Study: Sugar Galactose May Be Key to Role of Diet in Preventing Colon Cancer

The protection that fruit and vegetable fibers appear to provide may be related to their content of galactose, which may prevent colon cancer by binding and inhibiting lectins, according to British researchers.

The researchers from the University of Liverpool, in a report in the journal Gastroenterology, said that in a study of more than 1,000 colorectal cancer patients and controls, neither cereal fiber nor fruit and vegetable fiber were protective alone, whereas "dietary fiber galactose content showed a dose-related protective effect."

The researchers said the protective effect of galactose -- a form of sugar found in many fruits, vegetables and grains -- remained protective against colon cancer even when adjusted for energy, red meat, alcohol, calcium, protein and fat intake, regular aspirin usage, and exercise.

"This provides further evidence that the association between diet and colon cancer is mediated via specific food components and may explain the discrepant results of studies addressing the protective effects of fiber," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: Gastroenterology