(U-WIRE) MANHATTAN, Kan. – New Kansas State University research shows that adding wheat to… (U-WIRE) MANHATTAN, Kan. – New Kansas State University research shows that adding wheat to your diet can help prevent cancer.

In a collaborative study at K-State and Wichita State University, findings suggest that some components of wheat might be helpful in preventing colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in both men and women, includes cancers of the rectum, colon, appendix and anus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new research shows that orthophenols, chemical components found in wheat, act as anti-oxidants to kill cancer cells.

John Carter, associate professor in the college of health professionals, was involved with the study on the WSU side.

“We used a mouse model, named Min Mouse, that has been used as an animal model for colon cancer since 1990,” Carter said.

“The mouse develops tumors in its intestines instantaneously.”

Carter said that the reason he wants the public to be aware of this information is for prevention.

“Currently 90 percent of all colon cancer can be prevented with a change in diet,” Carter said. “Currently there are over 43,000 cases of colon cancer every year in the United States.” Ron Madl, a researcher at K-State, worked on the study for the past four years.

“The medical industry published some very confusing studies,” Madl said. “Some said wheat was beneficial to preventing cancer and some said it wasn’t.

“We wanted to resolve that confusion.” Initially, the study showed diets containing the same level of wheat bran but different levels of antioxidants exhibited dramatically different capacity to suppress tumor development.

“We fed the mice different levels of anti-oxidants and found out that the tendency to get colon cancer greatly reduced with a higher level of anti-oxidant,” Madl said.

A correlation could be seen throughout the different levels of anti-oxidants fed to the mice.

“The mice with lower levels of anti-oxidants had higher incidents of cancer,” Madl said.

The short-term goals for this study are only informative.

“In the short term we want to show people that low-carb diets have the effect of eliminating micro-nutrients from a person’s diet,” Madl said. “We want to stray people away from restrictive diets that would exclude wheat, which is very nutritious.

“In the long term we want the benefits of whole wheat production to be recognized.”