Increased Risk of Non-communicable Diseases in Urbanized Africans May Be More a Consequence of Increased Energy and Fat Intake Than Low Fiber

摘要

Colon cancer (CRC) is one of the westernized diseases, common in the USA and Europe (>50:100,000), rare in Africa (<5:100,000). There is overwhelming evidence that CRC is driven by diet and the low risk in Africans may be attributed to the high fiber content of their traditional diet. (>50g/d vs 10g/d). High fiber increases colonic microbial butyrogenesis, which is strongly anticarcinogenic. There is grave concern that CRC is becoming more common throughout Africa with migration to the cities. We hypothesize that this is due to reduced consumption of fiber with westernization.