An Italian case-control study of 230 gastric cancer patients and 547 controls found people in the top quartile for vitamin E, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene were 50, 48 and 58 percent less likely to have the disease, while all quartiles above the lowest sodium intake had about 2.5 times the risk.
Section archive
Page 33 of 34
Avoiding Illness
How diet and lifestyle affect cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other illnesses.
- All desks
- Abortion
- Accutane
- Acetaminophen
- Acid Reflux
- Acidic Foods
- Acne
- Acrylamide
- Acupuncture
- Additives
- ADHD
- Adiposity
- Advisories
- Aerobic Exercise
- Aflatoxin
- Agave
- Agent Orange
- Aging
- Agriculture
- AIDS
- Air Pollution
- Airline Passengers
- Airport
- ALA
- Alcohol
- Alcoholic Beverage
- Alerts
- Allergy
- Alli
- Aloe Vera
- ALS
- Alternative Medicine
- Aluminum
- Alzheimer's
- Amalgam
- AMD
- Ampyra
- Amygdala
- Anal Cancer
- And
- Anemia
- Angiogenesis
- Animal Protein
- Animals
- Anorexia
- Anthocyanins
- Anthrax
- Anti-Angiogenesis
- Anti-Obesity
- Antibacterial
- Antibiotic
Cancer
Blowing Out the Fuse: How Our Bodies Stop Cancer Before It Starts
The American Institute for Cancer Research describes how enzymes clear cancer-sparking substances and antioxidants neutralize free radicals, and how repeated exposure can rewrite a cell's DNA instructions so it reproduces uncontrollably. Plant-rich diets help keep those defenses running.
Autoimmune Diseases
Drinking in Excess Associated with Increased Risk for Metabolic Syndrome
Among 1,529 current drinkers aged 20 to 84 in the 1999-2002 NHANES, those exceeding the Dietary Guidelines or binge drinking faced higher metabolic syndrome risk. Lead author Amy Fan notes that 58% of U.S. drinkers report drinking above the guidelines.
Other Diseases
Alcohol binges early in pregnancy increase risk of infant oral clefts
NIEHS researchers found that Norwegian women who averaged five or more drinks per sitting early in pregnancy were more than twice as likely as non-drinkers to have a baby with an oral cleft, and three times as likely if they binged on three or more occasions in the first trimester.
Other Diseases
Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of premature death from all causes
Among 3,258 patients scheduled for coronary angiography and followed 7.7 years, those in the lowest two 25-hydroxyvitamin D quartiles were 2.08 and 1.53 times more likely to die of any cause than those in the highest, with similar figures for cardiovascular death.
Cancer
Pancreatic cancer: What you need to know
Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, known for his last lecture, died of pancreatic cancer at 47. The disease was projected to be diagnosed in 37,680 Americans and kill 34,290 in 2008. Smoking is the main avoidable risk; a Karolinska study tied sweetened food and drink to higher risk.
Obesity
Limiting fructose may boost weight loss
Elizabeth Parks of UT Southwestern reports in the Journal of Nutrition that people turn fructose into body fat surprisingly fast, and that cutting fructose may be one reason low-carbohydrate diets work. Which carbohydrates you eat may matter as much as how many calories.
Obesity
Low carb diet effective at helping weight loss for a short term
A two-year trial of low-carbohydrate, low-fat and Mediterranean diets produced no more than about 10 pounds of weight loss despite tight calorie control and counselling, with the low-carb diet doing best. An editor's note cautions those dieters were steered toward vegetarian fat and protein.
Diabetes
Fruit juice linked to increased diabetes risk
Among 71,000 women followed 18 years in the Nurses' Health Study, Lydia Bazzano's team found three extra daily servings of whole fruit went with 18% lower type 2 diabetes risk, while one extra serving of fruit juice went with higher risk.
Cancer
Vitamin A pushes breast cancer to form blood vessel cells
Georgetown researchers found that vitamin A applied to breast cancer cells switches on genes that push tumor stem cells to become endothelial cells able to build blood vessels. Senior author Stephen Byers calls it a disturbing hint that retinoid drugs might stimulate tumor growth.
Other Diseases
Low vitamin D harms bones of IBD patients
Researchers in Manitoba measured bone density and vitamin D in 101 people with inflammatory bowel disease. Only 22 had optimal vitamin D levels, and higher levels went with higher bone density, suggesting adequate vitamin D may help ward off bone disease in these patients.
Cancer
What can you eat to prevent prostate cancer
A roundup of earlier reports on diet and prostate cancer, among them a review of plant-based diets, trials of black tea and lycopene, and Japanese research finding men who drank five or more cups of green tea a day were 48% less likely to develop advanced disease.
Other Diseases
Eating too much soy may cause memory loss
A study of 719 elderly Indonesians found eating tofu at least once a day was linked to worse memory, especially after age 68, while fermented tofu was linked to better memory. Researchers suspect phytoestrogens, though formaldehyde used to preserve tofu may play a part.
Other Diseases
Save the Gorillas
An argument that heart disease among zoo gorillas may trace to the shared primate inability to make vitamin C. Humans, apes and guinea pigs lack the enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase, and Linus Pauling theorized that this defect is the cause of heart disease.
Obesity
Not all sugars have an equal effect on obesity
Peter Havel's team at UC Davis reported that overweight and obese people who took about 15 percent of calories as pure fructose for ten weeks gained 1.5 kilograms and added intra-abdominal fat. A glucose group gained the same weight but not the deep belly fat.
Obesity
Eating a carb-rich breakfast helps lose more weight
In a study of 94 obese, inactive women, those who ate a big high-carb breakfast lost more weight over eight months than strict low-carb dieters, who regained 18 pounds. Lead author Daniela Jakubowicz says very low-carb diets worsen carb cravings and slow metabolism.
Cancer
What you need to do to reduce cancer risk
The list runs to ten steps, among them losing excess weight, exercising 30 minutes a day, drinking green tea or coffee, and eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, with the supporting research cited for each.
Obesity
Prenatal diet affects onset of puberty
In a rat study presented at the Endocrine Society meeting, pups whose mothers ate a high-fat diet reached puberty earlier and carried more body fat later, even when they themselves ate normally. Researcher Deborah Sloboda said the fetal environment may matter more than childhood nutrition.
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