Higher Intake of Fruits and Vegetables Lower Risk of Bladder Cancer

University of Hawaii Cancer Center Researcher Song-Yi Park, PhD, along with her colleagues, recently discovered that a greater consumption of fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of invasive bladder cancer in women.

The investigation was conducted as part of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study, established in 1993 to assess the relationships among dietary, lifestyle, genetic factors, and cancer risk. Park and her fellow researchers analyzed data collected from 185,885 older adults over a period of 12.5 years, of which 581 invasive bladder cancer cases were diagnosed (152 women and 429 men).

After adjusting for variables related to cancer risk (age, etc.) the researchers found that women who consumed the most fruits and vegetables had the lowest bladder cancer risk. For instance, women consuming the most yellow-orange vegetables were 52% less likely to have bladder cancer than women consuming the least yellow-orange vegetables. The data also suggested that women with the highest intake of vitamins A, C, and E had the lowest risk of bladder cancer. No associations between fruit and vegetable intake and invasive bladder cancer were found in men.

"Our study supports the fruit and vegetable recommendation for cancer prevention, said Park. "However, further investigation is needed to understand and explain why the reduced cancer risk with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables was confined to only women."

Fruit and vegetable intake is associated with lower risk of ER breast cancer

There is no association between total fruit and vegetable intake and risk of overall breast cancer, but vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancer, according to a study published January 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The intake of fruits and vegetables has been hypothesized to lower breast cancer risk, however the existing evidence is inconclusive. There are many subtypes of breast cancer including ER- and ER positive (ER+) tumors and each may have distinct etiologies. Since ER- tumors, which have lower survival rates and are less dependent on estrogen levels than ER+ tumors, account for only 15-20% of breast cancers, large pooled analyses are needed to determine the suspected link to lower ER- breast cancer risk and the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

In order to determine if there is a link between the lowered risk of ER- breast cancers and the intake of fruits and vegetables, Seungyoun Jung, Sc.D., formerly from the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, and currently at the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, and colleagues analyzed data from 20 cohort studies of women who were followed for a maximum of 11-20 years. They investigated the association of high compared to low intake of fruit and vegetables and risk of developing breast cancer in each study and then combined the study-specific estimates to generate summary estimates for all studies combined.

The researchers found that total fruit and vegetable intake was statistically significantly linked to a lower risk of ER- breast cancer, but not with risk of overall breast cancer or risk of ER+ breast tumors. The results showed that the lower risk was mostly associated with higher vegetable consumption. "These findings support the value of examining etiologic factors in relation to breast cancer characterized by hormone receptor status in large pooled analyses because modest associations with less common breast cancer subtypes may have been missed in smaller studies," the authors write.

In an accompanying editorial, Cynthia A. Thomson, Ph.D., and Patricia A. Thompson, Ph.D., both of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, write that the findings of the study support the emphasis on greater intake for vegetables (and to a lesser extent fruit) to lower the risk of ER- breast cancer. However, they also write that, "interpretation of these findings may also be challenged by the known effects of other potential confounders, including the aggregation of health behaviors."

High Intake of Cholesterol Shown to Actually Repair Damaged Brains

Including high-cholesterol foods as part of a healthy diet may not be the poor dietary choice we have all been told it is, suggests a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine. It turns out that cholesterol actually helps increase production of an important component of the nervous system that facilitates proper nerve cell communication, and prevents the onset of brain diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease.

The study focused specifically on patients with a condition known as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), in which nerve cells are unable to properly manufacture protective myelin sheaths. It is these myelin sheaths, which are composed of lipid fats and proteins, that allow nerves to communicate and send appropriate electrical signals that trigger movement and cognition, and that protect nerves from damage.

Cholesterol, which is commonly dismissed as harmful and something that people should avoid, actually contributes to producing and maintaining myelin sheaths. Without it, as evidenced by the recent studies, individuals with PMD -- and potentially all individuals -- are at a higher risk of developing cognitive illness and brain degradation. And particularly those with PMD, low-cholesterol diets are almost sure to leave them exceptionally prone to nerve damage.

"This six-week-long cholesterol treatment delayed the decline in motor coordination," wrote the scientists in their report. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Germany fed a group of mice with PMD a high-cholesterol diet for six weeks, as well as another group of PMD mice a low-cholesterol diet. Those on the high-cholesterol diet stopped experiencing cognitive decline, while the low-cholesterol mice continued to get worse.

Cholesterol appears to be beneficial for everyone

Though the researchers attributed their findings about cholesterol specifically and solely to those with PMD, the implications for all individuals are striking, as the study further reinforces the idea that cholesterol is a necessary component of proper brain and nervous system function in everyone. This unconventional concept has been confirmed in several earlier studies, including a comprehensive study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. (http://www.jpands.org/vol10no3/colpo.pdf)

"Cholesterol acts to interlock lipid molecules, which stabilize cell membranes," writes Shane Ellison, M.S., in his book Health Myths Exposed. "[C]holesterol is a vital building block for all bodily tissues. Lowering such a vital molecule is absurdity. To illustrate, imagine that your house represents your body and the nails holding it together cholesterol. Now start pulling each and every nail out of the house. What happens? The house turns to a pile of rubble. The same is true for the human body."

Cholesterol-lowering statins are responsible for destroying health, causing Alzheimers

What this all means for statin drugs, which mainstream medicine has ridiculously dubbed miracle drugs, is that their cholesterol inhibiting properties can cause serious health problems down the road. By interfering with the livers natural function of producing cholesterol, statin drugs can actually strip the body of much-needed cholesterol, and cause serious nervous system and cognitive damage.

The key to promoting healthy cholesterol levels in the body is not to take synthetic drugs, but rather to achieve vibrant health through proper diet and exercise, which includes a diet rich in healthy saturated fats and, yes, even cholesterol.

"Saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet are not the cause of coronary heart disease," says Dr. George V. Mann, M.D., professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "That myth is the greatest scientific deception of this century, perhaps of any century."

You can learn more about the cholesterol myths by visiting:
http://www.naturalremediescures.com

Sources for this article include:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18456749

http://blog.michaeljfox.org

http://goodworkswellness.com/six-surprising-facts-about-cholesterol/

http://www.wellbeingjournal.com