Everyday Gastroenterology: Food for Colon Health

Everyday Gastroenterology: Food for Colon Health

Food is amazingly powerful. It has the unique ability to bring humans together, regardless of age, background, and disposition, simply because it fulfills a basic need that we all share: hunger. However, the more we learn about food, the more we realize just how powerful it is in multiple ways. Food can keep us healthy. Food can reduce our chances of disease and illness. Food can strengthen us. Food can act as a shield for our bodies. In fact, some foods can even help protect us from cancer. One good example of this is the “colorful food diet” recommended by Gastroenterology experts to help prevent colorectal cancer.

Food

We all know that eating habits make a big difference in almost every aspect of health–carrots for eyesight, milk for strong bones, and countless other examples. However, when we think of the connection between food and health, the colon is often left out of the equation, even though the colon represents one of the most important steps in the digestion cycle. We simply don’t think about the colon that much. When it comes to diet, though, it pays to think about the colon–and that’s because, as our opens in a new windowGastroenterology experts have observed, eating certain foods can help protect the colon just as drinking milk protects young bones.

The Right Food

So, what is the “colorful foods diet” that’s so good for the colon? Here’s a quick look!

• Red foods. Red foods are sort of like “super-foods” when it comes to health. The vitamins and antioxidants provided by tomatoes, beets, and cranberries aren’t just good for reducing the chances of colorectal cancer–they can also help defend against heart problems, memory loss, and multiple types of cancers.
• Green foods. One of the most important additions to the colorful diet is green food, like broccoli, lettuce, and spinach. The deeper the green color, the stronger the food is in protecting against everything from colorectal cancer to blood clots to type 2 diabetes.
• White and tan foods. It makes sense that white and tan foods might be overlooked in a colorful diet, but in truth, these foods are important in countless ways. Yogurt and cheese (white foods), as well as oatmeal and brown bread (tan foods), can help prevent cancer, improve digestion, minimize heart disease risk, and more.

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