If you aren't getting enough vitamin D you might be increasing your cancer risk.
A connection between vitamin D level and the risk of developing breast cancer has been implicated for a long time, but its clinical relevance had not yet been proven. Sascha Abbas and colleagues from the working group headed by Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), collaborating with researchers of the University Hospitals in Hamburg-Eppendorf, have now obtained clear results: While previous studies had concentrated chiefly on nutritional vitamin D, the researchers have now investigated the complete vitamin D status. To this end, they studied 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as a marker for both endogenous vitamin D and vitamin D from food intake.
The result of the study involving 1,394 breast cancer patients and an equal number of healthy women after menopause was surprisingly clear: Women with a very low blood level of 25(OH)D have a considerably increased breast cancer risk. The effect was found to be strongest in women who were not taking hormones for relief of menopausal symptoms. However, the authors note that, in this retrospective study, diagnosis-related factors such as chemotherapy or lack of sunlight after prolonged hospital stays might have contributed to low vitamin levels of breast cancer patients.
A prospective study that tracks the blood vitamin D level of lots of women for years would be more definitive. But such studies are much more expensive. Another way to get at the question: a study that checks vitamin D levels at the time of mammograms for women with suspicious lumps. The blood samples could be held and not tested for vitamin D until mammogram results are known. That would reduce the number of vitamin D tests done on women without breast cancer.
Animal products are associated with lowered risks of breast and ovarian cancers. Eat diets richer in vitamins, fiber, unsaturated fats, and animal fats.
We identified 4 major dietary patterns named Animal products, Vitamins and fiber, Unsaturated fats and Starch-rich. The animal products pattern and the unsaturated fats pattern were inversely associated with breast cancer (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.61-0.91 and OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.68-1.00, respectively, for the highest consumption quartile), whereas the starch-rich pattern was directly associated with it (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.10-1.65). The vitamins and fiber pattern was inversely associated with ovarian cancer (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61-0.98), whereas the starch-rich pattern was directly associated with it (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.37-2.48). In conclusion, the starch-rich pattern is potentially an unfavorable indicator of risk for both breast and ovarian cancers, while the animal products and the vitamins and fiber patterns may be associated with a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers, respectively.
Yes kids, glucose can do more damage to your body than protein. That could be the result of higher blood levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor. My guess is that a lower glycemic index diet might not increase cancer risks as much as a higher glycemic index diet with the same amount of carbohydrates.
Previous studies have produced different results. We can't be certain this latest study is correct.
High alcohol intake has been consistently linked to breast cancer risk, but when it comes to other facets of the diet, studies have yielded conflicting results, according to the researchers on the current work, led by Dr. Valeria Edefonti of the University of Milan.
Another study just out in the American Journal of Epidemiology finds that men who eat a high fat diet are at greater risk of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).
The researchers found that a high-fat diet increased the risk of benign enlargement of the prostate by 31 percent, and that daily consumption of red meat increased the risk by 38 percent.
The study also found that eating four or more servings of vegetables daily was associated with a 32-percent reduction in risk, consuming high amounts of lean protein (about 20 percent of daily calorie intake) was associated with a 15-percent risk reduction, and that regular, moderate alcohol consumption (no more than two drinks a day) was associated with a 38-percent decline in BPH risk.
Note that for women that alcohol consumption will probably up your breast cancer risk. Also, other studies find increased risk of colon cancer from eating processed meats. So avoid the hot dogs and salami.
Proteins from lean sources are best for men.
Red meat increased the likelihood of BPH, but only in men who ate it every day. Men who ate the most fat were 31% more likely to develop BPH, while the highest consumers of protein actually cut their risk by 15%.
The protein finding "doesn't mean go out and eat lean meat, it means go out and find lean sources of protein, which can be quite diverse," Kristal told Reuters Health, pointing to beans and vegetable proteins as two possibilities.
I wonder whether the BPH risk comes from all sources of fats or just particular kinds of fats.
While the net effects of some types of foods might seem controversial note that the benefits of vegetables consumption seem pretty clear. Vegetables will cut the risks of many types of cancer as well as other diseases of old age.
Zinc seems to cancel out the cancer risk of cadmium.
Cadmium exposure is a known risk factor for prostate cancer, and a new University of Rochester study suggests that zinc may offer protection against cadmium.
In an article published in the February 2008 journal, The Prostate, epidemiologist Edwin van Wijngaarden, Ph.D., reports that PSA levels were 22 percent higher among American men who had zinc levels below the median (less than 12.67 mg/daily) and cadmium levels above the median. (PSA is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland. The higher a man’s PSA level, the more likely cancer is present.)
In contrast, among men with a greater than median zinc intake, little evidence of an association between cadmium and PSA was found.
This result seems especially important for cigarette smokers who breathe in cadmium on a daily basis.
The result is plausible because there is a biological mechanism by which zinc provides protection.
The way zinc and cadmium interact within human organs is significant and provides interesting leads for study, van Wijngaarden said. Zinc stimulates production of a protein that binds cadmium thereby taking it out of circulation and reducing its toxic effects.
Oysters, beef, turkey, and chickpeas are all good sources of zinc. Also, many nuts and seeds are good zinc sources.
But you might not have to worry about high testosterone as a cancer risk.
Sex hormones circulating in the blood do not appear to be associated with prostate cancer risk, according to data from 18 prior studies. The analysis will be published online January 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Having high levels of male sex hormones, known as androgens, has long been hypothesized as a risk factor for prostate cancer. Nearly two dozen prospective studies have examined the relationship between circulating sex hormones and prostate cancer risk, but the results have been inconsistent.
Andrew Roddam, D.Phil., of the University of Oxford in England and colleagues at the Endogenous Hormones and Prostate Cancer Collaborative Group collected the original data from 18 studies and analyzed it to determine the relationship between blood levels of sex hormones and prostate cancer. The pooled data included 3,886 men with prostate cancer and 6,438 controls.
The researchers found no association between prostate cancer risk and blood levels of different forms of testosterone or estrogen.
Led by Dr. Randall Holcombe, director of clinical research at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine, the study followed up on previous in vitro studies showing that resveratrol, a nutritional supplement derived from grape extract, blocks a cellular signaling pathway known as the Wnt pathway. The Wnt pathway has been linked to more than 85 percent of sporadic colon cancers, which is the most common form of colon cancer.
The UC Irvine researchers conducted their study with colon cancer patients. One group was given 20 milligrams daily of resveratrol as a pill; another drank 120 grams daily of grape powder mixed in water; and a third drank 80 grams daily of grape powder.
While the supplements did not have an impact on existing tumors, biopsied colon tissue showed that Wnt signaling in the patients taking 80 grams of grape powder was significantly reduced. Similar changes were not seen in patients taking the higher dose of grape powder or the resveratrol pills.
So excess is not always best and the whole food has advantages over the supplement pill.
Up for a pound of grapes every day?
Eighty grams of grape powder equal a half glass of wine or 1 pound of grapes, which is equivalent to three dietary servings of grapes, according to the USDA.
The wine has alcohol that will increase your risk of some cancers. Grape juice might be more effective.
My general take on studies about specific foods is that they typically are too short in duration and each food has such limited effect that we can't tell whether eating that food for years and years will increase your odds of survival. Remember, you can reduce your risk of a single disease but as a side effect increase your risk of something else. Or maybe you weren't at much risk of, say, colon cancer in the first place.
Whereas studies about whole categories of foods (e.g. vegetables and fruits) typically involve larger groups of people for longer periods of time. So we can state with some confidence that eating lots of fruits and vegetables will increase your life expectancy. But how much of the benefit is coming from particular fruits or vegetables is less clear.
Some of the benefit of fruits and vegetables is probably coming from a displacement effect. The fruits and vegetables displace less healthy foods from the diet. Eat a lot of vegetables and therefore eat less white flour and other refined high glycemic index foods.
