Female hormones and hormone replacement therapy after menopause also help protect against colon cancer in many cases, as they do against heart disease. Moreover, with so many different kinds of fiber included in a healthy diet, truly scientific studies of the impact of plant foods and their fiber are still in their infancy. High-fat diets and excess weight have also been implicated as risk factors for colorectal cancer and possibly for breast and prostate cancers. As part of the ongoing Nurses Health Study that provided the data questioning the preventive role of fiber, a 1990 report showed that women who ate diets high in red meat had higher rates of colorectal cancer. In a follow-up study of male health professionals, other researchers drew the same conclusion in 1994.
Many studies focusing on diet and colon cancer continue.
Meanwhile, common sense should prevail. In countries where diets are high in plant-based foods and low in red meat and animal fats, people have lower rates of heart disease and colon cancer. Moreover, a diet rich in vegetables and fruits is likely to be lower in fat and calories. Such a diet is also important for vitamins and minerals that may help prevent cancer along with being essential for other aspects of good health. Folate, also known as folic acid or folacin, is found in fruits, vegetables and enriched grains and is one of the eight B vitamins essential for health.