among Seventh Day Adventist males has been reported to be 40 percent less than that of the average male population in California(6-9). Part of this cholesterol-lowering effect may be due to vegetarians' tendency to consume less total fat, less saturated fat, more polyunsaturated fat, and less cholesterol than nonvegetarians(10). But vegetarians may also consume much more fiber or roughage than nonvegetarians(11,12). The feeding of legumes, which are high in fiber co tent, has lowered blood cholesterol levels in controlled studies(13,14). Vegetarians have also been reported to experience a decreased incidence of cancer compared with nonvegetarians(15). A current question is whether the higher incidence of cancer of the colon in industrialized countries