| |
FEBRUARY 2007
ONE OF THE BIGGEST,
longest studies of aging and
health has identified nine risk
factors that are strongly linked
with a person’s odds of living
to at least a healthy age 85.The good news is that most of these keys to living a longer,healthier life are things you can control.
…
Read>>
|
FEBRUARY 2005
But evidence proves elusive for cancer-preventing effects of
YOUR HEART LOVES fruits
and vegetables, according to a
multiyear study of more than
100,000 participants conducted
by the Harvard School of Public
Health. Researchers found that the more
total fruits and vegetables participants
ate, the less their cardiovascular risk.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JANUARY 2006
TOMATOES HAVE PLENTY of
nutritional benefits, but can eating
tomatoes also fight cancer?
Sort of. Maybe. It depends.
That’s how you might interpret
the recent ruling by the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), after two
years of investigation, granting a
“qualified health claim” for fresh,
dried and canned tomatoes regarding
four types of cancers.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
FEBRUARY 2005
COULD THE CANDY in that
heart-shaped box of Valentine’s
chocolates actually be good for
your heart?
Certainly, the nation’s candy makers
would love for you to think so.
Mars Inc., the global food conglomerate
that makes M&Ms, Snickers and
Dove bars, among other products, has
spent 15 years researching the purported
health benefits of chocolate, according
to The New York Times. In 2003,
the company introduced the CocoaVia
snack bar, which is packed with the
flavanols that are credited with chocolate’s
heart-healthy qualities while
being mostly free of cocoa butter; to
date, Mars has sold CocoaVia only on
the Internet. An American Heart
Association meeting in November
heard evidence that eating two
CocoaVia snack bars daily could
reduce cholesterol levels. In December,
a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment
touted Mars’ patented Cocoapro
process that, according to a company
news release, “retains much of the naturally
occurring cocoa flavanols that
provide potential health benefits.”…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
FEBRUARY 2005
Another source of health-promoting
flavonoids (see opposite page), as well as
antioxidant chemicals called phenolics, is the
humble onion. But new research at Cornell
University finds that you need to eat more
pungent onions to get the most benefit.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
FEBRUARY 2005
AWOMAN’S RISK from taking menopause hormones
may depend on the age she starts taking them, according
to an ongoing review of the two largest hormone studies.
Data from one of the studies, the Women’s Health
Initiative (WHI), linked estrogen-progestin pills such as
Prempro to increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast
cancer. So high were the risks, in fact, that the government
study was halted two years ago, and many women were
scared off hormone therapy altogether. (Subsequent analysis
also found risk from estrogen-only pills such as Premarin.)
But an earlier, 2000 analysis of data from the Nurses
Health Study (NHS), another hormone test, had found seemingly
contradictory results: Subjects who took hormones
were 40 percent less likely to suffer heart attacks.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MARCH 2006
WHILE DIETARY FIBER has
plenty of other benefits, it
may not prevent colorectal
cancer. On the other hand,
eating a lot of processed
meats—such as hot dogs, ham, bacon,
sausage and lunch meats—probably
does increase your risk of this cancer,
which is second only to lung cancer as
a cause of cancer deaths. But the good
news is that—for reasons scientists
can’t yet explain—eating chicken seems
to be associated with a reduced risk of
colorectal cancer.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MARCH 2006
IF YOU NEEDED ONE MORE REASON to begin a habit of drinking
tea, the results of a new Swedish study might just push you over
the edge and into the tea aisle of your grocery or health food
store. Susanna C. Larsson, MSc, and colleagues reported in the
Archives of Internal Medicine that middle-aged women who drink two
or more cups of green or black tea every day may reduce their risk
for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer by almost half.…
Buy>>
|
MARCH 2008
IN STUDY AFTER STUDY, whole grains have been credited
with helping to lower your risk for a host of ailments,
including stroke, type-2 diabetes and heart disease,
as well as enhancing weight maintenance.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2006
DESPITE THE HEADLINES,
the latest findings on dietary
fat don’t mean you should
give up on watching the fat in
your food. True, the widelyreported $415 million governmentstudy, the Women’s Health Initiative(WHI) Dietary Modification Trial,generally failed to find benefits from alow-fat diet against breast and coloncancer or cardiovascular disease. …
Buy>>
|
MARCH 2008
Tomato, tom-AH-to… no matter how
you say it, the tomato and its byproducts
are packed with healthful nutrients.
