Dietary sphingomyelin and other sphingolipids in health and disease

Summary Sphingolipids are found in all eukaryotic and some prokaryotic cells and therefore most foods contain varying amounts. They are digested in the intestinal tract, and the bioactive metabolites (i.e. ceramide, sphingosine) are released. In mouse models, the supplementation of the diet with complex sphingolipids significantly reduced early stages in colon carcinogenesis and tumour formation, providing an insight into the association between diet and cancer.