ISGP Podcast: You Are What You Eat

Your susceptibility to colon cancer is controlled to a large degree by dietary choices. Colon cancer is considered a westernized disease — but what are westernized diseases, and what steps can be taken to minimize their morbidity and mortality impacts in both the Western and developing worlds?  There is convincing experimental and human study evidence that the Western diet, rich in red meat and animal fat, and deficient in fiber, drives many diseases, including various allergies, autoimmune disease, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cancers of the colon, breast, and prostate. Debaters discussed the link between diet and colon cancer during the debate of the paper written by Stephen J O’Keefe, Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   The paper, titled Diet and Colon Cancer Risk was part of an Institute on Science for Global Policy (ISGP) conference, convened in partnership with North Dakota State University, on Food Safety, Security, and Defense: Food Security and Diet-Linked Public Health Challenges on Sept. 20–23, 2015 in Fargo, North Dakota. For more podcasts, visit ISGP’s The Forum.