Now a new study from Finland says
tomatoes may even help improve your cholesterol.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2006
AMAJOR NEW American
Cancer Society study serves up
another reason to watch your
consumption of red meat: Too
much red meat significantly
raises your risk of colorectal cancer.
The study of nearly 150,000
Americans, the largest and most comprehensive
to date, was published in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association. The findings also linked
colorectal cancer risk and prolonged
high consumption of processed meat.…
Buy>>
|
FEBRUARY 2008
Making sense of seemingly contrary findings on the risks from being overweight.…
Read>>
|
FEBRUARY 2008
THE AUTHORS of a new study of beta-carotene supplementation
and its possible benefits against cognitive
decline say it’s the first to show “that there are
ways, through fairly straightforward lifestyle modifications,
that we can help memory as we get older.”…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MARCH 2007
Women looking for an alternative treatment for hot flashes
and other menopause symptoms will be disappointed in
the latest findings about black cohosh.…
Buy>>
|
MARCH 2007
NEW BENEFITS FROM VITAMIN D keep
piling up in the scientific literature, and the
latest could represent an advance in preventing
a crippling neurological condition
affecting 350,000 Americans—multiple sclerosis
(MS).…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2005
COULD THAT CUP of java be
doing more good than just waking
you up in the morning?
Researchers in Japan set out to test in
humans a protective association
between coffee and liver cancer that’s
been found in animal studies. In their
10-year study of more than 90,000
Japanese subjects, recently published in
the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, they found that frequent coffee
drinkers had half the liver-cancer
risk of those who never drank coffee.
People who drank one to two cups
daily saw benefits, which increased at
three to four cups.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2005
Diets that promise weight loss by substituting
steak for pasta and bacon for
bread may be a recipe for increased
heart-disease risk. A new report on a
15-year study of women’s health and
eating habits by the Mayo Clinic College
of Medicine suggests that if you’re
replacing carbohydrates with protein,
the type of protein you pick can make a
difference to your long-term health. The
researchers found an association
between eating more vegetable protein
and a reduced risk of heart disease. But
eating more red meat and dairy products
in place of carbohydrates was
linked to greater coronary heart disease
mortality.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2005
YOUR MOM’S SUGGESTION to “go outside and
play” may still be good advice—especially for men
worried about prostate cancer. Research recently presented
at the 2005 Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer
Symposium connects high blood levels of vitamin
D—“the sunshine vitamin”—with reduced risk of developing
the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JULY 2005
ARECENT HEADLINE in Time
magazine asked the question
many Americans are wondering
in the wake of a controversial
study by the National Cancer
Institute and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC): “Is it
OK to be pudgy?” The study, published
in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA), is among the most
rigorous yet to look at the relationship
between weight and mortality. To the
bafflement of many scientists and the
consternation of America’s $46 billiona-
year diet industry, it found that people
who are overweight but not obese have
a lower risk of death than those of
“normal” weight, as defined by the government
using Body Mass Index (BMI).…
Buy>>
|
APRIL 2007
EAT YOUR GREENS—and your purples and yellows,
too. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are already
known to contain a wide range of healthful nutrients.
Now a new Italian study says that increased intake of
flavonoids—antioxidant components found in abundance
in such foods—could lower your risk of kidney cancer
by nearly a third.…
Read>>
|
MAY 2007
TWO NEW EPIDEMIOLOGICAL studies
suggest that selenium, an antioxidant
mineral, could play an important role in
slowing age-related cognitive decline.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2006
IN A TURNAROUND that shouldn’t come as a big surprise
to readers of the Healthletter, the American Heart
Association (AHA) has concluded that soy protein has little
or no effect on risk factors for heart disease—though it can
still be a healthful replacement for animal protein high in
saturated fat. Our December 2005 Special Report spotlighted
growing doubts about soy protein, once touted as a “magic
bullet” against a variety of health problems. Now the AHA
has officially joined those backing off from the soy bandwagon,
updating a 2000 scientific statement that endorsed soy
protein’s potential for reducing cardiovascular risk.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2006
A REVIEW OF 63 observational studies of
vitamin D and cancer concludes that boosting
daily intake to 1,000 international units (IU)
might reduce the risk of colon, ovarian, breast
and possibly prostate cancer. That’s more
than the current Institute of Medicine recommendation
for vitamin D, which ranges from
200-600 IU daily depending on age, though
only half the safe upper limit set by the institute.
