**Abstract**

Nutrition: a natural and promising option in colorectal cancer intervention Nutrition plays a significant role in the intervention of colorectal cancer (CRC) by decreasing the risks of colorectal carcinogenesis. Products from both plant and animal origins have been involved in the prevention and/or treatment of CRC. Intake of dietary products including fibre-rich foods, nutraceuticals, wholegrains, dairy products, and limited consumption or avoidance of red/processed meat and alcohol could reduce the risk of CRC. These nutritional compounds, in CRC intervention, could be in form of folklore/alternative medicine or isolated compounds used in the production of many chemotherapeutic agents. Monitoring of individual's nutritional status could serve as a possible preventive or therapeutic measure against CRC, majorly by interaction with intestinal microbiota, thereby potentiating host anti-cancer immune response and/or interfering with mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

**Keywords:** colorectal cancer, diet, intestinal microbiome, nutrition, phytochemicals

### **1. Introduction**

The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC), the fourth commonly diagnosed cancer and third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, is a global burden. Factors that increase the risk of CRC development include medical, hereditary, and behavioural factors. Of this, behavioural factors including dietary habits such as consumption of red/processed meat and alcohol, which can be linked to adoption of westernized way of life by developing countries, lack of physical exercise, smoking, ageing and obesity [1], as well as consumption of carbonated drinks with high sugar level and fast-foods [2]. On the contrary, the beneficial effect of nutrition is implicated in reducing the risk of CRC upon consumption of wholegrains, fibre-rich diets, dairy products, micronutrients, vegetables, fruits, and nutraceuticals [3, 4]. Also, avoidance or limited consumption of red/processed meat, alcohol and smoking could reduce the incidence or prevent CRC [3]. In other words, nutrition, either directly or indirectly, from plant or animal origin, plays a significant role in colorectal carcinogenesis.
