Good Food Good Health

Bowel cancer

Low carbohydrate diets increase risk of bowel cancer

As you know we are always being told to eat a balanced diet of good food for good health and sometimes get fed up hearing about it, but there really is proof that this information really is beneficial for our good health, whatever our age.

Did you know that diets that are low in carbohydrates, like the popular Atkins diet could increase your risk of bowel cancer?

I find this quite alarming as several of my friends have used this diet.

Bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is a subject very close to my heart as my father was diagnosed with bowel cancer twice, the second unfortunately being fatal. Even so as a family we consider ourselves very lucky, as there was a gap of seventeen years between the bouts.

Nowadays there is not such a great taboo over bowel cancer, thanks to famous people in the media speaking out about their symptoms, the general public are more aware and prepared to talk about it and seek medical attention much sooner.

When my father had bowel cancer the first time in 1980 the word cancer was never mentioned at home, it was always glossed over and his stomach problems was the only mention of his illness, but on its reoccurrence in the nineties there was a much more openness to the cancer disease and even more so today, thank goodness.

It is now known that one of the factors of bowel cancer is a poor diet, and in today’s society of us all wanting to be ever slimmer, several different diet fads have taken off all over the world.

Researchers have found a link between eating a low carbohydrate diet and lower levels of the cancer fighting acid that is in the gut called butyrate. The chemical butyrate is produced by bacteria and helps to kill off cancerous cells.

Scientists found that by eating a low carbohydrate diet it can cause a fourfold reduction in the cancer fighting butyrate bacteria, and have said in the long run it is possible that these diets could contribute to bowel cancer.

The Atkins diet has been immensely popular worldwide with celebrities swearing by it to stay slim. However critics believe there are several potential risks with a diet regime that calls for such drastic cuts in carbohydrates, and has also been linked to heart disease and osteoporosis.

On this study, obese men were put on one of three different diets, eating either a low, medium or high level of carbohydrate.

The men on the high-carb regime consumed 400g of carbohydrate a day, which is the same as an average diet. Those on the low-carb diet only consumed 24g a day, this being equivalent to starting the Atkins diet.

It was this group, the low-carbohydrate diet that had a fourfold drop in the level of cancer fighting bacteria in their stomachs. Professor Flint said the changes in butyrate production that we observed in this study are the largest ever reported in a human dietary trial. He also said that it was likely the results would be exactly the same in women.

I believe we should all eat a varied diet of good food to maintain good health, and even when trying to lose weight should still continue eating a good balanced diet.

Good Food really is beneficial for continuous good health and should be a priority for all of us. Eating a healthy diet has become the golden rule in our house “good food good health”, and even our children recognise the benefits now they are older, although it was difficult to maintain at times.

Annie Anderson, nutritional adviser to the Bowel Cancer UK charity, said there is little merit in low carbohydrate diets, apart from the fact that they can help people to lose weight. Cutting down long term on fruits and fibre- for example in bread, as this report shows doing so is likely to have a negative impact on your bowel health and may increase the risk of bowel cancer.

Previous studies have blamed the Atkins diet for causing constipation through the lack of fibre eaten during the diet, which can raise the risk of bowel cancer.

This is caused through the lack of fibre, meaning that the food moves much more slowly through the gut.

The Atkins diet is based on the theory that cutting carbohydrates changes the body chemistry, turning it from a carbohydrate burning machine in to one that burns fat instead.

This low-carb diet craze became popular in the 1990’s when Dr Robert Atkins wrote and published his book Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, and still is one of the top ten diets used today.

Scientists and medical professionals say that bowel cancer is on the rise and fear that this diet could have an input on this, but with greater awareness of the disease and early detection, more people are surviving.

So remember, all foods can be eaten in a small amount or as a treat, and some should be treated only as that and that continuously eating one type of food can only do us harm. So why not make our “good food good health” slogan yours as well, and put it into practice next time you are in the supermarket.

Now is a great time of year for local fresh produce, you will be surprised how much fresher fruit and vegetables are at you local farm shop, and better for the environment with less carbon trail and packaging. I am a great believer that we should all eat a balanced diet, to keep our bodies in tiptop condition.

We all know that bowel cancer is on the increase in the UK, but lets get our diets right and give ourselves a greater fighting chance to keep bowel cancer at bay.

Do not forget good food is good health

Bowel cancer