Because it’s difficult to get that much
vitamin D from food alone, this target can
likely be best achieved through supplements,
according to study co-author Cedric F.…
Buy>>
|
JANUARY 2008
THE MASSIVE Women’s Health
Initiative (WHI) may finally
have produced encouraging
news: A low-fat diet seems to
reduce postmenopausal women’s
risk of ovarian cancer—and women
with the unhealthiest diets benefit the
most from cutting down on fat.…
Read>>
|
AUGUST 2005
SCIENTISTS ARE DEBATING
the significance of a headlinegrabbing
study that seems to
show a link between a low-fat
diet and reduced recurrence of
breast cancer. Researchers said this represented
the first large, randomized
clinical trial to show diet could have
any impact on cancer outcomes. But
experts cautioned that the findings, presented
at the world’s largest cancer
meeting, the American Society of
Clinical Oncology, were only marginally
statistically significant.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2007
ADD SODA POP TO THE LIST of foods to cut back
on to reduce your cancer risk. A large new Swedish
study connects drinking lots of soft drinks to an
increased risk of pancreatic cancer, a relatively rare
but deadly form of tumor.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2006
THE INK WAS HARDLY DRY
on the controversial news about
low-fat diets from the Women’s
Health Initiative (see last
month’s Healthletter) when a
second arm of the study reported more
results that seemed to contradict conventional
medical wisdom: In a sevenyear
trial of 36,282 postmenopausal
women, researchers found no significant
benefit from calcium and vitamin
D supplementation in preventing hip
fractures.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2006
CAN 2.5 MILLION AMERICAN MEN be wrong?
That’s how many are taking saw palmetto extract as
a treatment for enlarged prostate, a common condition
known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Earlier studies had suggested that capsules containing
an extract from the olive-size berries of this small palm,
native to the southeastern US, might be effective. That
helped boost saw palmetto pills to the nation’s third highestselling
dietary supplement, behind only garlic pills and echinacea,
according to the American Botanical Council.…
Buy>>
|
JUNE 2007
IF YOU’VE BEEN DRIVING AWAY your
neighbors and loved ones with garlic
breath in hopes of lowering your cholesterol,
you can stop now. Despite the
pungent herb’s widely touted possible
benefits as a cholesterol-lowering agent,
a recent study found that garlic came up
short—whether eaten fresh or taken as a
dried supplement or aged extract.…
Read>>
|
JUNE 2007
STARTING YOUR DAY with a
bowl of cereal is not just kids’
stuff. Findings presented at a
recent American Heart
Association conference suggest
that eating whole-grain breakfast cereal
can help protect against heart failure.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
DECEMBER 2005
THE SMARTEST THING you can do
about pancreatic cancer is eat a lot of
what you find in the produce section of your grocery store.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MAY 2006
FRENCH RESEARCHERS have
found that dietary beta-carotene
could help slow the natural
decline in lung function with
age. Comparing breathing tests
in subjects eight years apart, the study
discovered that those with the highest
blood levels of
beta-carotene—a
dietary antioxidant—
retained
over 20% more
lung function
than those with
the lowest betacarotene
levels.
