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Colon Cancer Diet

A healthy diet is one of the most effective ways to prevent colon cancer and many other types of cancer. Exercise moves your body and your bowels, which helps fight colon cancer. Obesity is also a leading cause of colon cancer and numerous other cancers, and a healthy diet and regular exercise will help eliminate excess body fat and help achieve and maintain a lean body.

Past studies and research reveal that high-fat diets account for approximately 60 percent of all colorectal cancers in men, and approximately 40 percent of all colorectal cancers in women.

Diet’s Effects on Cancer and the Body

Exercise can reduce cancer risk in many ways. Some positive effects that diet can have on the body include:

increase in the circulation of immune substances in the body, and therefore a boost of the immune system
increase in the effectiveness of the body’s insulin supply
more fat burned and a leaner body overall
reduction in carcinogen exposure in the body by moving waste products through the body more quickly
reduction in the amount of cholesterol on artery walls.

Colon Cancer Diet

A number of dietary changes can help prevent colon cancer and other cancers. Making a few changes at a time and gradually modifying your diet to a healthier way of living is the easiest way to maintain the changes. Trying to change your entire way of living all at once may be frustrating and overwhelming, and may cause you to give up and return to unhealthy living.

Gradual change will work the best in the long-term, so try making one change a week until all unhealthy habits are eliminated.

To follow a healthy, anti-colon cancer diet, try the following:

Add soy products to your diet.
Cook with oils like olive oil that are not saturated or hydrogenated.
Decrease intake of total fat and severely decrease intake of saturated fat.
Eat more foods that contain calcium.
Eliminate or decrease alcohol intake, especially beer.
Increase antioxidant and flax intake.
Increase fiber, fruit and vegetable intake.
Make the switch from red meat to seafood.
Make the switch to a plant-based diet.

Along with changes in eating habits, a healthy cancer-fighting diet includes exercise, lowering overall stress, avoiding smoking and second-hand smoke when possible and the taking of daily vitamin supplements, such as:

Acidophilus powder
Calcium
Ground flaxseed
Selenium
Vitamin C
Vitamin E.

All of these vitamins play a role in fighting colon cancer and other cancers and increasing overall health.

The best colon cancer fighting fruits and vegetables include:

apricots
blueberries
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
eggplant
grapes
onions and peppers
oranges and tangerines
peaches
strawberries
tomatoes
yams.

Fruits and vegetables are the easiest additions to make to a diet. They make great snacks and are filling, which means cravings for unhealthy snacks will decrease with the increase of fruit and vegetable consumption.

Those who have risk factors for colon cancer, such as family history, and those who simply want to begin a healthy cancer-fighting diet should talk to a medical professional for tips and advice.

Resources

AskDrSears.com (2006). The Anti-Cancer Diet. Retrieved June 20, 2007, from the AskDrSears.com Web site: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T040300.asp#T040302.

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