Daily Dose of Nuts Reduces Cancer Risk

Daily Dose of Nuts Reduces Cancer Risk

December 10, 2009

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A diet that incorporates a daily dose of pistachios may help reduce the risk of lung and other cancers.

“It is known that vitamin E provides a degree of protection against certain forms of cancer,” Ladia M. Hernandez, M.S., R.D., L.D., senior research dietitian in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, was quoted as saying. Higher intakes of gamma-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E, may reduce the risk of lung cancer.

“Pistachios are a good source of gamma-tocopherol,” said Hernandez. “Eating them increases intake of gamma-tocopherol so pistachios may help to decrease lung cancer risk.”

Pistachios are known to be heart-healthy. They have a cholesterol-lowering effect and provide the antioxidants typically found in food products of plant origin. Hernandez and colleagues conducted a six-week, controlled clinical trial to determine whether the consumption of pistachios would increase serum levels of gamma-tocopherol.

“Because epidemiologic studies suggest gamma-tocopherol is protective against prostate cancer, pistachio intake may help,” she said. “Other food sources that are a rich source of gamma-tocopherol include nuts such as peanuts, pecans, walnuts, soybean and corn oils.”

The study, conducted at Texas Woman’s University — Houston Center, included 36 healthy participants who were randomized into either a control group or the intervention group, which ate a pistachio diet. After an initial baseline period, the intervention group was given about 2 ounces of pistachios per day. The control group continued with their normal diet.

Hernandez and colleagues found a significant increase in energy-adjusted dietary intake of gamma-tocopherol at weeks three and four in those on the pistachio diet. For those on the pistachio diet, cholesterol-adjusted serum gamma-tocopherol was significantly higher at the end of the intervention period.

“Pistachios are one of those ‘good-for-you’ nuts, and 2 ounces per day could be incorporated into dietary strategies designed to reduce the risk of lung cancer without significant changes in body mass index,” said Hernandez.

SOURCE: Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Houston, TX, December 6-9, 2009

Reference: http://ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=23047

Multi Vitamins – How do you select one?

Does my multivitamin meet my needs?

Few people eat as nutritiously as they should for lasting wellness. Nutritionists recommend eating five to nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per day to support health, but relatively few people meet this goal. Also, modern agricultural practices have reduced the nutritional value of many forms of produce from their nutritional content of only a few decades ago.

Do you know where your minerals come from? Some minerals are derived from rocks, others are taken from salts, the best are plant-sourced, making it easy for your body to absorb them.

New research suggests that natural, plant-sourced minerals may be absorbed better by your body-so it makes sense to get them from natural forms, like plants.

So ask yourself: Am I giving my body the natural nutrition it needs? Probably not.

These are some of the things to look for:

Appearance:

• Is the product labelled as food form/food matrix
• is it of uniform colour – probably coated – not good in many cases – bright colours also signify synthetic
• if the vitamin tablet you are looking at is small and of the one a day variety it is more likely that it contains synthetics
• any worthwhile multi vitamin/mineral tablet is likely to be on the large side and you may even have to take upto 4 a day

Content from the label:

• Vitamin A- derived from mixed carotenoids- to support bones and vision.
• Vitamin C- derived from tropical acerola cherries, with 30 times more vitamin C per gram than an orange-to provide enhanced immune support.
• Is the Vitamin D₃ or cholecalciferol present – the amounts should be 500IU or more
• there should be at least 10 additional essential vitamins- including a complete B-vitamin complex (the best comes from from natural yeast sources- to provide a great source of energy)
• How many of the additional vitamins are plant sourced – if the label doesn’t say it is from a plant then it will be synthetic – any your body doesn’t like synthesised vitamins
• are the ingredients standardised – if no then the quality can and will vary from batch to batch
• To ensure the vitamins and minerals work well together standardized phytonutrients – derived from foods such as broccoli, aloe vera, cranberry juice and grape extract are helpful.

