The promising prescription for colon cancer

Colon cancer seems to be on the rise.

It was something I never thought about much when I was younger but these days I’m hearing about it more and more, and I recently learned that a friend of mine has been diagnosed with colon cancer.

And, unfortunately, colon cancer is extremely deadly. While it’s the third most common cancer it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths.

With the ever-increasing rates of colorectal cancer, researchers are spending more of their time trying to find ways to increase survival for its victims — and a team from The University of Queensland and the University of Waterloo, Ontario, just made a breakthrough…

Short, high-energy bursts

The team found that exercise may play a role in reducing the growth of colon cancer cells.

Yup, not some new, expensive drug with a name that no one can pronounce but simple exercise – of course, it was a very specific kind.

Here are the details…

The study involved colorectal cancer survivors completing either a single session of HIIT or 12 sessions over 4 weeks. Their blood samples were collected either immediately after the single session of exercise or at rest after 4 weeks of training and were then analyzed to study the growth of colon cancer cells.

And, the team found that after a short session of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), the growth of colon cancer cells was reduced, and this also increased indicators of inflammation.

According to the researchers, these findings were a surprise since, for a long time, the focus on exercise has been on the positive changes in the body that occur following longer periods of training with suggestions such as walking every day for 30 minutes. But, this study demonstrated that the effects following a single session of HIIT, an exercise regime involving short, high energy bursts can be just as important in defeating colon cancer.

James Devin, lead author on the research said, “We have shown that exercise may play a role in inhibiting the growth of colon cancer cells. After an acute bout of HIIT, there were specific increases in inflammation immediately after exercise, which is hypothesized to be involved in reducing the number of cancer cells. This suggests that a physically active lifestyle may be important in tackling human colorectal tumors.”

Colon cancer protection

So, how do you perform HIIT?

It’s probably easier than you think. For an easy step-by-step HIIT routine, check out Dr. Mark Wiley’s recommendation for a 3-minute HIIT that shapes you up and don’t forget to check out Jenny Smiechowski’s recipe for HIIT success.

Other ways that have been shown in scientific studies to keep cancer away from your colon include:

• Eating tree nuts – Eating at least 2 ounces per week resulted in a 46 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence and 53 percent lower chance of death in a study at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
• Resveratrol plus grape seed extract – These two compounds were found to suppress the incidence of colon cancer tumors in mice by 50 percent.
• Broccoli – Cruciferous veggies like broccoli have been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
• Probiotic punch – Studies of probiotics found that they reduced the size and number of colon tumors in mice.

So, if you want to avoid colon cancer, it’s possible that the best thing you can do is exercise hard but briefly and eat a healthy diet full of fruits, nuts, veggies, and probiotic-rich dairy. Who knew the key to cancer prevention was just overall good health?

Sources:

1. The cancer in your sandwich — Easy Health Options®
2. Study reveals that exercise reduces risk of colon cancer death — Easy Health Options®
3. Colon cancer growth reduced by exercise — The Physiological Society
4. This food goes nuts on colon cancer — Easy Health Options®
5. 2 compounds in 1 fruit slay cancer 50 percent of the time — Easy Health Options®