Vitamin K2 Lowers Prostate Cancer by 35 Percent

An increased intake of vitamin K2 may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 35 percent, suggest results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The potential benefits of vitamin K2 were more pronounced for advanced prostate cancer, while vitamin K1 intake did not offer any prostate benefits, report the researchers from the German Cancer Research Center in Hiedelberg. The findings, based on data from the 11,319 men taking part in the EPIC Hiedelberg cohort, are published in the April, 2011, issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study, by Katharina Nimptsch, Sabine Rohrmann and Jakob Linselsen, adds to an ever growing body of science supporting the potential health benefits of vitamin K2, most notable for bone and blood health, but also recently linked to improved skin health. The study has been welcomed by leading vitamin K researcher Cees Vermeer, PhD, from the VitaK and Cardiovascular Research Institute CARIM at the Unviersity of Maastricht, who said that the study was "high quality". "The anti-tumor effect of vitamin K2 has been suggested in several other (mainly Japanese) papers; in most cases these papers were based on smaller numbers, however. Also, in Japan it is usual to provide very high doses of the short-chain menaquinone-4 (45 mg/day or higher)," said Dr Vermeer. "The elegance of the Nimptsch paper is that the effect is found at nutritional doses of Vitamin K2," he added.

According to the European School of Oncology, over half a million new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year world wide, and the cancer is the direct cause of over 200,000 deaths. More worryingly, the incidence of the disease is increasing with a rise of 1.7 percent over 15 years. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess habitual dietary intakes at the start of the study, with vitamin K intakes divided into phylloquinone (Vitamin K1) and menaquinones (vitamin K2) and total and advanced prostate cancer in the Heidelberg cohort of the European Prospective investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

The researchers documented 268 incident cases of prostate cancer during the 8.6 years of follow-up. Of these 113 cases were classified as advanced prostate cancer. While no reduction in the risk of prostate cancer was observed for vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), an increased intake of all menaquinones (vitamin K2) was associaed with a 35 percent reduction in risk. Furthermore, a strong association was documented when they considered only advanced prostate cancer, with increased intake of vitamin K2 linked to a 63 percent reduction in risk.

While dietary sources of vitamin K2 include meat and femented food products like cheese and natto, Nimptsch and co-workers report that vitamin K2 from dairy had a stronger inverse association with advanced prostate cancer than did vitamin K2 from meat.

Diabetes May be Linked to Alzheimer's

Studies show that there is a greater dementia risk for people with diabetes and prediabetes. People with diabetes may be twice as likely to develop memory problems and dementia as they age, including Alzheimer's studies show. This risk also apprears to be hightened among people with prediabetes-people who are on the verge of developing diabetes. Exactly how diabetes and dementia are linked is not fully iunderstood. But the new findings add to growing evidence that what is good for our hearts may also be good for our brains.

An important study was published in Neurology. In the study, 1,017 people 60 and older were given a glucose tolerance test to see if they had diabetes or prediabetes. Researchers from Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, followed the participants for around 11 years and then tested them for dementia. In that time, 232 people developed Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Forty one of 150 people with diabetes developed dementia. By contrast, 115 of the 559 people without diabetes developed dementia. An increased risk for dementia was also found in people with prediabetes.

Zoe Arvanitakis, MD, says many questions remain regarding the relationship between diabetes and dementia. Arvanitakis is a neurologist at the Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush Unviersity Medical Center in Chicago. For starters, how are the two conditions linked? There are some plausible explanation, she says. Diabetes is known to increase stroke risk, and strokes can lead to mental problems and dementia. If you lower you risk for diabetes, might you prevent the onset of Alheimer's disease or other types of age-related dementia? It is too early to say that, but "food that is good for the heart is also good for the brain," Arvanitakis says. Some of the same heart healthy habits that help lower diabetes risk, such as getting regular exercise and not smoking, may also improve the health of your brain. "It's too premature to say if you prevent diabetes, you would not develop dementia," she says.

There are other things besides diabetes and prediabetes that may increase risk for dementia, such as family history. "The mechanism linking diabetes and dementia still needs to be sorted out," Arvanitakis says. "It is important to stay healthy and prevent vascular risk factors from getting out of hand, If you have diabetes, get your blood sugar under control." Heart disease and stroke risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. Exercise regular and eat a balanced diet, too. "Hopefully, this will help in the long run, She says.

Rachel Witmer, PhD, says that it's not just diabetes and blood sugar abnormalities that may increase dementia risk either. She is a research scientist and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research in Oakland, California. Previous studies have shown that high cholesterol levels also raise a person's risk for developing Alzeheimer's disease and other types of dementia. "The silver lining to the cloud is that yes, vascular risk factors are also associated with dementia, but they are modifiable," she says. "You can change your cholesterol levels with exercise and diet." The same holds true for diabetes and prediabetes. "Understand that what is good for the heart is good for the brain and even though dementia shows up late in life, you need to start thinking about it sooner," Whitmer says.

