High Glycemic Index Diets Increase Lung Cancer Risk

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Alternative Health, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

High-glycemic index foods push your insulin and IGF-1 into ranges linked to lung cancer, raising risk across multiple tumor types, including small cell and adenocarcinoma
High-glycemic load diets, when built from fiber-rich whole fruits, vegetables, and grains, showed a lower lung cancer risk because they produced steadier blood sugar responses rather than sharp spikes
Both smokers and nonsmokers experienced significantly higher lung cancer odds when eating high-GI diets, showing that carbohydrate quality influences risk regardless of smoking history
Fast-absorbing carbs and ultraprocessed foods often combine high-GI starches with high linoleic acid seed oils, creating an inflammatory, insulin-resistant environment that supports abnormal cell growth
Simple dietary shifts — such as reducing ultraprocessed foods, choosing slower-digesting carbs, repairing your gut before increasing fiber, and stabilizing meal timing — help you lower metabolic patterns linked to lung cancer

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Have you ever considered that the speed at which your carbs hit your bloodstream could raise your
0:04.2	odds of lung cancer, even if you never smoked? Hello, and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom.
0:10.2	Today we're examining how high glycemic index eating patterns are tied to higher lung cancer risk,
0:16.0	and why slower digesting fiber-rich choices showed the opposite trend in several large human
0:22.3	studies. I'm Ethan Foster. I'll walk you through what glycemic index and glycemic load actually
0:28.4	measure, then connect them to real-world risk. We'll also outline practical steps you can use
0:33.7	to steady blood sugar and shift the hormonal environment that influences tumor biology.
0:38.4	I'm Alara Sky. I'll detail the key findings. Who was studied, what the numbers looked like,
0:44.7	how insulin and IGF1 signaling are involved, and why carbohydrate quality, not just quantity,
0:52.3	matters for your lungs. Let's start with the big picture.
0:55.6	Lung cancer diagnoses exceed 235,000 per year in the U.S.,
1:00.6	and it accounts for about a quarter of cancer deaths.
1:03.6	Many cases appear in people who never smoked or who quit long ago,
1:07.8	which points you toward metabolic drivers that operate quietly for years.
1:11.6	A decade-long analysis in the annals of family medicine followed over 100,000 adults
1:17.6	and compared daily eating patterns with later lung cancer diagnoses.
1:22.6	Diet's highest in glycemic index were linked to a 13% higher risk across types, with small cell
1:30.2	lung cancer showing a 34% increase among the highest GI eaters.
1:36.2	Here's the critical contrast. In that same cohort, higher glycemic load, reflecting both
1:41.7	type and amount of carbs, was associated with lower risk.
1:45.0	The top GL group saw a 28% reduction in lung cancer overall, and a 32% reduction in non-small
1:52.0	cell cases, because their carbs came from fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Briana Mercola, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Briana Mercola and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.