Colon Cancer: An Aussie problem

So as a nutrition student, time and time again colon/bowel cancer comes up and facts and figures are always shown, prevention methods are given and causes are always stated.  However it's actually fucked how many Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer.  It is so easily preventable with some good old resistant starch or probiotics added to the diet.

This whole blog has stemmed from a little book I started reading about disorders of the digestive system.  Admittedly the pictures were very pretty (I love microscope slides) but feel free to look at them and then read the rest of my ranting.

The Facts and the Figures:

Colorectal cancer

Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer,(1) colorectal cancer, commonly called bowel cancer, is the second most common cancer in both men and women in Australia. Eighty per cent of cases have no known hereditary genetic associations. Colorectal cancer is preceded by adenomas (polyps), which may become invasive cancer if undetected.

Incidence and mortality

There are more than 14,000 new cases each year. The risk of being diagnosed by age 85 is 1 in 10 for men and 1 in 14 for women. 


In 2007, there were 4047 deaths from colorectal cancer.


- From the Cancer Council Australia website.

















Prevention

How much fibre is enough?

Reports suggest you should be eating 30g of fibre each day, yet most of us probably eat around 10-12g.  A banana contains 1.8g of fibre, as does 1 slice of wholemeal bread.

How do you build fibre into your diet?

• Replace lower fibre foods with high fibre foods.
• Eat vegetables and fruit raw, whenever possible.  Boiling too long can cause up to one half of the fibre to be lost in the water.  Steam or stir-fry them, if you cook them.
• Replace fruit or vegetable juice with the whole fruit – fruit skins and membranes are a particularly good source of fibre.
• Always start your day with a bowl of high-fibre cereal – one that has five or more grams per serving.
• Add fresh fruit to your cereal for an extra fibre dose.  Sprinkle wheat germ or bran on top of cold cereals.  Mix wheat germ or bran with hot cereals while they are cooking.
• Add bran cereal to muffins, breads and casseroles.
• Buy and eat only whole grains.