New Report on Dietary Fiber

[Edward]

This is from a report that I seen on the news tonight. It aired from Channel 16 in Scranton which covered the Colossal Colon in Selinsgrove, PA in September. Their link is www.wnep.com

JAMA: Fiber Doesn't Fight Colon Cancer, But Helps Prevent Other Conditions
Web Links

Fiber
Harvard Medical School
JAMA

I guess this is new a study to goes AGAINST alot of what we were taught. The reporter on the story was Jill Garrett. You can reach her at jill.garrett@wnep.com


Some studies have shown that eating fiber can reduce your risk of colon cancer. A new study finds that may not be the case. But, don't cut the fiber from your diet just yet.

A huge study finds fiber does not reduce the risk of colon cancer after all. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have fiber in your diet.

Lots of people thought that eating fruits, vegetables, cereals and whole grains could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, also known as colon cancer. But a new study, in JAMA, tells a different story.

Stephanie Smith-Warner, is one of the researchers, "We found that eating a high-fiber diet was not associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer."

Smith-Warner and colleagues at the Harvard University School of Medicine were part of a huge, international study. It had thirteen different studies within it, tracking the health and fiber-eating habits of more than 725,000 people for up to 20-years. About 8,000 of those people developed colorectal cancer.

"We found that people who ate higher amounts of fiber had the same risk of developing colorectal cancer as individuals who ate lower amounts of fiber," Smith-Warner says. And, it didn't matter what kind of fiber, none of it affected colorectal cancer.

But, eating lots of fiber did lower the risk of "rectal cancer" a bit, and fiber has been shown to help reduce your heart disease and diabetes risk. "So it's still important to eat a high-fiber diet," she says.

Even if it doesn't prevent colorectal cancer, Jane Stevens, a consumer, eats plenty of fiber in her diet, "I think I'll just keep on eating fiber anyway because it just seems like, you know, fruits and vegetables and cereals and grains, just seems like those are gonna be good for you whether or not they prevent cancer." She's right, they are.

If you do want to reduce the risk of colon cancer: Don't smoke, do limit the amount of red meat you eat and the alcohol you drink, and do get regular exercise.

The full report is in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association

[Erika]

The story also made the national news (NBC) last night.

Here is a link to the JAMA article:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/294/22/2849


The evidence for a link between dietary fiber intake and colon cancer IS conflicting. It is very difficult to make these associations because people vary hugely in terms of their lifestyles, exposures, etc. Furthermore, many of these epidemiological studies rely on a person's recollection of what they ate- that can vary hugely from person to person. It is very hard to control for other factors that may be involved, including heredity. I think Ed is right that this does not mean we shouldn't take care in what we eat because the benefits do go beyond cancer (heart disease, healthy weight, diabetes, etc), but I think we also should not assume that WE caused our cancers because of the way we ate. In other words, feeling guilty that our lifestyle may have caused our cancer is not helpful. I for one have a hard time believing that my diet alone caused my colon cancer diagnosis at age 22. I think too often there is an assumption that we have done something to induce our cancers when there are tons of environmental toxins and contaminants we are exposed to daily, not to mention genetic factors yet to be determined, and endless possibilities of interactions between these things.
Eat well, exercise, but don't feel guilty.
Erika

[Guest]

To follow Erika and I'm not a biologist, DNA may play a bigger part along with exposure to outside factors as medical science continues to evolve. I was 36 with normal blood pressure and colestoral readings. To this day three years later, BP is 120/80 and Colest Total is around 138. We have oil and gas spills but yet we pave roads with oil based amesite which contains benzyne.(Thanks Erika's dad on that one!) Work on diet and don't feel guilt. We all have had that at one time or another.

[Jamie]

There are so many different studies out there it's hard not to get confused. Weather or not the way you eat causes cancer is still questionable, but the really important thing to remember is that if you are sick or not, eating right is going to make you feel better. You should have three servings of whole grains everyday to keep things working right!!! Whole grain breads, pastas, oatmeal...


Happy Eating!

Jamie
Special Projects Asst., The Colon Club
Graduate Student of Nutrition & Dietetics