Here's yet another reason to get lots of exercise, control your weight, and eat a low glycemic index and unrefined diet: The higher blood sugar that comes from eating a highly refined diet and from being a couch potato puts you at greater risk of colon cancer.
The glucose levels observed by researchers in the Polyp Prevention Trial, of which this study was a subset analysis, and the levels of exposure that led to the increased risk, were not unusually elevated. Researchers used a glucose concentration of 99 mg/dl as the cut point for the patients in the high group in the study; a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. The levels used in the study are reflective of those in the general U.S. population, therefore it is important to note that even a modest elevation of fasting glucose can affect a patient’s risk of colorectal cancer.
Patients who presented with the highest levels of both insulin and glucose had an approximately 50 percent increased risk of colorectal tumor recurrence. The Polyp Prevention Trial found a recurrence for colorectal tumors of 39.6 percent over four years, meaning the recurrence rate in this subset of patients represents a large increase in absolute risk. Patients who had a high concentration of glucose experienced more than 2.4 times increased odds of advanced tumor recurrence. The subjects with the highest glucose concentration also tended to be slightly older and have higher body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratios. Additionally, they were more likely to be male, current smokers, a member of a minority group and less likely to have advanced beyond a high school education. For those without a family history of colorectal cancer, researchers observed an even greater risk with elevated concentrations of insulin and glucose compared to the overall study population.
Shift your diet toward vegetables, fruits, beans, and other healthier foods. If you must eat grains then eat whole grains. I realize you know all this. But reminders are helpful.
Does vitamin D reduce the risk of many types of cancer as many studies suggest? A new study finds that high vitamin D in blood serum only reduces the risk of colorectal cancer.
No relationship was found between vitamin D levels and the overall risk of dying from cancer, according to a study published online October 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. However, higher vitamin D levels were associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer death.
Several epidemiological studies have supported the hypothesis that that vitamin D can reduce cancer mortality by decreasing cancer incidence or improving survival. Animal and cell studies suggest that vitamin D may reduce tumor growth and induce cancer cell death. Diet and exposure to sunlight are the major sources of vitamin D.
D. Michal Freedman, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from the third national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the relationship between levels of circulating vitamin D in the blood and cancer mortality in a group of 16,818 participants aged 17 and older.
After about a decade of follow-up, 536 participants had died of cancer. Cancer mortality was not related to the level of circulating vitamin D for the overall group, nor was it related when the researchers looked at the data by sex, race, or age. But higher levels of vitamin D (80 nmol/L or more) were associated with a 72 percent reduced risk of colorectal cancer mortality, compared with lower levels (less than 50 nmol/L).
“To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between measured serum vitamin D levels and cancer mortality for selected site and for all sites combined,” the authors write.
A single study can't decisively resolve this question. Fortunately, other studies on vitamin D and total cancer risk are underway.
"Among the questions to be addressed in future studies is the relationship between vitamin D levels and future cancer risk both for individual cancer sites and for total cancer risk." The NCI and other institutes currently have a number of these studies underway, Freedman said.
A previous study found a negative association between blood serum vitamin D and both breast and colorectal cancer.
Keep in mind that vitamin D delivers other health benefits: Vitamin D Supplements Lower Risk Of Death, Low Vitamin D Linked To More Hip Fractures In Women, Low Vitamin D Ups Chronic Back Pain?, and Low Vitamin D Speeds Muscle Decline In Old Age?
Yet another study on the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D.
A research team from the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine has found that increased exposure to sunlight – which increases levels of vitamin D in the body -- may decrease the risk of advanced breast cancer.
In a study reported online this week in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers found that women with high sun exposure had half the risk of developing advanced breast cancer, which is cancer that has spread beyond the breast, compared to women with low sun exposure. These findings were observed only for women with naturally light skin color. The study defined high sun exposure as having dark skin on the forehead, an area that is usually exposed to sunlight.
The scientists used a portable reflectometer to measure skin color on the underarm, an area that is usually not directly exposed to sunlight. Based on these measurements, they classified the women as having light, medium or dark natural skin color. Researchers then compared sun exposure between women with breast cancer and those without breast cancer. Sun exposure was measured as the difference in skin color between the underarm and the forehead.
In women with naturally light skin pigmentation, the group without breast cancer had significantly more sun exposure than the group with breast cancer. The fact that this difference occurred only in one group suggests that the effect was due to differences in vitamin D production – and wasn’t just because the women were sick and unable to go outdoors. In addition, the effect held true regardless of whether the cancer was diagnosed in the summer or in the winter. The difference was seen only in women with advanced disease, suggesting that vitamin D may be important in slowing the growth of breast cancer cells.
“We believe that sunlight helps to reduce women’s risk of breast cancer because the body manufactures the active form of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight,” said Esther John, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study from the Northern California Cancer Center. “It is possible that these effects were observed only among light- skinned women because sun exposure produces less vitamin D among women with naturally darker pigmentation.”
You can get vitamin D from fish or a pill too.
Lycopene was hyped as a potential risk reducer for prostate cancer. But then studies came out suggesting that maybe it doesn't help after all. The real answer has remained less than totally clear. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, being a pretty decent sounding prospective study, might provide the answer: lycopene and a bunch of anti-oxidant micronutrients don't appear to lower prostate cancer risks.
Objective: We aimed to examine the associations between plasma concentrations of 7 carotenoids, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and gamma-tocopherol and prostate cancer risk.
Design: A total of 137 001 men in 8 European countries participated. After a mean of 6 y, 966 incident cases of prostate cancer with plasma were available. A total of 1064 control subjects were selected and were matched for study center, age, and date of recruitment. The relative risk of prostate cancer was estimated by conditional logistic regression, which was adjusted for smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index, marital status, physical activity, and education level.
Results: Overall, none of the micronutrients examined were significantly associated with prostate cancer risk. For lycopene and the sum of carotenoids, there was evidence of heterogeneity between the associations with risks of localized and advanced disease. These carotenoids were not associated with the risk of localized disease but were inversely associated with the risk of advanced disease. The risk of advanced disease for men in the highest fifth of plasma concentrations compared with men in the lowest fifth was 0.40 (95% CI: 0.19, 0.88) for lycopene and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.78) for the sum of carotenoids.
Conclusions: We observed no associations between plasma concentrations of carotenoids, retinol, or tocopherols and overall prostate cancer risk. The inverse associations of lycopene and the sum of carotenoids with the risk of advanced disease may involve a protective effect, an association of dietary choice with delayed detection of prostate cancer, reverse causality, or other factors.
I really wish they had looked at plasma vitamin D concentrations.
Taking most micronutrients in pills (vitamin D being a notable exception) doesn't serve as a substitute for eating foods that are health promoting or for avoiding foods that seem to harm health. You need to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and eat less highly fatty charbroiled beef. There's no pill substitute for avoiding saturated fats or for eating lower glycemic index foods. Macronutrients matter.
Resveratrol continues to be the supplement which I'm not taking that I most wonder whether I should be taking. Resveratrol appears to confer some protection against prostate cancer.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have found that nutrients in red wine may help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
The study involved male mice that were fed a plant compound found in red wine called resveratrol, which has shown anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. Other sources of resveratrol in the diet include grapes, raspberries, peanuts and blueberries.
In the study resveratrol-fed mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors that contained the worst kind of cancer-staging diagnosis. The mice that proved to have the highest cancer-protection effect earned it after seven months of consuming resveratrol in a powdered formula mixed with their food.
Other mice in the study, those fed resveratrol but still developed a less-serious form of prostate cancer, were 48 percent more likely to have their tumor growth halted or slowed when compared to mice who did not consume the compound, the UAB research team said.
A pair of recent articles from MIT's Technology Review provide a broader look at the science and commercial development efforts around resveratrol. At Harvard Medical School researcher David Sinclair believes resveratrol might extend our lives.
