Why eating more fruit and fiber might stop some colon cancers
Intake of dietary fruit, vegetables, and fiber and risk of colorectal cancer according to molecular subtypes: A pooled analysis of 9 studies
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Not all colon cancers are the same — some grow in different ways. This study found that eating more fiber lowers the risk of one common type, and eating more fruit lowers the risk of another rare type with a specific gene glitch (BRAF mutation).
Surprising Findings
Fruit intake was linked to reduced BRAF-mutated tumor risk only in case-control studies, not cohort studies.
Most people assume dietary links are consistent regardless of study design. This shows the finding may be an artifact of memory bias, not biology.
Practical Takeaways
Aim to increase your daily fiber intake by eating more whole grains, beans, lentils, and oats.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Not all colon cancers are the same — some grow in different ways. This study found that eating more fiber lowers the risk of one common type, and eating more fruit lowers the risk of another rare type with a specific gene glitch (BRAF mutation).
Surprising Findings
Fruit intake was linked to reduced BRAF-mutated tumor risk only in case-control studies, not cohort studies.
Most people assume dietary links are consistent regardless of study design. This shows the finding may be an artifact of memory bias, not biology.
Practical Takeaways
Aim to increase your daily fiber intake by eating more whole grains, beans, lentils, and oats.
Publication
Journal
Cancer research
Year
2020
Authors
A. Hidaka, T. Harrison, Yin Cao, L. Sakoda, Richard T. Barfield, M. Giannakis, M. Song, A. Phipps, J. Figueiredo, Syed H Zaidi, A. Toland, E. Amitay, S. Berndt, I. Borozan, A. Chan, S. Gallinger, M. Gunter, Mark A. Guinter, Sophia Harlid, H. Hampel, M. Jenkins, Yi Lin, V. Moreno, P. Newcomb, Reiko Nishihara, S. Ogino, M. Obón-Santacana, P. Parfrey, J. Potter, M. Slattery, R. Steinfelder, C. Um, Xiaoliang Wang, M. Woods, B. van Guelpen, S. Thibodeau, M. Hoffmeister, Wei Sun, L. Hsu, D. Buchanan, P. Campbell, U. Peters
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Claims (6)
People who consume more dietary fiber relative to their total energy intake have a lower likelihood of developing colorectal cancer.
People who eat more fruit have a lower likelihood of developing a specific type of colorectal cancer tumor that carries a BRAF gene mutation, compared to those who eat less fruit.
People who consume more dietary fiber have a slightly lower likelihood of developing a specific subtype of colorectal cancer that follows a well-defined progression from benign polyps to malignant tumors, according to observational data.
Studies that compare people with and without BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer have found that those who ate more fruit had lower cancer risk, but studies that followed people over time did not find this link, suggesting differences in how the studies were done may affect the results.
People who consume more dietary fiber may have a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer, particularly when the cancer develops through the traditional adenoma-carcinoma pathway, compared to other pathways, but this difference is not large enough to be considered statistically reliable.