Healthy Diet Can Reduce Cancer Incidence

Now, there is one more evidence to support this long-held axiom. Presented during a recent annual American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting, a study involving nearly 20,000 people found that eating more fruit, vegetables, and fiber, while avoiding red or processed meat, can decrease the risk of developing colon cancer, one of the most common cancer affecting Americans today. In fact, the researchers postulate a genetic basis for which this may be occurring.

With nearly 150,000 individuals annually diagnosed with colorectal cancer, this is “one more evidence that we should eat healthy”explains Dr. Paul M. Choi, a board-certified gastroenterologist, who heads the Los Angeles Endoscopy Center. Although traditionally, screening colonoscopy has been relied upon as a way of preventing colon cancer, “We now have one more evidence that we can do something about colon cancer, proactively” remarked Dr. Choi. However, this does not mean that “we can skip having periodic colonoscopy” he warned. Although dietary improvement certainly appears to be worthy of our effort, colonoscopy still remains the only proven method of preventing colon cancer in up to 90% of cases. Based on current evidence, any individual over the age of 50shouldstill undergo screening colonoscopy periodically, and sooner if there are other risk factors such as a strong family history.