Propaganda : Drink 3-6 cups of green tea a day for its antioxidants.
Reality : Today's cup of green tea is often contaminated with unprecedented amounts of fluoride, aluminum, and DDT, and regular consumption can lead to serious health problems.
To make matters worse, some samples of green tea recently analyzed were contaminated with DDT and the DDT-like pesticide Dursban - raising concerns about tea's possible role in the development of breast cancer. (Source: F.C.Whittelsey, "What's in Your Green Tea?" In These Times, August 21, 2000, http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/19/whittelsey2419.html )
TIPS: For antioxidants : consume fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, and/or supplement with vitamins C and E, selenium, CoQ10 and N-Acetyl Cysteine.
Great News ! Dark chocolate (organic) had four times the amount of antioxidants as green tea per serving !
Look for dark chocolate, which contains at least 70% cocoa solids.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
politically incorrect
: the moment we are born into this gia cosmos , our political life begins.
There is much confusion in the minds of many. And much fear. We want to be healthy. We want to do the right thing, but the overload of information and advice is causing many people simply to throw up their hands (if they are still able) in disgust, despair, or resignation.
It is easy to see the signs of a public out of tune with food and water : high rates of heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, and the almost epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypothyroidism. If only we are told about cellular dehydration in the body systems, then we just get the clue word hydration to remedy our situations and conditions. If we continue to hide, worst-to bury,our heads in the proverbial sand about water and nutrition, or on the other hand, if we quickly jump on any new diet or breaking-news bandwagon without giving a close look at the science behind it, we will continue to fight/flight a losing battle.
While the science of human nutrition constantly changes, there is one science that does not change, one science that is often at odds with the human nutritional health of our nation : political science. Sadly, it seems, the prime motivation of many politicians is to keep power (unlike the late Dr Goh Keng Swee from Republic of Singapore), and to do so they often form an unhealthy partnership with corporate interest. In an attempt to make higher profits, industry enlists the aid of elected officials and their appointed bureaucrats to make policy which affects public health.
This is no surprise, I am sure. This is not news. But the extent to which the safety of what we eat and drink is affected by corporate influence and greed may come as a surprise. In fact, we should be outraged. Our health is at stake as we are poisoned daily with what should never be in our foods aka FOD meaning Foreign Objects Damage, and we are also poisoned with bad advice. Some of the 'professional-politically incorrect' advice is well-intentioned, but much of it is based on old, unscientific information. Some of it is based on myth. And some of that information is actually misinformation designed to keep the public ignorant while the food-chains companies reap filthy-lucre enormous profits.
With certain issues, there are many studies that arrive at quite opposite conclusions. Agribusiness, factory farms, and industrial and political concerns have already presented their case. With faulty or falsified research, with a misinterpretation of the facts, they have greatly influenced what we consume. As a consequence, the health of our nation has suffered. It is time to present the other side: Drugs Kill,Water Cure. It's time to show how we have been misled. The readers, you Healthy Wealth visitors, can act as the jury , using common sense to arrive at a better and natural understanding of human nutrition : survival. You, dear readers, can determine whether the information blogged here rings true in your own lives on both an intellectual and an intuitive level.
There is a battle of immerse significance taking place today, 24/05/2010, the outcome of which will affect the health of everyone in this country Re(present)public of Singapore.
On one side we have the science of nutrition and the art of eating and drinking. On the other side, the opponent is represented by the science of politics and the art of making money. Bear in mind, love for money is the root of all evils. Let us clear the air and see what the facts are.
There is much confusion in the minds of many. And much fear. We want to be healthy. We want to do the right thing, but the overload of information and advice is causing many people simply to throw up their hands (if they are still able) in disgust, despair, or resignation.
It is easy to see the signs of a public out of tune with food and water : high rates of heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, and the almost epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypothyroidism. If only we are told about cellular dehydration in the body systems, then we just get the clue word hydration to remedy our situations and conditions. If we continue to hide, worst-to bury,our heads in the proverbial sand about water and nutrition, or on the other hand, if we quickly jump on any new diet or breaking-news bandwagon without giving a close look at the science behind it, we will continue to fight/flight a losing battle.
While the science of human nutrition constantly changes, there is one science that does not change, one science that is often at odds with the human nutritional health of our nation : political science. Sadly, it seems, the prime motivation of many politicians is to keep power (unlike the late Dr Goh Keng Swee from Republic of Singapore), and to do so they often form an unhealthy partnership with corporate interest. In an attempt to make higher profits, industry enlists the aid of elected officials and their appointed bureaucrats to make policy which affects public health.
This is no surprise, I am sure. This is not news. But the extent to which the safety of what we eat and drink is affected by corporate influence and greed may come as a surprise. In fact, we should be outraged. Our health is at stake as we are poisoned daily with what should never be in our foods aka FOD meaning Foreign Objects Damage, and we are also poisoned with bad advice. Some of the 'professional-politically incorrect' advice is well-intentioned, but much of it is based on old, unscientific information. Some of it is based on myth. And some of that information is actually misinformation designed to keep the public ignorant while the food-chains companies reap filthy-lucre enormous profits.
With certain issues, there are many studies that arrive at quite opposite conclusions. Agribusiness, factory farms, and industrial and political concerns have already presented their case. With faulty or falsified research, with a misinterpretation of the facts, they have greatly influenced what we consume. As a consequence, the health of our nation has suffered. It is time to present the other side: Drugs Kill,Water Cure. It's time to show how we have been misled. The readers, you Healthy Wealth visitors, can act as the jury , using common sense to arrive at a better and natural understanding of human nutrition : survival. You, dear readers, can determine whether the information blogged here rings true in your own lives on both an intellectual and an intuitive level.
There is a battle of immerse significance taking place today, 24/05/2010, the outcome of which will affect the health of everyone in this country Re(present)public of Singapore.
On one side we have the science of nutrition and the art of eating and drinking. On the other side, the opponent is represented by the science of politics and the art of making money. Bear in mind, love for money is the root of all evils. Let us clear the air and see what the facts are.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wishing Mr Khaw Boon Wan
a healthy and gainful recovery from his recent open-heart surgery.
I wish all doctors advice their discharged patients about water-cure protocol to sustain and maintain their own health at home and work.
I wish all doctors advice their discharged patients about water-cure protocol to sustain and maintain their own health at home and work.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Special affects : Iron Man 2 fighting Iron Overload (adverse effects) and Cancer
Have you seen the special affects of Iron Man 2, lately? It's not too late to catch up on this movie, Iron Man 2 is showing in cinemas here, Singapore. About 190 out of 530 visual effects shots in Iron Man 2 were done by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) Singapore in its largest contribution to date to a major movie. ILM Singapore is an extension of ILM California. The sister divisions of the San Franscisco-based Lucasfilm Limited: The visual effects arm Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and the games arm LucasArts.
Lucasfilm Singapore is a joint venture between Lucasfilm Limited, the United States-based founding company, and Singapore's Economic development Board (EDB). Lucasfilm owns 75% share of the company while EDB and Singapore-based electronics firm Creative Technology hold 25%.
IRON AND CANCER by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari (source: www.cacare.com)
Iron is a very misunderstood topic. Most people perceive iron (with animal protein) to be essential for strength and energy, hence the concept no meat, no strength. Read on and find out why the iron in meat will lead to a lot of health problems from heart disease to cancer.
IRON - WHAT IT IS
Iron is a mineral essential for life and is found in red blood cells. Iron's primary role is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Much of the iron in the body occurs in the haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the component of red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen and deliver it to the body's tissues.
Iron is thus an important component of haemoglobin and muscle cells. It is also necessary for the formation of many enzymes in the body.
The body recycles iron. When red blood cells die, the iron in them is returned to the bone marrow to be used again in new blood cells. A small amount of iron is lost each day, mainly in cells shed from the lining of the intestine. This amount is usually replaced by 1 to 2 milligrams of iron absorbed from the food each day.
(The body contains between 3.5gm and 4.5gm of iron, two thirds of which is present in haemoglobin. The remainder is stored in the liver, spleen and bone-marrow. A small amount is present as myoglobin, which acts as an oxygen store in muscle tissue. )
The Recommended Dietary Allowance(RDA) for iron in healthy adults is 10mg per day for men and 15mg for premenopausal women. Premenopausal women's need for iron is higher than men because women lose iron during menstruation.
There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Iron in meat, fish and poultry is found in a chemical structure known as HEME. Heme iron is absorbed very efficiently by our body. Iron in plants such as lentils and beans is arranged in a different chemical structure called NONHEME iron. Nonheme iron is less easily absorbed by the body than is heme iron. The amount of iron absorbed from various foods ranges from around 1 to 10% from plant foods and 10 to 20% from animal foods.
The absorption of iron is influenced by other constituents of a meal. Phytates, oxalates and phosphates present in plant foods can inhibit absorption, as can tannin in tea. Fibre may also inhibit absorption. However, Vitamin C greatly increases the absorption of nonheme iron.
Foods rich in Vitamin C include papaya, green peppers, and fresh green vegetables.
Good sources of iron for vegetarians include wholegrain cereals and flours, leafy green vegetables, blackstrap molasses, pulses such as lentils and kidney beans, and some dried foods (see table on Food Sources of iron).
