Doctors reveal deadly diet combos that could be causing explosion of colon cancers in young people

Researchers may be one step closer to unraveling the cause of a colon cancer crisis in relatively young people.

They have discovered that a combination of eating too much sugar and not enough fiber causes the intestines to produce a bacteria that accelerates the aging of people’s cells.

This makes them more susceptible to mutations and damage that lead to cancer and less likely to fight the growth of tumor cells. according to new research presented this weekend at the largest cancer conference in the world.

Meanwhile, a separate study at the conference theorized that energy drinks may be partially fueling the under-50s colorectal cancer epidemic.

The researchers behind that study believe that an ingredient called taurine nourishes and promotes the growth of harmful gut bacteria linked to the disease.

The above graph shows the rise of colorectal cancer in young Americans between 1999 and 2020

Evan White is pictured above with his fiancée Katie Briggs and their dog Lola. The pair had started dating when Evan had cancer and became engaged when his condition stabilized. However, he died after battling the disease for four years

Marisa Maddox (photo) was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 29. It has left her infertile and deprived her of the opportunity to have the big family she always wanted

The new findings come as colorectal cancer rates among Americans under 50 are expected to double between 2010 and the end of this decade.

Doctors trying to figure out what’s behind the rapid increase have suspected for some time that modern diets are somehow to blame.

Researchers presenting this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago believe they are one step closer to understanding how the food we consume plays a role.

In a summary of the new paper, which has not yet been published, the Ohio State University team looked at genetic samples from young – under 50 – and older people with colon cancer.

Joe Faratzis, 34, from Los Angeles, is pictured above in his 20s before his stage four colon cancer was discovered (left) and during treatment that began in 2020 (right)

They found that younger patients who ate a diet low in fiber and high in sugar produced a bacteria called Fusobacterium, which increases inflammation in the intestines by binding to pro-inflammatory proteins.

Fiber, on the other hand, slows the release of glucose into the blood (blood sugar levels) and nourishes healthy gut bacteria that reduce inflammation.

Persistent inflammation has been shown to age cells, and researchers estimate that regular poor nutrition in young colorectal cancer patients ages their cells up to 15 years older than a person’s biological age.

This is a phenomenon called ‘inflammaging’.

Older cells are more vulnerable to cancer because they are more damaged and more likely to acquire mutations that make them more susceptible to disease.

Meanwhile, older patients with colon cancer had cells similar to their actual age.

The researchers estimate that while 20 percent of early-onset colorectal cancers are inherited from parents, the remainder of cases “remain poorly understood.”

‘These data suggest that pathogenic microbes can cause inflammation, leading to accelerated aging [early-onset colorectal cancer]’, the researchers wrote.

The team noted that the findings are consistent with other recent data, suggesting that low-fiber, processed diets disrupt the balance of the gut microbiome in a process called gut dysbiosis.

According to the USDA, 95 percent of Americans don’t get enough fiber.

The agency recommends that adults get between 25 and 30 grams of fiber each day, which is about the equivalent of two to three bowls of oats or one cup of chickpeas.

However, most Americans only consume about 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day.

In addition, researchers from the University of Florida introduced a trial this weekend that aims to evaluate the effect of energy drinks on young patients with colorectal cancer.

The team is recruiting 60 colorectal cancer patients aged 18 to 40 with no family history of the disease to see if taurine, an ingredient in energy drinks such as Red Bull, fuels H2S-metabolizing bacteria, which has been linked to an increased incidence of colorectal cancer.

‘These bacteria prefer to use taurine, an essential amino acid, as their primary energy source. Energy drinks represent one of the largest dietary sources (6-16x normal daily intake) of taurine in the contemporary diet,” the team wrote.

‘Our hypothesis is that high taurine levels in energy drinks may worsen the risk of colon cancer by promoting the preferential growth and metabolic activities of already present H2S-producing bacteria, contributing to the emergence of [early-onset] C.R.C.’

As of March 2024, 32 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 regularly consume energy drinks, and energy drinks are the second most popular “dietary supplement” among adults in that age group, after multivitamins.