Phytochemicals – Multi Talented

Eat Raw Fruit and Vegetables

Eat Your 5 serving of fruit and vegetables daily

- if not think about a supplement

If you ever feel tempted to go for a burger, fries and a soft drink, consider this: along with the fast food, you are ordering up an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. But the opposite is true, too. According to a new University of Florida (UF) study, if you stay away from processed and fast foods and instead eat a lot of veggies, nuts and fruits, you will actively be helping to prevent or reverse harmful metabolic processes in your body. The result? Better health and a slimmer body.

An important advantage to having plant-based foods as an abundant part of your daily diet appears to result from the phytochemicals they contain. As noted in the UF findings recently published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, these natural substances prevent oxidative stress — a process linked to being overweight and to the onset of diseases including heart disease and diabetes. Phytochemicals include lycopene from tomatoes, isoflavones from soy, beta carotene from carrots, anthocyanins from blueberries, allicin from garlic, and many more.

Continue Reading…

What Are the Symptoms of Low Vitamin D

What are the symptoms of low vitamin D

This article is long and technical but in essence if you value your health then you probably need to be taking food rich in Vitamin D or a supplement with high levels of Vitamin D. For a list of foods with Vitamin D please register for our updates. WE will be publishing a list of Vitamin D rich foods and a list of the best supplements in the next few days.

A clinical observation published in April 2000 in the Archives of Internal Medicine caught my attention. Dr. Anu Prabhala and his colleagues reported on the treatment of five patients confined to wheelchairs with severe weakness and fatigue. Blood tests revealed that all suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency. The patients received 50,000 IU vitamin D per week and all became mobile within six weeks.

Dr. Prabhala’s research sparked my interest and led to a search for current information on vitamin D, how it works, how much we really need and how we get it. The following is a small part of the important information that I found.

Any discussion of vitamin D must begin with the discoveries of the Canadian-born dentist Weston A. Price. In his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price noted that the diet of isolated, so-called “primitive” peoples contained “at least ten times” the amount of “fat-soluble vitamins” as the standard American diet of his day. Dr. Price determined that it was the presence of plentiful amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A and D in the diet, along with calcium, phosphorus and other minerals, that conferred such high immunity to tooth decay and resistance to disease in non-industrialized population groups. Continue Reading…

Olive Oil

In the 1930s comic strip “Popeye,” Olive Oil was portrayed as a skinny weakling, a perpetual damsel in distress who couldn’t survive without her Popeye coming to the rescue. But in the health world, olive oil is no nutritional weakling.

Besides being one of the best sources to go to for a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat – a key nutrient for lowering cholesterol levels – olive oil is something of a medical marvel. It’s always been known as a healthy oil, but only recently have we come to know just what it is specifically about olive oil that makes it so darn healthy.

For starters, olive oil – particularly extra virgin olive oil – is very high in antioxidants, one in particular called DHPEA-EDA. When researchers exposed red blood cells under oxidative stress to this and other antioxidants, they found that the DHPEA-EDA provided the best “stress-alleviation,” if you will, fighting off the free radicals to a greater extent than the three other antioxidant compounds used in the study.

Writing in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, the researchers say their findings give nutritionists the first glimpse of what makes olive oil so medically marvelous. But a new study linking extra virgin olive oil to Alzheimer’s disease prevention suggests there’s even more to olive oil than meets the eye.

It’s called oleocanthal, and it’s a natural compound found in rich supply in extra virgin olive oil. Some say oleocanthal is what gives olive oil its “peppery bite,” but the only bite researchers were recently concerned with was whether it could take a bite out of Alzheimer’s disease.

The answer? You bet it can!

Writing in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, researchers said the oleocanthal in olive oil binds to toxic proteins that clog the synapses on the hippocampus, which is the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease onset. The hippocampus is the section of the brain that’s most adversely affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, this study was not clinical, but researchers believe that future studies investigating olive oil’s ties to Alzheimer’s prevention will include humans. In the meantime, if history is any guide, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if yet another study comes out pointing to yet another aspect of olive oil that makes it so medically marvelous.

