Diet High in Fiber Shown to Cut Bowel Cancer Risk
(London, Reuters Health, 05/02/03)

Professor Sheila Bingham of the British Medical Research Council's Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, England, and colleagues, conducted an extensive study on diet and cancer, examining the eating habits of over 500.000 residents of 10 European countries. The researchers found that people who ate the most fiber had a significantly lower risk of developing colorectal cancer. The scientists say that previous research did not find an association between lack of fiber and colon cancer because the subjects of earlier studies were not consuming enough fiber to make a difference. Bringham recommends eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains; and scientists at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland concur. Ulrike Peters, and colleagues, at the National Cancer Institute, arrived at a similar conclusion in their study of nearly 3,600 people with colon polyps, which can become malignant, and almost 34,000 people without polyps.