Diet swap study highlights bowel effects of western-style diet

Conclusion This study aimed to investigate various biological changes to the gut that occur when switching from a western-style low-fibre, high-fat diet to an African-style high-fibre, low-fat diet, and vice versa. These changes may partly explain why African-Americans living in the US have over 10 times the bowel cancer rate of rural Africans. The differences seen may not solely have been due to the differences in fibre and fat. The western-style diet also appeared to contain more red and processed meat, which have also been linked to increased bowel cancer risk. It is also worth bearing in mind that this study only took place over two weeks, and the longer-term effects of these diets on the colon were not studied. The authors themselves acknowledge that they can’t be sure the changes they saw would directly lead to changes in cancer risk. However, other research suggests they might be if they were present in the long term. The other limitations are that the study was relatively small and only included healthy middle-aged and older adults of African origin, so may not apply to the wider population.  Overall, the results do not contradict current advice that consuming a high-fibre diet can reduce your bowel cancer risk. Meanwhile, obesity and a diet high in red and processed meat have been shown to increase bowel cancer risk. Read more about bowel cancer prevention. Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evid...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Food/diet Diabetes Source Type: news