Diet and Colon Cancer Risk

Diseases prevalent in Western societies present the most serious threat to public health today.  The rarity of these diseases in elderly members of less affluent societies, coupled with the fact that genetic modification to environmental changes takes tens of thousands of years, suggests that the diet ideally suited to our genetically determined needs would contain higher intakes of fiber-rich foods and less meat and fat.  Recent human studies provide evidence that a change to such a diet suppresses biomarkers of colon cancer risk within two weeks.  This paper was presented at the ISGP Signature Series conference “Food Security and Diet-linked Public Health Challenges,”  convened Sept. 20-23, 2015, in Fargo, North Dakota, U.S., in cooperation with North Dakota State University.