A new study has claimed that people who eat pulses such as kidney beans or lentils at least three times a week are less likely to develop bowel cancer.Researchers at the Loma Linda University in California found that diets rich in beans, pulses and brown rice cut the risk of developing colon polyps – small growths in the liningof the bowel that can become cancerous -by up to 40 per cent. They found that eating brown rice once a week cuts the risk by two fifths, while having cooked green vegetables atleast once a day reduces it by a quarter.Eating dried fruit at least three times a week was also found to be cutting the risk of developing the growths by a similar amount.The study, based on the data of a survey of nearly 3,000 people 25 years ago, is one of the first to look atwhich specific foods can cut the risk of bowel cancer.The data was adjusted to take into account possible hereditary conditions, how active people were and whether theysmoked, drank or ate certain unhealthy foods.Study author Dr Yessenia Tantamango said that the high fibre content in these foods helped make them potent weapons in the fight against bowel cancer.