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Nutrition
Vitamins, minerals, supplements, herbs and diet: the research on how what we eat shapes our health.
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Diet
Brain cancer patients should avoid using vinegar?
A 2014 study in Cell found glioblastoma and brain metastases can use acetate, which vinegar contains, as an energy source. The writer suggests patients might be better off avoiding vinegar, while noting blood acetate also comes from other sources and cannot be eliminated.
Food
Legumes good for non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients
Among 2,339 Multiethnic Cohort participants, high dairy intake was linked to 14% higher all-cause and 16% higher non-Hodgkin lymphoma mortality, while legumes were tied to 13 to 16% lower risk of both. Fibre, soy, fruit, vegetables and processed meat showed no link.
Supplements
Sulforaphane fights triple negative breast cancer
In a study in Cancer Research, sulforaphane, a compound in broccoli and its sprouts, stopped breast cancer stem cells from forming mammospheres at 7.5 uM. Mice given 50 mg/kg daily developed smaller tumors, most markedly when supplemented before receiving the cancer cells.
Minerals
Calcium supplements cut death risk in women, but not men?
In 132,823 adults followed about 17.5 years, women taking 500 to 1,000 mg of supplemental calcium daily had up to 16% lower all-cause death risk, while men taking 1,000 mg or more were 17% more likely to die, mostly from cardiovascular causes.
Supplements
Turmeric based herbal supplement as effective as antidiabetic drug
Diabetic rats given a 1:1 Curcuma longa and Eugenia jambolana supplement twice daily for six weeks had significantly lower fasting and random plasma glucose and 6% lower HbA1c than controls, an effect the researchers say matched the drug glibenclamide.
Supplements
Ketone supplements may fight advanced cancer
Mice with metastatic cancer on either a standard or ketogenic diet also received the ketone supplement 1,3-butanediol. The supplement slowed tumor growth and lengthened survival by 34 to 50 percent, and the researchers suggest it might help patients on standard care.
Supplements
Fenugreek extracts help treat drug resistant breast cancer
A 2016 study reports that fenugreek (Trigonella foenum) extract cut the viability, clonogenicity and invasion of doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cells and made them more sensitive to the drug; in mice, the combination shrank tumors. The writer asks why the extract was not tested alone.
Vitamins
High vitamin D levels better breast cancer survival
A 2016 JAMA Oncology study of 1,666 breast cancer patients found those in the highest tertile of serum vitamin D at diagnosis were 28% less likely to die during follow-up than those in the lowest, with a stronger association among premenopausal women.
Food
White wine drinkers more likely to develop melanoma
Across three US cohorts, each additional 12.8 grams of alcohol a day was linked to a 22% higher melanoma risk, but only white wine carried the association: drinking it five or more times a week was tied to 31% higher risk. Other alcoholic drinks showed none.
Food
UK breakfast habits – AHDB
A Toluna QuickSurveys poll of 2,000 people in the UK found 65% eat breakfast at the table on weekdays and 73% at weekends, while a quarter skip breakfast some days. Half start with grains, cereals or oats, and 24.3% with toast and a topping.
Food
Pumpkin seed extract fights prostate cnacer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer
An ethanolic extract of Styrian pumpkin seeds inhibited the growth of prostate, breast and colorectal cancer cells by 40 to 50% in the laboratory, without estrogenic activity or effect on hormone receptors. The authors say the efficacy still needs confirming.
Food
U.S. decline in meat protein consumption raises concern for Texas A&M scientist
Texas A&M animal scientist Guoyao Wu says a 14 percent drop in U.S. meat consumption over a decade worries him, arguing meat supplies antioxidants such as taurine and carnosine that plants do not, and blaming obesity on portion sizes and inactivity rather than meat.
Phytochemicals
Cardamonin helps treat breast cancer
A study led by Deyong Jia at the University of Ottawa found cardamonin, a compound in many plants, killed breast cancer stem-like cells enriched by chemotherapy in cell cultures and in mice, where it slowed tumor growth alongside doxorubicin.
Supplements
Curcumin helps fight glioblastoma
Intranasal curcumin or its derivatives put 50% of treated mice with glioblastoma into remission, with similar results from an encapsulated form given intraperitoneally. A separate study suggests curcumin may suppress the cancer stem cells chemotherapy generates in pancreatic cancer.
Supplements
Nutritional therapy betters breast cancer outcomes
A study in Molecular Aspects of Medicine gave 32 high-risk breast cancer patients antioxidants, essential fatty acids and coenzyme Q10 alongside surgery and standard treatment. Over 18 months none died against four deaths expected, none showed new metastases, and six had partial remission.
Vitamins
Vitamin D may help fight prostate cancer
Among 1,000 prostate cancer patients followed for 23 years, those with higher circulating vitamin D at diagnosis were 28 percent less likely to die of the disease, an observational study found. Whether vitamin D prevents prostate cancer remains unclear.
Supplements
Beta-glucan lowers bad cholesterol
A review of 14 randomized trials in the FASEB Journal found that roughly 6.5 to 6.9 grams a day of barley beta-glucan, taken for about four weeks, moderately lowered LDL and non-HDL cholesterol compared with control diets, though it did not change apoB.
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