Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between vegetables, fruit, soy food or grains intake and rectal cancer, and to provide evidence for decreasing the risk of rectal cancer. Methods Literatures about the relationship between vegetables, fruit, soy food or grains and rectal cancer were searched on Pubmed, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, Wangfang, CNKI, CBM, VIP database. Included literatures were evaluated by Newcastle-Ottawa scales. The data were extracted and analysed. The pooled odd ratio(OR) and 95% CI were calculated through Review Manage 5.2. Results Eight literatures were included finally. Total vegetables and soy food were protective factors for rectal cancer, and the pooled OR were 0.81(95%CI: 0.74-0.89) and 0.85(95%CI: 0.77-0.94) respectively. We did not find the relationship between fruit, grains and rectal cancer, and the pooled OR were 1.01(95%CI: 0.84-1.21) and 0.94( 95%CI: 0.75-1.17) respectively. Conclusion Vegetables and soy food intake could decrease the risk of rectal cancer.