Dietary and Lifestyle Considerations to Reduce Risk of Colo-rectal Cancer Pamela Duncan, MS, RD, LDN, has been a Registered Dietitian for 24 years, and has specialized in the GI/IBD area for 5 years. Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women combined in the United States. It is one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer when it’s found early. Along with healthy lifestyle habits, colorectal cancer screenings also prevent this disease from developing. Learn more Vanderbilt Colonoscopy.
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Laura Osterman: Welcome to this edition of the Vanderbilt University Health and Wellness Wellcast. I am Laura Osterman with Health Plus. March is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and it is also National Nutrition Month, and I am joined today by Pamela Duncan, registered dietician with the Vanderbilt Nutrition Clinic. She specializes in GI including Crohn’s and colitis, and she has worked in the field for 24 years. Thanks for joining us today. Pamela Duncan: Hello, I am glad to be here. Laura Osterman: We are talking today about fiber. How does fiber play a role in risk for colorectal cancer? Pamela Duncan: Well, it is a more difficult question than you might realize. There has been a lot of research and dietary fiber has been hypothesized to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, but some other research is in support and some research says that it is not clear if dietary fiber in the diet reduces risk for colorectal cancer. Laura Osterman: Are there different types of fiber that are more beneficial? Pamela Duncan: All different types of fiber are beneficial. There is soluble fiber which forms more like a gel in the intestine. There is insoluble fiber and that tends to push things through quicker. There is also a couple of different kinds you might not have heard of called non digestible oligosaccharides and inulin which function as prebiotics which help the good bacteria in the intestine grow. Laura Osterman: Sometimes we may consider supplements. Is it more important to get fiber from whole foods or do supplements have the same effect? Pamela Duncan: We prefer to encourage that the fiber comes from whole foods and that is because there are so many other nutrients that you get with the fiber, and if you are eating a higher fiber diet, it is usually rich in nutrients. When you take the fiber out of foods, you are usually removing nutrients, so it is harder to get a healthy diet when you have a low-fiber diet, and we do not want to just encourage fiber supplements plus say Pop-Tarts because you are just not going to get the fiber that your body needs, and we really need fiber all throughout the day at each meal and snack. If you get it all at once, that is going to tend to increase symptoms and make it harder to digest. Laura Osterman: Can you give us some examples of foods that are good sources of fiber? Pamela Duncan: The soluble fiber that I mentioned is in legumes or dried beans, oats, barley, nuts, and some fruits and vegetables. The insoluble fiber is in whole grains, wheat grains, nuts, seeds, and again some vegetables and fruits, and then the non-digestible oligosaccharides are found in some fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grains, and they resist digestion. Inulin is found naturally in foods, asparagus, onions, and wheat, but it is also in food supplements more and more like yogurt or in some of the dietary fiber supplements. Laura Osterman: Is there an amount of daily dietary fiber that is recommended or that could be influential on colon cancer development or prevention? Pamela Duncan: The adequate intake for fiber is considered 14 grams per 1000 calories per day so that equates to about 25 grams a day for women and 38 grams a day for men, and the problem is most of us on average only get half of that or about 15 grams to 17 grams a day. Laura Osterman: Does a high-fiber diet help prevent any other cancers? Pamela Duncan: Oh, it certainly does. There is an increased risk for many types of cancer with obesity, and there is a link between fiber and obesity. Actually, eating more fiber fills us up and so it causes a decreased incidence of obesity usually, and those types of cancer that can increase would be of the esophagus, the pancreas, breast cancer, the gallbladder, colon and rectum, kidney, thyroid, possibly liver, and endometrial cancer plus others. Laura Osterman: Thanks for sharing your expertise with us today. I think you have given us and our listeners some great reasons to get out and look for ways to incorporate fiber into the diet. Pamela Duncan: Thank you. Laura Osterman: Thanks for listening. Please feel free to leave us any comments on this Wellcast on the form at the bottom of this page. If you have a story suggestion, please email it to us at health.wellness@vanderbilt.edu or you can use the "Contact Us" page on our website at healthandwellness.vanderbilt.edu. -- end of recording --
