If you've never heard of proanthocyanadins (pro-an-tho-sigh-ann-ah-dins), you're not alone. While the name is complex, the health benefits are simple: people who eat more proanthocyanadin-rich foods seem to have lower risk of many chronic diseases. This includes the "big killers" in the US - heart disease and several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer.

Researchers in Italy recently added more evidence that proanthocyanadins may keep colorectal cancer at bay. For the study, the diet habits of 1,953 people with colorectal cancer and 4,154 people without colorectal cancer were studied. Researchers looked for links between the amount of proanthocyanadins in the diet and colorectal cancer risk.

Compared with people who eat a diet with the lowest levels of proanthocyanadins, those who eat the most have up to 31% lower likelihood of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Many common foods contain these healthful nutrients. For anyone concerned about colorectal cancer, a diet rich in proanthocyanadins is a good choice.

Where to Find Proanthocyanadins

If you want to get more proanthocyanadins into your diet, think purple and red. Many foods that are deep purple and red in color are loaded with these healthful, disease-fighting nutrients. The best sources of proanthocyanidins include:

• apples
• blueberries
• blackberries
• red and purple grapes (go for those with seeds and eat the seeds for extra proanthocyanidins)
• red wine (only if you're 21 and cleared by your doctor to drink alcohol)
• cranberries
• plums
• black currants
• bilberries

There are a few other foods that aren't red or purple, but still pack a powerful proanthocyanidin punch. In addition to the purples and reds, try to include these proanthocyanidin-rich foods:

• dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa; m&m's don't count)
• green and black tea
• cinnamon (dried spice)
• hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans, and almonds
• red and kidney beans

One of the biggest challenges of being a cancer survivor is coping with the fear of recurrence. Unfortunately, this can lead people to adopt a "denial" attitude.

Once treatment is over, they don't want to think about, hear about, or be reminded in any way that they had cancer. This, in turn, may lead some people to skip follow-up appointments with doctors and avoid tests that may catch a recurrence early.

This isn't a healthy coping strategy - as with a first time cancer diagnosis, the sooner you know you have cancer again, the more options you are likely to have for treating and managing it.

New research suggests that for colon cancer survivors, close follow-up for about 10 years after initial diagnosis is important for maintaining good health and catching any recurrence early. The study suggested this 10 year follow-up time is especially important for female colon cancer survivors, those who had right-sided cancers, and in people who were less than 60 years old when first diagnosed with colon cancer.

This research also clarifies that the 5-year mark (5 years after first diagnosis) is important for determining who is likely to develop cancer again. But keeping close tabs on colon cancer survivors for up to 10 years will result in the best chances of catching any recurrences early for all survivors.

If you're tempted to ignore the cancer clinic when they call about follow-up appointments, it may help to know you are not alone. Feeling seriously distressed after diagnosis and treatment is common. Working with your health care team to get the resources you need to cope will help you maintain the courage to follow up after treatment has ended.

A wonderful organization called CancerCare offers free teleconferences on a wide variety of cancer-related topics. An upcoming teleconference may be of interest to anyone who is affected by colon and other cancers. You can go directly to the CancerCare website to learn more about this free offering and sign up to participate:

Current Trends in Managing Chemotherapy-Related Nausea and Vomiting offered on Wednesday, January 20 2010, at 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. EST

Mark your calendar and dial in on January 20th. This teleconference will leave time for questions and answers at the end of the call, so you can get the information you need.

When facing a disease as complicated as cancer, it's easy to become confused by the volumes of information you are given. Your health care team, well-meaning friends and family members, and even casual acquaintances will offer books, pamphlets, website links, and other forms of information about cancer and how best to manage it.

If all of this leaves you bewildered and overwhelmed, you're not alone. Fortunately, a little training on how to find and use credible, reliable health information can go a long way toward helping you find the answers you need.

The latest research on how people seek and use health information provides encouraging results:

Even a small amount of training or a short class or session on how to use the internet results in a measurable improvement in the ability to evaluate information on health websites, and find credible health resources online. And this improvement resulted in patients seeking and getting better health care.

If you want to find good quality health information online, but don't know where to begin, there are a few steps you can take to get the ball rolling:

• Ask if your health center or cancer care clinic has a patient library or patient information resource center. Patient libraries typically are staffed by trained health information specialists who can help you sort fact from fiction.
• Ask if your health center offers a class on how to best use the internet for seeking health information. Many cancer centers and hospitals do offer these classes on a regular basis, often for free.
• Learn some of the key things that can help you separate the good quality websites from the "not so good".
• Check out our resource list of helpful colon cancer website.
• Ask your nurse or doctor if they have a standard list of websites they recommend patients use to learn the basics about their disease and treatment options.