Sinclair's basic claim is simple, if seemingly improbable: he has found an elixir of youth. In his Australian drawl, the 38-year-old Harvard University professor of pathology explains how he discovered that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, extends life span in mice by up to 24 percent and in other animals, including flies and worms, by as much as 59 percent. Sinclair hopes that resveratrol will bump up the life span of people, too. "The system at work in the mice and other organisms is evolutionarily very old, so I suspect that what works in mice will work in humans," he says.
Sinclair has co-founded a biotech start-up, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, to try to develop variations on resveratrol to develop them into drugs.
Sinclair and a few other researchers involved in biotech start-ups around Boston argue that drugs can turn on the same genes that calorie restriction activates and thereby extend life just like calorie restriction does.
Only 20 years ago, aging was considered too complex for pharmacological intervention, involving thousands of genes and pathways. However, geneticists studying model organisms such as yeast and worms discovered several genes that can dramatically extend healthy life span1. There are proaging genes such as IGF-1 and antiaging genes such as SIRT1.
While genes that control aging have only recently been discovered, scientists have known for many decades that a simple change in diet can dramatically slow the pace of aging. "Calorie restriction" (CR), the diet wherein calories are reduced 20 to 40 percent, is the most robust means of extending healthy life span in mammals, and several of the key longevity pathways seem to underlie the beneficial effects of this diet. CR also improves health parameters in higher organisms including humans3.
There is controversy over whether calorie restriction delivers its benefits via SIRT1 activation. Researchers are chasing other genes as activators of CR's life extending effects. But resveratrol might deliver benefits even if it does not do so by emulating CR.
Vitamin D is the vitamin whose increased supplementation stands the best chances of reducing the incidence of major diseases. Here's more evidence for the cancer risk reduction achievable if only more people got enough daily vitamin D.
A new study looking at the relationship between vitamin D serum levels and the risk of colon and breast cancer across the globe has estimated the number of cases of cancer that could be prevented each year if vitamin D3 levels met the target proposed by researchers.
Cedric F. Garland, Dr.P.H., cancer prevention specialist at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and colleagues estimate that 250,000 cases of colorectal cancer and 350,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented worldwide by increasing intake of vitamin D3, particularly in countries north of the equator. Vitamin D3 is available through diet, supplements and exposure of the skin to sunlight.
“For the first time, we are saying that 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the United States alone,” said study co-author Garland. The paper, which looks at the dose-response relationship between vitamin D and cancer, will be published in the August edition of the journal Nutrition Reviews.
The study combined data from surveys of serum vitamin D levels during winter from 15 countries. It is the first such study to look at satellite measurements of sunshine and cloud cover in countries where actual blood serum levels of vitamin D3 had also been determined. The data were then applied to 177 countries to estimate the average serum level of a vitamin D metabolite of people living there.
The data revealed an inverse association of serum vitamin D with risk of colorectal and breast cancer. The protective effect began at levels ranging from 24 to 32 nanograms per milliliter of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in the serum. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D level is the main indicator of vitamin D status. The late winter average 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the US is about 15-18 ng/ml. The researchers maintain that increasing vitamin D levels in populations, particularly those in northern climates, has the potential to both prevent and possibly serve as an adjunct to existing treatments for cancer.
The work builds on previous studies by Garland and colleagues (Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular, February 2007) which found that raising the serum 25(OH)D levels to 55 ng/mL was optimal for cancer prevention. This is the first study to recommend optimal vitamin D serum levels which, Garland said, are high enough to provide the needed benefit but which have been found by other scientists to be low enough to avoid health risks.
They recommend 2000 IU of vitamin D per day.
“This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals – 10 or 15 minutes a day – in the sun,” said Garland. It could be less for very fair-skinned individuals. He went on to say that “the appropriate dose of vitamin D in order to reach this level, could be very little in a lifeguard in Southern California… or quite a lot for someone in Northern Europe who tends to remain indoors most of the year.”
The serum level recommended by the study would correspond to intake of 2000 International Units per day of vitamin D3 for a meaningful reduction in colorectal cancer. The researchers recommend 2000 IU/day, plus, when weather allows, a few minutes in the sun with at least 40% of the skin exposed, for a meaningful reduction in breast cancer incidence, unless the individual has a history of skin cancer or a photosensitivity disease.
Unless you are taking supplements or spend a lot of time outdoors even in the winter you probably do not get enough vitamin D.
Eat cruciferous vegetables to boost your immune system.
Berkeley -- A compound found in broccoli and related vegetables may have more health-boosting tricks up its sleeves, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Veggie fans can already point to some cancer-fighting properties of 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical produced from the compound indole-3-carbinol when Brassica vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale are chewed and digested. Animal studies have shown that DIM can actually stop the growth of certain cancer cells.
This new study in mice, published online today (Monday, Aug. 20) in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, shows that DIM may help boost the immune system as well.
"We provide clear evidence that DIM is effective in augmenting the immune response for the mice in the study, and we know that the immune system is important in defending the body against infections of many kinds and cancer," said Leonard Bjeldanes, UC Berkeley professor of toxicology and principal investigator of the study. "This finding bodes well for DIM as a protective agent against major human maladies."
Previous studies led by Bjeldanes and Gary Firestone, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology, have shown that DIM halts the division of breast cancer cells and inhibits testosterone, the male hormone needed for growth of prostate cancer cells.
In the new study, the researchers found increased blood levels of cytokines, proteins which help regulate the cells of the immune system, in mice that had been fed solutions containing doses of DIM at a concentration of 30 milligrams per kilogram. Specifically, DIM led to a jump in levels of four types of cytokines: interleukin 6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 12 and interferon-gamma.
The scientists think the immune boosting effect of DIM might be one of the reasons why cruciferous vegetables seem to reduce the incidence of cancer.
"It is well-known that the immune system can seek out and destroy tumor cells, and even prevent tumor growth," said Xue. "An important type of T cell, called a T killer cell, can directly kill certain tumor cells, virally infected cells and sometimes parasites. This study provides strong evidence that could help explain how DIM blocks tumor growth in animals."
DIM was also able to induce higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), substances which must be released by macrophages in order to kill some types of bacteria as well as tumor cells. The induction of ROS - three times that of a control culture - after DIM was added to the cell culture signaled the activation of macrophages, the researchers said.
"The effects of DIM were transient, with cytokine and lymphocyte levels going up and then down, which is what you'd expect with an immune response," said Bjeldanes. "Interestingly, to obtain the effects on the immune response, DIM must be given orally, not injected. It could be that the metabolism of the compound changes when it is injected instead of eaten."
I get a lot of people asking me what is the ideal diet. My answer: the kind of diet you probably don't like. That's the problem with the diet research. Mostly it turns up more reasons to eat huge amounts of vegetables. People don't want to hear that answer.
Anthocyanins which give many fruits and vegetables their colors have anti-cancer properties.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Understanding the molecular structures of compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their rich colors may help researchers find even more powerful cancer fighters, a new study suggests.
Evidence from laboratory experiments on rats and on human colon cancer cells also suggests that anthocyanins, the compounds that give color to most red, purple and blue fruits and vegetables appreciably slow the growth of colon cancer cells.
The findings also bring scientists a step closer to figuring out what exactly gives fruits and vegetables their cancer-fighting properties.
“These foods contain many compounds, and we're just starting to figure out what they are and which ones provide the best health benefits,” said Monica Giusti, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of food science at Ohio State University.
The plants vary both in the amount of anthocyanins they contain and in which particular anthocyanins they contain. The anthocyanins vary in their anti-cancer properties. Since they mostly do not get absorbed they seem like a fairly safe way to cut down on colon cancer risk.
If yellow corn is less potent than blue corn then do we need to get back to multi-colored corn?
The researchers determined the amount of extract needed from each plant to cut the growth of human colon cancer cells in half. Altering pigment structures slightly by adding an extra sugar or acid molecule changed the biological activity of these extracts.
The researchers added different extracts to flasks that contained colon cancer cells. They used an analytical technique called high-performance liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry in order to determine the exact chemical structure of each compound. They used biological tests to determine the number of cancer cells left after anthocyanin treatment.
