Colon Cancer

For some cancers, like our number two cancer killer, colon cancer, up to 71 percent of cases appear to be preventable through diet and lifestyle changes.

Colon cancer mortality in Japan in the 1950s, for instance, was less than one-fifth that of the United States (including Americans of Japanese ancestry). But now colon cancer rates in Japan are as bad as they are in the United States, a rise that has been attributed in part to the fivefold increase in meat consumption.

The average American has about a one-in-twenty-five chance of developing colorectal cancer over the course of their lifetime. Fortunately, it is among the most treatable cancers, as regular screening has enabled doctors to detect and remove the cancer before it spreads. There are about three-quarters of a million colorectal cancer survivors in the United States alone, and, among those diagnosed before the cancer has spread beyond the colon, the five-year survival rate is about 90 percent.

But, in its early stages, colorectal cancer rarely causes symptoms. If the cancer is not caught until later stages, treatment is more difficult and less effective. Starting at age forty-five until age seventy-five, most of us should either get stool testing every year for hidden blood, stool DNA testing at least every three years, a “virtual” colonoscopy (CT colonography) or sigmoidoscopy every five years, or a colonoscopy every ten years. (If you have a family history of colorectal cancer or are otherwise at particularly high risk, talk with your doctor about a personalized screening schedule.) While regular screenings are certainly sensible to detect colorectal cancer, preventing it in the first place is even better.

Eating phytate-rich foods, including dark green leafy vegetables and legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils), enjoying the spice turmeric, not smoking, upping our fiber content, including berries in our daily routine, and cutting down on meat have all been shown to potentially help protect us from a colon cancer diagnosis.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

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