For sometime, there has been a spirited debate in this country over whether a certain diet can affect the chances of colon cancer. Advocates say that high fiber foods, vegetables and grains are a big help. Critics say ' no way'. Now, two major studies on the issue, one here, one in Europe. And NBC's chief science correspondent Robert Bazell has the findings.
When Alice Michtenstein goes shopping for her family, she tries to buy lots of high fiber food. Fruits, vegetables and whole grain cereals. "Well, the first thing I do is I look to see whether the product is made from whole wheat and ..." As a professional nutritionist at Tufts University, she is especially heartened by evidence out today, showing that a high fiber of diet reduces the risk for colon cancer. "The public take our message, should be that the fiber is a, uh, potential protective agent for a colorectal cancer and even at the earlier stages."
Two of the biggest studies ever of the question, one in Europe that followed more than a half million people, the other in this country that looked at more than 33,000 concluded that a high fiber diet reduces the risk of colon cancer and the polyps that can lead to colon cancer, by 25 to 40 percent. A small but significant decrease.
But wait a minute. Haven't we heard about recent study showing that fiber does not affect colon cancer risk"? The answer is 'yes'. And the reason for the confusion, experts say, is it can be difficult to measure small differences. Studies of different populations can come to different conclusions. And sometimes it's very difficult to measure exactly what people eat. Nevertheless , there is no question that high fiber foods protect against other diseases including heart attacks, stroke and diabetes, so that makes the choice easy for Alice Lichtenstein. And with colon cancer killing 57,000 Americans a year, experts say every bit of added protection is worthwhile. And today's studies are the best to date.