The researchers found that the amount of anthocyanin extract needed to reduce cancer cell growth by 50 percent varied among the plants. Extract derived from purple corn was the most potent, in that it took the least amount of this extract (14 micrograms per milliliter of cell growth solution) to cut cell numbers in half. Chokeberry and bilberry extracts were nearly as potent as purple corn. Radish extract proved the least potent, as it took nine times as much (131 µg/ml) of this compound to cut cell growth by 50 percent.
“All fruits and vegetables that are rich in anthocyanins have compounds that can slow down the growth of colon cancer cells, whether in experiments in laboratory dishes or inside the body,” Giusti said.
In additional laboratory studies, she and her colleagues found that anthocyanin pigments from radish and black carrots slowed the growth of cancer cells anywhere from 50 to 80 percent. But pigments from purple corn and chokeberries not only completely stopped the growth of cancer cells, but also killed roughly 20 percent of the cancer cells while having little effect on healthy cells.
Note that they are not using whole corn or whole berries. So an ounce of blue corn won't necessarily have more potent anti-colon cancer activity than an ounce of radishes. We need to know what the concentration of the most active anthocyanin compounds are in each of these foods in order to say which will deliver the most benefit. Still, blue corn muffins or pancakes with berries for breakfast might reduce your odds of dying from colon cancer.
If you know someone recently diagnosed with colon cancer note that dietary changes can make a big difference on outcomes. Also see my post Western Diet Boosts Colon Cancer Recurrence.
In the long run genetic engineering of plants to boost their levels of the most potent anti-cancer anthocyanins seems like the ticket.
Eat less of the bad foods and more of the good foods.
Patients treated for colon cancer who had a diet high in meat, refined grains, fat and desserts had an increased risk of cancer recurrence and death compared with patients who had a diet high in fruits and vegetables, poultry and fish, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA.
But most people really like meat, refined grains, fat, and desserts. What good is this research result when it tells people to ignore their cravings?
Previous research has indicated that diet and other lifestyle factors have a significant influence on the risk of developing colon cancer. However, few studies have assessed the influence of diet on colon cancer recurrence and survival, according to background information in the article.
Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues examined the influence of two distinct dietary patterns on cancer recurrence and survival in a group of 1,009 stage III colon cancer patients (cancer present in the colon and lymph nodes) enrolled in a clinical trial of postoperative chemotherapy in addition to other treatment. Patients reported dietary intake using a food frequency questionnaire during and six months after supplemental chemotherapy. Two major dietary patterns were identified, prudent and Western. The prudent pattern was characterized by high intakes of fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish; the Western pattern was characterized by high intakes of meat, fat, refined grains, and dessert.
Patients were followed up for cancer recurrence or death. During a median (midpoint) follow-up of 5.3 years, 324 patients had cancer recurrence, 223 patients died with cancer recurrence, and 28 died without documented cancer recurrence.
Recurrence rates are way higher if you eat a bad Western diet.
The researchers found that a higher intake of a Western dietary pattern after cancer diagnosis was associated with a significant increase in the risk of cancer recurrence or death. Compared with patients in the lowest Western dietary pattern quintile (bottom 20 percent), those in the highest quintile (top 20 percent) experienced a 3.3 times higher risk for cancer recurrence or death. Patients in the highest quintile of Western dietary pattern were 2.9 times more likely to have cancer recur than those in the lowest quintile. Similarly, a significantly higher overall risk of death with increasing Western dietary pattern was observed. In contrast, the prudent dietary pattern was not significantly associated with cancer recurrence or death.
Increased insulin production on the Western diet might be the cause of the worse outcome.
A “prudent” pattern characterized by high intakes of fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish, and a “Western” pattern characterized by high amounts of red and processed meats, sweets and desserts, French fries, and refined grains. Participants didn’t fall neatly into one category or the other, but were scored in each by how closely they matched the Western and prudent models.
The survival benefit for those whose diets least resembled the Western pattern held true even after researchers controlled for factors such as gender, age, body mass, degree of cancer spread to lymph nodes, and physical activity level. Investigators do not know why such a diet is associated with a poorer outcome, but speculate that it may be related to increased insulin levels and insulin-like growth factors. Insulin and related growth factors have been linked to the formation and growth of some types of tumors.
Eat a lower glycemic index diet. Or watch metastatic colon cancer lodge in your bones and cause excruciating pain until you die an emaciated shadow of your former self. Hey, I'm not going to sugar coat the news for you. Doing that would boost your insulin level. I'm trying to write a low insulin blog here.
Fruits and veggies do not lower the rate of recurrence of all types of cancers though. Fruits and veggies failed to lower breast cancer recurrence in a recent study (more here and here).
Cruciferous vegetables cut prostate cancer risk by 40% overall.
Writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers from Canada and the US report that an increased intake of cruciferous vegetables was associated with a 40 per cent reduction in prostate cancer risk, with broccoli and cauliflower singled out as offering most protection.
Men who reported eating cauliflower more than once per week were 52 percent less likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer than men who reported eating cauliflower less than once a month.
Men who reported eating broccoli more than once per week were 45 percent less likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer than men who reported eating broccoli less than once a month.
Eat more cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collars, rutabaga, kohlrabi, Brussel sprouts, and other members of the Brassicaceae (aka Cruciferae) family of veggies.
Update: Eat some turmeric on that cauliflower.
Rutgers researchers have found that the curry spice turmeric holds real potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer, particularly when combined with certain vegetables.
The scientists tested turmeric, also known as curcumin, along with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring substance particularly abundant in a group of vegetables that includes watercress, cabbage, winter cress, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips. "The bottom line is that PEITC and curcumin, alone or in combination, demonstrate significant cancer-preventive qualities in laboratory mice, and the combination of PEITC and curcumin could be effective in treating established prostate cancers," said Ah-Ng Tony Kong, a professor of pharmaceutics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Here's a tour through a large assortment of studies on dietary and lifestyle factors that influence prostate cancer risks. Men who are willing to implement most of the recommendations here would greatly decrease their odds of getting prostate cancer. Note that many of the changes (e.g. less omega 6 fatty acids, more omega 3 fatty acids, less meat, more vegetables, more fruit, more vitamin D) would reduce the risks of other forms of cancer as well. Daily ground flaxseed made diagnosed prostate cancer cells less vigorous.
The researchers will present their results on Saturday, June 2, during a news briefing at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, in Chicago. The multisite study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, also involved researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In the study, the researchers examined the effects of flaxseed supplementation on men who were scheduled to undergo prostatectomy -- surgery for the treatment of prostate cancer. The men took 30 grams of flaxseed daily for an average of 30 days prior to surgery. Once the men's tumors were removed, the researchers looked at tumor cells under a microscope, and were able to determine how quickly the cancer cells had multiplied.
Men taking flaxseed, either alone or in conjunction with a low-fat diet, were compared to men assigned to just a low-fat diet, as well as to men in a control group, who did not alter or supplement their daily diet. Men in both of the flaxseed groups had the slowest rate of tumor growth, Demark-Wahnefried said. Each group was made up of about 40 participants.
Study participants took the flaxseed in a ground form because flaxseed in its whole form has an undigestible seed coat, she said. Participants elected to mix it in drinks or sprinkle it on food, such as yogurt.
You'd probably need to get a seed grinder to make the ground seed once or twice a week. Though maybe freezing would let you make it less often.
Nutritionists recommend that people consume equal proportions of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA. However, in current western diets, the proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 is between 30 and 50 to one.
The mice were fed either a diet high in omega-3 (ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 was 1:1) a diet low in omega 3 (ratio omega-6 to omega-3 was 20:1), or a diet high in omega-6 (ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 was 40:1). The scientists compared survival rates and weighed the animals’ prostates to measure tumor progression.
Mice with the tumor suppressor gene remained free of tumors and had 100 percent survival, regardless of diet. In mice with the gene defect, survival was 60 percent in animals on the high omega-3 diet, 10 percent in those on the low omega-3 diet and 0 percent in those on the high omega-6 diet.