The Spice Turmeric Fights Many Types of Cancer

The active substance in turmeric is curcumin. Curcumin also give turmeric its yellow orange color. Turmeric has been extensively researched and has been found to have many health applications. It is becoming increasingly popular as a supplement. Each 100 grams of turmeric contains three to five grams of curcumin. The ancient Chinese and Indian systems of medicine have recognized curcumin's beneficial properties for thousands of years. Curcumin is best know for its reduction of inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is an underlying factor in many, if not most, chronic disease. This compound influences over 700 genes and more than 100 different pathways once it enters the cell.

A 2008 study in Cancer Prevention Research, found that curcumin inhibits breast cancer cell motility and invasion by directly inhibiting the function of alpha6beta4 integrin, which suggests it may serve as an effective therapeutic agent in tumors that overexpress alpha6beta4. (Alpha6beta4 is associated with cancer progression by contributing to apoptosis resistance and metastasis)

In 2009 a study in molecular Pharmacology found that curcumin inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth and acts as a chemosensitizing agent. Other research from 2009 found that curcumin induces programmed cell death in lung cancer cells. A 2010 study concluded that curcumin has the potential to target cancer stem cells. A new study found that curcumin to be an effective agent against glioblastoma which is a fatal type of brain cancer. Curcumin appears safe for the treatment of all types of cancer.

IN INDIA WHERE TURMERIC IS WIDELY USED IN THE DIET, THE PREVALENCE OF FOUR COMMON U.S. CANCERS--COLON, BREAST, PROSTATE AND LUNG--IS 10 TIMES LOWER THAN IN THE UNITED STATES. Prostate cancer, which is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in U.S. men, is rare in India and this is attributed, in part, to the curcumin in turmeric.

Curcumin combats cancer in a number of different ways:

It Inhibits the proliferation of tumor cells.

It inhibits the transformation of normal cells to tumor cells.

It helps your body destroy mutated cancer cells so they cannot spread throughout your body.

It decreases inflammation.

It inhibits the synthesis of a protein thought to be instrumental in tumor formation.

It prevents the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth.

What type of turneric is best? For use in cooking, choose a pure turmeric powder rather than a curry powder. At least one study has found that curry powders tend to contain very little curcumin, compared to turmeric powder.

There are no products commercially available for use against cancer, and you should know that not only are relatively high doses required, curcumin is also not absorbed very well. A typical anti-cancer dose can be as high as three grams of good bioavailable curcumin extract, three to four times daily.

One way to work around this is to make for yourself a microemulsion from curcumin powder. To do that, mix one tablespoon of the powder into 1-2 egg yolks, along with a teaspoon or two of melted coconut oil. Then, use a high-speed hand blender to emulsify the mixture.

Another way that you can use to increase absorption is to add one tablespoon of curcumin powder to a quart of boiling water. (It must be boiling when you add the powder as it will not work as well if you use cooler water.) After boiling it for 10 minutes you will have created a 12 percent solution, which you can drink once it has cooled. It is best to drink the solution within six hours as the curcumin will gradually fall out of solution.

Cocoa Drops Heart Disease by 38 Percent and Stroke by 29 Percent

The Kuna Indians living on islands of the coast of Panama have among the lowest rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke found anywhere in the world. This is how they do it. They harvest cocoa pods off cocoa trees,and then ferment and dry the seeds. The ground seeds are then put in a pot of boiling water with bananas which provide sweetening. They drink four to five cups of this cocoa a day.

In the January 24th Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences at the Coca Symposium, Norman K. Hollenberg reviewed data he's gleaned from studying two genetically similar populations of Kuna Indians, people renowned for their cocoa consumption. One group of the Kuna lives on the San Blas Islands off Panama. The other consists of migrants residing on the mainland in Panama City.

In an earlier work, Hollenberg reported that the island dwelling Kuna had significantly lower blood pressue than their mainland kin did. One difference between the populations: The islanders drank an average of 5 cups of cocoa daily, but the mainland group downed fewer than 4 cups per week.

Schmitz notes that the two populations also drank different cocoas. Traditionally, island dwelling Kuna take fresh picked cocoas beans and dry them under the sun. Then, they grind the beans into a powder for use in foods and drinks. "Effectively," he says, "they're consuming about as close to fresh cocoa as one can get." By contrast, the islanders' mainland kin now tend to drink commercial cocoas that have been as heavily processed as U.S. cocoas. The products also retain as little of the starting flavanols as most U.S. products do.

At the Cocoa Symposium, Hollenberg reported that dramatic long term benefits may be attributable to the islanders' cocoa habit: Their death rate from heart disease is less than 8 percent of that in Kuna mainlanders, and cancer kills only 16 percent as many islanders. The two populations were matched for age, weight, and a number of other factors that might affect heart and cancer risks.

Hollenberg concludes that the Kuna epidemiological daqta, although preliminary, "indicate that a flavanol rich diet may provide an extraordinary benefit in the reduction of the two deadliest diseases in today's world.

One of the most important flavonoids in cocoa seems to be epicatechin. Several U.S. food companies have products that contain high levels of epicatechin. One can also buy raw cocoa beans. Just Google the words, raw cocoa beans, and you can see a number of companies that sell the beans.

