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Achieving Real Weight Loss
The state of health in America is not very positive. As of
today, according to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated
65% of adult Americans are considered overweight and 30% of
those are considered obese. Cancer - much of it...
Cold and Flu Help
It's that time of the year... everyone you talk to is either
sick, or knows someone who is sick. In my household, all five
members have been ill to some degree in the past 2 weeks.
Here are some of my personal cold/flu tips:
Cold/Flu...
Controlling obesity with vitamin supplements
Metabolic obesity isn't a term most of us have heard of. Metabolic obese individuals are of normal weight. Their blood insulin and blood sugar levels, however, are much higher than would be expected.
Metabolic obesity is probably best described as...
Facts about glucose meters and their errors
Glucose meters and other diabetes supplies are now helping
people all around the world. If you don't know, diabetes is
nowadays the sixth cause of death in the U.S. Over 18 million
people in the U.S. have diabetes. This is 6% of the...
The Culprit of Obesity in Children - Inactivity
It was bad enough hearing almost daily that obesity in adults is a growing problem, now our children are the focal point. Yes, moms and dads, the research is in. In a study conducted by Weight Watchers International Inc., and the American Health...
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Dietary Fiber May Not Protect Against Colon Cancer
High intake of dietary fiber was not linked to a lower occurrence of colorectal cancer in a recent analysis published in JAMA, which combines data from 13 studies.
Although dietary fiber has been hypothesized to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, the results of numerous previous studies have been inconsistent.
Ecological correlation studies and many case-control studies have found an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer.
However, most prospective cohort studies have found no association between dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer or its precursors (adenomas). Also, randomized clinical trials of dietary fiber supplementation have failed to show reductions in the recurrence of colorectal adenomas.
Nonsignificant Weak Link
Yikyung Park, ScD, formerly of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues reanalyzed the primary data from 13 prospective cohort studies, including 725,628 men and women who were followed-up for six to 20 years across studies, to see if there was a connection between fiber intake and colorectal cancer risk.
During the follow-up, 8,081 colorectal cancer cases were identified. Among the studies, the median energy-adjusted dietary fiber intake ranged from 14 to 28 grams per day (g/d) in men and from 13 to 24 g/d in women.
The major source of dietary fiber varied across studies with cereals as a major contributor to dietary fiber intake in the European studies, and fruits and vegetables as the main sources in the North American studies.
In the age-adjusted model, dietary fiber intake was significantly associated with a 16 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer in the highest quintile compared with the lowest. This association was attenuated slightly but still remained statistically significant after adjusting for nondietary risk factors, multivitamin use, and total energy intake.
Additional adjustment for dietary folate intake further weakened the association, however. In the final model, which further adjusted for other dietary
factors -- such as red meat, total milk and alcohol intake -- only a nonsignificant weak inverse association was found. Fiber intake from cereals, fruits and vegetables was not associated with risk of colorectal cancer.
Lower Risk of Other Chronic Conditions
"The association between dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer has been inconsistent among observational studies, and several factors may explain the disparity: potential biases in each study, the failure to adjust for covariates in the multivariate models, and the range of dietary fiber intake," note the authors.
Although they did not find support for the hypothesis that high dietary fiber intake has a major effect on the risk of colorectal cancer, the authors conclude that "a diet high in dietary fiber from whole plant foods can be advised, because this has been related to lower risks of other chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes."
John A. Baron, MD, of Dartmouth Medical School examines the results of the pooled analysis in an accompanying editorial.
"The findings by Park et al… provide at least some indications that dietary fiber of some sort is related in some way to colon or rectal cancer risk," he says.
"Over the short term, wheat fiber or psyllium (soluble fiber) interventions do not seem to affect colorectal carcinogenesis," Dr. Baron acknowledges, "but understanding longer-term relationships with any type of fiber will require more work. Studies like that of Park et al provide valuable help, but unfortunately there is more to do."
About the Author: Tom Harrison is a health journalist for Daily News Central, an online publication that delivers breaking news and reliable health information to consumers, healthcare providers and industry professionals: http://www.dailynewscentral.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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