“This suggests that if you have good genes, it may not matter too much what you eat,” said Chen, a professor of cancer biology. “But if you have a gene that makes you susceptible to prostate cancer, your diet can tip the balance. Our data demonstrate the importance of gene-diet interactions, and that genetic cancer risk can be modified favorable by omega-3 PUFA.”
Pomegranate slows prostate cancer in mice.
The research team then progressed to tests in mice that had been injected with prostate cancer cells from humans and developed malignancies. The 24 mice were randomly divided into three groups. The control group received normal drinking water, while the animals in the second and third groups had their drinking water supplemented with .1 percent and .2 percent pomegranate extract respectively. The doses for the mice were chosen to parallel how much pomegranate juice a typical healthy human might be willing to eat or drink daily.
The results were dramatic: the mice receiving the higher concentration of pomegranate extract showed significant slowing of their cancer progression and a decrease in the levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a marker used to indicate the presence of prostate cancer in humans. The animals that received only water had tumors that grew much faster than those in the animals treated with pomegranate extract.
Pomegranate juice also slows prostate cancer growth in men.
Drinking an eight ounce glass of pomegranate juice daily increased by nearly four times the period during which PSA levels in men treated for prostate cancer remained stable, a three-year UCLA study has found.
The study involved 50 men who had undergone surgery or radiation but quickly experienced increases in prostate-specific antigen or PSA, a biomarker that indicates the presence of cancer. UCLA researchers measured "doubling time," how long it takes for PSA levels to double, a signal that the cancer is progressing, said Dr. Allan Pantuck, an associate professor of urology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and lead author of the study.
Inositol hexaphosphate found in high fiber foods reduces prostate cancer tumor size.
Compound found in high-fiber foods shows promise against prostate cancer — A dietary component found in most whole grain foods, beans, nuts and other high-fiber items shows promise in animal studies as a potent weapon for preventing prostate cancer. The compound, inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), was fed to animal models of prostate cancer and resulted in up to a 66 percent reduction in tumor size in comparison to control animals that were given water instead, the researchers say.
Turmeric and cauliflower against prostate cancer.
Rutgers researchers have found that the curry spice turmeric holds real potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer, particularly when combined with certain vegetables.
The scientists tested turmeric, also known as curcumin, along with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring substance particularly abundant in a group of vegetables that includes watercress, cabbage, winter cress, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips. "The bottom line is that PEITC and curcumin, alone or in combination, demonstrate significant cancer-preventive qualities in laboratory mice, and the combination of PEITC and curcumin could be effective in treating established prostate cancers," said Ah-Ng Tony Kong, a professor of pharmaceutics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
A daily glass of red wine reduces prostate cancer risk.
SEATTLE – Drinking a glass of red wine a day may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer in half, and the protective effect appears to be strongest against the most aggressive forms of the disease, according to a new study led by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Diet and lifestyle changes might be enough to stop or reverse prostate cancer.
The study was directed by Dean Ornish, MD, clinical professor, and Peter Carroll, MD, chair of the Department of Urology, both of the University of California, San Francisco, and the late William Fair, MD, chief of urologic surgery and chair of urologic oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The research team studied 93 men with biopsy-proven prostate cancer who had elected not to undergo conventional treatment for reasons unrelated to this study. The participants were randomly divided into either a group who were asked to make comprehensive changes in diet and lifestyle or a comparison group who were not asked to do so.
After one year, the researchers found that PSA levels (a protein marker for prostate cancer) decreased in men in the group who made comprehensive lifestyle changes but increased in the comparison group. There was a direct correlation between the degree of lifestyle change and the changes in PSA. Also, they found that serum from the participants inhibited prostate tumor growth in vitro by 70 percent in the lifestyle-change group but only 9 percent in the comparison group. Again, there was a direct correlation between the degree of lifestyle change and the inhibition of prostate tumor growth.
Participants in the lifestyle-change group were placed on a vegan diet consisting primarily of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes supplemented with soy, vitamins and minerals. They participated in moderate aerobic exercise, yoga/meditation, and a weekly support group session. A registered dietitian was available for consultation, and a nurse case manager contacted the participants once a week for the first three months and weekly thereafter.
Give up meat and dairy and eat lots of plants.
The study, published in the September issue of Integrative Cancer Therapies, focused on the change in the levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an indicator of the cancer, in response to a plant-based diet and stress reduction. Patients were taught to increase consumption of plant-based foods such as whole grains, cruciferous and leafy green vegetables, beans and legumes, and fruit, and to decrease the intake of meat, dairy products, and refined carbohydrates. They were also provided with stress management training, which incorporated meditation, yoga and Tai Chi exercises. The plant-based diet and stress reduction were effective in significantly reducing the PSA rate, indicating a reduction in the rate of progression of the prostate cancer.
My guess is you'll be much better off if you avoid grains and just eat non-grain plants. I wonder if the stress management techniques contributed to the benefit.
The diet changes were made for men with early stage prostate cancer. But the smarter thing to do is to make the diet changes before you get prostate cancer.
Up to 73% of men with prostate cancer take nonprescription supplements, and smaller numbers use diet, exercise, or both in the hope of improving their outcome. Most of these men also receive conventional therapy, but a few depend on lifestyle alone. The appeal of lifestyle therapy is obvious—but does it work? Experts don’t know, though research raises hope that it may have a beneficial impact, reports the July 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
All of the 93 men who signed up for the trial had newly diagnosed low- to moderate-grade cancers that were localized to the prostate gland. Half were randomly assigned to a lifestyle program, and half got no advice on lifestyle changes. The program that researchers created included four elements: An ultra-low-fat vegan diet; supplements, including soy, fish oil, vitamins E and C, and selenium; an exercise program of walking 30 minutes six days a week; and stress reduction that included yoga-based stretching, breathing, and meditation for an hour a day.
At the end of a year, a small but significant difference was evident. The average PSA in the intensive lifestyle group fell, whereas the average PSA in the untreated men rose. The participants in the lifestyle group also showed favorable cancer-fighting changes in their blood.
Keep your weight under control.
“I was very surprised by the findings,” said Kristal, member and associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division. “We found the prostate-cancer-specific mortality risk associated with obesity was similar regardless of treatment, disease grade or disease stage at the time of diagnosis,” he said. “If a man is obese at the time of diagnosis, he faces a 2.6-fold greater risk of dying as compared to a normal-weight man with the same diagnostic profile, regardless of whether he has a radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy, whether or not he gets androgen-deprivation therapy, whether he has low- or high-grade disease and whether he has localized, regional or distant disease,” Kristal said, referring to the degree of cancer spread.
The researchers also found that obese men diagnosed with local or regional disease – that is, disease that is confined to the prostate or has spread to into surrounding tissue – face a 3.6-fold increased risk of cancer spreading into distant organs, or metastasis, as compared to prostate-cancer patients of normal weight.
The message that soy reduces prostate cancer risk is perhaps an oversimplification.
PHILADELPHIA – The largest study examining the relationship between the traditional soy-rich Japanese diet and development of prostate cancer in Japanese men has come to a seemingly contradictory conclusion: intake of isoflavone chemicals, derived largely from soy foods, decreased the risk of localized prostate cancer but increased the risk of advanced prostate cancer.
The prospective study of 43,509 men, published in the March issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, suggests that the effects of isoflavones on prostate cancer development may differ according to disease stage, say researchers at the National Cancer Center in Japan.
One possible explanation is that isoflavones may delay the progression of latent prostate cancer only; once tumors lose estrogen-receptor beta expression and become aggressive, isoflavones may fail to protect against the development of advanced cancer, and might even increase the risk of progression, possibly by reducing serum testosterone, researchers say. It is also possible that advanced and localized prostate cancer may be different tumor subtypes, which may react differently to isoflavones.
The message that lycopene in tomatoes reduces prostate cancer risk might not be true.
