ABSTRACT
Epidemiological studies indicate that diets containing a high proportion of dietary fiber can protect against the development of various cancers, especially those of the colon and breast. Further data consistent with the adsorption of such hormones by dietary fibers were obtained by J. O. Akingbala et al. Animal studies provide further evidence for the protective properties of such diets, although the studies indicate that only certain types of dietary fibers, or sources of dietary fibers, are protective. To test the hypothesis that dietary fibers can adsorb dietary carcinogens in the conditions encountered in the human gut, various in vitro model systems have been used. Cereal brans are often erroneously described as dietary fibers, but in fact they are simply good sources of dietary fibers. Some polysaccharides become soluble in water after they have been extracted from plant cell walls and are referred to as soluble dietary fibers.