Painkillers Increase Risk of Miscarriage

Women who use certain painkillers early in pregnancy may have an increased risk of miscarriage, a new study suggests. The study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal looked at use of non-aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also know as NSAID, during the first 20 weeks of gestation., Researchers found women in who had used NSAIDs after conceiving, MORE THAN DOUBLED THEIR RISK OF HAVING A MISCARRIAGE.

"We consistently saw that the risk of having a spontaneous abortion was associated with gestational use of diclofenac, naproxen, clecoxib, ibuprofen and rofecoxib along or in combination," said senior researcher Anick Bernard, of the University of Mongtreal's CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center.

Researchers used data from the Quebec Pregnancy Registry, an ongoing registry of all pregnancies in Quebec since 1997. They compared the medical records of 4,705 who miscarried with 47,050 pregnant women who delivered a child. Of the women who had a miscarriage 7.5 percent had filled one or more prescriptions for NSAIDs during pregnancy, compared to less than 3 percent of the women who did not miscarry.

Researches noted that in Canada, most NSAIDs are available through prescription only, and they defined exposure to non-aspirin NSAIDs as having filled at least one prescription for any type of nonaspirin NSAID before a woman became pregnant or during early pregnancy.

How do those kinds of drugs affect a pregnancy? "Theoretically, implantation and normal growth of an embryo depends on a class of drugs called prostaglandins, and these drugs inhibit prostaglandins, a chemical that's important for normal fetal growth," explained Dr Douglas Richard, an OB/GYN at Intermountian Medical Center.

Women shouldn't panic if they are pregnant and taking some of these medications, "because the odds ratio, the increased risk, is really not that high," Richard said. He said a lot of people in general assume that because something is over the counter that it's safe. Richards suggests women shouldn't take any pills during pregnancy, if they can help it, and to contact their doctor if they have questions.

Cranberries, Best of Super Foods

Scientists say that cranberries have many health benefits. Here are some:

The cranberry is the number one antioxidant, containing the highest concentration of phenols, a type of antioxidant that is thought to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke and heart disease (Unviersity of Scranton).

Cranberries contain a compound that helps prevent metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body (University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth). Cranberries may also improve chemotherapy for ovarian cancer (Rutgers university).

Cranberry juice, long recognized for its ability to lessen urinary tract infections, also works against a number of gastrointestinal viruses (St. Francis College).

The cranberry has several antioxidant (flavonoids) that fight off the bacterium that causes tooth decay (University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry).

There is considerable evidence that cranberries can reduce the damage from stroke (Unviersity of Massachusetts-Dartmouth); improve the health of the heart (University of Wisconsin-Madison); and work like antibiotics on E. coli, a class of microorganisms responsible for human illnesses ranging from kidney infections to gastroenteritis (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).

Scientists at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., have been working for years to come up with an explanation as to how cranberries ward off urinary tract infections. Researchers have long suspected that the berries must do something to stop harmful bacteria from latching on to the lining of the urinary tract.

Terri Camesano, associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI, heads a team of researchers who have found that cranberry juice causes chemical changes in the bacteria. Those changes work in several ways to create a barrier that keeps the bacteria from even getting close to the lining. For example, cranberry juice causes tiny tendrils on the surface of E. coli to become compressed, reducing the bacteria's ability to latch on to the lining.

If the bacteria can't attach to the sides of the urinary tract, it can't do its damage. The research suggests that the juice is extremely powerful, even in very diluted form. Only a five percent solution is required to reduce the bacteria's ability to latch on to the urinary tract.

Of course, most of this is not new. According to Darren Lynch of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, cranberries have been used since at least the 17th centrury to treat blood disorders, stomach ailments, loss of appetite, scurvy and cancer. When the pilgrims first arrived in this country, they found that Native Americans were using the berries to treat bladder and kidney ailments.

Purple Potatoes Reduce Blood Pressure Without Weight Gain

Two servings of potatoes per day will reduce blood pressue without causing weight gain new research shows.

The scientists reported on the research-done on a group of 18 overweight people with high blood pressure-at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, reporting that average diastolic blood pressure reading dropped by 4.3 percent, and the average systolic blood pressure reading dropped by 3.5 percent after consuming between six and eight small microwaved purple potatotes with skins and without oil twice daily for a month.

"The potato, more than perhaps any other vegetable, has an undeserved bad reputation that has led many health conscious people to ban them from their diet," said Dr Joe Vinson, who headed up the research."Mention potato and people think fattening, high carbs, empty calories. In reality, when prepared without frying and served without butter, margarine or sour cream, one potato has only 110 calories and dozens of healthful phytochemicals and vitamins. We hope our research helps to remake the potato's popular nutritional image."

The authors said that the purple potatoes used in the study are becoming more widely available in supermarkets and especially in specialty food stores and farmers' markets. They explained that althought purple potaotes were used in he current study-because the purple skin is especially rich in photochemicals-they believe that red skin potatoes and white potatoes may have similar effects.

Vinson noted that other studies have identified compounds in potatoes that have effects in the body similar to those of the well know ACE-Inhibitor medications- a mainstay for treating high blood pressure.

Other phytochemicals in potatoes occur in amounts that rival broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts, and also may be involved, Vinson Added