Do you get enough fiber in your diet?

New research brings into question whether fiber provides what is considered to be one of its most important health benefits.

When you eat your fruits and veggies…you’re not just getting the antioxidant chemicals that help battle heart disease; you’re also getting fiber! And fiber itself has been thought to help reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer.

“The thinking about fiber has been it must play a significant role in reducing the risk of colon cancer. That comes in part from a general knowledge that fiber reduces diseases of the colon,” says Dr. Warren Enker, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center.

But the studies supporting the concept that fiber actually helps prevent colon cancer have been inconsistent.
Some showed a lower risk; some actually showed a higher risk.

In a new huge study which combined 13 large studies, it was found that high intake of dietary fiber was not associated--at all--with a lower risk of colon cancer.

“I think the study is powerful. I think the study is statistically sophisticated, and it makes a very clear statement,” states Dr. Enker.

There’s the question: are all fiber types the same?

This study shows it doesn’t matter if it is vegetable, fruit, or cereal fiber; it doesn’t matter if it is soluble or insoluble.
It’s the insoluble fibers which add bulk to stool and have been thought to prevent colon cancer because in theory they dilute out the cancer-causing substances in the colon.

The fact is none of them work to prevent colon cancer.

So what was the link previously believed to exist? “People who focus on fiber in their diet, are also having vegetables, vitamins, physical activity, exercise, all of which have been connected to one degree or another to a reduced risk of colon cancer. So maybe they’re not able to pinpoint fiber as the causative substance to reducing colon cancer, maybe it’s simply a metaphor for one of these other agents in people’s lives,” believes Dr. Wenker.

There was a slight benefit of fiber in preventing rectal cancer.

The authors say that although high dietary fiber intake may not have a major effect on the risk of colorectal cancer, a diet high in dietary fiber from whole plant foods is still recommended because this has been related to lower risks of other chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

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