It is generally recommended that people consume about two tablespoons worth of olive oil for maximum health benefit. And to reap the benefits of as many antioxidants as possible, purchase extra virgin olive oil, being sure to store it in an area that’s not well lit. A study published in New Scientist found that extra virgin olive oils lost at least 30 percent of their antioxidant content after one year of storage in a well-lit area.

Swine Flu – long term effects

At Natural Way Health we are very careful not to ‘make claims’ about what are effectively foods and herbal supplements but there are many who do make claims and the unwelcome and unjustified criticism can be quite drastic. Some dramatic things may be happening in the USA around the whole subject of the food supplement industry and although we are not seeing similar things in the UK yet – similar things have happened in Denmark only last year. Food supplements do not cure or heal swine flu but they do support a healthy immune system. However, the FDA and the WHO are inconsistent in some ways and if only they applied the same standards to the pharmaceutical industry as they are aggressively applying to the food supplement industry we might have a better healthier population. Consider:

• swine flu vaccines. We know they have had very limited testing and their efficacy over the short and long term has yet to be proven. We may look back at this time in our history and ask, with hindsight, did we really need to vaccinate all those children?
• Olive Leaf Extract or Garlic and other compounds have been used for hundreds of years to promote good immune health? Should we use them first?

One of the most effective means of maintaining a strong immune system is to eat foods raw and juicing is a great way to make eating fruit and vegetables easy.

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Biomarker 5 – Aerobic Capacity

Aerobic capacity is your body’s ability to process oxygen within a given time. That is:

1. to rapidly breathe amounts of air into the lungs for aeration of the blood;

2. to deliver large volumes of blood forcefully via the pumping action of the heart; and

3. to transport effectively oxygen to all parts of your body through the bloodstream.

To do these things efficiently, you need healthy lungs, a powerful heart, and a good vascular network. In short, the focus here is on your:

• heart

• lungs

• circulatory mechanisms

So how do you look after your heart:

Following a few simple rules can significantly decrease your chances of developing heart disease.

DIET

1. Limit intake of trans fats and hydrogenated oils found in margarine, fast food, fried food, Avoid Processed Foods

2. Limit refined sugar intake from cakes, cookies, candy, etc for a healthy sugar alternative try trehalose

3. Use extra virgin olive oil and garlic in cooking – they can lower cholesterol – so can a diet rich in plant stanols

4. Add Omega 3 Fatty Acids to your diet – the best source is Fish Oil – but make sure it is pure

EXERCISE

Developing a gentle but consistent exercise program will also lower your risk of heart disease.

1. Try to exercise 3-4 times per week, for at least a half hour at a time.

2. Keep your routine going, and start off slow.

3. Always stretch before and after training.

4. Keep yourself hydrated and rest between sets.

DEVELOP A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

1. Stop smoking and avoid second hand smoke – both are major causes of heart disease.

2. Limit your intake of alcohol – excessive alcohol can deplete your body’s supply of vitamins and other nutrients.

3. Try to reduce stress and anxiety – they can lead to high blood pressure and other health conditions.

4. Keep your weight within recommended limits – obesity is a leading cause of heart disease.

FOUR BIOMARKERS

1. This may be contentious but it’s based on sound science. Cholesterol is an over emphasised biomarker and the evidence that artificially lower it with drugs is not supported in my opinion. You can lower cholesterol naturally but remember, only 20% of your cholesterol comes from what you eat, the other 80% is manufactured by your liver.

2. If your triglyceride (fat) levels are too high, lower your carbohydrate and refined sugar (sucrose actually) intake. Also, fish oil, Vitamin C, are safe natural ways to lower triglyceride levels.

3. If your homocysteine levels are high, you can easily normalize the situation by including B Vitamins in your diet:

1. Folic Acid – also known as Vitamin B9, folic acid can help the body produce the enzymes necessary to remove homocysteine from the blood.

