Selenium is a trace mineral that is incorporated into proteins to make selenoproteins, which act as strong antioxidants to help prevent free radical damage to your cells. It is because of its potent antioxidant properties that selenium may benefit cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline, cataracts, macular degeneration, cold sores, shingles and osteoarthritis.
According to the latest research, people with higher selenium intakes had a 39 percent reduced risk of bladder cancer, which is right in line with prior studies that have linked the mineral to lower rates of breast, prostate, lung, colorectal and skin cancer as well.
A 1996 study by Dr. Larry Clark of the University of Arizona also showed just how effective selenium can be in protecting against cancer. In the study of 1,300 older people, the occurrence of cancer among those who took 200 micrograms of selenium daily for about seven years was reduced by 42 percent compared to those given a placebo.
Cancer deaths for those taking the selenium were cut almost in half, according to the study. In addition, the men who took selenium had 63 percent fewer prostate cancers, 58 percent fewer colorectal cancers, 46 percent fewer lung cancers.
With selenium, the dose makes all the difference. A daily dose of between 150-300 micrograms is generally safe for the average adult.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Low-Carb, High Meat Diet has High risks
Consumers eating low carbodydrate diets based on meat are at much greater risk of all-cause mortality than those on diets based on low carbs with more fruits and vegetables.
Comparing the health effects of the two diets over more than two decades, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Singapore found consumption of a low-carbohydrate, vegetable-based plan resulted in reduced rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and a lower rate of all-cause death overall, whereas animal-based low-carbohydrates diet were associated with a higher risk for overall mortality.
"You can have the initial Atkins-type of low-carb diet, which is loaded with sausages, bacon, steaks, and you can have a healty versions of low-carb diet with more vegetable or plant-based protein and fat," said Dr Frank Hu, lead author of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We looked at these two versions of low-carb diets and found that the impact of the two are drastically different," he added.
A direct association was observed between an animal based, low-carbohydrate diet and colorectal cancer death.
"Those who follow the animal-based low-carb diet have a increased risk of total mortality and cancer mortality in particular," noted Hu.
Comparing the health effects of the two diets over more than two decades, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Singapore found consumption of a low-carbohydrate, vegetable-based plan resulted in reduced rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and a lower rate of all-cause death overall, whereas animal-based low-carbohydrates diet were associated with a higher risk for overall mortality.
"You can have the initial Atkins-type of low-carb diet, which is loaded with sausages, bacon, steaks, and you can have a healty versions of low-carb diet with more vegetable or plant-based protein and fat," said Dr Frank Hu, lead author of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We looked at these two versions of low-carb diets and found that the impact of the two are drastically different," he added.
A direct association was observed between an animal based, low-carbohydrate diet and colorectal cancer death.
"Those who follow the animal-based low-carb diet have a increased risk of total mortality and cancer mortality in particular," noted Hu.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Healthy Diet Cuts Colorectal Cancer Risk up to 65%
Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, and fish will reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new study.
"We found that eating a largely plant-based diet with higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, and low-fat dairy in women and fish in men was associated with a reduced risk of colorecal cancer,"says Paige Miller, PhD, a researcher at Pennsylvania State university.
Eating in this healthful way reduced the risk of colon cancer by 65% in women and by 62% in men, she days. "Why fish was a part of the protective dietary pattern only in men and low-fat dairy only in women is not know at this time," says Miller.
Miller and her team evaluated the diets of 431 men and women with colorectal cancer and the diets of 726 healthy men and women who didn't have colon cancer.
They categorized the participants into a fruits-and-vegetables diet pattern and a meat-potatoes-refined grains pattern. In men, a third pattern--a diet rich in alcohol and sweetened beverages--was found.
In addition to finding the reduced risk of colorectal cancer for people eating the diet heavy in fruits and vegetables--62% reduced risk for men and 65% for women--Miller found that the more closely men and women adhered to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid recommendations, the lower the cancer risk.
The diet pattern associated with higher cancer risk in her study included greater intakes of red and processed meat, poultry, fried and white potatoes, high-fat diary, sweets, salty snacks, butter, mayonnaise, gravy, and refined grains.
Experts speculate that a diet emphasizing fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains moves waste through the colon more quickly, giving harmful substances less time to damage cells there.
Smoking, being very overweight, and excessive alcohol use have also been linked to a higher colorectal cancer risk.
