All Videos for Colon Health

Phytates for the Prevention of Cancer

Phytic acid (phytate), concentrated in food such as beans, whole grains, and nuts, may help explain lower cancer rates among plant-based populations.



Turmeric Curcumin Reprogramming Cancer Cell Death

The spice turmeric appears to be able to switch back on the self-destruct mechanism within cancer cells.



One in a Thousand: Ending the Heart Disease Epidemic

Many of our most common diseases found to be rare, or even nonexistent, among populations eating plant-based diets.



Starving Cancer with Methionine Restriction

Methionine restriction—best achieved through a plant-based diet—may prove to have a major impact on patients with cancer because, unlike normal tissues, many human tumors require the amino acid methionine to grow.



Is Carrageenan Safe?

Carrageenan is a food additive used as a thickener and fat substitute in a variety of dairy and nondairy products. Concerns about potential intestinal tract damage are placed in the context of dietary consequences.



Cayenne Pepper for Irritable Bowel Syndrome & Chronic Indigestion

Chronic red pepper powder ingestion may be an effective treatment for IBS and chronic dyspepsia (indigestion), both of which can arise from food poisoning.



More than an Apple a Day: Preventing the Most Common Diseases

Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition, and developed this brand-new live presentation on the latest in cutting-edge research on how a healthy diet can affect some of our most common medical conditions.



Avoiding Chicken to Avoid Bladder Infections

Handling chicken can lead to the colonization of one’s colon with antibiotic-resistant E. coli that may result in bladder infections in women.



Gut Feelings: Probiotics & Mental Health

We’ve known our mental state can affect our gut flora, but might our good bacteria be affecting our mental state?



Should Probiotics Be Taken Before, During, or After Meals?

Proper timing of probiotic supplements may improve their survival.



Preventing & Treating Diarrhea with Probiotics

Probiotics may help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and appear to speed recovery from acute gastroenteritis.



Cranberries vs. Cancer

Drug companies and supplement manufacturers have yet to isolate the components of cranberries that suppress cancer cell growth.



Can Cellulite Be Treated with Diet?

Two theories about the buildup of subcutaneous fat, involving the chemical spermine and the hormone adiponectin, suggest a plant-based diet may help with cellulite.



Prunes vs. Metamucil vs. Vegan Diet

The average number of bowel movements a week is compared between those eating prunes, those taking a fiber supplement, and those eating a strictly plant-based diet.



Titanium Dioxide & Inflammatory Bowel Disease

People eating conventional diets may ingest a trillion microparticles of the food-whitening additive, titanium dioxide, every day. What implication might this have for inflammation in the gut?



Cancer, Interrupted: Garlic and Flavonoids

Garlic and flavonoid phytonutrients found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains appear to protect against DNA damage induced by mutagenic chemicals found in cooked meat.



Reducing Cancer Risk in Meat-Eaters

Those who eat meat risk food poisoning from undercooked meat, but also exposure to cooked meat carcinogens in well-cooked meat. By boiling meat, non-vegetarians can mediate their risk of both.



Erythritol May Be a Sweet Antioxidant – UPDATE: don’t eat! (See doc note below)

The natural sweetener erythritol does not appear to carry the adverse effects associated with other non- and low-caloric natural and artificial sweeteners, and may actually have antioxidant potential.



Tipping Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes

Certain phytonutrients may tip the balance of healthy gut bacteria in favor of flora associated with improved weight control.



Boosting Good Bacteria in the Colon Without Probiotics

Certain good bacteria in our gut can turn the fiber we eat into an anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer compound—called butyrate—that we absorb back into our system. We may be able to boost the number of butyrate-producing bacteria by eating a plant-based diet.



Risk Associated with Iron Supplements

Iron is a double-edged sword. If we don’t absorb enough, we risk anemia; but if absorb too much, we may increase our risk of cancer, heart disease, and a number of inflammatory conditions. Because the human body has no mechanism to rid itself of excess iron, one should choose plant-based (non-heme) sources, over which our body has some control.



Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.



Kiwifruit for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

A kiwifruit intervention was found to improve bowel function in those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. This was accomplished without side effects, such as heart attacks and stroke associated with the primary drug prescribed to treat the condition, tegaserod.



Dietary Treatment of Crohn’s Disease

Meat (including fish), cheese, and animal protein intake in general have been associated with an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the meantime, plant-based diets may not only help prevent such conditions, but treat them as well, resulting in the longest recorded remission rates for Crohn’s disease.



Cheese Mites and Maggots

Cheese manufacturers use spider-like insects and fly larvae to impart particular flavors and aromas to certain cheeses.



Coffee and Cancer

Coffee consumption is associated with a modest reduction of total cancer incidence.



Flax and Fecal Flora

The trillions of good bacteria in our gut can be thought of as an additional organ—metabolizing, detoxifying, and activating many crucial components of our diet. The formation of lignans from phytonutrient precursors found predominantly in flax seeds is one such example.



Lung Cancer Metastases & Broccoli

The anti-proliferative effects of cruciferous vegetable phytonutrients may decrease the metastatic potential of lung cancer, the number one cancer killer of women.



Liver Toxicity Due to Broccoli Juice?

6,000 cups of broccoli a year is probably too much.



Bacon & Botulism

The nitrite preservatives in processed meats such as bologna, bacon, ham, and hot dogs form carcinogenic nitrosamines, but also reduce the growth of botulism bacteria—forcing regulators to strike a balance between consumers risking cancer, or a deadly form of food poisoning.



Bulking Up on Antioxidants

Even when fiber and fruit and vegetable intake are kept constant, choosing foods richer in antioxidants may increase stool size, which is associated with lower cancer risk.



Get the Lead Out

Toxic heavy metal contamination of Ayurvedic dietary supplements is, in most cases, intentional.



Amla vs. Cancer Cell Growth

Indian gooseberries (amla), an important plant in Ayurvedic medicine, may have anticancer properties, as well as cough-, fever-, pain-, stress-, and diarrhea-suppressing effects.



Inflammatory Remarks about Arachidonic Acid

Arachidonic acid may play a role in cancer, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders.



Bowels of the Earth

Which country has the largest (and smallest) average stool size?



Food Mass Transit

Most women experience a four-day intestine transit time; likely too long to meet the target 200 gram (half pound) minimum fecal output for cancer prevention.



Stool Size Matters

Larger bowel movements are associated with lower risk of appendicitis, colon cancer, constipation, and diverticulitis.



Relieving Yourself of Excess Estrogen

Women eating vegetarian may have lower breast cancer rates because they have larger bowel movements.



Cancer Prevention & Treatment May Be the Same Thing

Breast cancer can take decades to develop, so early detection via mammogram may be too late.