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Confused About Green Tea?

wellness — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:22:00 +0000

Headlines announcing a recent Journal of the American Medical Association study linked consumption of green tea with protection from stroke, but not cancer, caught many people by surprise. Tea provides a good example of why we need to consider both laboratory and population studies in choosing steps to lower cancer risk and promote overall health.

Green tea contains relatively high amounts of a type of phytochemical called EGCG, proven in laboratory studies to be a powerful antioxidant. A variety of antioxidants from plant foods seem to stabilize “free radicals,” protecting DNA from damage that could allow cancer to develop, and protecting blood vessels from damage that could promote blockages. Studies show EGCG can also increase production of enzymes that protect us from cancer-causing substances, decrease levels of a substance key to promoting cancer development, and increase cancer cell self-destruction.

In most studies checking signs of green tea’s effects in people, antioxidant levels in the blood increase, showing we can absorb antioxidant compounds in tea.

Do benefits of soy decrease protection of tea?

Benefits in the effects seen in tea drinkers may come from other healthy habits. Differences of study findings may also mean green tea offers more benefit for some people than others, depending on diet or exposure to risk-producing substances such as tobacco or pollution. One study, for example, suggests tea and soy may produce similar benefits, and consuming one may decrease the chances

of benefit from the other. That might explain why cancer protection was not seen in the recent study of Japanese adults, almost all of whom ate soy foods daily.

report excerpted from MSNBC.com

An Apple A Day?

wellness — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:19:06 +0000

report from MSNBC.com

If you look only at lists of fruits highest in vitamin C or read about the super health-promoting powers of the latest popular fruit, you might wonder if Grandma’s advice “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” still merits consideration.

Yet as research moves further into the study of the thousands of natural compounds we get from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other plant foods, apples do shine.

Antioxidants are well-established as an important part of how healthful eating can lower our risk of heart disease and cancer, and possibly other conditions that can develop as we age. They’re also frequently discussed in relation to vitamins C and E, and perhaps other plant compounds such as beta-carotene. However, fruits and vegetables also provide flavonoids, a large group of compounds that are all antioxidants.

The antioxidant power of flavonoids is one reason that apples are again in the spotlight. Apples contain only modest amounts of vitamin C. A medium apple averages about 6 milligrams of vitamin C, not much compared to the recommended daily intake of

75 to 90 milligrams for adults. But scientists have now calculated the antioxidant power of that apple is equal to more than 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C. The vast majority of its antioxidants come from flavonoids.

Obesity is on its way to being deadlier than smoking…

wellness — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:18:52 +0000

…as a cause of cancer, a leading researcher said.

Being obese is currently associated with about 14 percent of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women, compared with about 30 percent each for smoking, Dr. Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“As smoking goes down and obesity goes up it won’t be long before obesity is the No. 1 cancer killer,” Willett said at a symposium on cancer prevention.

Added Dr. Douglas R. Lowy of the National Cancer Institute: “Cancer prevention begins at home. … Not all of us always act in our own best interest.”

Willett said research is producing increasing evidence associating obesity with a variety of cancers, including breast, colorectal, liver, pancreas and gallbladder. Alcohol is also associated with certain cancers, he said.

In the 1980s, researchers focused on the amount of fat people ate as a probable cause of cancer, but studies did not strongly support that. Later they turned to diets high in fruits and vegetables as a way to reduce cancer, but again, Willett said, they struggled to find convincing evidence in studies.

Now attention has turned to obesity, and more and more research is providing evidence that indict that as a cancer cause.

That does not mean people should stop eating fruit and vegetables and go to a high-fat diet, he quickly added. “We do see evidence of a benefit for heart disease, I think that’s pretty real,” he said.

And, he noted, studies have indicated some benefit from a high fruit and vegetable diet in some cancers, he added, including mouth, esophagus, lung and stomach.

Overall, Willett estimated 30 percent to 35 percent of cancers are due to nutritional factors, much of it to obesity.

report from FOXnews.com