IRON DEFICIENCY
Iron deficiency is a common mineral deficiency which is most commonly caused
by loss of blood due to some internal bleeding, inadequate diet, etc. When iron reserves in the body are exhausted, anemia develops. Anemia causes paleness, weakness,irritability, drowsiness and fatigue, etc. In such cases, doctors would trace the root cause of such anemia or source of bleeding.
IRON OVERLOAD
Once iron is absorbed by the digestive tract, the body stores it. Most of us accumulate much more iron than we need. Unfortunately, the body has no way to rid itself of excess iron except in the case of some form of bleeding or by donating blood.
Although not as common as iron deficiency, iron overload can also be serious.
Hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder where individuals absorb more iron than normal,
can lead to iron stores in the body eventually building up to such high levels that organs are damaged. Heme iron (from meat ) poses the greatest risk for people with this disorder.
Excess iron stores does not provide any particular advantage and may even have
adverse effects. For example, iron is a pro-oxidant – it promotes oxidative damage that is linked to many chronic diseases. In some studies, excess iron stores (and intakes)have been linked to increased risk of heart disease and certain forms of cancer,particularly colorectal cancer. Iron accumulation can damage any part of the body,including the brain, liver, pancreas, lungs or heart.
IRON AND VEGETARIAN DIETS : ARE VEGETARIANS MORE DEFICIENT THAN NON-VEGETARIANS?
If people are building their diet from grains, beans, vegetables and fruits, are they going to become iron deficient? Absolutely not, according to Dr Randall Lauffer in his book IRON BALANCE. According to Dr Randall, there are many studies in vegetarian populations where the iron levels are lower than they are in a meat-eating population,but they are certainly adequate, more than adequate. Most men have 1000 to 2000 extra milligrams of iron in their bodies, and that is iron that they are not using. It is just waiting to cause trouble.
The above fact (about vegetarians' iron adequacy) is clearly echoed by Dr David Ogilvie whose research showed that a well-balanced vegetarian diet provides enough
Iron. Vegetarians have no more iron deficiency or anemia than non-vegetarians. On the whole, research indicates that dietary intake of iron by vegetarians, particularly in the case of vegans, meets or exceeds the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance).
On another front, some experts contend that if fibre intake is too high the bodies are not able to absorb as much iron and related minerals because the fibre may bind with these nutrients and carry them through our system before we are able to digest them. The "experts" say that the maximum level of fibre should be around 30 - 35 grams per day, which is only about the average intake of the rural Chinese.
On the iron / fibre issue, Dr Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor of Nutrition at Cornell University wrote in The China Study that fibre is not the enemy of iron absorption as so many experts claim it to be.
In the massive study of nutritional habits of the Chinese in various counties in China,Dr Campbell proved that there was no evidence showing that increasing fibre intake impaired iron absorption in the body. On the contrary, people who consumed more plant-based foods, thus more dietary fibre, also consume more iron (non-heme iron) all of which results in statistically significant higher levels of haemoglobin.
In his book, The Food Connection, Dr Sam Graci, a leading nutritionist in US, also mentioned that until recently, the unsubstantiated belief was that "good" non-heme iron, from non-meat sources is not absorbed well. It was argued that phytates, polyphenols, tannins and oxalates would bind to non-heme iron and reduce its absorption. The iron status of vegetarian Asians and vegetarian Westerners (their haemoglobin, plasma ferritin and plasma iron-binding capacity) has shown no particular iron mineral deficiences. The beneficial non-heme iron from plants, sea vegetables,legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains, spirulina, does not accumulate in the body.
EXCESS IRON AND CANCER
Most of us, especially the meat eaters are unaware that excess iron generates "free
radical" that damage cells and encourage a build-up of bad LDL Cholesterol. Too much
iron, primarily in red meat, may promote cancer notably colon cancer. The claim that
meat is a good source of iron, meat gives strength and energy are all propagated by the meat industry and this has led to a proliferation of illness ranging from heart diseases to various forms of cancers. Are there evidence that having excess iron is dangerous?
Let us look at some of the literature by various authorities …... medical doctors, cancer Centres and research scientists :-
1) NATURAL STRATEGIES FOR CANCER PATIENTS by Dr Russell Blaylock, MD was the Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi.
After 20 years of nutritional research, Dr Blaylock realised the critical importance of nutrition in the immune function. Following are the main points on iron and cancer:
a ) Numerous studies have shown that cancer is highly iron dependant. This is because rapidly dividing cells require iron for DNA replication. The cancer cells' need for iron is so great that they will steal iron from normall cells and from iron stores.
b ) Higher dietary iron intake has also been associated with an increase in cancers
stimulated by the powerful estrogen estradiol.
c ) One of the best sources of absorbable iron is meat - the specific form it contains is called heme iron. Subjects who ate the most red meat had significantly higher rates of lung cancer than the subjects who avoided red meats. In fact, the lung cancer rate was 300% higher in the red meat eaters than in the abstainers.
d ) Because iron is so destructive to the cells and tissues when it is allowed to float around freely, most of the iron in the body is bound to special proteins called transferrin. Free iron,(when there is an excess overload) is a very powerful
generator of free radicals and lipid peroxidation.
e ) It is vital that cancer patients avoid iron supplements and high iron-containing foods with significant absorbability, such as red meats.
f ) Controlling the iron levels can be done purely through nutrition. One of the best ways to remove excess iron from your body is to increase the phytates in your diet. The phytates are natural substances found in grains, potatoes, and many other foods. These compounds bind tightly with iron in a process called chelation, preventing the iron from doing harm. Many flavonoids and plant components found in common fruits and vegetables can chelate iron.
g )Can eating too many vegetables lead to iron-deficiency anemia? Carefully done studies have shown that the flavonoids in foods allow just enough iron to be absorbed to prevent anemia. Even though brocolli and spinach contain as much iron as a comparable amount of beef, only a small amount of the iron is absorbed from the
vegetables, whereas 60 to 70 percent of the iron is absorbed from beef. That explains the decreasing longevity/lifespan of mankind after the great Flood period when animal meat is permitted into mankind's diet. Prior to that, it was just fruits with seeds and herbs with seeds shall be your food. Genesis 1:29.
h )IRON IS A POWERFUL STIMULUS FOR CANCER GROWTH, INVASION, AND MESTASTASIS.
2 )IRON OVERLOAD - THE MISSED DIAGNOSIS by Dr Paul Cutler, MD,a graduate of the University of Toronto medical school, has published many research articles on excess iron in various peer medical journals. In the above titled article which appeared in the newsletter of the Consumer Health Organization of Canada, Dr Cutler made the following points:-
a)Physicians were more interested in anemias and low iron deficiency and did not really perform the necessary tests of iron metabolism to diagnose the opposite end of the spectrum - iron overload.
b)By 1989, doctors began publishing research which showed that iron was also a risk factor in cancer at levels that were far less than what they had thought safe in the past.
c)Excess iron is very dangerous. Iron is capable of inducing free radical or oxidative Pathology.
d)Tumour cells and bacteria need iron to grow, and your body tries to starve them of
iron by diverting the iron from the blood to storage sites deep within the tissues. It is well known, biochemically, that if you add iron to tumour cells in cultures, they grow at a much faster rate and that breast cancer cells thrive on iron. In 1988, many studies began to surface showing that iron was indeed a risk in common cancers such as lung, colon, bladder, oesophagus, and at levels that were shockingly
less than doctors had previously considered dangerous. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (Oct 1988) by Dr Richard Stevens showed that as iron saturation levels increase, cancer rates go up. Until that time a 65% of saturation level was considered to be safe, but this study showed that at a 37% saturation level, the cancer rate started to skyrocket, and doctors began to question the levels they had previously considered safe. In January 1944, in the International Journal of Cancer, Dr Stevens reported that cancer rates were increasing at levels of only 31%.
e)The sources of nutritional dietary iron which raise the iron levels in the body are red meat and alcohol.
f)Plant iron (i.e. nonheme iron) is not considered to be a major offender of iron overload.
3)IRON : A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD by Rebecca Lavie, M.A.is a special education teacher who was forced to give up her career after being stricken with an unidentified disabling illness. After 12 years of going
from doctor to doctor, she was finally diagnosed with iron overload and elevated levels of aluminium, lead and copper by Dr Paul Cutler (see Iron Overload - The Missed Diagnosis). Following her treatment and recovery, she began researching the scientific literature on the subject of iron overload, a potentially lethal, but under diagnosed and under treated medical condition.
In her book, she states that iron can re-activate a latent infection or tumour. Iron feeds cancer cells and causes them to metastasize. Many studies have shown that up to 88% of metastasized breast cancer patients have elevated serum ferritin.
Cancerous breasts have three times as much iron as normal breasts. Many people with excess iron develop liver dysfunction which can develop into enlarged liver, jaundice, and lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
4)NORRIS COTTON CANCER CENTER, an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr Leo Zacharski, MD, Professor of Medicine Dartsmouth Medical School and a member of the staff of the Hematology and Oncology of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, conducted a large randomized clinical trial clinical trial in which effects of lowering iron stores by phlebotomy (removal of blood )
The following are some salient points pointed out by this centre under its Iron Surveillance Program:
a ) The amount of iron carried in the body comes almost entirely from excessive dietary intake. Because almost everyone consumes more iron than needed over long periods of time, iron accumulation occurs in most people and may predispose to common diseases of aging.
b)Cancer cells are known to grow rapidly in response to iron in their environment.
c)Elevated iron levels induce oxidative stress that damages critical molecules to cause disease.
d)Iron intake by an unsuspecting public is generally in excess of requirements because of government mandated iron supplementation of processed foods (such as cereal grains).
e)Iron that is present naturally (usually in small quantities in vegetables is generally poorly absorbed and relatively safe. Spinach is famous for its relatively high iron content but this iron is mostly not absorbable.
f)The body does not automatically eliminate excessive quantities of iron that may be harmful.