Over a 10-year
span, researchers
noted, the benefit
of a specific increase in beta-carotene levels
“approximately counteracts the effect
of one year of aging.”…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JANUARY 2008
Though peeling an onion may make you cry, consuming supplemental
quercetin—an antioxidant compound found in abundance
in onions as well as in some other fruits and vegetables—
may give folks with high blood pressure something to smile
about.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
DECEMBER 2006
VITAMIN D MAY NOT exactly
be “the miracle vitamin,” as a
recent Reader’s Digest breathlessly
hyped it, but evidence of
its health benefits does keep making headlines.…
Buy>>
|
JANUARY 2008
WE ALL KNOW the childhood rhyme, “Beans,
beans, they’re good for your heart...” Well, it’s
time to stop snickering.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
DECEMBER 2006
HAVE YOU HAD your green tea today? A large Japanese study of
the effects of green-tea consumption on mortality suggests that
several cups a day may help you have more tomorrows.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
DECEMBER 2006
Besides the well-known heart-health
benefits of eating fatty fish, regular
consumption of fish such as salmon,
mackerel, sardines and herring may also
help prevent kidney cancer.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JUNE 2007
LOOKING TO LOWER your oral cancer
risk? You’d be better off putting away that
vitamin bottle and peeling a fresh, genuine
orange.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2005
EATING A DIET HIGH in vegetables,
fruits, soy products, beans and dairy
may help women avoid the added risk
of colon cancer that comes with a typical
meat-centered Western diet, according
to new findings from the National
Cancer Center in Tokyo. The researchers
also looked at the traditional Japanese
diet and—somewhat surprisingly—found
that it too was associated with a higher
colon-cancer risk among women.…
Buy>>
|
APRIL 2008
Want to live longer? A new study
shows just how powerful four
simple healthy habits can be in
warding off the Grim Reaper.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JUNE 2006
JUST BECAUSE that “sports drink” features athletes
in its ads doesn’t mean it’s your healthiest choice to
quench your thirst. In fact, a new proposed guidance
system for beverage consumption ranks sports drinks
near the bottom.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2005
Tufts researchers conclude that eating right is still smarter
than relying on supplements.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2005
YOUR MORNING GLASS of orange juice
may be doing more than just helping you
wake up—it might reduce your risk of arthritis.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2005
WOMEN, DON’T DEPEND
on low-dose aspirin or vitamin
E to cut your risk of
cancer. That’s the conclusion
of one of the largest
and most thorough studies to date of
these compounds’ hoped-for preventive
effects.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2005
LOOKING TO LOSE WEIGHT?
Two new studies on the effects of
obesity may give you some extra
incentive.…
Buy>>
|
JULY 2007
LOOKING TO LESSEN your breast cancer risk? Hold
off on the bacon and burgers. That’s the word from two
recent studies linking heavy consumption of processed
and grilled red meats with increased risk for breast cancer,
particularly among postmenopausal women.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2008
COULD LEGUMES, such as peanuts and soybeans,
help combat the world’s growing diabetes epidemic?…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2005
WHILE THE DEBATE over whether milk can really
help you lose weight rages on (see story on
page 1), an extensive new study suggests another
benefit of consuming low-fat dairy products,
such as skim milk: lowering men’s risk of developing
adult-onset diabetes.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2005
MOST YOGA SESSIONS aren’t strenuous enough
to meet the requirements for daily exercise or to
burn off lots of calories, but yoga may still indirectly help prevent “middle-aged spread.”…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2008
TO HELP PROTECT YOURSELF against stroke, eat plenty of fruits
and vegetables—perhaps especially, a new study suggests, those rich
in vitamin C.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JULY 2006
TWO STUDIES PRESENTED at the annual
meeting of the American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) suggest a potentially
promising line of investigation for
reducing the risk of breast cancer. Both
appear to link higher levels of vitamin D
with lower incidence of breast cancer.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2005
Study says it’s how much we
drink, not coffee’s healthy
properties, that make it #1.…
Buy>>
|
JULY 2007
PEOPLE WHO EXERCISE regularly and vigorously—
more than just an occasional stroll around the
block—may see their efforts rewarded with a lowered
risk of Parkinson’s disease. That’s the promising news
from researchers at the Harvard School of Public
Health who found that subjects who were the most active,
performing 30 minutes of moderate to intense physical exercise
a day, had a 40% lower chance of developing the disease.…
Read>>
|
APRIL 2008
EVERYBODY KNOWS that carrots are supposed to
be good for your eyes, but now a new study suggests
Bugs Bunny’s favorite food may also reduce your risk
of dying from heart disease.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2006
HE DEBATE ABOUT weight and mortality has heated
up again, with two hefty new studies providing scientific
evidence for what most people have long suspected:
It’s better not to be too fat or too thin.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
NOVEMBER 2006
EVEN AS RESEARCHERS seem to be confirming
the link between abnormal weight
and risk of death (see above), two other
new studies cast doubt on the most common
measure of overweight, obesity and
underweight: Body Mass Index (BMI).…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2005
AMAJOR NEW American
Cancer Society study serves up
another reason to watch your
consumption of red meat: Too
much red meat significantly
raises your risk of colorectal cancer.
