Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, 50, urges “Red Table Talk” viewers to get their colonoscopies, as she gets hers on camera for the Facebook show which she hosts.
Pinkett Smith also shares with viewers her gut health issues over the years.
People with an average risk of colon cancer should start getting colonoscopies at age 45.
Actress, singer, and member of Hollywood royalty, Jada Pinkett Smith, 50, just got her first colonoscopy and she wants you to get yours, too. She’s also sharing with fans her gut health issues and talking about why screening for colon cancer is so important.
Pinkett Smith, who’s married to actor Will Smith, has long been an outspoken voice on various issues, and we love to see her using her confidence and presence to heighten people’s awareness about health issues, and cancer screening procedures.
In a new episode of Facebook Watch's “Red Table Talk,” which Pinkett Smith hosts, she dived deep into the world of gut health, informing her fans and viewers what it is, why it matters, and how she takes charge of her digestive health.
Pinkett Smith gets colonoscopy on-camera for “Red Table Talk.”
The Importance of Gut Health
Pinkett Smith reflects on her own gut health journey during the episode.”They say that the gut is like the second brain of the body," Pinkett Smith says. "I wish I had known that earlier. I think people should have more understanding, too, that we’re putting toxic foods in our body, it's going to help create toxic emotions, toxic moods. I'm seeing that in my own eating lifestyle."
In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Sagar Lonial of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, discussed the link between diet and cancer risk, and diet amid treatment. He tells us, “What I tell patients is, the stronger and fitter you are going into treatment, the stronger and fitter you’re going to come out on the back end. Exercise is important. I’m not saying run a marathon, but certainly walk and be as active as you can.”
“Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet,” says Dr. Lonial. “A multivitamin is probably not unreasonable. But beyond that, I don’t know that there’s any data that says that some strange fad diet has better outcomes. I certainly support the idea of any kind of regular exercise and activity as helping you to be stronger to battle the cancer.”
A colonoscopy is a screening procedure used to detect colon cancer. People with an average risk of colon cancer meaning they have no family history of the disease should begin getting colonoscopies at age 45. You should start getting them younger if there’s a history of the disease in your family.
Pinkett Smith and her mother allowed the show’s cameras to follow them as they “stuck a camera in their booty,” as she playfully said of the procedure, which revealed no major issues for the actress, despite the detection of three polyps (white growths which can be pre-cancerous). She urges all viewers to do the same and get their colonoscopies. “Get your colonoscopies when it’s time,” says Pinkett Smith. She assures viewers watching, “It is easy peasy.”
The American Cancer Society recommends that those who are at average risk for colorectal cancer have their first colonoscopy at 45.
Colon Cancer Diagnosis What Happens After the Colonoscopy
