Nutrition
Overcoming colon cancer with diet
Foods to fight colon cancer
In this chapter, we will be discussing how we can overcome colon cancer with our diet.
Cancer of the colon or rectum is also called colorectal cancer. Colon cancer is a fast rising type of cancer but often curable if you catch it early enough.
Some risk factors implicated in colon cancer include:
• Polyps-growths inside the colon and rectum that may turn into cancer.
• High fat diet
• Advance age
• Family history or personal history of colorectal cancer
• Ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease
Some signs and symptoms include: blood in the stool, thin stools, a change in bowel habits and general abdominal discomfort. However, it may be without symptoms, and thus requires screening.
Treatment option include: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Notwithstanding, prevention they say is better than cure and one of the best ways to prevent colon cancer is through our diet.
Foods to include
• Fibre rich diet such as whole grains, brown rice, broccoli, and black beans.
• Calcium rich diet such as milk, broccoli, and cabbage.
• Folate rich food such as spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, and artichokes.
• Anthocyaninrich food such as blueberries and cherries.
• Lutein rich foods such as tomatoes, spinach, nectarines, and broccoli.
Foods to avoid
• Sodas and caffeine rich drinks
• Red meat and meat products
• Processed foods
Lifestyle modification
Modifying our lifestyle from a predominantly sedentary lifestyle to incorporating exercises like going for walks, jogging, and riding bicycles, as well as cutting down alcohol intake, and cigarette smoking all serve to reduce our risk of colon cancer.
In conclusion, we may not be as informed about colon cancer as certain other cancers, but it nevertheless poses a major risk to our healthy life and peace of mind, which cannot be underestimated. By following the modifications and food choices listed above, we can guarantee many more years of life free from colon cancer.
The writer is aNutrionist and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Holistic Health Consult “Your health your wealth.”
E-mail; info@holistichealthconsult. org
By Bernice Korkor Asare
Soya beans is a highly nutritious plant-based food with several health benefits:
-Rich source of protein
-Contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.
-Helpful for vegetarians and vegans as an alternative to animal protein.
-Supports muscle growth and repair.
– Heart Health
-Helps lower cholesterol levels
-Contains healthy unsaturated fats and fibre that support cardiovascular health
-Can be part of a heart-friendly diet
-Bone health
-Provides calcium (in fortified soy products), magnesium, and protein
-Soy isoflavones may help maintain bone density, especially in postmenopausal women
– May help manage menopausal symptoms
-Contains natural compounds called isoflavones (phytoestrogens)
-Some women experience reduced hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms with soy consumption
-Supports weight management
-High protein and fibre content can increase fullness and reduce hunger
-May help with maintaining a healthy weight
-Good for blood sugar control
-Has a low glycemic index
-Protein and fibre can help stabilise blood sugar levels
Ghana has nutrition policies. Ghana has nutrition targets. Ghana has nutrition programmes spread across multiple ministries and dozens of implementing partners.
What Ghana does not have is a single, empowered body responsible for leading, coordinating, and holding all this together. That is the gap a National Nutrition Council would fill, and stakeholders are calling for one now.
The case for a council
At a stakeholder engagement convened under the Nourish Ghana project in 2025, participants proposed the establishment of a National Nutrition Council to provide effective leadership and a governance framework for addressing malnutrition in Ghana. The meeting, which brought together policymakers, development partners, civil society organisations, and the media, highlighted a fundamental problem: nutrition responsibilities are fragmented across various ministries. Without a dedicated coordination body, efforts are duplicated, accountability is diffuse, and nutrition consistently loses out when budgets are tight.
The proposal echoes a model used in several countries that have made the fastest progress against malnutrition. Nigeria’s National Council on Nutrition, for example, recently pledged $107 million at the 2025 N4G Summit, a level of coordinated ambition that Ghana has struggled to match.
Ghana does have existing coordination structures worth acknowledging. The Scaling Up Nutrition Cross-Sectoral Planning Group (CSPG), established in 2012, was set up to harmonise planning, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition actions across sectors. It has produced real gains. But the challenge has been institutionalising those gains beyond project cycles, and analysts have called for an elevated national coordination body with presidential oversight to ensure genuine cross-sector accountability. A National Nutrition Council would go further, providing the dedicated financing and convening authority that the CSPG, as currently structured, does not have.
What a Council would do
A National Nutrition Council would provide political oversight and coordination across all sectors involved in nutrition, health, agriculture, education, social protection, and finance. It would track Ghana’s nutrition commitments, hold ministries accountable for delivery, and ensure that nutrition budgets are protected and spent effectively. Most importantly, it would give nutrition a permanent seat at the table where national development decisions are made.
The Time Is Now
Ghana made 10 commitments at the 2025 N4G Paris Summit. Translating those commitments into results requires a governance structure that does not currently exist. Establishing a National Nutrition Council is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is the institutional foundation without which Ghana’s nutrition ambitions will remain promises on paper. Leaders must act on this proposal without delay.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
