Is There a Connection Between Colorectal Cancer and Diet?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Fola May
In this program:
Colorectal cancer risks have shown higher rates with some foods and deficiencies with other factors. Dr. Fola May from UCLA Health shares the foods that some studies have shown to be factors for colorectal cancer – and which foods and nutrients can help reduce colorectal cancer risks.
Transcript
Interviewer:
Is there a connection between colorectal cancer and diet?
Dr. Fola May:
Yeah, there is a connection. And this is something that I think we need to do better at teaching individuals as well, we don't eat well, we probably eat too much, which we all are, we all are maybe aware of, so our caloric intake, our fat intake is not ideal, but it's also components of the meal. So a lot of our meals in this country have tended towards heavy proportions of meat and particularly red meat, so that beef, the pork that you eat, processed meats it's like sausage, cold cuts, bacon, all the stuff you love, those red and processed meats we know are linked to colorectal cancer risk. So I'm not saying that you need to cut all of those things out of your diet permanently, but you need to start eating less of it, especially in the Black community. We also need to work on increasing certain things, so we need to be eating more fibers, so that's green, leafy vegetables, that is oats. These are foods that we know are associated with reducing your risk of colorectal cancer and the other things that we need to increase our calcium intake and vitamin D, because those as well are dietary components that are linked to colorectal cancer risks.
So we talk a lot about how it's increasing its high in our community and increasing in young adults, but I also want to emphasize that there are things that we can do to lower risk.
Interviewer:
And by the way, I'm actually teaching a nutrition class that we've covered a lot of these issues around the American diet, and why fiber is important, fruits and vegetables. I'm not saying everyone should be vegetarian like you said, but to be mindful of including other foods in your diet that's going to be helpful.
Dr. Fola May:
Yeah, it's true, but actually, there are studies that say that people who are plant-based or vegetarian have lower colorectal cancer risks. Again, I agree with you, we don't need everyone to be plant-based or vegetarian, but we should all adopt a little bit of that into our lifestyle.
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