5)AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH (AICR) Karen Collins, a dietitian and nutritionist with AICR wrote in its Jan 1st 2007 newsletter What's Your Vegetables-to-Meat Ratio? in which she stated that studiesindicate that heme iron may damage the lining of the colon. Heme iron may interact with estrogen in promoting hormone related cancers, such as breast and prostate cancers.
6)IRON BALANCE by Dr Randall Byron Lauffer, MD, was a professor at Harvard Medical School, and later was the director of a research laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a leading expert on mineral biochemistry and the use of minerals in medical diagnosis and therapy. Dr Randall made clear comments about iron's role in cancer:
a)Iron is a key component of the free radical theory of disease.
b)The biggest contributor to both iron and high cholesterol levels is meat. So every
bite of meat is contributing to problems in the body – heart and chronic diseases.
c)We have had evidence for a long time that high iron levels do increase the risk of
Cancer.
This is because:a) iron's role in free radical damage is important in cancer.
b) iron is known to be a key and best catalyst for this process, you can imagine.
c) Iron has another role in cancer: it is a key ingredient for cell division. If the cell does not have iron around, it simply does not divide. So if you can restrict the amount of iron from animal-based to a cancer cell, it actually slows down cancer growth. People with higher amount of iron have plenty of iron to supply growing cancer cells.
d)For men especially, it was clear that higher iron levels were associated with increased risk for certain forms of cancer. For example, a person with inherited iron-overload has 200 times the risk of liver cancer compared to a normal person.
e)During the past 4 decades, numerous research groups have reported that the administration of excessive amounts of injected or oral iron increases markedly the risk of adenocarcinomas, colorectal tumours, hepatomas, mammary tumours, mesotheliomas, renal cell carcinomas, and sarcomas.
f)As consumption of red meat (heme iron) is the main source of oral iron,it is important to decrease or eliminate the consumption of red meats, avoidance of processed foods that have been adulterated with inorganic iron and also eliminate iron supplements unless an iron deficiency has been correctly diagnosed.
8) EXOGENOUS FACTORS IN COLONIC CARCINOGENESIS by W. Scheppach, M. Scheurlen
This book is the proceedings of Falk Symposium 128, held in Warzburg, Germany in 2002 and dedicated to the important issue of colonic carcinogensis and its underlying genetic and environmental factors.
A chapter : Red Meat : A dietary risk factor for Colorectal Cancer, research scientists H. Boeing, E. Riboli and T. Norat stated the following points :-
a) Meat is an excellent source of iron. In fresh meat, iron is bound mostly to Myoglobin: globin and haemoglobin are part of the heme iron fraction, and this is preferentially absorbed in the human body.
b) A high dietary iron intake will lead to a high availability of iron in the gut lumen.(High levels of iron stores are indicated by high transferrin saturation and increased
c) We cannot refute the idea that iron is directly linked to risk of colorectal cancer.
9) NUTRITION, TOXICITY AND CANCER by Dr Ian R. Rowland, PhD, is the Professor in Human Nutrition at the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, UK.
Touching on iron excess, Professor Rowland said: Dietary iron levels are positively associated with colon cancer. Diets that are high in red meat and fat content are iron rich and also provide copious lipid substate for peroxidation. The mechanism by which iron increases colorectal cancer risk relates to the effect of iron on oxygen radical metabolism.
10) IRON CHELATION THERAPY by Dr Chaim Hershko. This book by research scientist Dr Chaim Hershko deals with the pathophysiology of iron toxicity and the mechanism of iron chelating drugs. The section on Iron Overload Diseases (pg 28) said: There are several inherited and acquired disorders that can result in chronic iron overload in humans, and whose major outcome include hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular cancer (liver cancer), cardiac disease, and diabetes. (The liver is the main organ for iron storage and also the main site of iron toxicity during iron overload).
SCIENTIFIC / RESEARCH STUDIES
In this section, we looked at some research studies conducted by various cancer research groups, various institutions and hospitals. These are just some of the hundreds of studies conducted. To read more just go to Google.com and type in Dietary Iron and Cancer.
1)BODY IRON STORES AND THE RISK OF CANCER by RG Stevens, DY Jones, Ms Micozzi, and PR Taylor. The New England Journal of Medicine 319:1047-1052.v because of evidence that increased body iron stores are associated with an increased risk of cancer, we examined iron status and cancer risk. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that high body iron stores increase the risk of cancer in men.
2)IRON OVERLOAD AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CANCER RISK IN HUMANS; EVIDENCE FOR IRON AS A CARCINOGENIC METAL by Dr Xi Huang, Dept of Environmental Medicine, NYU Cancer Institute, NYU School of Medicine, New York. Journal Mutation Research 533 (2003).
In this review, evidence for iron as a carcinogenic metal was summarised from epidemiological, animal and cell culture studies. The role of iron in various cancers, such as colorectal cancer and liver cancer was presented. It also pointed out that most iron in humans exists as heme, present in heme proteins or in ferritin, an iron storage protein. Heme is an excellent source of iron for humans. Red meats contain large amounts of heme, which can be absorbed more easily than inorganic iron due to the insolubility of iron salts.
Iron-induced malignant tumours were first reported in 1959. Beginning in the 1980's, epidemiological reports have associated increased iron exposure with elevated cancer risk. The majority of existing epidemiological data support the role of iron in human cancer.
3) TRANSFERRIN SATURATION, DIETARY IRON INTAKE, AND RISK OF CANCERby Prof. Arch. Mainous, PhD, Dr James M. Gill, MD, MPH and Charles Everett,PhD The Annals of Family Medicine 2005: 3 (2): 131 - 137.
Prof. Mainous is the professor in the Family Medicine Dept at the Medical University of South Carolina. The main message in this paper is: If you already have higher than normal body iron stores – indicated by high Percentages of transferring saturation and then eat plenty of iron-rich food, you Set yourself up for increased cancer risk. Persons with increased transferring Saturation who consume high levels of dietary iron or red meat have an increased mortality risk.
6) EXCESSIVE DIETARY IRON LINKED TO INCREASED RISK OF UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER by Dr David Jacobs NJ, International J of Cancer. Dec 2005.
A study, led by Dr David Jacobs and conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota revealed that the consumption of high levels of dietary iron is linked to an increased risk of throat and stomach cancer. The researchers identified a positive corelation between iron intake and the risk of these upper digestive tract cancers. This study was conducted over 16 years.
7) DIETARY IRON, ZINC AND CALCIUM AND THE RISK OF LUNG CANCER by Zhou, Wei, Park, Sohee and others. Epidemiology 16 (6):772 - 779, Nov 2005.
The above study concluded that dietary iron, zinc, and calcium may play an
important role in the development of lung cancer, especially among current smokers.
Dietary intakes of these micronutrients have been also associated with altered risks
of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
9)HIGH INTAKE OF IRON MAY INCREASE PROSTATE CANCER RISK
High intake of iron, combined with low intake of dietary antioxidants, may increase
prostate cancer risk, according to results of a study presented by Ji -Yeob Choi, PhD, Dept of Cancer Prevention and Population Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute at the 2007 centennial meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April 14 - 18, in Los Angeles, California. Those men who consumed higher amounts of dietary iron were found to be at increased risk of clinically aggressive prostate cancer ; this risk was strongest among men who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables.
10)IRON AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA ( LIVER CANCER ) by Yves Deugnier, Bruno Turlin and Others. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vol 16, May 2001. This group of French researchers at Hospital Pontchaillou, France, concluded that the high prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was associated with increased body stores of iron. Evidence of a co-carcinogenic role of iron strongly support that iron is involved in the development of HCC (liver cancer).
Comments:
From the above notes, it is imperative for cancer patients to:
1. AVOID all meats (pork, beef, chicken).
2. AVOID intake of iron supplements.
3. Besides the danger of excess iron intake, eating meat also mean consuming hormones,drugs such as antibiotics, growth stimulators and other chemicals that are being fed to the animals.
Meat is thus a storehouse of concentrated toxins. So when you doctors advise you to eat anything you like or eat more animal protein to beef up your blood – they only have in mind the need for you to complete your next chemo session, not so much about yourhealth.
Please think carefully and be informed.
Lucasfilm Singapore is a joint venture between Lucasfilm Limited, the United States-based founding company, and Singapore's Economic development Board (EDB). Lucasfilm owns 75% share of the company while EDB and Singapore-based electronics firm Creative Technology hold 25%.
IRON AND CANCER by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari (source: www.cacare.com)
Iron is a very misunderstood topic. Most people perceive iron (with animal protein) to be essential for strength and energy, hence the concept no meat, no strength. Read on and find out why the iron in meat will lead to a lot of health problems from heart disease to cancer.