PHILADELPHIA -- Tomatoes might be nutritious and tasty, but don’t count on them to prevent prostate cancer. In the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers based at the National Cancer Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center report that lycopene, an antioxidant predominately found in tomatoes, does not effectively prevent prostate cancer. In fact, the researchers noted an association between beta-carotene, an antioxidant related to lycopene, and an increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer.
According to the researchers, the study is one of the largest to evaluate the role of blood concentrations of lycopene and other carotenoid antioxidants in preventing prostate cancer. Study data were derived from over 28,000 men enrolled in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, an ongoing, randomized National Cancer Institute trial to evaluate cancer screening methods and to investigate early markers of cancer.
Whether multivitamins provide a cancer risk reduction benefit is far from clear.
Karla Lawson, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues followed 295,344 men enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study to determine the association between multivitamin use and prostate cancer risk. After five years of follow-up, 10,241 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 8,765 with localized cancers and 1,476 with advanced cancers.
The researchers found no association between multivitamin use and the risk of localized prostate cancer. But they did find an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer among men who used multivitamins more than seven times a week, compared with men who did not use multivitamins. The association was strongest in men with a family history of prostate cancer and men who also took selenium, beta-carotene, or zinc supplements.
As long term readers know by now, the cancer risk reduction benefit from vitamin D is much clearer than that from other vitamins. See the posts 60% Cancer Drop From Vitamin D Supplements and Vitamin D Could Decrease Overall Cancer Risk 30%.
The younger among you may be thinking that by the time you reach the high cancer risk years we'll have effective cures for cancer. A person in their 20s isn't going to die from cancer they get in the year 2047. But keep in mind that cancer is a consequence of accumulated cell damage. We'll have cures for cancer before we get full body rejuvenation therapies. A diet that reduces your risk of cancer will slow your body aging and therefore if you eat a cancer risk reduction diet you won't grow as old while waiting for the rejuvenation therapies.
Are you taking vitamin D yet? If not, here's yet another study finding a protective effect from vitamin D against cancer.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 8, 2007) – Key milk nutrients, calcium and vitamin D, may do more than just help keep your bones strong. Increasing intake of calcium and vitamin D could reduce the risk for cancer in women by at least 60 percent, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (1)
The four-year clinical trial included more than one thousand women over the age of 55 in one of three supplement groups: 1) calcium (1400-1500mg) plus vitamin D (1100 IU vitamin D) 2) calcium only (1400-1500 mg) or 3) a placebo. The researchers found that the risk of developing cancer was 60 percent lower for those who took calcium and vitamin D and 47 percent lower for those taking calcium alone, compared to the placebo.
Fifty women developed nonskin cancer through the course of the four-year study, including breast, colon, lung and other cancers. When researchers excluded the 13 cancers diagnosed during first year of the study, determining these cancers were likely present at the study onset, the protective effect of calcium and vitamin D was even greater, with a 77 percent lower risk for cancer for those taking calcium plus vitamin D compared to the placebo.
Taking the vitamin D and calcium long term might provide an even higher level of protection.
I found it interesting that calcium provides a protective effect and a substantial one. Almost all the studies I come across about the protective effect of vitamin D against cancer do not include a group that uses calcium. I wish this latest study had included a group that only took vitamin D. Then we'd know whether the calcium still provides a benefit on top of vitamin D.
Dietary consumption of calcium and vitamin D reduce breast cancer but only before menopause.
Over an average of 10 years of follow-up, 276 premenopausal women and 743 postmenopausal women developed breast cancer. Calcium and vitamin D intake were moderately associated with a lower risk of breast cancer before but not after menopause. The inverse associated in premenopausal women appeared more pronounced for more aggressive breast tumors.
"A possible explanation for the evident difference by menopause status may be related to the joint relationship among calcium, vitamin D and insulinlike growth factors (IGFs)," they continue. "In vitro studies have suggested that calcium and vitamin D exert anticarcinogenic effects on breast cancer cells expressing high levels of IGF-1 and IGF binding protein 3. Calcium, vitamin D and IGF binding protein 3 have been shown in vitro to interact with each other in promoting growth inhibition in breast cancer cells." Since blood levels of these compounds decline with age, they would be more prevalent in younger, premenopausal women.
This result does not necessarily mean that vitamin D and calcium have no anti-cancer benefit as women get older. As we age we suffer decreased ability to absorb nutrients. Maybe older women do not absorb vitamin D well enough to benefit from concentrations found in food and maybe they need higher doses to achieve the same benefit as they get older.
Steaming, microwaving, and stir-frying are all much better than boiling.
The researchers, Prof Paul Thornalley from Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick and Dr Lijiang Song from the University of Warwick’s Department of Chemistry bought Brassica vegetables, (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and green cabbage) from a local store and transported them to the laboratory within 30 minutes of purchasing. The effect of cooking on the glucosinolate content of vegetables was then studied by investigating the effects of cooking by boiling, steaming, microwave cooking and stir-fry.
Boiling appeared to have a serious impact on the retention of those important glucosinolate within the vegetables. The loss of total glucosinolate content after boiling for 30 minutes was: broccoli 77%, Brussel sprouts 58%, cauliflower 75% and green cabbage 65%.
The effects of other cooking methods were investigated: steaming for 0–20 min, microwave cooking for 0–3 min and stir-fry cooking for 0–5 min. All three methods gave no significant loss of total glucosinolate analyte contents over these cooking periods.
I'm big on eating raw cabbage as cole slaw. Stir-frying seems like the most attractive way to prepare the other Brassica (aka cruciferous) vegetables.
As regular readers know, I've been after you for years to raise your body vitamin D levels. If you haven't gotten off your duff yet to do anything about it how about this as something to get you going? A study coming out in June will report a more than halving of the incidence of cancer by taking vitamin D supplements.
But perhaps the biggest bombshell about vitamin D's effects is about to go off. In June, U.S. researchers will announce the first direct link between cancer prevention and the sunshine vitamin. Their results are nothing short of astounding.
A four-year clinical trial involving 1,200 women found those taking the vitamin had about a 60-per-cent reduction in cancer incidence, compared with those who didn't take it, a drop so large — twice the impact on cancer attributed to smoking — it almost looks like a typographical error.
How many people have doctors killed by advocating the avoidance of sun due to the risk of skin cancer?
How much would life expectancies rise if everyone got enough vitamin D?
One of the researchers who made the discovery, professor of medicine Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Nebraska, says vitamin D deficiency is showing up in so many illnesses besides cancer that nearly all disease figures in Canada and the U.S. will need to be re-evaluated. "We don't really know what the status of chronic disease is in the North American population," he said, "until we normalize vitamin D status."
Vitamin D could buy us some extra years while we try to stay alive waiting for rejuvenation therapies.
People are especially deficient during the winter.
Last month, a study of 7,500 men and women found that most don't have enough vitamin D in their bloodstream for at least six months of the year.
'By Easter, 90 per cent of the population are seriously depleted in the amount of vitamin D they have in their bodies,' says author of the study Dr Elina Hypponnen, of the Institute of Child Health in London.
As we get older and our skin ages it becomes less efficient at using light to catalyze the synthesis of vitamin D. So part of the rise in incidence of vitamin D with age is probably caused by worsening vitamin D deficiency.
The malign consequences have been revealed by in a study from the United States which shows that boosting vitamin D may be the most effective way of warding off infections that cause winter colds.
The authors, from Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, New York, who publish their findings in the journal Epidemiology and Infection, say vitamin D stimulates "innate immunity" by activating peptides in the body that attack bacteria, fungi and viruses.
"Vitamin D supplementation, particularly with higher doses, may protect against the typical winter cold and flu ... Since there is an epidemic of vitamin D insufficiency in the US, the public health impact of this observation could be great," they write.
Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to a higher incidence of auto-immune diseases. For example, multiple sclerosis occurs at higher rates in the more northern regions of North America where people get less sun in the winter due to both cold and shorter days.
The current max recommended limit of 2000 IU per day might be too low.
