{"id":155109,"date":"2026-02-14T02:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T02:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155109\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T02:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T02:49:09","slug":"bay-area-doctors-explain-how-to-reduce-colon-cancer-risk-after-james-van-der-beeks-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155109\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area doctors explain how to reduce colon cancer risk after James Van Der Beek\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Doctors are warning patients that colon cancer<\/a> is on the rise in people under 55.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Cancer Institute says colon cancer is now the leading cause of death for adults aged 20-49 and with the death of 48-year-old James Van Der Beek<\/a> this week, colon cancer is getting a lot of attention.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Doctors explained that there are things you can do to prevent your risk of colon cancer.<\/p>\n

“There’s not a reason to panic,” Dr. Jorge Marcet, a colorectal surgeon and the medical director of colorectal surgery services at Tampa General Hospital, explained. “It’s not an epidemic of colon cancer.”<\/p>\n

RELATED: Doctors urge getting checked as colon cancer rises in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

He said hope is not lost, but this is something to take seriously. Statistics show 10% of colon cancer diagnoses happen before the age of 50. Just 20 years ago, in the early 2000s, that number sat at 5-7%, according to the Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n

“There’s now new data pointing out that it is most likely diet-related,” Marcet said.<\/p>\n

Reducing colon cancer risk <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Doctors suggest improving your diet and trying to eat mostly whole unprocessed foods.<\/p>\n

\"Colon <\/p>\n

“We’re talking about fresh greens, fresh vegetables and variety in the vegetables that we eat can give you the most nutrients to support a healthy microbiome,” Marcet said.<\/p>\n

You should also reduce processed foods, especially processed meats, including bacon and lunch meat.<\/p>\n

“Processed food is a treat,” Marcet said. “Just don’t make it every day and multiple times a day.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Alexander Lake, an osteopathic gastroenterologist at\u00a0Advent\u00a0Health\u00a0Carrollwood, said increasing your fiber intake is important for colon health.<\/p>\n

“Take some type of fiber supplement like Benefiber or Metamucil to get a good amount of around 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day,” Lake explained.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0reduces your risk of colon cancer.<\/p>\n

“I think the studies have shown around 7% [reduction in colon cancer],” Lake said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

Another key: Drink more water, reduce alcohol and stop smoking.<\/p>\n

“If there’s not a lot of water there, you have a lot of hard stool running through there,” Lake said. “The hard stool pushing against the mucosa of the colon in turn can cause inflammation.”<\/p>\n

“Excess alcohol intake can lead to an increase in colon cancer, a sedentary lifestyle, and lack of exercise,” Marcet said. “All these things have been shown in large studies to increase the risk of colon cancer.”<\/p>\n

RELATED: Colorectal cancer: Symptoms and what causes it<\/a><\/p>\n

They also suggest improving your gut microbiome to reduce inflammation.<\/p>\n

“You can wipe out your gut microbiomes,” Marcet said. “So, some people take probiotics after that. Natural probiotics are found in fermented foods, yogurt, kimchi.”<\/p>\n

Scientists are now linking a healthy gut microbiome to a decreased risk of heart disease, inflammatory disease and even Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

Doctors said the most important thing you can do is get a colonoscopy. Most people should get their first one at 45 unless you have a family history of colon cancer.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this story comes from interviews done by FOX 13’s Danielle Zulkosky.<\/p>\n

Cancer<\/a>Tampa<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Doctors are warning patients that colon cancer is on the rise in people under 55.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1158,47,571,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-155109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-cancer","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-hillsborough","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-tampa","14":"tag-tampa-headlines","15":"tag-tampa-news","16":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}