IRON - WHAT IT IS
Iron is a mineral essential for life and is found in red blood cells. Iron's primary role is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Much of the iron in the body occurs in the haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the component of red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen and deliver it to the body's tissues.
Iron is thus an important component of haemoglobin and muscle cells. It is also necessary for the formation of many enzymes in the body.
The body recycles iron. When red blood cells die, the iron in them is returned to the bone marrow to be used again in new blood cells. A small amount of iron is lost each day, mainly in cells shed from the lining of the intestine. This amount is usually replaced by 1 to 2 milligrams of iron absorbed from the food each day.
(The body contains between 3.5gm and 4.5gm of iron, two thirds of which is present in haemoglobin. The remainder is stored in the liver, spleen and bone-marrow. A small amount is present as myoglobin, which acts as an oxygen store in muscle tissue. )
The Recommended Dietary Allowance(RDA) for iron in healthy adults is 10mg per day for men and 15mg for premenopausal women. Premenopausal women's need for iron is higher than men because women lose iron during menstruation.
There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Iron in meat, fish and poultry is found in a chemical structure known as HEME. Heme iron is absorbed very efficiently by our body. Iron in plants such as lentils and beans is arranged in a different chemical structure called NONHEME iron. Nonheme iron is less easily absorbed by the body than is heme iron. The amount of iron absorbed from various foods ranges from around 1 to 10% from plant foods and 10 to 20% from animal foods.
The absorption of iron is influenced by other constituents of a meal. Phytates, oxalates and phosphates present in plant foods can inhibit absorption, as can tannin in tea. Fibre may also inhibit absorption. However, Vitamin C greatly increases the absorption of nonheme iron.
Foods rich in Vitamin C include papaya, green peppers, and fresh green vegetables.
Good sources of iron for vegetarians include wholegrain cereals and flours, leafy green vegetables, blackstrap molasses, pulses such as lentils and kidney beans, and some dried foods (see table on Food Sources of iron).
IRON DEFICIENCY
Iron deficiency is a common mineral deficiency which is most commonly caused
by loss of blood due to some internal bleeding, inadequate diet, etc. When iron reserves in the body are exhausted, anemia develops. Anemia causes paleness, weakness,irritability, drowsiness and fatigue, etc. In such cases, doctors would trace the root cause of such anemia or source of bleeding.
IRON OVERLOAD
Once iron is absorbed by the digestive tract, the body stores it. Most of us accumulate much more iron than we need. Unfortunately, the body has no way to rid itself of excess iron except in the case of some form of bleeding or by donating blood.
Although not as common as iron deficiency, iron overload can also be serious.
Hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder where individuals absorb more iron than normal,
can lead to iron stores in the body eventually building up to such high levels that organs are damaged. Heme iron (from meat ) poses the greatest risk for people with this disorder.
Excess iron stores does not provide any particular advantage and may even have
adverse effects. For example, iron is a pro-oxidant – it promotes oxidative damage that is linked to many chronic diseases. In some studies, excess iron stores (and intakes)have been linked to increased risk of heart disease and certain forms of cancer,particularly colorectal cancer. Iron accumulation can damage any part of the body,including the brain, liver, pancreas, lungs or heart.
IRON AND VEGETARIAN DIETS : ARE VEGETARIANS MORE DEFICIENT THAN NON-VEGETARIANS?
If people are building their diet from grains, beans, vegetables and fruits, are they going to become iron deficient? Absolutely not, according to Dr Randall Lauffer in his book IRON BALANCE. According to Dr Randall, there are many studies in vegetarian populations where the iron levels are lower than they are in a meat-eating population,but they are certainly adequate, more than adequate. Most men have 1000 to 2000 extra milligrams of iron in their bodies, and that is iron that they are not using. It is just waiting to cause trouble.
The above fact (about vegetarians' iron adequacy) is clearly echoed by Dr David Ogilvie whose research showed that a well-balanced vegetarian diet provides enough
Iron. Vegetarians have no more iron deficiency or anemia than non-vegetarians. On the whole, research indicates that dietary intake of iron by vegetarians, particularly in the case of vegans, meets or exceeds the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance).
On another front, some experts contend that if fibre intake is too high the bodies are not able to absorb as much iron and related minerals because the fibre may bind with these nutrients and carry them through our system before we are able to digest them. The "experts" say that the maximum level of fibre should be around 30 - 35 grams per day, which is only about the average intake of the rural Chinese.
On the iron / fibre issue, Dr Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor of Nutrition at Cornell University wrote in The China Study that fibre is not the enemy of iron absorption as so many experts claim it to be.
In the massive study of nutritional habits of the Chinese in various counties in China,Dr Campbell proved that there was no evidence showing that increasing fibre intake impaired iron absorption in the body. On the contrary, people who consumed more plant-based foods, thus more dietary fibre, also consume more iron (non-heme iron) all of which results in statistically significant higher levels of haemoglobin.
In his book, The Food Connection, Dr Sam Graci, a leading nutritionist in US, also mentioned that until recently, the unsubstantiated belief was that "good" non-heme iron, from non-meat sources is not absorbed well. It was argued that phytates, polyphenols, tannins and oxalates would bind to non-heme iron and reduce its absorption. The iron status of vegetarian Asians and vegetarian Westerners (their haemoglobin, plasma ferritin and plasma iron-binding capacity) has shown no particular iron mineral deficiences. The beneficial non-heme iron from plants, sea vegetables,legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains, spirulina, does not accumulate in the body.
EXCESS IRON AND CANCER
Most of us, especially the meat eaters are unaware that excess iron generates "free
radical" that damage cells and encourage a build-up of bad LDL Cholesterol. Too much
iron, primarily in red meat, may promote cancer notably colon cancer. The claim that
meat is a good source of iron, meat gives strength and energy are all propagated by the meat industry and this has led to a proliferation of illness ranging from heart diseases to various forms of cancers. Are there evidence that having excess iron is dangerous?
Let us look at some of the literature by various authorities …... medical doctors, cancer Centres and research scientists :-
1) NATURAL STRATEGIES FOR CANCER PATIENTS by Dr Russell Blaylock, MD was the Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi.
After 20 years of nutritional research, Dr Blaylock realised the critical importance of nutrition in the immune function. Following are the main points on iron and cancer:
a ) Numerous studies have shown that cancer is highly iron dependant. This is because rapidly dividing cells require iron for DNA replication. The cancer cells' need for iron is so great that they will steal iron from normall cells and from iron stores.
b ) Higher dietary iron intake has also been associated with an increase in cancers
stimulated by the powerful estrogen estradiol.
c ) One of the best sources of absorbable iron is meat - the specific form it contains is called heme iron. Subjects who ate the most red meat had significantly higher rates of lung cancer than the subjects who avoided red meats. In fact, the lung cancer rate was 300% higher in the red meat eaters than in the abstainers.
d ) Because iron is so destructive to the cells and tissues when it is allowed to float around freely, most of the iron in the body is bound to special proteins called transferrin. Free iron,(when there is an excess overload) is a very powerful
generator of free radicals and lipid peroxidation.
e ) It is vital that cancer patients avoid iron supplements and high iron-containing foods with significant absorbability, such as red meats.
f ) Controlling the iron levels can be done purely through nutrition. One of the best ways to remove excess iron from your body is to increase the phytates in your diet. The phytates are natural substances found in grains, potatoes, and many other foods. These compounds bind tightly with iron in a process called chelation, preventing the iron from doing harm. Many flavonoids and plant components found in common fruits and vegetables can chelate iron.
g )Can eating too many vegetables lead to iron-deficiency anemia? Carefully done studies have shown that the flavonoids in foods allow just enough iron to be absorbed to prevent anemia. Even though brocolli and spinach contain as much iron as a comparable amount of beef, only a small amount of the iron is absorbed from the
vegetables, whereas 60 to 70 percent of the iron is absorbed from beef. That explains the decreasing longevity/lifespan of mankind after the great Flood period when animal meat is permitted into mankind's diet. Prior to that, it was just fruits with seeds and herbs with seeds shall be your food. Genesis 1:29.
h )IRON IS A POWERFUL STIMULUS FOR CANCER GROWTH, INVASION, AND MESTASTASIS.
2 )IRON OVERLOAD - THE MISSED DIAGNOSIS by Dr Paul Cutler, MD,a graduate of the University of Toronto medical school, has published many research articles on excess iron in various peer medical journals. In the above titled article which appeared in the newsletter of the Consumer Health Organization of Canada, Dr Cutler made the following points:-
a)Physicians were more interested in anemias and low iron deficiency and did not really perform the necessary tests of iron metabolism to diagnose the opposite end of the spectrum - iron overload.
b)By 1989, doctors began publishing research which showed that iron was also a risk factor in cancer at levels that were far less than what they had thought safe in the past.
c)Excess iron is very dangerous. Iron is capable of inducing free radical or oxidative Pathology.
d)Tumour cells and bacteria need iron to grow, and your body tries to starve them of
iron by diverting the iron from the blood to storage sites deep within the tissues. It is well known, biochemically, that if you add iron to tumour cells in cultures, they grow at a much faster rate and that breast cancer cells thrive on iron. In 1988, many studies began to surface showing that iron was indeed a risk in common cancers such as lung, colon, bladder, oesophagus, and at levels that were shockingly
less than doctors had previously considered dangerous. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (Oct 1988) by Dr Richard Stevens showed that as iron saturation levels increase, cancer rates go up. Until that time a 65% of saturation level was considered to be safe, but this study showed that at a 37% saturation level, the cancer rate started to skyrocket, and doctors began to question the levels they had previously considered safe. In January 1944, in the International Journal of Cancer, Dr Stevens reported that cancer rates were increasing at levels of only 31%.
e)The sources of nutritional dietary iron which raise the iron levels in the body are red meat and alcohol.
f)Plant iron (i.e. nonheme iron) is not considered to be a major offender of iron overload.
