Eating Fish Reduces the Incidence of Colon Polyps

When I looked into what events in March to write about this year, I couldn't help but wonder how so many “awareness” events had ended up on our calendars! Among the many this month are: Registered Dietician Day, Women's History Month, National Nutrition Month, Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, National Doctor's Day, National Reading Day and my favorite - National Goof Off Day – We all need a break! (Oh yes, we do!)

I chose to write about Colorectal Cancer. I have a few friends and relatives that did not survive this nasty cancer and I would like to help make it a disease of the past! The means to that end is information – speaking of National Reading Day... The more informed we are about diet, testing and other factors, the less people we'll lose to this disease.

When I had my first colonoscopy ten years ago, the doctor who performed the test said that she had never seen such a squeaky clean colon. She asked me if I ate red meat and, since I hadn't eaten it in 30 years, I said no. She told me, even back then, she was finding that the people with the most polyps were meat eaters, and the fish or vegetarian dieters were more likely to avoid colon cancer. Polyps are small growths on the lining of the intestinal tract that may develop into cancer. One of the reasons we have a colonoscopy is to remove any of these before they become a problem. Another is to diagnose colon cancer at its earliest stage because survival rates are higher when this, as with all cancers, is treated early on. Read more