"We found that eating a largely plant-based diet with higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, and low-fat dairy in women and fish in men was associated with a reduced risk of colorecal cancer,"says Paige Miller, PhD, a researcher at Pennsylvania State university.
Eating in this healthful way reduced the risk of colon cancer by 65% in women and by 62% in men, she days. "Why fish was a part of the protective dietary pattern only in men and low-fat dairy only in women is not know at this time," says Miller.
Miller and her team evaluated the diets of 431 men and women with colorectal cancer and the diets of 726 healthy men and women who didn't have colon cancer.
They categorized the participants into a fruits-and-vegetables diet pattern and a meat-potatoes-refined grains pattern. In men, a third pattern--a diet rich in alcohol and sweetened beverages--was found.
In addition to finding the reduced risk of colorectal cancer for people eating the diet heavy in fruits and vegetables--62% reduced risk for men and 65% for women--Miller found that the more closely men and women adhered to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid recommendations, the lower the cancer risk.
The diet pattern associated with higher cancer risk in her study included greater intakes of red and processed meat, poultry, fried and white potatoes, high-fat diary, sweets, salty snacks, butter, mayonnaise, gravy, and refined grains.
Experts speculate that a diet emphasizing fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains moves waste through the colon more quickly, giving harmful substances less time to damage cells there.
Smoking, being very overweight, and excessive alcohol use have also been linked to a higher colorectal cancer risk.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sugar is Cancer's Favorite Food
Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.
Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC: "Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
This study confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer because they found that tumor cells do thrive on sugar (glucose). However, the cells used fructose for cell division, speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.
Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels through diet, exercise and emotional stress relief can be one of the most crucial components to a cancer recovery program. These factors are also crucial in order to prevent cancer in the first place.
It may surprise you, but the theory that sugar feeds cancer was born nearly 80 years ago. Even more shocking, most conventional cancer programs STILL do not adequately address diet and the need to avoid sugars.
In 1931 the Nobel Prize was awarded to German researcher Dr. Otto Warburg, who first discoverd tha cancer cells have a fundamentally different enery metabolism compared to healthy cells.
Malignant tumors tend to use a process where glucose is used as a fuel by the cancer cells, creating lactic acid as a byproduct. The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is then transported to your liver. This conversion of glucose to lactic acid generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic buldup.
This is a very inefficent pathway for energy metabolism, which extracts only about 5 percent of the available energy in your food supply. In simplistic terms, the cancer is "wasting" energy, which leads you to become both tied and undernurished, and as the vicious cycle continues, will lead to the body wasting so may cancer patients experience.
Additionally, carbohydrates from glucose and sucrose significantly decrease the capacity of neutrophils to do their job. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help to envelop and destroy invaders, such as cancer.
In a nutshell, ALL forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer, but in slightly different ways, and to a different extent. Fructose, however, clearly seems to be one of the overall most harmful.
Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC: "Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
This study confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer because they found that tumor cells do thrive on sugar (glucose). However, the cells used fructose for cell division, speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.
Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels through diet, exercise and emotional stress relief can be one of the most crucial components to a cancer recovery program. These factors are also crucial in order to prevent cancer in the first place.
It may surprise you, but the theory that sugar feeds cancer was born nearly 80 years ago. Even more shocking, most conventional cancer programs STILL do not adequately address diet and the need to avoid sugars.
In 1931 the Nobel Prize was awarded to German researcher Dr. Otto Warburg, who first discoverd tha cancer cells have a fundamentally different enery metabolism compared to healthy cells.
Malignant tumors tend to use a process where glucose is used as a fuel by the cancer cells, creating lactic acid as a byproduct. The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is then transported to your liver. This conversion of glucose to lactic acid generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic buldup.
This is a very inefficent pathway for energy metabolism, which extracts only about 5 percent of the available energy in your food supply. In simplistic terms, the cancer is "wasting" energy, which leads you to become both tied and undernurished, and as the vicious cycle continues, will lead to the body wasting so may cancer patients experience.
Additionally, carbohydrates from glucose and sucrose significantly decrease the capacity of neutrophils to do their job. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help to envelop and destroy invaders, such as cancer.
In a nutshell, ALL forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer, but in slightly different ways, and to a different extent. Fructose, however, clearly seems to be one of the overall most harmful.
Cancer's Favorite Food-Found in Everything you Eat?
Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.
Tumor cell fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancratic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC: " Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high furctose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
The study confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer because they found that tumor cells do thrive on sugar (glucose. However, the cells used fructose for cell division, speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.
Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels through diet, exercise and emotional stress relief can be one of the most crucial components to a cancer recovery program. These factors are also crucial in order to prevent cancer in the first place.
It may suprise you, but the theory that sugar feeds cancer was born nearly 80 years ago. Even more shocking, most conventional cancer programs STILL do not adequately address diet and the need to avoid sugars.
In 1931 the Nobel Prize was awarded to German researcher Dr. Otto Warburg, who first discovered that cancer cells have a fundamentallty different energy metabolism compared to healty cells.
Malignant tumors tend to use a process where glucose is used as a fuel by the cancer cells, creating lactic acid as a byproduct. The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is then transported to your liver. This conversion of glucose to lactic acid generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic acid buildup.
This is a very inefficient pathway for energy metabolism, which extracts only about 5 percent of the available energy in your food supply. In simplistic terms, the cancer is "wasting energy", which leads you to become both tired and undernurished, and as the vicious cycle continues, will lead to the body wasting so many cancer patients experience.
Additionally, carbohydrates from gucose and sucrose significantly decreases the capacity of neutrophils to do their job. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help cells to envelop and destroy invaders, such as cancer.
In a nutshell, ALL forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer, but in slightly different ways, and to a different extent. Fructose, however, clearly seems to be one of the overall most harmful.
Tumor cell fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancratic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC: " Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high furctose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
The study confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer because they found that tumor cells do thrive on sugar (glucose. However, the cells used fructose for cell division, speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.
Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels through diet, exercise and emotional stress relief can be one of the most crucial components to a cancer recovery program. These factors are also crucial in order to prevent cancer in the first place.
It may suprise you, but the theory that sugar feeds cancer was born nearly 80 years ago. Even more shocking, most conventional cancer programs STILL do not adequately address diet and the need to avoid sugars.
In 1931 the Nobel Prize was awarded to German researcher Dr. Otto Warburg, who first discovered that cancer cells have a fundamentallty different energy metabolism compared to healty cells.
Malignant tumors tend to use a process where glucose is used as a fuel by the cancer cells, creating lactic acid as a byproduct. The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is then transported to your liver. This conversion of glucose to lactic acid generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic acid buildup.
This is a very inefficient pathway for energy metabolism, which extracts only about 5 percent of the available energy in your food supply. In simplistic terms, the cancer is "wasting energy", which leads you to become both tired and undernurished, and as the vicious cycle continues, will lead to the body wasting so many cancer patients experience.
Additionally, carbohydrates from gucose and sucrose significantly decreases the capacity of neutrophils to do their job. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help cells to envelop and destroy invaders, such as cancer.
In a nutshell, ALL forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer, but in slightly different ways, and to a different extent. Fructose, however, clearly seems to be one of the overall most harmful.
Friday, August 20, 2010
E-Nose Sniffs Out Cancer for Quick, Painless Detection
A team of Israeli scientists has developed a breathalyzer that can diagnose and diffrentiate between at least four different common types of cancer. The devise, which uses nanotechnology, could revolutionize the detection and treatment of cancer.
According to the team's paper published this month in The British Journal of Cancer, cancer kills more than 7 million people annually worldwide. The most common cancers in the developed world, which cause half of all cancer deaths, are lung, colorectal, prostate and breast cancers. When cancer is localized and detected early, a patient's prognosis greatly impoves. Unfortunately, the symptoms of cancer often go unnoticed and the disease frequently is diagonosed at late or often fatal stages.
The new device, nicknamed an "electronic nose," is capable of distinguishing between the breath of a healthy person and a person with cancer. It can even distinguish between lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. The devise is especially promising because it is able to detect cancer before tumors become visible in X-rays.
The e-nose is equipped with cross-reactive nanosensors, made from an array of gold nanoparticles and gas chromatography. The nanosensor array is able to detect volatile organic compounds, gases emitted from cells due to the genetic and protein changes that cancer cause. "The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are linked to cancer," the scientists write, "is a new frontier in medical diagnostics because it is non-invasive and potentially inexpensive."