3)IRON : A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD by Rebecca Lavie, M.A.is a special education teacher who was forced to give up her career after being stricken with an unidentified disabling illness. After 12 years of going
from doctor to doctor, she was finally diagnosed with iron overload and elevated levels of aluminium, lead and copper by Dr Paul Cutler (see Iron Overload - The Missed Diagnosis). Following her treatment and recovery, she began researching the scientific literature on the subject of iron overload, a potentially lethal, but under diagnosed and under treated medical condition.
In her book, she states that iron can re-activate a latent infection or tumour. Iron feeds cancer cells and causes them to metastasize. Many studies have shown that up to 88% of metastasized breast cancer patients have elevated serum ferritin.
Cancerous breasts have three times as much iron as normal breasts. Many people with excess iron develop liver dysfunction which can develop into enlarged liver, jaundice, and lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
4)NORRIS COTTON CANCER CENTER, an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr Leo Zacharski, MD, Professor of Medicine Dartsmouth Medical School and a member of the staff of the Hematology and Oncology of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, conducted a large randomized clinical trial clinical trial in which effects of lowering iron stores by phlebotomy (removal of blood )
The following are some salient points pointed out by this centre under its Iron Surveillance Program:
a ) The amount of iron carried in the body comes almost entirely from excessive dietary intake. Because almost everyone consumes more iron than needed over long periods of time, iron accumulation occurs in most people and may predispose to common diseases of aging.
b)Cancer cells are known to grow rapidly in response to iron in their environment.
c)Elevated iron levels induce oxidative stress that damages critical molecules to cause disease.
d)Iron intake by an unsuspecting public is generally in excess of requirements because of government mandated iron supplementation of processed foods (such as cereal grains).
e)Iron that is present naturally (usually in small quantities in vegetables is generally poorly absorbed and relatively safe. Spinach is famous for its relatively high iron content but this iron is mostly not absorbable.
f)The body does not automatically eliminate excessive quantities of iron that may be harmful.
5)AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH (AICR) Karen Collins, a dietitian and nutritionist with AICR wrote in its Jan 1st 2007 newsletter What's Your Vegetables-to-Meat Ratio? in which she stated that studiesindicate that heme iron may damage the lining of the colon. Heme iron may interact with estrogen in promoting hormone related cancers, such as breast and prostate cancers.
6)IRON BALANCE by Dr Randall Byron Lauffer, MD, was a professor at Harvard Medical School, and later was the director of a research laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a leading expert on mineral biochemistry and the use of minerals in medical diagnosis and therapy. Dr Randall made clear comments about iron's role in cancer:
a)Iron is a key component of the free radical theory of disease.
b)The biggest contributor to both iron and high cholesterol levels is meat. So every
bite of meat is contributing to problems in the body – heart and chronic diseases.
c)We have had evidence for a long time that high iron levels do increase the risk of
Cancer.
This is because:a) iron's role in free radical damage is important in cancer.
b) iron is known to be a key and best catalyst for this process, you can imagine.
c) Iron has another role in cancer: it is a key ingredient for cell division. If the cell does not have iron around, it simply does not divide. So if you can restrict the amount of iron from animal-based to a cancer cell, it actually slows down cancer growth. People with higher amount of iron have plenty of iron to supply growing cancer cells.
d)For men especially, it was clear that higher iron levels were associated with increased risk for certain forms of cancer. For example, a person with inherited iron-overload has 200 times the risk of liver cancer compared to a normal person.
e)During the past 4 decades, numerous research groups have reported that the administration of excessive amounts of injected or oral iron increases markedly the risk of adenocarcinomas, colorectal tumours, hepatomas, mammary tumours, mesotheliomas, renal cell carcinomas, and sarcomas.
f)As consumption of red meat (heme iron) is the main source of oral iron,it is important to decrease or eliminate the consumption of red meats, avoidance of processed foods that have been adulterated with inorganic iron and also eliminate iron supplements unless an iron deficiency has been correctly diagnosed.
8) EXOGENOUS FACTORS IN COLONIC CARCINOGENESIS by W. Scheppach, M. Scheurlen
This book is the proceedings of Falk Symposium 128, held in Warzburg, Germany in 2002 and dedicated to the important issue of colonic carcinogensis and its underlying genetic and environmental factors.
A chapter : Red Meat : A dietary risk factor for Colorectal Cancer, research scientists H. Boeing, E. Riboli and T. Norat stated the following points :-
a) Meat is an excellent source of iron. In fresh meat, iron is bound mostly to Myoglobin: globin and haemoglobin are part of the heme iron fraction, and this is preferentially absorbed in the human body.
b) A high dietary iron intake will lead to a high availability of iron in the gut lumen.(High levels of iron stores are indicated by high transferrin saturation and increased
c) We cannot refute the idea that iron is directly linked to risk of colorectal cancer.
9) NUTRITION, TOXICITY AND CANCER by Dr Ian R. Rowland, PhD, is the Professor in Human Nutrition at the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, UK.
Touching on iron excess, Professor Rowland said: Dietary iron levels are positively associated with colon cancer. Diets that are high in red meat and fat content are iron rich and also provide copious lipid substate for peroxidation. The mechanism by which iron increases colorectal cancer risk relates to the effect of iron on oxygen radical metabolism.
10) IRON CHELATION THERAPY by Dr Chaim Hershko. This book by research scientist Dr Chaim Hershko deals with the pathophysiology of iron toxicity and the mechanism of iron chelating drugs. The section on Iron Overload Diseases (pg 28) said: There are several inherited and acquired disorders that can result in chronic iron overload in humans, and whose major outcome include hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular cancer (liver cancer), cardiac disease, and diabetes. (The liver is the main organ for iron storage and also the main site of iron toxicity during iron overload).
SCIENTIFIC / RESEARCH STUDIES
In this section, we looked at some research studies conducted by various cancer research groups, various institutions and hospitals. These are just some of the hundreds of studies conducted. To read more just go to Google.com and type in Dietary Iron and Cancer.
1)BODY IRON STORES AND THE RISK OF CANCER by RG Stevens, DY Jones, Ms Micozzi, and PR Taylor. The New England Journal of Medicine 319:1047-1052.v because of evidence that increased body iron stores are associated with an increased risk of cancer, we examined iron status and cancer risk. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that high body iron stores increase the risk of cancer in men.
2)IRON OVERLOAD AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CANCER RISK IN HUMANS; EVIDENCE FOR IRON AS A CARCINOGENIC METAL by Dr Xi Huang, Dept of Environmental Medicine, NYU Cancer Institute, NYU School of Medicine, New York. Journal Mutation Research 533 (2003).
In this review, evidence for iron as a carcinogenic metal was summarised from epidemiological, animal and cell culture studies. The role of iron in various cancers, such as colorectal cancer and liver cancer was presented. It also pointed out that most iron in humans exists as heme, present in heme proteins or in ferritin, an iron storage protein. Heme is an excellent source of iron for humans. Red meats contain large amounts of heme, which can be absorbed more easily than inorganic iron due to the insolubility of iron salts.
Iron-induced malignant tumours were first reported in 1959. Beginning in the 1980's, epidemiological reports have associated increased iron exposure with elevated cancer risk. The majority of existing epidemiological data support the role of iron in human cancer.
3) TRANSFERRIN SATURATION, DIETARY IRON INTAKE, AND RISK OF CANCERby Prof. Arch. Mainous, PhD, Dr James M. Gill, MD, MPH and Charles Everett,PhD The Annals of Family Medicine 2005: 3 (2): 131 - 137.
Prof. Mainous is the professor in the Family Medicine Dept at the Medical University of South Carolina. The main message in this paper is: If you already have higher than normal body iron stores – indicated by high Percentages of transferring saturation and then eat plenty of iron-rich food, you Set yourself up for increased cancer risk. Persons with increased transferring Saturation who consume high levels of dietary iron or red meat have an increased mortality risk.
6) EXCESSIVE DIETARY IRON LINKED TO INCREASED RISK OF UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER by Dr David Jacobs NJ, International J of Cancer. Dec 2005.
A study, led by Dr David Jacobs and conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota revealed that the consumption of high levels of dietary iron is linked to an increased risk of throat and stomach cancer. The researchers identified a positive corelation between iron intake and the risk of these upper digestive tract cancers. This study was conducted over 16 years.
7) DIETARY IRON, ZINC AND CALCIUM AND THE RISK OF LUNG CANCER by Zhou, Wei, Park, Sohee and others. Epidemiology 16 (6):772 - 779, Nov 2005.
The above study concluded that dietary iron, zinc, and calcium may play an
important role in the development of lung cancer, especially among current smokers.
