Nutrition Bytes

It has become near nutrition dogma that fiber plays a key role in maintaining one's overall health. Indeed, various studies have found a high fiber diet to be a key component in decreasing one's risk for various ailments, notably heart disease. However, the true nexus between cancer and fiber still remains largely unproven. Various studies have demonstrated that a diet high in fiber and unrefined foods exhibit an inverse risk to colon cancer. This widely accepted dietary truth was challenged recently, however, by a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Fuchs study, which tracked 88,757 women's fiber intake and their colorectal cancer rate over 16 years, revealed no gained benefits from dietary fiber in reducing risk for colorectal cancer and adenoma. It even detected an increased risk involving vegetable fiber. However, physicians and patients must interpret the study's results with caution and critical attention. Expanding knowledge regarding molecular role of nutrients indeed confirms that dietary components play a key role in physiological regulation. However, complex interactions between food components makes the prospect of finding that one single magic bullet extremely elusive. Therefore, it would still be prudent to recommend that one obtain a majority of his or her calories from plant sources until further clinical trials could be completed to further elucidate the role of diet in colon cancer.