A microbiology meeting this week held out a tantalizing bit of data: the food we eat influences the types of bacteria that grow in our colons. Diets high in complex carbohydrates encouraged the growth of favorable bacteria that produced beneficial chemicals and vitamins. Diets high in meat encouarged the growth of less favorable bacteria which might contribute to the production of carcinogenic substances in the gut. This may help explain the connection between a high meat diet and colon cancer; this has been studied since at least the 1950s when it was noted that Seventh Day Adventists a religious group known not to consume meat get very little colon cancer. Sure this report is speculative and not strictly clinical but I include it here since it helps explain something many patients ask about: the relationship of diet to cancer. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330200714.htm