Dietary intakes of these micronutrients have been also associated with altered risks
of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
9)HIGH INTAKE OF IRON MAY INCREASE PROSTATE CANCER RISK
High intake of iron, combined with low intake of dietary antioxidants, may increase
prostate cancer risk, according to results of a study presented by Ji -Yeob Choi, PhD, Dept of Cancer Prevention and Population Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute at the 2007 centennial meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April 14 - 18, in Los Angeles, California. Those men who consumed higher amounts of dietary iron were found to be at increased risk of clinically aggressive prostate cancer ; this risk was strongest among men who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables.
10)IRON AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA ( LIVER CANCER ) by Yves Deugnier, Bruno Turlin and Others. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vol 16, May 2001. This group of French researchers at Hospital Pontchaillou, France, concluded that the high prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was associated with increased body stores of iron. Evidence of a co-carcinogenic role of iron strongly support that iron is involved in the development of HCC (liver cancer).
Comments:
From the above notes, it is imperative for cancer patients to:
1. AVOID all meats (pork, beef, chicken).
2. AVOID intake of iron supplements.
3. Besides the danger of excess iron intake, eating meat also mean consuming hormones,drugs such as antibiotics, growth stimulators and other chemicals that are being fed to the animals.
Meat is thus a storehouse of concentrated toxins. So when you doctors advise you to eat anything you like or eat more animal protein to beef up your blood – they only have in mind the need for you to complete your next chemo session, not so much about yourhealth.
Please think carefully and be informed.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Love in SilenceLove is not BlindLove
2010 MOTHER'S DAY: I HATE MY MOTHER
My mom only had one eye. I hated her ...she was such an embarrassment.
She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.
There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me.
I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me?
I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!"
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear.
So I confronted her that day and said, "If you're gonna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?!!!"
My mom did not respond....
I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger.
I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her.
So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to Singapore to study.
Then, I got married, I bought a house of my own, I had kids of my own.
I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.
Then one day, my mother came to visit me.
She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited.
I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children!"
"Get out of here ! Now !!!"
And to this, my mother quietly answered,"Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Singapore.
So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip.
After that reunion, I went to the old shack which was my childhood home just out of curiosity.
My neighbours said that she has passed away.
I did not shed a single tear.
They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have. (Dear reader, let's exchange our stories of our mother's love. Don't forget to standby some tissue paper with you)
My mother letter read as follow:
My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to Singapore and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you are coming for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you.
I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see ......when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye.
As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye.
So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With my love to you.
Your mother
**********************************
ACTIVE RETIREE'S ASSOCIATION
www.arasingapore.com.sg
invite all readers for a Mother's Day Story Sharing (FREE Admission)
today, 9 May 2010, Sunday,
Time:11 am to 1 pm,
at YWCA Multi-purpose Hall
Fort Canning Lodge
6 Fort Canning Road
tel 6338 4222
(Orchard area, Opposite Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station)
A collection of real life short stories in English and Chinese depicting deep compassion and love. You will never know the ending of each story till the end. true feelings reach deeply into our hearts.
Let's exchange stories of our mother's love. Come and invite all your living parents too, don't forget to bring along some tissue paper/handkerchiefs with you.
**********************************************
My mom only had one eye. I hated her ...she was such an embarrassment.
She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.
There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me.
I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me?
I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!"
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear.
So I confronted her that day and said, "If you're gonna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?!!!"
My mom did not respond....
I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger.
I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her.
So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to Singapore to study.
Then, I got married, I bought a house of my own, I had kids of my own.
I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.
Then one day, my mother came to visit me.
She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited.
I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children!"
"Get out of here ! Now !!!"
And to this, my mother quietly answered,"Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Singapore.
So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip.
After that reunion, I went to the old shack which was my childhood home just out of curiosity.
My neighbours said that she has passed away.
I did not shed a single tear.
They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have. (Dear reader, let's exchange our stories of our mother's love. Don't forget to standby some tissue paper with you)
My mother letter read as follow:
My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to Singapore and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you are coming for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you.
I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see ......when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye.
As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye.
So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With my love to you.
Your mother
**********************************
ACTIVE RETIREE'S ASSOCIATION
www.arasingapore.com.sg
invite all readers for a Mother's Day Story Sharing (FREE Admission)
today, 9 May 2010, Sunday,
Time:11 am to 1 pm,
at YWCA Multi-purpose Hall
Fort Canning Lodge
6 Fort Canning Road
tel 6338 4222
(Orchard area, Opposite Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station)
A collection of real life short stories in English and Chinese depicting deep compassion and love. You will never know the ending of each story till the end. true feelings reach deeply into our hearts.
Let's exchange stories of our mother's love. Come and invite all your living parents too, don't forget to bring along some tissue paper/handkerchiefs with you.
**********************************************
Sunday, May 2, 2010
If more people know, then ....
(Source:www.watercure.com) To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
The human body is a bio-electrical water machine that requires a quart a day for every 50 lbs of body weight. The blood alone is made up of a large percentage of watery serum. The lymph fluids which transport waste and nutrients, comprising four times the volume of blood in the body, are made from the water we consume. Every cell that makes us who we are literally owes its life to an adequate supply of fresh, clean water. When the body does not receive a constant, reliable supply of water, it has to ration what is available and cut back on certain functions to make the supply go round. Essential systems like the brain are prioritised, others are impaired or cut back until the brain has decided a reliable source of water has been garnered.
Here's the rub. Most citizens have become chronically and dangerously dehydrated (especially the elderly), since we decided water was too bland to drink and ignored it in favour of tea, coffee, beer, wine, addictive sodas, flavoured water and other chemical-laced water alternatives. A disastrous and dangerous move for the body and society's health in general, to be sure, compounded further since most doctors today cannot readily identify the many water-deficient diseases and associated pains. Thus the underlying dehydration process continues to wreak its havoc while the inevitable drugs given will switch off the warning signals (symptoms). To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Consider the following conditions:
Heartburn, arthritis, lupus, asthma, 'high cholesterol', high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer formation, hot flushes and menstrual problems, obesity, allergies, bulimia, chronic fatigue syndrome, ME, angina, lower back pain, gout, kidney stones, skin disorders, diabetes, fungal/yeast overgrowths, multiple sclerosis, allergies, migraine headaches, general aches and pains, morning sickness, depression, heavy/burdensome periods, colitis, dyspepsia, peptic ulcers.
All, in various ways, linked to a chronic state of dehydration?
World-renowned water expert Dr Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, in his latest bestseller, Water and Salt - Your Healers From Within, maintains that the above conditions are the body's many cries for water, complaints dramatically improved with a consistent and long-term intake of the fresh, clean stuff. Dr Batman's timely work has helped thousands quash long-term health problems effortlessly and inexpensively. He writes:
"The report of my having successfully treated with water more than three thousand people with symptoms and clinical signs of peptic ulcer disease was published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology in June 1983. I came away from that experience with the understanding that the people I treated were thirsty, and I uncovered the phenomenon that 'pain' in the body indicates thirst, even though the condition is classified as a disease."
Water is used by the body for digestion, detoxifying cells, watering the lungs, lubricating joints, keeping the body alkalised and a host of cleaning duties. Many warning signals ('symptoms') arise out of the body's inability to neutralise or rid itself of acid, a common enough complaint given the number of antacids sold around the world each day. And the common and dangerous misconception that fuels it?
'I drink coffee, tea, diet sodas, beer and a host of other liquids. They contain water, don't they?'
Many of today's designer drinks are diuretic in their effect (water-expelling) because their mostly acidic compositions require the body to give up water and alkalising minerals to eliminate their harmful residues. Diet sodas especially are harmful in that they require large amounts of body-water to neutralise the phosphoric acid component (2.8 pH). Cells that started off healthy and 'plum-like' shrivel to prunes as water, the stuff of life, is progressively denied them. The sick in our hospitals are fed the sodas, tea and coffee they ask for in woeful ignorance of the damage wrought to the micro cell-world within them.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Your body and dehydration.
Batmanghelidj's extraordinary work should rightly be considered by a mainstream medical community ever fixated on the drug cure:
* Brain function: The brain comprises 2% of the body's total weight, yet receives 15-20% of the blood supply, mostly comprised of water. Dehydration will affect cognitive ability drastically, and, through histamine's action, can create depressive states (many anti-depressant medications are anti-histamines).
* Bone function: Bones require plentiful supplies of water. 75% of the weight of the upper body, for instance, is supported by the water core contained within the fifth lumbar disc, the remaining 25% by muscle fibres around the spine.
* Nerve function: Microstreams exist along the length of nerves which transport nutrients and conduct energy along microtubules to the synapses to transmit messages. Dehydration disrupts proper nerve function, resulting in the sensation of pain.
* Hydrolysis: Water, far from being an inert solvent, is intricately involved in the body's water-dependent chemical reactions. Lack of water means incomplete or faulty metabolic processes, with obvious implications for continued health and well-being. Proteins and enzymes, for instance, do not function as well in acidic solutions of higher viscosity (stickiness) where the body is dehydrated.
* Cellular energy: As water is drawn through the cell membrane, its osmotic flow generates a voltage gradient which can be used in the manufacture of ATP and GTP energy. Dehydration will obviously affect the proper functioning of cells and even kill them.
