeveloped countries was more strongly correlated with a higher intake of food, independent of its animal or vegetable origin, than with other variables, such as higher income or the human development index. Conclusions: Our analyses, thus, yielded four generally consistent conclusions. First, the excessive intake of terrestrial animal food, especially the levels of protein, N, and P, is associated with higher prevalence of cancer, whereas equivalent intake from vegetables is associated with lower prevalence. Second, no consistent relationship was found for food N:P ratio and cancer prevalence. Third, the consumption of alcoholic beverages correlates with prevalence and mortality by malignant neoplasms. Fourth, in underdeveloped countries, reducing famine has a greater positive impact on health and LE than a healthier diet.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7579602
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-75796022020-10-29 Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy Penuelas, Josep Krisztin, Tamás Obersteiner, Michael Huber, Florian Winner, Hannes Janssens, Ivan A. Ciais, Philippe Sardans, Jordi Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: The quantity, quality, and type (e.g., animal and vegetable) of human food have been correlated with human health, although with some contradictory or neutral results. We aimed to shed light on this association by using the integrated data at country level. Methods: We correlated elemental (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) compositions and stoichiometries (N:P ratios), molecular (proteins) and energetic traits (kilocalories) of food of animal (terrestrial or aquatic) and vegetable origin, and alcoholic beverages with cancer prevalence and mortality and life expectancy (LE) at birth at the country level. We used the official databases of United Nations (UN), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health, and Eurobarometer, while also considering other possibly involved variables such as income, mean age, or human development index of each country. Results: The per capita intakes of N, P, protein, and total intake from terrestrial animals, and especially alcohol were significantly and positively associated with prevalence and mortality from total, colon, lung, breast, and prostate cancers. In contrast, high per capita intakes of vegetable N, P, N:P, protein, and total plant intake exhibited negative relationships with cancer prevalence and mortality. However, a high LE at birth, especially in underdeveloped countries was more strongly correlated with a higher intake of food, independent of its animal or vegetable origin, than with other variables, such as higher income or the human development index. Conclusions: Our analyses, thus, yielded four generally consistent conclusions. First, the excessive intake of terrestrial animal food, especially the levels of protein, N, and P, is associated with higher prevalence of cancer, whereas equivalent intake from vegetables is associated with lower prevalence. Second, no consistent relationship was found for food N:P ratio and cancer prevalence. Third, the consumption of alcoholic beverages correlates with prevalence and mortality by malignant neoplasms. Fourth, in underdeveloped countries, reducing famine has a greater positive impact on health and LE than a healthier diet. MDPI 2020-10-03 2020-10 /pmc/articles/PMC7579602/ /pubmed/33022999 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197240 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Penuelas, Josep
Krisztin, Tamás
Obersteiner, Michael
Huber, Florian
Winner, Hannes
Janssens, Ivan A.
Ciais, Philippe
Sardans, Jordi
Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title_full Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title_fullStr Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title_full_unstemmed Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title_short Country-Level Relationships of the Human Intake of N and P, Animal and Vegetable Food, and Alcoholic Beverages with Cancer and Life Expectancy
title_sort country-level relationships of the human intake of n and p, animal and vegetable food, and alcoholic beverages with cancer and life expectancy
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7579602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33022999
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197240
work_keys_str_mv AT penuelasjosep countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT krisztintamas countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT obersteinermichael countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT huberflorian countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT winnerhannes countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT janssensivana countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT ciaisphilippe countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy
AT sardansjordi countrylevelrelationshipsofthehumanintakeofnandpanimalandvegetablefoodandalcoholicbeverageswithcancerandlifeexpectancy