Calls to increase vitamin D intake have been growing. Indeed, only recently fifteen experts from universities, research institutes, and university hospitals around the world called for international agencies to "reassess as a matter of high priority" dietary recommendations for vitamin D because current advice is outdated and puts the public at risk of deficiency (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, pp. 860-868).
A recent review of the science reported that the tolerable upper intake level for oral vitamin D3 should be increased five-fold, from the current tolerable upper intake level (UL) in Europe and the US of 2000 International Units (IU), equivalent to 50 micrograms per day, to 10,000 IU (250 micrograms per day).
I would suggest refraining from doses above 2000 IU, at least for now. Vitamin D research has become such a hot topic that we should expect more clarification on the risks and benefits of higher doses. But my guess from what I've read so far is that a 2000 IU dose daily is enough to provide the vast majority of the benefit.
Also see some of my previous posts on vitamin D: Vitamin D Could Decrease Overall Cancer Risk 30%, Higher Vitamin D Reduces Aging Bone Fracture Risks, Vitamin D Reduces Breast Cancer Risk, Vitamin D Crucial For Long Term Lung Health, and Vitamin D Confirmed To Reduce Multiple Sclerosis Risk.
Blueberries and grapes contain a compound that lowers the incidence of colon cancer in rats.
Along with scientists Nanjoo Suh, also of Rutgers, and Agnes Rimando of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Reddy and his associates conducted a small pilot study to determine the effect of pterostilbene on colon cancer. The study included 18 rats that were given a compound (azoxymethane) to induce colon cancer in a manner similar to human colon cancer development. Nine of the animals were then placed on a balanced daily diet, while the other nine were given the same diet supplemented with pterostilbene (at a level of 40 parts per million).
At the end of an eight-week study period, the rats that were fed pterostilbene showed 57 percent fewer pre-cancerous lesions in their colon in comparison to the control group, Reddy and his associates say. Pterostilbene also reduced colonic cell proliferation and inhibited certain genes involved in inflammation, both of which are considered colon cancer risk factors, the researchers say.
You can read the full paper online: Pterostilbene, an Active Constituent of Blueberries, Suppresses Aberrant Crypt Foci Formation in the Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis Model in Rats. The full paper reports that pterostilbene has been found in blueberries, cranberries, sparkleberries, lingonberries, and grapes.
Pterostilbene lowers blood lipids and cancer. Some labs report that pterostilbene lowers blood glucose sugar levels as well.
Glucose levels in rats with hyperglycemia induced by streptozotocin were determined after i.p. administration of marsupsin (1), pterosupin (2), and pterostilbene (3), three important phenolic constituents of the heartwood of Pterocarpus marsupium. Marsupsin and pterostilbene significantly lowered the blood glucose level of hyperglycemic rats, and the effect was comparable to that of 1,1-dimethylbiguanide (metformin).
For reasons that are unclear, pterostilbene is not normally found in wine, Rimando says. This may be because it is unstable in light and air, which makes it less likely to survive the wine-making process, she says.
Pterostilbene and resveratrol are both antifungal compounds and they deliver some of same health benefits as each other.
This research provides yet more argument for eating more berries, grapes, and cherries. Eat the full fruit for maximal benefit rather than drinking juice.
A meta-analysis of 5 studies found that higher blood vitamin D is associated with a 50% lower risk of colorectal cancer.
A larger daily dose of vitamin D could reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer with minimal risk, according to a new review that pools results from five studies.
The analysis found that maintaining a specific target blood level of vitamin D was associated with a 50 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than that seen in people with consistently lower blood levels.
Previous studies had shown that lower blood levels of vitamin D did not protect against colorectal cancer, according to lead author Edward Gorham, Ph.D., a research epidemiologist with the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego. However, a meta-analysis pools the data from several studies, thus increasing the strength of the results.
I've been telling my regular readers about the benefits of vitamin D for years. A few of you are even acting on this information. Okay, what's with the rest of you? What are your excuses?
50%!
The researchers found that a blood serum vitamin D level of 33 nanograms per milliliter or higher was associated with a 50 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than that seen with blood levels of 12 nanograms per milliliter or lower.
You would need to get between 1000 and 2000 IU of vitamin D per day to get this benefit. You can get there with a supplement or with daily sunbathing.
The amount of dietary vitamin D needed to reach the serum levels that appear to be protective against colorectal cancer — 1,000 to 2,000 international units a day — would not pose any risk, according to Gorham: “The Institute of Medicine has set a ‘No Adverse Effect Level’ of 2,000 IU per day for vitamin D intake, so this recommendation would be safe for most people.”
There is no official recommended dietary allowance for vitamin D, but an adequate dietary intake per day for most adults is currently considered to be 200 to 400 IU.
If you spend alot of time out in the sun during the summer you might only need the supplement during the colder months with the shorter days.
Small amounts of sun exposure would also help people boost their vitamin D levels. Fifteen to 20 minutes per day without sunscreen is enough for the body to synthesize 10,000 IU of vitamin D with minimal risk of sunburn or skin cancer, Gorham said.
Vitamin D will probably lower your risk of Multiple Sclerosis and your incidence of colds and flu too. I believe it is the vitamin that we'd get the most benefit from if we got more of it. Not saying there aren't people out there with plenty of D but not enough iron or zinc or folic acid or C. But for most people more D would deliver the biggest benefit.
Higher blood vitamin D also reduces breast cancer risk 50%.
The breast cancer study, published online in the current issue of the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, pooled dose-response data from two earlier studies - the Harvard Nurses Health Study and the St. George's Hospital Study - and found that individuals with the highest blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D, had the lowest risk of breast cancer.
The researchers divided the 1,760 records of individuals in the two studies into five equal groups, from the lowest blood levels of 25(OH)D (less than 13 nanograms per milliliter, or 13 ng/ml) to the highest (approximately 52 ng/ml). The data also included whether or not the individual had developed cancer.
"The data were very clear, showing that individuals in the group with the lowest blood levels had the highest rates of breast cancer, and the breast cancer rates dropped as the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased," said study co-author Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H. "The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun."
Ladies, eat more fiber to protect your breasts!
Pre-menopausal women who eat large amounts of fibre could halve their breast cancer risk, a UK study has suggested.
The University of Leeds researchers, who studied 35,000 women, found those who ate 30g of fibre a day had half the risk of those who ate less than 20g.
Also, reduce protein intake while increasing vitamin C intake.
257 pre-menopausal women developed breast cancer during the study, which was initially funded by the World Cancer Research Fund.
They were found to be women who had a greater percentage of energy derived from protein, and lower intakes of dietary fibre and vitamin C, compared to women who did not develop cancer.
Eat beans and berries. Eat whole grains. Vegetables too.
Broccoli and tomatoes shrink prostate cancer tumors in rats.
URBANA - A new University of Illinois study shows that tomatoes and broccoli--two vegetables known for their cancer-fighting qualities--are better at shrinking prostate tumors when both are part of the daily diet than when they're eaten alone.
"When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect. We think it's because different bioactive compounds in each food work on different anti-cancer pathways," said University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman.
In a study published in the January 15 issue of Cancer Research, Erdman and doctoral candidate Kirstie Canene-Adams fed a diet containing 10 percent tomato powder and 10 percent broccoli powder to laboratory rats that had been implanted with prostate cancer cells. The powders were made from whole foods so the effects of eating the entire vegetable could be compared with consuming individual parts of them as a nutritional supplement.
Other rats in the study received either tomato or broccoli powder alone; or a supplemental dose of lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes thought to be the effective cancer-preventive agent in tomatoes; or finasteride, a drug prescribed for men with enlarged prostates. Another group of rats was castrated.
After 22 weeks, the tumors were weighed. The tomato/broccoli combo outperformed all other diets in shrinking prostate tumors. Biopsies of tumors were evaluated at The Ohio State University, confirming that tumor cells in the tomato/broccoli-fed rats were not proliferating as rapidly. The only treatment that approached the tomato/broccoli diet's level of effectiveness was castration, said Erdman.