In the study, researchers tested the breath of 177 participants, ranging in age from 20 to 75 and including both cancer patients and healthy volunteers. The results revealed that the e-nose is successful in diagnosing the presence of cancer and determining its type
According to the team's paper published this month in The British Journal of Cancer, cancer kills more than 7 million people annually worldwide. The most common cancers in the developed world, which cause half of all cancer deaths, are lung, colorectal, prostate and breast cancers. When cancer is localized and detected early, a patient's prognosis greatly impoves. Unfortunately, the symptoms of cancer often go unnoticed and the disease frequently is diagonosed at late or often fatal stages.
The new device, nicknamed an "electronic nose," is capable of distinguishing between the breath of a healthy person and a person with cancer. It can even distinguish between lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. The devise is especially promising because it is able to detect cancer before tumors become visible in X-rays.
The e-nose is equipped with cross-reactive nanosensors, made from an array of gold nanoparticles and gas chromatography. The nanosensor array is able to detect volatile organic compounds, gases emitted from cells due to the genetic and protein changes that cancer cause. "The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are linked to cancer," the scientists write, "is a new frontier in medical diagnostics because it is non-invasive and potentially inexpensive."
In the study, researchers tested the breath of 177 participants, ranging in age from 20 to 75 and including both cancer patients and healthy volunteers. The results revealed that the e-nose is successful in diagnosing the presence of cancer and determining its type
Monday, August 9, 2010
Waist Size Linked With Longevity
Even if you don't need to watch your weight, you still need to watch your waist. That's the conclusion of a new study from the American Cancer Society, which tracked the health of more than 100,000 people over nine years. Having a large waist size doubled the risk of dying from any cause during the study period compared to those with smaller waists, according to the report, which was published in The Archives of Internal Medicine. Having a larger waist was associated with a higher risk of death whether the person was normal weight, overweight or obese.
The researchers reported a particularly striking finding for women. They noted that the association between waist size and mortality risk was stongest among women who were at a normal weight.
"The take-home is that it's important to watch your waist as well as your weight," said Eric J. Jacobs, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. "Even if your weight is normal for your height, if your waist size is increasing, if you're moving to a bigger pant size, that's a warning sign that it's time to start eating better and exercising more."
A thick waist has long been considered a risk factor for heart disease, but the new study found it also increases risk for dying from cancer, respiratory failure and other causes. Having a large waist is associated with large amounts of visceral fat around the abdominal organs, which cause inflammation, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and other problems linked with poor health.
In the study, Dr Jacobs and colleagues tracked 48,500 men and 56,343 women over 50 from 1997 to 2006. A total of 9,315 men and 5,332 women died during the study period.
A waist size of 47 inches or larger for men and 42 inches or larger for women doubled the risk of dying during the study period, compared to those with smaller waists (35.4 inches for men and 29.5 inches for women). Among normal-weight women, the risk of dying increased about 25 percent for each additional four inches of waist size.
For the study, waist size was measured by taking a tape measure and running it around the waist just abouve the navel.
Dr Jacobs notes that while it can be difficult to reduce waist size, small changes can have a meaningful effect on health. "There is clear evidence that eating better and exercising more will reduce waist size and burn off belly fat," he said, "Even a modest reduction in waist size, an inch or two could be quite helpful."
The researchers reported a particularly striking finding for women. They noted that the association between waist size and mortality risk was stongest among women who were at a normal weight.
"The take-home is that it's important to watch your waist as well as your weight," said Eric J. Jacobs, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. "Even if your weight is normal for your height, if your waist size is increasing, if you're moving to a bigger pant size, that's a warning sign that it's time to start eating better and exercising more."
A thick waist has long been considered a risk factor for heart disease, but the new study found it also increases risk for dying from cancer, respiratory failure and other causes. Having a large waist is associated with large amounts of visceral fat around the abdominal organs, which cause inflammation, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and other problems linked with poor health.
In the study, Dr Jacobs and colleagues tracked 48,500 men and 56,343 women over 50 from 1997 to 2006. A total of 9,315 men and 5,332 women died during the study period.
A waist size of 47 inches or larger for men and 42 inches or larger for women doubled the risk of dying during the study period, compared to those with smaller waists (35.4 inches for men and 29.5 inches for women). Among normal-weight women, the risk of dying increased about 25 percent for each additional four inches of waist size.
For the study, waist size was measured by taking a tape measure and running it around the waist just abouve the navel.
Dr Jacobs notes that while it can be difficult to reduce waist size, small changes can have a meaningful effect on health. "There is clear evidence that eating better and exercising more will reduce waist size and burn off belly fat," he said, "Even a modest reduction in waist size, an inch or two could be quite helpful."
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