* Histamine: This neurotransmitter plays a major role in activating systems which encourage water intake when dehydration is detected. Functions in the body which consume large quantities of water are cut back, namely the bronchial tubes constricted to cut down on water use in the lungs; increased peristalsis in the bowels to wring more water out of faecal material, and so on. Other signs of histamine's activity, namely allergies, asthma, depression and chronic pains, are interpreted by the physician as 'disease' and treated with anti-histamines, pain-killers (analgesics), etc. Thus the signals of thirst are turned off and the dehydration state continues unabated.
* Dyspepsia (heartburn/reflux): Over time, this can lead to ulceration and even cancer. Dr Batmanghelidj recommends that these conditions - also gastritis and duodenitis - be treated with water alone as they are one of the body's major thirst signals. Arrested in his native Iran by the Revolutionary Council during the troubles of the late 1970's, Dr B was confined to Evin prison, Tehran, during which time he successfully treated with water alone over three thousand people complaining of dyspeptic pain and associated symptoms.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
* Digestion: Requires plentiful supplies of water. The stomach relies on mucus lining the walls to shield it from the effects of the stomach's hydrochloric acid. A bicarbonate solution is produced from the cells in the lining which neutralises any acid attempting to break through the mucus. Water is needed to maintain this effective defence system. Too little water, and the mucus barrier is ineffectual, the acid will penetrate and will lead to pain. Ideally, water should be consumed half an hour before a meal, in time to anticipate the production of digestive acid from glands in the stomach wall.
* Ulcers: Often located at the valve between the stomach and duodenum. Said to be caused by curved bacteria known as helicobacters. Yet many people have helicobacters in their small intestine, yet not all of them suffer from ulcers. Histamine-producing nerves are located at this site, which monitor the through-put of acidic food chyme from the stomach into the intestine. Histamine has growth-hormone effects on these micro-organisms, resulting in small intestine bacterial overgrowths (SIBOs). Once again, an adequate regime of water intake will allow all the functions relating to digestion to normalise. Prolonged water intake should therefore be considered before more drastic drug treatments are entered into.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
The human body is a bio-electrical water machine that requires a quart a day for every 50 lbs of body weight. The blood alone is made up of a large percentage of watery serum. The lymph fluids which transport waste and nutrients, comprising four times the volume of blood in the body, are made from the water we consume. Every cell that makes us who we are literally owes its life to an adequate supply of fresh, clean water. When the body does not receive a constant, reliable supply of water, it has to ration what is available and cut back on certain functions to make the supply go round. Essential systems like the brain are prioritised, others are impaired or cut back until the brain has decided a reliable source of water has been garnered.
Here's the rub. Most citizens have become chronically and dangerously dehydrated (especially the elderly), since we decided water was too bland to drink and ignored it in favour of tea, coffee, beer, wine, addictive sodas, flavoured water and other chemical-laced water alternatives. A disastrous and dangerous move for the body and society's health in general, to be sure, compounded further since most doctors today cannot readily identify the many water-deficient diseases and associated pains. Thus the underlying dehydration process continues to wreak its havoc while the inevitable drugs given will switch off the warning signals (symptoms). To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Consider the following conditions:
Heartburn, arthritis, lupus, asthma, 'high cholesterol', high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer formation, hot flushes and menstrual problems, obesity, allergies, bulimia, chronic fatigue syndrome, ME, angina, lower back pain, gout, kidney stones, skin disorders, diabetes, fungal/yeast overgrowths, multiple sclerosis, allergies, migraine headaches, general aches and pains, morning sickness, depression, heavy/burdensome periods, colitis, dyspepsia, peptic ulcers.
All, in various ways, linked to a chronic state of dehydration?
World-renowned water expert Dr Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, in his latest bestseller, Water and Salt - Your Healers From Within, maintains that the above conditions are the body's many cries for water, complaints dramatically improved with a consistent and long-term intake of the fresh, clean stuff. Dr Batman's timely work has helped thousands quash long-term health problems effortlessly and inexpensively. He writes:
"The report of my having successfully treated with water more than three thousand people with symptoms and clinical signs of peptic ulcer disease was published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology in June 1983. I came away from that experience with the understanding that the people I treated were thirsty, and I uncovered the phenomenon that 'pain' in the body indicates thirst, even though the condition is classified as a disease."
Water is used by the body for digestion, detoxifying cells, watering the lungs, lubricating joints, keeping the body alkalised and a host of cleaning duties. Many warning signals ('symptoms') arise out of the body's inability to neutralise or rid itself of acid, a common enough complaint given the number of antacids sold around the world each day. And the common and dangerous misconception that fuels it?
'I drink coffee, tea, diet sodas, beer and a host of other liquids. They contain water, don't they?'
Many of today's designer drinks are diuretic in their effect (water-expelling) because their mostly acidic compositions require the body to give up water and alkalising minerals to eliminate their harmful residues. Diet sodas especially are harmful in that they require large amounts of body-water to neutralise the phosphoric acid component (2.8 pH). Cells that started off healthy and 'plum-like' shrivel to prunes as water, the stuff of life, is progressively denied them. The sick in our hospitals are fed the sodas, tea and coffee they ask for in woeful ignorance of the damage wrought to the micro cell-world within them.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Your body and dehydration.
Batmanghelidj's extraordinary work should rightly be considered by a mainstream medical community ever fixated on the drug cure:
* Brain function: The brain comprises 2% of the body's total weight, yet receives 15-20% of the blood supply, mostly comprised of water. Dehydration will affect cognitive ability drastically, and, through histamine's action, can create depressive states (many anti-depressant medications are anti-histamines).
* Bone function: Bones require plentiful supplies of water. 75% of the weight of the upper body, for instance, is supported by the water core contained within the fifth lumbar disc, the remaining 25% by muscle fibres around the spine.
* Nerve function: Microstreams exist along the length of nerves which transport nutrients and conduct energy along microtubules to the synapses to transmit messages. Dehydration disrupts proper nerve function, resulting in the sensation of pain.
* Hydrolysis: Water, far from being an inert solvent, is intricately involved in the body's water-dependent chemical reactions. Lack of water means incomplete or faulty metabolic processes, with obvious implications for continued health and well-being. Proteins and enzymes, for instance, do not function as well in acidic solutions of higher viscosity (stickiness) where the body is dehydrated.
* Cellular energy: As water is drawn through the cell membrane, its osmotic flow generates a voltage gradient which can be used in the manufacture of ATP and GTP energy. Dehydration will obviously affect the proper functioning of cells and even kill them.
* Histamine: This neurotransmitter plays a major role in activating systems which encourage water intake when dehydration is detected. Functions in the body which consume large quantities of water are cut back, namely the bronchial tubes constricted to cut down on water use in the lungs; increased peristalsis in the bowels to wring more water out of faecal material, and so on. Other signs of histamine's activity, namely allergies, asthma, depression and chronic pains, are interpreted by the physician as 'disease' and treated with anti-histamines, pain-killers (analgesics), etc. Thus the signals of thirst are turned off and the dehydration state continues unabated.
* Dyspepsia (heartburn/reflux): Over time, this can lead to ulceration and even cancer. Dr Batmanghelidj recommends that these conditions - also gastritis and duodenitis - be treated with water alone as they are one of the body's major thirst signals. Arrested in his native Iran by the Revolutionary Council during the troubles of the late 1970's, Dr B was confined to Evin prison, Tehran, during which time he successfully treated with water alone over three thousand people complaining of dyspeptic pain and associated symptoms.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
* Digestion: Requires plentiful supplies of water. The stomach relies on mucus lining the walls to shield it from the effects of the stomach's hydrochloric acid. A bicarbonate solution is produced from the cells in the lining which neutralises any acid attempting to break through the mucus. Water is needed to maintain this effective defence system. Too little water, and the mucus barrier is ineffectual, the acid will penetrate and will lead to pain. Ideally, water should be consumed half an hour before a meal, in time to anticipate the production of digestive acid from glands in the stomach wall.
* Ulcers: Often located at the valve between the stomach and duodenum. Said to be caused by curved bacteria known as helicobacters. Yet many people have helicobacters in their small intestine, yet not all of them suffer from ulcers. Histamine-producing nerves are located at this site, which monitor the through-put of acidic food chyme from the stomach into the intestine. Histamine has growth-hormone effects on these micro-organisms, resulting in small intestine bacterial overgrowths (SIBOs). Once again, an adequate regime of water intake will allow all the functions relating to digestion to normalise. Prolonged water intake should therefore be considered before more drastic drug treatments are entered into.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Fruits and vegetables are food for life
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Do Fruits and Vegetables Prevent Cancer?
Sunday, 11 April 2010
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) has published a paper that denies a major role to fruit and vegetable consumption in the prevention of cancer. Since this study contradicts many other studies, as well as a long-term US government recommendation ("5 per day"), it has gotten a lot of press. At this writing, there have been 520 news articles, almost all of them negative. "Simply eating your five a day will not protect you against cancer," is how the Independent (U.K.) phrased it.
However, there are several questions that need to be addressed about this study. Here are some initial thoughts. I hope to present some further thoughts after my visit with Prof. Colin Campbell this summer.