"As nutritionists, it was very exciting to compare this drastic surgery to diet and see that tumor reduction was similar. Older men with slow-growing prostate cancer who have chosen watchful waiting over chemotherapy and radiation should seriously consider altering their diets to include more tomatoes and broccoli," said Canene-Adams.
How much tomato and broccoli should a 55-year-old man concerned about prostate health eat in order to receive these benefits? The scientists did some conversions.
You'd need to eat a cup and a half of broccoli and a half cup of tomato paste to get a similar dose scaled up to human size. I do not see consumption of so much tomato paste as a problem. But the broccoli? Ugh.
"To get these effects, men should consume daily 1.4 cups of raw broccoli and 2.5 cups of fresh tomato, or 1 cup of tomato sauce, or ½ cup of tomato paste. I think it's very doable for a man to eat a cup and a half of broccoli per day or put broccoli on a pizza with ½ cup of tomato paste," said Canene-Adams.
What I want to know: Can cabbage serve in place of broccoli as a prostate cancer risk reducer?
Tomatoes reduce testosterone in rats. Do they have this effect in humans?
Another recent Erdman study shows that rats fed the tomato carotenoids phytofluene, lycopene, or a diet containing 10 percent tomato powder for four days had significantly reduced testosterone levels. "Most prostate cancer is hormone-sensitive, and reducing testosterone levels may be another way that eating tomatoes reduces prostate cancer growth," Erdman said.
I've long suspected that many common foods have pharmacological efffects. If a large study systematically put people on a variety of controlled diets with few foods each diet and then measured many hormones and other blood markers my guess is all sorts of interactions would pop up from the data. Lots of compounds in foods accidentally bind in locations in human bodies and cause changes in how our metabolisms function.
If you want to avoid developing cancer, then you might want to add eating more olive oil to your list of New Year's resolutions. In a study to be published in the January 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists from five European countries describe how the anti-cancer effects of olive oil may account for the significant difference in cancer rates among Northern and Southern Europeans.
The authors drew this conclusion based on the outcomes of volunteers from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Spain, who consumed 25 milliliters (a little less than a quarter cup) of olive oil every day for three weeks. During this time, the researchers examined urine samples of the subjects for specific compounds known to be waste by-products of oxidative damage to cells, a precursor to cancer. At the beginning of the trial, the presence of these waste by-products was much higher in Northern European subjects than their Southern European counterparts. By the end of three weeks, however, the presence of this compound in Northern European subjects was substantially reduced.
"Determining the health benefits of any particular food is challenging because of it involves relatively large numbers of people over significant periods of time," said lead investigator Henrik E. Poulsen, M.D. of Rigshospitalet, Denmark. "In our study, we overcame these challenges by measuring how olive oil affected the oxidation of our genes, which is closely linked to development of disease. This approach allows us to determine if olive oil or any other food makes a difference. Our findings must be confirmed, but every piece of evidence so far points to olive oil being a healthy food. By the way, it also tastes great."
I'd like to see more dietary studies using oxidative stress markers as a quicker way to guess at the likely long term effects of various food choices.
The polyphenols in olive oil surprisingly do not look like the cause of the lowered oxidative stress marker.
Another interesting finding in the study suggests that researchers are just beginning to unlock the mysteries of this ancient "health food." Specifically, the researchers found evidence that the phenols in olive oil are not the only compounds that reduced oxidative damage. Phenols are known antioxidant compounds that are present in a wide range of everyday foods, such as dark chocolate, red wine, tea, fruits, and vegetables. Despite reducing the level of phenols in the olive oil, the study's subjects still showed that they were receiving the same level of health benefits.
I'd like to see studies done using different high phenol foods that are low in fat to see if any of the foods can lower oxidative stress using the same marker (8oxodG - sounds like an oxidized form of the nucleic acid guanine) that these researchers used.
Oxidative damage is a process whereby the metabolic balance of a cell is disrupted by exposure to substances that result in the accumulation of free-radicals, which can then damage the cell.
The men were found to have around 13% less 8oxodG compared with their levels at the beginning of the study.
At the beginning of the study, men from northern Europe had higher levels of 8oxodG than those from southern Europe, supporting the idea that olive oil had a reductive effect.
I've started eating more olives and olive oil. The olive oil is displacing canola oil. But we need a comparative study of the effects of olive oil and canola oil on urine 8oxodG. Ditto for fish oils.
The bigger story on olive oil has been the suspected heart benefit. A September 2006 paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found olive oil boosts heart healthy HDL cholesterol while lowering triglycerides and lowering oxidized LDL cholesterol.
Results: A linear increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels was observed for low-, medium-, and high-polyphenol olive oil: mean change, 0.025 mmol/L (95% CI, 0.003 to 0.05 mmol/L), 0.032 mmol/L (CI, 0.005 to 0.05 mmol/L), and 0.045 mmol/L (CI, 0.02 to 0.06 mmol/L), respectively. Total cholesterol–HDL cholesterol ratio decreased linearly with the phenolic content of the olive oil. Triglyceride levels decreased by an average of 0.05 mmol/L for all olive oils. Oxidative stress markers decreased linearly with increasing phenolic content.
When you can lower heart disease and cancer risk with the same dietary practice that sounds like a winner to me.
Rowan T. Chlebowski, M.D., Ph.D., of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., and his colleagues set out to determine whether a low-fat diet could prolong relapse-free survival in women with early-stage breast cancer.
Between February 1994 and January 2001, 2,437 women who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer were recruited from the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS). They were randomly assigned to a dietary intervention group (40%), or a control group (60%).
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At the beginning of the study, both groups consumed similar amounts of calories from fat—56 to 57 grams of fat per day (about 30% of total calories). After 1 year, the women in the dietary intervention group were consuming an average of 33 g/day (20.3% of total calories) compared with 51 g/day (29.2% of total calories) in the control group. The difference between the two groups was maintained throughout the trial. Average body weight was similar before the trial started, but 5 years later, the women in the intervention group weighed an average of 6 pounds less than the women in the control group.
So the women in the intervention group ate less food total and less calories total. How much of their reduction in fats consumed came as a reduction in animal fats?
The odds of recurrence of breast cancer was low in both groups because they were caught at an early stage.
Ninety-six of 975 women (9.8%) in the intervention group had some form of relapse, compared with 181 of 1462 women (12.4%) in the control group. The researchers calculate that 38 women would need to adopt such a dietary fat reduction plan to prevent one breast cancer recurrence. "Women in the dietary intervention group had a 24% lower risk of relapse than those in the control group," the authors write.
Their data also suggest that women with hormone receptor–negative breast cancers may have had the most benefit from the dietary fat reduction, but those results weren’t statistically significant and will require further confirmation. The authors plan to address these and other questions in ongoing follow-up studies of the women.
The reduction in calories consumed might have been the real cause of the difference. Or maybe something else about the difference in diets caused the difference in risks.
They caution that the study relied on self-reports of dietary fat intake. Also, the reduction in body weight in the dietary intervention group may have had an effect on breast cancer recurrence, rather than dietary fat intake on its own.
What I'd like to know: Is the risk reduction due to lower total calories consumed? Or perhaps due to a reduction in saturated fats? In other words, do all fats put women at equal risk of recurrence or perhaps does a particular saturated fat increarse the risk of recurrence? Or did the reduction of fatty foods in the diet increase the consumption of vegetables and fruits that have compounds that reduce breast cancer recurrence?
A diet that reduces the amount of fat in it also reduces and increases the amounts of many other things. Therefore even if the women on the lower fat diet had a real reduction in their risk of recurrence of breast cancer that does not begin to tell us why.
If the women on the lower fat diets ate more vegetables then compounds in the vegetables might have reduced the rate of breast cancer recurrence. Compounds in cruciferous vegetables called isothiocyanates (ITCs) have anti-cancer effects.
"The contribution of diet and nutrition to cancer risk, prevention and treatment have been a major focus of research in recent years because certain nutrients in veg