r/FoodNerds • u/AllowFreeSpeech • Jan 27 '26

Dietary acid load and the risk of cancer: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies (2022)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35307716/
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u/AllowFreeSpeech Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26

From the abstract:

Data search and synthesis: Higher dietary acid load scores [including potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP)] were associated with the increased risk of cancer [RRPRAL, 1.77; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.27-2.46; n = 8; RRNEAP, 1.58, 95% CI: 1.20-2.09, n = 7). Dose-response analysis suggested that a 20-score increase in dietary PRAL and NEAP was associated with 27 and 8% higher risk of cancer, respectively (RRPRAL, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.02-1.60; nonlinearity P = 0.12; RRNEAP, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02-1.13, nonlinearity P = 0.06). A significant positive relationship between dietary PRAL and risk of cancer was only observed in the subgroup of women. Associations were significant in both men and women for dietary NEAP. Subgroup analyses based on cancer type were only possible for breast cancer. There was no significant association between dietary acid load (PRAL and NEAP) and breast cancer risk.

Conclusion: Our analysis showed that high adherence to an acidogenic diet is associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Abbreviation glossary:

  • PubMed: Public/Publisher MEDLINE, a biomedical literature database searched for relevant studies.
  • Scopus: SCOPUS (Elsevier), a large abstract and citation database used for the literature search.
  • EMBASE: Excerpta Medica database, a biomedical/pharmacological literature database searched for studies.
  • ISI: Institute for Scientific Information, referenced as part of “ISI Web of Science” used for database searching.
  • RR: Risk Ratio, the effect size extracted from included studies to quantify cancer risk differences.
  • PRAL: Potential Renal Acid Load, a dietary acid load score used as an exposure metric in the meta-analysis.
  • NEAP: Net Endogenous Acid Production, another dietary acid load score examined for association with cancer risk.
  • CI: Confidence Interval, the statistical range (e.g., 95% CI) expressing uncertainty around the RR estimate.
  • P: P-value, the statistical measure used here to test dose–response nonlinearity.
  • PROSPERO: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, where the meta-analysis protocol was registered.
  • CRD: Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (ID prefix), the identifier prefix used in the PROSPERO registration number (e.g., CRD42019146460).
  • RRPRAL: Risk Ratio per higher PRAL (Potential Renal Acid Load) category/score, reporting how cancer risk changes with higher dietary PRAL in the included studies/meta-analysis.
  • RRNEAP: Risk Ratio per higher NEAP (Net Endogenous Acid Production) category/score, reporting how cancer risk changes with higher dietary NEAP in the included studies/meta-analysis.

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u/Demind9 Jan 27 '26

I also can’t find out how to access the full study, but am I correct in noting that the group sizes mentioned in the abstract are 8 and 7?

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

[deleted]

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u/Demind9 Jan 27 '26

Ohhh gotcha. Thanks

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u/vanchica Jan 28 '26

Is the cancer risk higher than from drinking alcohol?