Colon Cancer Diet

Of all the major cancers, colon cancer seems to be the most intimately tied to diet.  Many researchers have been looking into prevention through a high-fiber, colon cancer diet.  The key components in a high-fiber, colon cancer diet are significant amounts of calcium and vitamin D.  A high-fiber colon cancer diet appears to prevent the growth of polyps.  Polyps are small growths that can form inside the colon; even though these kinds of polyps are normally benign, people who develop them are more likely to develop colon cancer years down the line.

Colon Cancer Nutrition

It seems fairly certain that nutrition, and increasing your calcium intake can prevent precancerous polyps.  The most compelling study on colon cancer nutrition found that people who were given regular calcium supplements developed far fewer polyps.¹  Another group of researchers from Columbia University has conducted a colon cancer nutrition study evaluating the effect of daily calcium intake on people with histories of colon cancer.  The researchers reported increasing the daily intake of calcium up to 1,200 milligrams per day with low-fat dairy foods reduced the altered growth and differentiation of cells lining the colon that is believed to be a first step toward colon cancer.²  

As far as Calcium's effect on Colon Cancer itself, the FDA's position is as follows  "Some Evidence suggests calcium supplements may reduce the risk of colon/rectal cancer, however, FDA has determined this evidence is limited and not conclusive." 

Calcium and Colon Cancer

Because calcium plays a crucial role in building and maintaining bone mass and strength, it can also benefit people who have cancer by reducing the risk of osteopenia (reduced bone mass) and osteoporosis (bone fragility and a severe decrease of bone mass and strength).  Both conditions result from calcium deficiency and both are associated primarily with aging, although osteoporosis is a common problem for postmenopausal women.  Osteopenia and osteoporosis can also result from poor nutrition, prolonged drug therapy, disease and decreased mobility, all of which may apply to people with cancer.

Some chemotherapy medications can reduce appetite, create swallowing difficulties, or cause nausea and vomiting, and result in osteopenia.  The chemotherapy drugs methotrexate and doxorubicin may directly damage bones.  Radiation therapy can cause osteopenia within the area being treated, and the combination of both radiation and chemotherapy can cause even greater damage to bone structure.  Some cancers also can harm bones.  A cancer patient in the AlgaeCal Clinical Study lost 8% of his bone, but his annualized 90 results on AlgaeCal Plus and Strontium Boost show he will gain back all his lost bone in one year.  more...

If you are not maintaining the recommended calcium in your diet you may need calcium supplementation. To learn more about AlgaeCal calcium supplement please click here

References

1. Calcium Polyp Prevention Study Group New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 340, No. 2)

2. Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 280, No. 12)

Latest News on Colon Cancer and Calcium

TechJournal South Calcium, vitamin D may help prevent colon cancer TechJournal South, NC - May 14, 2008 ATLANTA--Researchers at Emory University are learning how vitamins and minerals in the diet can stimulate or prevent the appearance of colon cancer. ...

Natural News.com New Studies Find Calcium and Vitamin D May Prevent Colon Cancer Natural News.com, AZ - May 7, 2008 (NaturalNews) Specific vitamins and minerals in the diet appear to prevent the development of colon cancer. However, too much iron may cause malignancies to ...