Dietary Tips For Preventing Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is one topic people prefer to avoid, but statistics show that this serious disease claims thousands of people every year worldwide. This is tragic, because according to health experts, all colon cancers can be prevented. Research has shown some major factors that can cause colon cancer aside from the possibility that it can also be genetic :

* Toxic substances that harm your bowel and possibly create cancerous cells if they sit there for very long.

* Studies have linked a high-fat diet to colon cancer. Fat stimulates the gallbladder to produce bile, which is one of those toxic substances that shouldn’t sit there. Also, fat cooked in high temperatures can produce potentially cancer-causing substances in your food.

* Low levels of the mineral selenium have been linked to colon cancer.

Dr. Earl Mindell, an internationally recognized expert on health and nutrition, author of the book “Dr. Earl Mindell’s Secrets of Natural Health,” offers four dietary guidelines to lower your risk of developing colon cancer :

1. Keep things moving through your bowels.

Include in your diet vegetables such as broccoli, kale, carrots, onions, cabbage, collards, peas, potatoes, and all dark green, yellow, and orange vegetables. Why? because they are high in fiber, so they can keep your bowels moving. Also, vegetables contain substances that take toxins through your intestines quickly and harmlessly.

2. Cut down on the saturated fat you’re eating.

Saturated fat is usually solid at room temperature. Examples are butter, the fat in meat, the fat from fried foods, and hydrogenated oils. According to Dr. Mindell, your fat calories should be no more than 25 percent of your diet, and of that, 10 percent or less should come from saturated fat.

3. Get your calcium.

Calcium is important in the prevention of colon cancer. In France, most French eat five to six servings of yogurt daily, and even though they consume as much fat as most North Americans, their rate of colon cancer is much lower.

4. Say yes to selenium !

Studies have linked low selenium levels with colon cancer. A study at the University of Arizona found that people with high levels of selenium in their blood had fewer colon polyps, which are often precancerous. Selenium has antioxidant enzyme called glutathione peroxidase. This enzyme may prevent damage to cells, as previous studies showed. Onion and garlic are rich sources of selenium. Other great sources are brown rice, seafood, kidney, liver, tomatoes, and brocolli, to name a few.