2. Vitamin B6 – along with folic acid and Vitamin B12, helps reduce homocysteine levels.

3. Vitamin B12 – works with folic acid and Vitamin B6 to assist in homocysteine removal.

4. If your C Reactive Protein levels are high, this indicates inflammation in the body. A change of lifestyle is helpful here and Fish oil, ginger and MSM will help decrease inflammation naturally. Also a supplement containing peptide chains that reduce the level of Angio Tensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) are helpful.

HELPING THE LUNGS

1. Stop smoking

2. use your lungs – breath deeply – this simple tip is often overlooked

3. reduce the time spent in areas with airborne contamination – cities, smoky atmospheres

CIRCULATION

The 3 best things you can do to aid circulation are:

1. to drink more water

2. reduce your body fat content

3. exercise

Vitamin D – More Evidence

The weight of evidence supporting the modern lifestyle deficiency of Vitamin D is so overwhelming that it can’t be glossed over. In the UK 80% of the population will be suffering from vitamin D deficiency and even if you take a good multivitamin with Vitamin D you are probably not getting enough. This Video is long but well worth the time as it adds weight to the compelling evidence. The video is longish and focusses on Cancer but the information in it is first class.
Please note we are having some technical issues with this video and if you want to download it and watch it click this link – it is a large file and may take a few minutes to download http://www.naturalwayhealth.co.uk/weblog/video/Vitamin D Prevents Cancer_ Is It True_.flv

The introduction to this video is below – the remaining videos are here Continue Reading…

Biomarker 4 – Body Fat

The average sedentary 65-year-old woman is about 43 percent “adipose tissue,” the more scientific term for fat. Contrast that with the average 25-year-old woman’s body fat; it hovers around 25 percent. Men, by nature, remain somewhat leaner even as they age. For a man, we see average body fat of 18 percent at age 25, moving up to 38 percent at age 65.

Obesity Rates - Men and Women

Now the interesting thing is that obesity rates remained almost static until the emergence of the figures in the late 1970s. For years the rates had been reasonably static 15-20% for probably a hundred years. In the early to mid 1980s, coincidentally very close to emergence of the belief that fats in foods were very bad, the rates began to rise massively. Why was that?

We were being told to eat less animal fats and more so called “low-fat-spreads”. The fat in foods was often replaced by sugar and that is part of the problem – excess sugar leads to a gain in stored glycogen in fat cells. In my opinion the culprit is not fat but hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils used in industrial food processing.

The estimates for 2010 suggest that for the UK that obesity rates for men and women will exceed 40% and including those overweight the overall figures come out close to 70% either overweight or obese.

Link the carrying of excess fat around the waits as one of the main indicators of elevated cancer risk and suddenly being overweight doesn’t just accelerate ageing but actively shorten life and reduce quality of life accordingly.

Reduce the fat content in our bodies and we should also see the reduction in the rate of ageing.

Biomarker 3 – Basal Metabolic Rate

“Metabolism” refers to the chemical processes in your body that build and destroy tissue and release energy, thereby generating heat. “Basal” means at baseline or at rest. So your basal metabolism is the rate of your body chemistry when your exertion is minimal. It’s usually measured just as you wake from sleep, which is about the same as when you’re sprawled out on, the sofa watching television.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) – or caloric expenditure at rest – falls with age. Study after study has tried to quantify the extent of this BMR slowdown. Researchers always came up with widely divergent figures until they realized that a person’s lean-body mass is the key to compiling a definitive figure.

OK – great news – but how do we combat it. Sounding a  bit repetitious now? EXERCISE.

There is no substitute for exercise. If you want to stay healthy and slow down the ageing process then you have to exercise. OK there are some people who will struggle to walk and some who just can’t seem to get out of the chair. For them it may be too late but it has to be worth trying. Exercise is what gives you health and now it also seems to be a component in slowing down ageing.

By the way I’m not suggesting joining a gym or taking up running a half marathon every day. Exercise needs to be tailored to your level of health and fitness and needs to be appropriate to your age. You should seek guidance from your GP and take things slowly. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.