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ISSUE 2220 Saturday 23 June 2001

High fibre diet cuts bowel cancer risk By Nicole Martin

PEOPLE who follow a high fibre diet can reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer by up to 40 per cent, specialists say today.

Findings from a large European study of diet and cancer challenge earlier research which claimed that fibre was not as beneficial as first thought.

Results confirm that eating high fibre fruit and vegetables, such as oranges, grapefruit, apples, pears, sprouts and broad [fava] beans, as well as lentils, jacket potatoes [potatoes with skin on] and baked beans protect against cancer.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Britain, accounting for one in eight of all cancers. It has long been associated with a high fat, high red meat and low fibre diet characteristic of the "Western" lifestyle.

Prof Gordon McVie, director general of the Cancer Research Campaign, said the findings "firmly put fibre back on the menu. He said: "They vindicate our defence of fibre when others were saying its benefits were at best limited and, at worst, inconclusive."

Some studies say it is not the fibre that has the beneficial effects but the range of vitamins and minerals in high fibre foods. A high fibre diet has also been linked to a decreased risk of diabetes, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2001