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# Eating vegetables, fruits cuts risk of cervical cancer
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/eating_vegetables_fruits_cut_risk_of_cervical_cancer_0707111004/
- Published: 2011-07-07T23:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:44:00.000Z
- Description: A case-control study of 268 Uruguayan cervical cancer patients linked a mostly plant-based diet to 40 percent lower risk, while women eating red meat and drinking alcohol were 79 percent more likely to be diagnosed. Smoking showed no association in this group.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Cancer, Avoiding Illness, Red Meat, Vegetarian, Cervical Cancer, Alcohol, #vivvo-import

By David Liu, Ph.D. and editing by Aimee Keenan-Greene

July 7, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating a plant-based diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and void of red meat and alcohol, may significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer

Eduardo De Stefani of School of Medicine in Montevideo, Uruguay and colleagues looked at data from 268 cases of cervical cancer and 536 controls without the disease and found the prudent dietary pattern consisting of mostly vegetables and fruit was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk.

The researchers also found women eating red meat and drinking alcohol were 79 percent more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Stefani et al. analysed the dietary data using a statistical method called Factor Analysis which explained 60 percent of the variance in the analysis. The data was collected through a food frequency questionnaire.

The findings, published this past January in Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggest, certain foods may be risk factors for cervical cancer. The investigators were also able to find that some non-dietary factors may boost the risk.

Among the non-dietary risk factors were having first intercourse at an early age, having a high number of sexual partners and having a high number of live births, which were all positively correlated with the cervical cancer risk.

However, no association was found between cigarette smoking and the risk of cervical cancer. But this may be due to the fact that smoking is not a favorable habit among women in Uruguay and the impact from smoking was negligible, the authors said.

High intake of vegetables and fruit, which was the main component of the prudent dietary pattern, was found protective against cervical cancer, particularly among women who had a high number of sexual partners.

Having multiple sexual partners means high risk for the infection of Human papillomavirus or HPV, which is a known risk factor for cervical cancer. Could the current study suggest that eating vegetables and fruits help negate the effect of HPV?

Cervical cancer is diagnosed in 12,200 women each year in the country and the disease kills about 4,210 American women, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.