The study of nearly 150,000
Americans, the largest and most comprehensive
to date, was published in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association. The findings also linked
colorectal cancer risk and prolonged
high consumption of processed meat.…
Buy>>
|
AUGUST 2007
Heading to the beach? Along with
the sunscreen and swimsuit, you
might want to pack a thermos of
iced tea.
A new study from Dartmouth Medical
School finds that folks who consumed at
least one cup of tea daily were significantly
less likely than their non-teadrinking
counterparts to develop basal
cell and squamous cell carcinomas, the
two most common forms of skin cancer.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2005
Study Shows Colon Cancer Screening Still Underused…
Buy>>
|
AUGUST 2007
AMERICANS average less than
one serving a day of whole
grains, and few of us get the
recommended three servings or
more per day. In fact, more than
40% of US adults typically eat no
whole grains at all.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
OCTOBER 2005
WHILE DRINKING ALCOHOL can raise the
risk of several cancers, a new analysis
of nine studies involving 15,175 people
indicates that alcohol may actually
reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
OCTOBER 2006
FORGET “5-A-Day.” Nutrition
science “has just rocketed past”
that familiar program designed
to push produce consumption,…
Buy>>
|
SEPTEMBER 2007
New research from Creighton
University School of Medicine adds
to the growing body of evidence
that vitamin D may play an important
role in cancer prevention. In a randomized,
placebo-controlled study of 1,179
healthy, postmenopausal women, those
taking nearly three times the recommended
daily amount of vitamin D, plus
calcium, reduced their relative risk of
cancer by 60%. When just the later
three years of the four-year trial were
analyzed—to weed out subjects with
undiagnosed cancers at the start—those
taking vitamin D supplements saw a
77% reduced risk of cancers.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
AUGUST 2006
MOST OF THE 52% of American adults
who take multivitamins—at an annual cost
of $23 billion—probably assume that solid
scientific evidence supports these supplements’
health benefits. Not so fast, says a
new report issued by a 13-member
National Institutes of Health (NIH) expert
panel.…
Buy>>
|
SEPTEMBER 2007
ADIET RICH in flavonoids—nutrients found in abundance
in some fruits and vegetables, as well as in coffee,
tea and chocolate—could help keep your brain
sharp as you age. In a new study, researchers from
France’s Institut National de la Santé Et de la
Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and the Université Victor
Segalen Bordeaux 2 report that people who ate diets high
flavonoids performed significantly better on cognitive tests
than those who reported low intakes of the nutrients.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
OCTOBER 2006
NEED ANOTHER REASON to lose that
“spare tire”? A large European study suggests
that adults who carry much of their
fat around the middle may be at increased
risk for colon cancer.…
Buy>>
|
SEPTEMBER 2007
As if green tea didn’t have enough
cheerleaders among the scientific
community, a new study based in
China has linked the traditional Asian quaff
with reducing the risk for colorectal cancer
by more than half.…
Read>>
|
DECEMBER 2007
Extra vitamin D linked to lower death risk.EVIDENCE KEEPS adding up
that vitamin D, the “sunshine
vitamin,” is good for more than
just strong bones.…
Read>>
|
OCTOBER 2007
Since the US and Canada mandated
folic-acid fortification of cereals
and other enriched grain products
in the 1990s, the number of infants
born with neural tube defects (spina
bifida) has dropped by 20%-50%.
