Nov 1, 2000 -- A new study published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concludes that adding small amounts of fruits and vegetables to an otherwise Standard American Diet does not offer protection against colon cancer. (MSNBC article on study.)

This study adds to previous research, such as a recent study showing that merely adding modest amounts of fruits and vegetables to the Standard American Diet of elderly people does not protect against recurring adenomas polyps, a precursor of colon cancer (examined in an article linked here).

However, multiple studies do show that a vegetarian diet significantly lowers the risk of colon cancer [e.g., see Am J Clin Nutr, 1999 Sep, 70:3 Suppl, 532S-538S].

This new research is making it more and more clear that the US dietary guidelines do not protect the public against a host of degenerative and fatal diseases. USDA recommendations to merely add some fruits and vegetables each day -- while still consuming meat and dairy products -- is faulty at best, dangerous at worst.

This problem exists because the the US nutrition recommendations are unduly influenced by the food industry. (Notable is that 6 of the 11 members of the USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee, which is responsible for making nutrition recommendations, receive or have received money from the meat, dairy, or egg industries. Even the Undersecretary of Agriculture, who participates in the Committee meetings, has a business relationship with a dairy-product manufacturer -- the Dannon Institute.)

Although the meat and dairy industries wish desperately it were not so, the evidence continues to mount implicating animal protein consumption as the single greatest threat to health in the Western world.

And just as happened with the tobacco industry, which for years funded "research" to try to confuse and minimize the public's perception smoking hazards -- and which legally bribed congress to prevent the passage of legislation which would protect the public health -- the truth will eventually out to a wide audience.

Little by little the greater public is coming to understand that there is a scientifically validated way to minimize the chance of becoming a victim of colon or breast cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's Disease and diabetes -- eliminate the meat and dairy in favor of the healtier, delicious alternatives.