Concerning new study reveals why people who eat healthier are 'more likely to develop lung cancer'
Ella Scott
Featured Image Credit: SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images
Experts at the University of Southern California (USC) suggest that people who consume more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in America are more likely to develop lung cancer than their less-healthy peers.
New US Dietary Guidelines state that US denizens should eat three portions of vegetables, two servings of fruit, and swap ultra-processed foods (UPFs) for ‘fibre-rich’ whole grains two to four times per day.
By limiting UPFs, quitting added-sugar drinks, and saying no more often to refined carbohydrates, the experts claim you will live a healthier, better life and reduce the risk of serious illness.
But a new USC study has reported that eating a well-balanced diet with heaps of veggies and snacking on fruit may not be as healthy as first perceived.
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The worrying findings were recently presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's 2026 annual meeting.
Their study, based on dietary analysis, smoking and demographic data for 187 under-50 lung cancer patients, found that those who consumed more dark green vegetables, legumes and whole grains than the average person were more likely to develop lung cancer.
These patients were said to have never smoked and ‘had tumour types that differ biologically from lung cancers typically associated with smoking’, according to an Open Magazine report.
After analysing the data, the experts, including lead investigator Jorge Nieva, a medical oncologist and lung cancer specialist with USC Norris, the researchers claimed that it wasn’t the produce that was causing cancerous cells to develop.
Rather, it was the high consumption of pesticides, used on non-organic fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Previous reports suggested that more than 70 percent of non-organic fresh produce sold in the US contains residues of potentially harmful pesticides.
Kale, grapes, spinach, peaches, and collard greens - part of the 2026 ‘Dirty Dozen’ - were found to have some of the most PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl) pesticide residues, while sweetcorn and mushrooms were among the least.
Speaking about the concerning study, Nieva said: “Our research shows that younger non-smokers who eat a higher quantity of healthy foods than the general population are more likely to develop lung cancer.
“These counter-intuitive findings raise important questions about an unknown environmental risk factor for lung cancer related to otherwise beneficial food that needs to be addressed.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the expert added that non-organic fruits, vegetables, and whole grains - commonly referred to as ‘commercially produced’ - are ‘more likely to be associated with a higher residue of pesticides than dairy, meat and many processed foods’.
According to the United States Geological Survey, about one billion pounds of conventional pesticides are used each year in the United States to control weeds, insects, and other pests.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services Secretary, has historically been at war with pesticides and herbicides, having won a landmark case against chemical giant Monsanto by arguing its Roundup weedkiller contributed to his client’s cancer.
And despite the reasoning that glyphosate causes cancer in January, he supported an Executive Order (E. O.) signed by US President Donald Trump regarding the chemicals being used on food.
In a statement shared on 23 February, the 72-year-old claimed that the States’ agricultural system depends ‘heavily’ on pesticides, and that if they were to disappear, then crop yields would fall, food prices would surge and America would experience ‘a massive loss of farms even beyond what we are witnessing today
“The consequences would be disastrous,” he commented.
RFK Jr. received backlash for the apparent U-turn, which he later addressed on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
The father-of-six said he was not ‘particularly happy’ with the 79-year-old’s decision to bolster glyphosate.
“It’s not a good thing to have in your food so … it’s not something that I was particularly happy with. Let me put it that way, mildly,” he explained.
Politico previously reported that the environmental politician was ‘not aware the executive order was coming’ and that the ‘political ramifications had not been fully considered’.
“They made Bobby walk the plank on it,” an unnamed person close to the White House told the outlet.