Daily HealthBeat Tip - June 25, 2007

Fruit versus cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

More fruit, less meat, fewer signs of risk of colon cancer. That’s what a researcher found when he compared what people ate to what doctors saw in colonoscopies – a procedure that examines the colon.

Gregory Austin of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, checked people’s eating patterns and growths called colorectal adenomas, which could develop into colon cancer.

``The individuals that ate a lot of fruit and relatively little meat had about half the risk of having a colorectal adenoma.’’ (6 seconds)

People who ate lots of meat – or even lots of vegetables, and moderate amounts of meat – did worse.

``All that we can conclude is to eat more fruit, less meat and continue to eat your vegetables.’’ (5 seconds)

The study in the Journal of Nutrition was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

Last revised: June, 25 2007