Contact:
Newsfox Desk
Phone: + 43 - 1 - 811 40 - 319
E-Mail: editor@newsfox.com
| Pressbox | 
|
Lyon (pte042/02.05.2003/16:22) - A new EU study confirms that a high fibre diet can reduce the risk of suffering from intestinal cancer.
The most recent European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study http://www.ism.uit.no/kk/e/EPIC%20international.htm is the largest EU-financed study on the subject to date.
A similar study carried out by the United States National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov on 35,000 subjects has come to the same conclusion, showing that those who ate the most fibre were least likely to develop adenomas of the large intestine from which cancer could develop.
Until now the link between intestinal cancer and a low fibre diet had been disputed.
To secure proof, the European study under Elio Riboli of the International Authority for Cancer Research in Lyon collected information on over 500,000 people between the ages of 25 and 70 in ten countries (Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Spain). The results have been published in the professional journal The Lancet http://www.thelancet.com .
According to the researchers, 35 grams of fibre a day can reduce the risk of cancer by one fourth compared to a consumption of only 15 grams a day. The former amount is equivalent to about seven portions of fruit and vegetables and five pieces of whole wheat bread. The study did not examine the effects of fibre supplements or fibre-enriched foods.
A third US study examining 45,000 women over three years could not, however, confirm the results of the EU research. The European team believes this third US project, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology http://ije.oupjournals.org , does not have an adequate subject base, and that the fibre intake of these particular subjects was too low to show any positive effects.
(end)
|
|
