# Dietary Fiber and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Nested Case-Control Study Using Food Diaries
Canonical: https://nutritionizm.com/research/10-1093-jnci-djq092/
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Source: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2010), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djq092
License: USDA FoodData Central values are public domain (CC0 1.0); Nutritionizm compilation and plain-language text are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (attribution: link to Canonical URL).

## TL;DR

People who ate more dietary fiber had a lower likelihood of developing colorectal cancer in this study.

## What they did

Researchers studied 579 people who developed colorectal cancer and 1,996 matched people who did not. All participants came from seven UK cohort studies. They recorded their food intake in diaries for 4 to 7 days.

## What they found

People with the highest fiber intake had lower odds of colorectal cancer than those with the lowest intake. The odds ratio was 0.66, with a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.45 to 0.96. Higher fiber intake was linked to lower colorectal cancer risk.

## Why it matters

Studies suggest that eating more fiber-rich foods may be linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer. This could support everyday choices such as eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Other factors may also play a role.

## Limits

Dietary intake was measured with food diaries, which may include measurement error. This is general education, not medical advice.

## Jargon explained

- **odds ratio**: A number that compares the likelihood of an outcome between two groups.
- **confidence interval**: A range of values that likely includes the true result.

## Full citation

Christina Catherine Dahm, Ruth H. Keogh, Elizabeth A. Spencer, Darren Charles Greenwood, Timothy J. Key, Ian S. Fentiman, Martin J. Shipley, Eric John Brunner, Janet Elizabeth Cade, Victoria Jane Burley, Gita Devi Mishra, A. M. Stephen, Diana J. Kuh, Ian R. White, Robert Luben, Marleen A. H. Lentjes, Kay‐Tee Khaw, Sheila A. Rodwell (2010). Dietary Fiber and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Nested Case-Control Study Using Food Diaries. *JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djq092