Dietary characteristics and colon cancer:
A prospective study of 35,215 Iowa women aged 55-59 years without a history of cancer examined the relationship between consumption of sucrose, meat, fat and reproductive factors to colon cancer incidence from 1986 to 1990. In this time, 212 incident or newly diagnosed cases were recorded. Factors found to be associated with increased risk of colon cancer were consumption of sucrose, height, and body mass index. Although other studies have indicated an increase in cancer with meat consumption, eating meat was not associated with colon cancer risk in this study. (10)
Milk protein and colon cancer:
The prevention of colon cancer by dietary consumption of 20g/100g whey protein or casein (protein found in cow’s milk) or Purina mouse food was studied in A/J mice. After 20 weeks of treatment, the whey protein-fed group had almost 3 times the number of plaque forming cells in the spleen (signalling an immune response) than did the casein-fed mice (although both values were substantially below normal). After 24 weeks, compared to either the casein or Purina diet mice, whey protein-fed mice had a lower number of new tumors. The tumor area was also less in the whey protein group in comparison to either the casein or Purina groups. There was no difference in body weight change among the dietary groups. In conclusion, whey protein diet appears to prevent the growth of colon tumors in mice. (11)