Thursday July 31, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new case-control study suggests that eating too much fat can increase risk of colon cancer. 

The study involving 215 cases of colon cancer and 215 matched controls from the Defense Medical Surveillance System shows that men and women in the highest quintile of fat intake were 237% increased risk of colon cancer.

The fat intake prior to the diagnosis was positively associated with the risk of colon cancer, that is, a higher fat intake was linked to a higher risk of colon cancer.

In 2014, nearly 100,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with colon cancer and the disease and rectal cancer are expected to kill 50,000 men and women in the country.

Because colon cancer is fairly lethal, prevention measures are highly valued.  Luckily, many things can be done to prevent this cancer. 

One thing to do is increase intake of dietary fiber.  Be sure to have intake of insoluble fiber.  A few types of dietary fibers from different foods can be purchased at local health stores and on the Internet.  These fibers as food ingredients can be mixed into flour to make bread, muffins and cookies etc.  They can also be taken as dietary supplements.

In addition to fibers, drinking green tea, black tea, Mediterranean diet, dietary fiber, eating garlic, calcium carbonate, vitamin E, physical exercise, walnuts, and flaxseed may reduce the risk too.

Some risk factors that people should avoid to lower their risk of developing colon cancer include drinking coffee and alcohol, high fat diet, meat and trans fat consumption, antibiotic treatment, excess weight gain and exposure to organochlorines may increase risk of colon cancer and rectal cancer or colorectal cancer. (David Liu)

Shao S, Kao TC, Eckhaus J, Bourgeois J, Perera K, Zhu K.  The association of percentage energy from fat and colon cancer risk among members of the US military.  Eur J Cancer Prev. 2014 Jul 29.