i’ve heard how beneficial fiber is for reducing your risk of colon cancer, but no one’s ever really explained the why behind it to me.
In: Biology
There’s soluble fiber (Benefiber) that you mix into something and it completely disappears and insoluble fiber that doesn’t (konsyl fiber). You can also get both from foods, which is better because of the other beneficial things that those foods offer your body as well. Long story short, the fiber is good for the normal flora in your gut which convert it to short chain fatty acids which reduce the ability of cells in the intestinal tract to become cancerous. Fiber also adds bulk to the stool and helps move things out on a proper schedule. Don’t skip meals because this screws with your body’s ability to move things.
Fiber is sticky, bad things stick to the fiber and gets pulled out with the fiber making the digestive track cleaner
One of the risk factors for colon cancer is a high fat diet. Another risk factor for colon cancer is high levels of bile acid in the digestive tract. It makes sense, because high levels of fat and bile acids are linked. High levels of dietary fat trigger cholecystokinin. Cholecystokinin is a hormone which triggers the gallbladder to contract and release bile. Bile helps us to break down and absorb fat.
So, why does fiber help? Fiber binds to bile acids and helps carry them out of the body. More fiber equals lower levels of bile acids hanging out in the GI tract equals lower risk of colon cancer.
Another way fiber helps is that fiber decreases transit time. Transit time is the time it takes for food to travel from the mouth to the anus. A prolonged transit time is associated with an increased risk of colon cancer.
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