Cancer and Vitamin D

As early as 1941, it was observed that people living at higher latitude were at higher risk of dying of cancer. In the 1980's and the 1990's, several reports surfaced that revealed that living at higher latitude and being at higher risk of vitamin D deficency increased risk of developing and dying of cancers of the colon, rectum, prostate, breast, ovary. More recently, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of developing many other cancers including cancer of the esophagus, pancreas and leukemia. Women who were vitamin D deficient had a 253 per cent increase risk of developing colorectal cancer. Women taking 1,100 IU of vitamin D and 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day reduced overall risk of developing cancer by almost 70 per cent

High fructose corn syrup

A new study has found that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup may help prevent hypertension. Researchers found that people who ate or drank more than 74 grams per day of fructose (That's two and a half sodas per day) increased their risk of developing hypertension.

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The right fats reduce heart problems

One of the best methods of determining your ideal intake of omega-3s or fish oil is to test the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids in your red blood cells. Researchers at Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, have found that the type of fat content in your red blood cell membranes is more accurate at predicting a heart atack than the combination of the factors we use now such as cholesterol values, age, sex, the presence of high blood pressure or diabetes and smoking status.People with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the red blood cell membranes had the fewest heart attacks. 92 percent of heart attack patients had the lowest omega-3 levels. 96 percent of heart attack patients had high levels of trans fatty acids.If you eat a lot of foods with trans fats (think store bought cakes, cookies, or crackers, margarine, deep-fried foods) or vegetable oils (sunflower, corn or soy oils)you are headed for a lot of heart problems

The Skinny on Fats

Research has shown that fats high in omega-6 fats (primarily from commercial vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn and soy oils) are associated not only with higher rates of cardiovasculasr disease, but also with inflammation, depression, impaired immune response and other problems. The best oils to use for cooking are olive oil and coconut oil. These oils do not cause inflamation and other problems that the vegetable oils cause.
Oil that is even worse than the omega-6 oils are the man made transfats (trans fatty acids). These are unnatural man made oils that are used in most baked goods sold in grocery stores (think bread,cakes,cookies,crackers). Transfats are used because they are very stable and do not turn racid. Food companies will even take the healthy peanut oil out of peanut butter and replace it with transfats because the peanut butter will stay fresh longer.
Scientists learned some time ago that the Eskimos had very low rates of heart disease because of their high intake of omega-3 oils from the seafoods in their diet. Eating fish high in omege-3 oil such as salmon several times a week or taking omega-3 fish oil pills alone will reduce the incidence of heart attack by 28 percent and sudden cardiac death by 45 percent.