Colon cancer: 2 nutritional supplements to take

Of course, regarding colon cancer, heredity is a factor to consider, but this disease results mainly from poor nutrition. Here are two supplements that can help.

Just like tobacco leads to lung cancer, the typical Western diet, focusing on beef and potatoes, nearly quadruples the risk that an individual will develop polyps, benign tumours that form in the digestive tract and that can become cancerous.

• People aged 50 and over, as well as those who have a family history, can significantly reduce their risk by undergoing acolonoscopy every 10 years. A colonoscopy is aprocedure that permits the isolation of the polyps and their removal.
• However, since these tumours are responsible for most cases of colon cancer, the first thing to do is to prevent the occurrence of them.
• Measures assimple as including spinach, beans, broccoli or Brussels sprouts in one's daily dietcan help considerably.

A diet low in folate may require replacing this deficit by taking a multivitamin supplement.

• Researchers from the Nurses' Health Study found that women who had taken a supplement that included folic acid for 15 years ran a 75 per cent lower risk of suffering from this cancer than those who did not take a folic acid supplement.
• DOSE: 400 μg (micrograms) per day, the dose usually found in multivitamin supplements.

A study of polyp prevention indicates that a supplement containing these nutrients reduced the risk of recurrence by 18 per cent.

• DOSE: calcium: from 1,200 to1,500 milligrams per day, in food form and as supplement form.
• Vitamin D: studies indicate that at a dose of 1,000 IU (international units) per day, in the food form and supplement form, it presents no risk and can be beneficial.

According to experts, it would be enough that people bring modest changes to their diet and lifestyle to reduce the incidence by 70 per cent.