Colon cancer Vegetarians become less common

Those who eat vegetarian or vegan have a significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer

03/20/2015

According to a recent study from the US, vegetarians have a lower risk of colon cancer than people who eat meat. The diet is the best prophylaxis, says the Society for Biological Cancer Defense (GfBK). Nutrition is the focus at the 17th Patients' Physicians Congress of the GfBK in May.

For more than 7.5 years, scientists at Loma Linda University in California analyzed data from more than 77,000 US and Canadian adults. Almost half of the participants were vegetarian. Among the vegetarians, the researchers counted 22 percent fewer cancer cases than those eating meat. An even lower risk had people who ate meatless, but ate at least once a month fish. Their cancer risk was 43 percent lower than that of meat eaters.

Colorectal cancer is more than other malignancies promoted by a wrong diet. „That is why good nutrition is the best precaution”, says Dr. med. György Irmey, medical director of GfBK. „This means eating enough fiber, looking for a healthy intestinal flora and avoiding a diet that increases the risk of cancer.”

To promote cancer are considered too much fat, animal protein (meat products) and sugar. Fat and meat need a lot of bile acids for digestion. A part of the bile acid becomes thereby in the intestine in one „secondary” Transformed form that can trigger cancer. This process can be stopped by phytohormones from soy products, grains or cabbage as well as fiber. Dietary fiber is a dietary constituent, usually polysaccharide, that the body can not fully utilize. They are found mainly in plant foods such as cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

Dietary fiber also shorten the so-called passage time of the chyme through the intestine. Harmful substances such. As the secondary bile acids have therefore shorter contact with the intestinal mucosa, experts explain the effect of dietary fiber. The GfBK also recommends that you ensure adequate supply of selenium, magnesium, calcium and vitamin D..

Patient-physician Congress
„Diet, metabolism and nutritional supplements” is a focal point of the 17th Patients 'Physicians' Congress of the Society for Biological Cancer Defense (GfBK) on 9 and 10 May 2015 in Heidelberg. The congress is one of Europe's largest events for holistic cancer therapy.

Prof. Dr. med. Jörg Spitz, board member of GfBK, will speak about the current state of research into vitamin D in cancer. On the current status of the use of phytochemicals in complementary oncology Dr. med. med. Friedrich Migeod, chief physician of the BioMed clinic in Bad Bergzabern.
Scientists believe that there are 60-100000 of these ingredients of food, only a fraction has been analyzed. Popular is z. B. Pomegranate, which inhibits the growth of different tumor cell lines. Particularly in prostate cancer, the administration of pomegranate extract slows the rise of the tumor marker PSA. On the importance of turmeric in tumor prevention speaks. Elke Schulz. Curcumin, the ingredient of the spice turmeric, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Beware of cancer diets
Three out of four people with cancer spontaneously change their diet after a tumor has been diagnosed, according to a survey by the GfBK. Many patients wonder if a special diet helps against cancer. Claus Witteczek, medical adviser of the GfBK, sheds light on the so-called "congress" „cancer diets” such as B. after Breuss, Budwig, Coy, Gerson. „All are based on a more or less strong calorie reduction, one-sided nutritional requirements, some nonsensical restrictions or recommendations”, so Witteczek. The GfBK considers a high-quality, fully fledged but easily digestible diet to be sensible, which is individually tailored.

„Overly dogmatic recommendations on how to turn a meat consumer into a vegetarian are no help”, so Dr. med. György Irmey, medical director of GfBK. It is more realistic to recommend meat from a biological standpoint or reduced meat consumption. (Pm)

Picture: Jörg Brinckheger