IGNITE Firefighters' Health

Implementing Good Nutrition to Improve, Transform, and Enhance Firefighters' Health

Study Aim

Firefighters face a 9% higher risk of cancer diagnosis and a 14% higher risk of cancer-related death compared to the general population, largely due to exposure to hazardous chemicals.

In partnership with the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation and the San Francisco Fire Department, our IGNITE Firefighters' Health study (Implementing Good Nutrition to Improve, Transform, and Enhance Firefighters’ Health) will determine if a whole-food, plant-forward diet rich in fermented dairy can reduce cancer risk in active San Francisco firefighters.

View Study Details

Eligible Participants

An active, full-time SF Firefighter in the arson or suppression units
Not undergoing cancer treatment
Have a current diet that could use improvement
Willing to be randomized to consume a whole-food, plant-forward diet or maintain your regular diet for 12 weeks

Study Design

The study will involve 120 firefighters, split into two groups: one continuing their usual diet and the other adopting a diet based on whole foods, including plant-forward options, fish, eggs, and fermented foods. The study will measure cancer risk markers, cardiometabolic risk markers, and changes in microbiome composition over eight weeks, with the goal of reducing inflammation and cancer risk.

Nutrition Studies Research Group

Stanford Prevention Research Center