Experiment On Diet Swap Shows Western Diet Greatly Increases Colon Cancer Risk

A diet swap experiment has shown the effects of Western diet compared to an African diet. Western diets have shown to increase the risk for colon cancer risk, according to a new study.

The new study, published on April 28 in Nature Communications, confirms that Western diet, composed mainly of high protein and fat, increases colon cancer risk, with gut bacteria playing an important role in the effect.

In the study performed by an international team of scientists from the Imperial College London and University of Pittsburgh, the roles of gut bacteria and diet were investigated. Twenty African-American volunteers and 20 volunteers from rural South Africa participated in the study.

The two groups of volunteers switched diet for a brief period of two weeks under controlled conditions. The American group were asked to go on a low-fat, high-fibre diet, while the African group were asked to eat high-fat food. All volunteers underwent a series of medical tests before and after the experiment.

Almost half of the American group had abnormal growths in their bowel lining, called polyps, which are harmless yet can possibly cause cancer. None from the African group had the same abnormality.

The results showed that the American group had a significant reduction in bowel inflammation, while the African group had poor bowel health and were measured to have a dramatic increase in cancer risk.

While the study only involves a short period of diet swap, the impact has been great. “In just two weeks, a change in diet from a Westernised composition to a traditional African high-fibre, low-fat diet reduced these biomarkers of cancer risk, indicating that it is likely never too late to modify the risk of colon cancer,” said lead researcher Stephen O’Keefe in a report from BBC.

The results of the experiment came as no surprise. Previous studies have been conducted to show the link between type of diet and risk of colon cancer. However, the diet swap experiment was a small study and experts still need to do a bigger study to draw out conclusions.

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