First, according to this European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, if the subjects had increased their fruit and vegetable intake by just 150 grams per day, they would have reduced their risk of getting cancer by 2.6 percent (men) and 2.3 percent (women). Now, 150 grams is the weight of one apple. In the United States in 2009 there were 766,130 cases of cancer in men and 713,220 cases in women, for a total of 1,479,350. Thus, by the study's own figures, one small apple or a handful of grapes could prevent 19,919 US cases of cancer in men plus 16,404 cases in women, for a total of 36,323 people. That's about the capacity of Fenway Park in Boston, where the Red Sox hold forth. So instead of minimizing the results (as virtually every media outlet chose to do) the authors of these articles could have put a positive spin on the EPIC findings. After all, is it a small thing to keep more than 36,000 Americans from getting cancer at such a minimal cost?
Looked at in another way, the patients in the study were divided up into five groups or "quintiles."
Quintile 1 consumed 0 to 226 grams per day (i.e. less than eight ounces maximum)
Quintile 2 consumed between 227-338 grams per day.
Quintile 3 consumed between 339-462 grams per day.
Quintile 4 consumed between 463-646 grams per day.
Quintile 5 consumed more than 647 grams per day (i.e., a minimum of 23 ounces)
The difference in the Hazard Ratio (i.e., the risk) of cancer between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 was 11 percent. Thus, if everyone in the US adopted a diet in which they ate over a pound (23 ounces) of fruits and vegetables per day, the cancer incidence would drop from its present-day 1,479,350 for a savings of many thousands of cases of cancer.
The European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) encourages us to think internationally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are at least 12 million new cancers diagnosed worldwide (Science Digest 2008). According to the EPIC study, conversion to a moderately high fruit-and-vegetable diet could ideally save hundreds of thousands of people from getting cancer each year. This astonishing fact was hardly conveyed by the negative press reports on the EPIC study.
To be concluded, with references, next week
Signature
--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Do Fruits and Vegetables Prevent Cancer? - Part II
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Advocates of stricter forms of a vegetarian diet point out that changes of a few ounces are not likely to make much of a difference in cancer occurrence. One needs to make drastic changes, they say, in order to combat as intractable a disease as cancer.
Dr. Pam Popper, director of the Wellness Forum of Columbus, Ohio, suggests that these changes should consist of (a) the elimination of dairy products, (b) the reduction or elimination of all other animal foods (the upper limit being 10 percent of calories), (c) reduction of fat and elimination of oils, and (d) consumption of a diet composed of high-fiber, nutrient-dense, whole plant foods. She points to studies that indicate that such a diet can not only prevent cancer but can actually stop the progression of various disease states (Popper 2010).
Popper cites Cornell Professor Colin Campbell's fascinating book, The China Study, to show that animal protein can be a powerful cancer promoter. She also claims that dietary fats, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are a significant factor in cancer risk. Indeed, in 1991, Kenneth K. Carroll concluded: "Total dietary fat correlates with cancer incidence and mortality at least as well as does any particular type of fat" (Carroll 1991). The consumption of dairy products has been linked to several forms of cancer, particularly tumors of the prostate (Chan 2001), although there is hardly unanimity on this idea, even in vegetarian circles.
My friend Ann Fonfa (annieappleseed.com) makes a good point that the topmost consumers of fruits and vegetables in the study (Quintile 5) consumed as little as 647 grams per day (i.e., a minimum of 23 ounces). This is not very much! Right now I have a single sweet potato in my refrigerator that weights 586 grams, itself almost the uppermost limit of daily consumption in the EPIC study. There was no attempt made to isolate those people who were really getting a high proportion of their daily calories from fresh fruits and vegetables (and no consideration was given to the question of organic food, either).
None of these factors were considered in the EPIC study just released. What would have been the effect if strict vegans (no eggs, dairy, fish or meat) had been considered as a separate category. That might have provided very positive results, which probably would have proven more meaningful than the data that emerged from the EPIC study.
Signature
--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Resources:
Boffetta P, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and overall cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010;102:1-9 Advanced access published April 6, 2010.
Campbell, Colin. The China Study. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2006.
Chan JM and Giovannucci EL. Dairy products, calcium and vitamin D and risk of prostate cancer. Epidemiol Revs. 2001;23:87-92
Carroll KK. Dietary fats and cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991;53:1064S-7S.
Cancer Projected To Become Leading Cause Of Death Worldwide In 2010. Science Daily, December 8, 2008. Accessed:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081209111516.htm
Popper, Pam. Personal communication. April 7, 2010.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Do Fruits and Vegetables Prevent Cancer?
Sunday, 11 April 2010
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) has published a paper that denies a major role to fruit and vegetable consumption in the prevention of cancer. Since this study contradicts many other studies, as well as a long-term US government recommendation ("5 per day"), it has gotten a lot of press. At this writing, there have been 520 news articles, almost all of them negative. "Simply eating your five a day will not protect you against cancer," is how the Independent (U.K.) phrased it.
However, there are several questions that need to be addressed about this study. Here are some initial thoughts. I hope to present some further thoughts after my visit with Prof. Colin Campbell this summer.
First, according to this European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, if the subjects had increased their fruit and vegetable intake by just 150 grams per day, they would have reduced their risk of getting cancer by 2.6 percent (men) and 2.3 percent (women). Now, 150 grams is the weight of one apple. In the United States in 2009 there were 766,130 cases of cancer in men and 713,220 cases in women, for a total of 1,479,350. Thus, by the study's own figures, one small apple or a handful of grapes could prevent 19,919 US cases of cancer in men plus 16,404 cases in women, for a total of 36,323 people. That's about the capacity of Fenway Park in Boston, where the Red Sox hold forth. So instead of minimizing the results (as virtually every media outlet chose to do) the authors of these articles could have put a positive spin on the EPIC findings. After all, is it a small thing to keep more than 36,000 Americans from getting cancer at such a minimal cost?
Looked at in another way, the patients in the study were divided up into five groups or "quintiles."
Quintile 1 consumed 0 to 226 grams per day (i.e. less than eight ounces maximum)
Quintile 2 consumed between 227-338 grams per day.
Quintile 3 consumed between 339-462 grams per day.
Quintile 4 consumed between 463-646 grams per day.
Quintile 5 consumed more than 647 grams per day (i.e., a minimum of 23 ounces)
The difference in the Hazard Ratio (i.e., the risk) of cancer between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 was 11 percent. Thus, if everyone in the US adopted a diet in which they ate over a pound (23 ounces) of fruits and vegetables per day, the cancer incidence would drop from its present-day 1,479,350 for a savings of many thousands of cases of cancer.
The European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) encourages us to think internationally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are at least 12 million new cancers diagnosed worldwide (Science Digest 2008). According to the EPIC study, conversion to a moderately high fruit-and-vegetable diet could ideally save hundreds of thousands of people from getting cancer each year. This astonishing fact was hardly conveyed by the negative press reports on the EPIC study.
To be concluded, with references, next week
Signature
--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Do Fruits and Vegetables Prevent Cancer? - Part II
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Advocates of stricter forms of a vegetarian diet point out that changes of a few ounces are not likely to make much of a difference in cancer occurrence. One needs to make drastic changes, they say, in order to combat as intractable a disease as cancer.
Dr. Pam Popper, director of the Wellness Forum of Columbus, Ohio, suggests that these changes should consist of (a) the elimination of dairy products, (b) the reduction or elimination of all other animal foods (the upper limit being 10 percent of calories), (c) reduction of fat and elimination of oils, and (d) consumption of a diet composed of high-fiber, nutrient-dense, whole plant foods. She points to studies that indicate that such a diet can not only prevent cancer but can actually stop the progression of various disease states (Popper 2010).
Popper cites Cornell Professor Colin Campbell's fascinating book, The China Study, to show that animal protein can be a powerful cancer promoter. She also claims that dietary fats, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are a significant factor in cancer risk. Indeed, in 1991, Kenneth K. Carroll concluded: "Total dietary fat correlates with cancer incidence and mortality at least as well as does any particular type of fat" (Carroll 1991). The consumption of dairy products has been linked to several forms of cancer, particularly tumors of the prostate (Chan 2001), although there is hardly unanimity on this idea, even in vegetarian circles.
My friend Ann Fonfa (annieappleseed.com) makes a good point that the topmost consumers of fruits and vegetables in the study (Quintile 5) consumed as little as 647 grams per day (i.e., a minimum of 23 ounces). This is not very much! Right now I have a single sweet potato in my refrigerator that weights 586 grams, itself almost the uppermost limit of daily consumption in the EPIC study. There was no attempt made to isolate those people who were really getting a high proportion of their daily calories from fresh fruits and vegetables (and no consideration was given to the question of organic food, either).
None of these factors were considered in the EPIC study just released. What would have been the effect if strict vegans (no eggs, dairy, fish or meat) had been considered as a separate category. That might have provided very positive results, which probably would have proven more meaningful than the data that emerged from the EPIC study.
Signature
--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Resources:
Boffetta P, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and overall cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010;102:1-9 Advanced access published April 6, 2010.
Campbell, Colin. The China Study. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2006.
Chan JM and Giovannucci EL. Dairy products, calcium and vitamin D and risk of prostate cancer. Epidemiol Revs. 2001;23:87-92
Carroll KK. Dietary fats and cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991;53:1064S-7S.
Cancer Projected To Become Leading Cause Of Death Worldwide In 2010. Science Daily, December 8, 2008. Accessed:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081209111516.htm
Popper, Pam. Personal communication. April 7, 2010.
To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