Over the same time, however, the rate
of new cases of colorectal cancer
increased. Could there be a hidden
downside to folic-acid fortification?…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
AUGUST 2006
JUST IN CASE YOU NEEDED one more
good reason to shed those extra pounds, a
new study links obesity and breast cancer
risk. Unlike genetics or family history,
researchers point out, weight is at least a
risk factor women can do something about.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2006
BOTHERED BY persistent
heartburn or acid reflux—the
painful symptoms of gastroesophageal
reflux disease
(GERD), which is caused by
stomach acids backing up into your
esophagus? Relief may be as close as
your bathroom scale.…
Buy>>
|
DECEMBER 2007
Forget the old adage about an apple a
day. If you’re looking to lower your risk
of pancreatic cancer, you’d be wiser to
eat a healthy dose of onions, spinach and
certain cabbages.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MARCH 2006
RESEARCHERS KEEP DISCOVERING new
benefits from getting enough vitamin D,
which has been linked to everything from
stronger bones to preventing prostate cancer
(see the December and May 2005
Healthletters). Now a study, recently published
in Chest, has found that the higher
the level of vitamin D in your blood, the
better your lungs seem to function.…
Buy>>
|
FEBRUARY 2007
THE DOWNSIDE OF EATING onions and
garlic has always been bad breath. But scientists
are now discovering a possible upside
to these pungent vegetables—besides spicy
flavor: Onions and garlic may help protect
against a wide range of cancers.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JUNE 2006
Level 1: Water
The Beverage Guidance panel notes that all
beverage needs for adults can be met with
water. RECOMMENDATION: 20-50 ounces
per day.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
AUGUST 2005
THREE NEW STUDIES have shed a bit more light on
prostate cancer, which will affect one in six men during
their lifetime, and suggest ways men might reduce their
risk as well as better evaluate their treatment options.
The most extensive of the studies, published in the
Archives of Internal Medicine, looked for links between
exercise and reduced risk of prostate cancer among 48,000
men working in health professions. The researchers studied
data spanning 14 years, during which time 2,892 of the subjects
developed prostate cancer, including 482 advanced
cases. Participants were quizzed about how much time they
spent doing a variety of physical activities: walking, running,
hiking, bicycling, swimming laps, rowing, playing racket
sports, doing calisthenics.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
JUNE 2006
FRENCH RESEARCHERS have
found that dietary beta-carotene
could help slow the natural
decline in lung function with
age.…
Buy>>
|
JUNE 2008
But pills don’t deliver
same protection.
Spanish researchers report that a
daily serving of green leafy vegetables,
rich in flavonoids and vitamins
A and C, may cut your risk of lung
cancer in half. But don’t think you can
just pop a pill and get the same protective benefit: In a second new study,
University of Washington scientists
found that people taking vitamin supplements
were just as likely to develop
lung cancer as those not taking vitamins.
In fact, in smokers, certain vitamins
actually increased the risk of
developing the disease.…
Read>>
|
JUNE 2008
MORE GOOD NEWS for those
who eat their greens, fish and
grains: Getting enough magnesium
may significantly lower a
man’s risk of developing gallstones.
That’s the conclusion of a new US
study of nearly 43,000 men that found men
who consumed the most magnesium—from
their diets and supplements—lowered their
risk of gallstones by 28%. And men who
got adequate amounts of magnesium from
diet alone reduced their gallstone risk even
more, by 32%.…
Read>>
|
JULY 2008
A brisk walk may not exactly lead
you to the fountain of youth—but a
new research review suggests it’s
a good start. According to the report in
the British Journal of Sports Medicine, vigorous
walking for about an hour a day,
five times a week, can boost your maximal
oxygen intake by as much as 25%
within just three months. That’s enough
to turn back the clock on 12 years of
natural decline with aging. For seniors, it
could also add a dozen years of functional
independence.…
Read>>
|
JULY 2008
A tape measure may be as good a
gauge of healthy weight as your
bathroom scale. Though obesity
raises your risk for chronic health conditions,
recent research suggests that
where you carry extra pounds makes a
difference. New studies link “belly fat”
with increased risk of death, heart disease
and cancer, even risk of dementia.…
Read>>
|
AUGUST 2008
Casting a wide net in the effort to
prevent cancer, scientists have
found that eating fish—and the
omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil
may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
Lead author Megan N. Hall, ScD,
RD, of Columbia University and colleagues
studied 21,376 men participating
in the Physicians’ Health Study over
a span of 22 years. The researchers
found that the men who ate the most
fish had a 40% reduced risk of colorectal
cancer. Similarly, those with the
highest dietary intake of omega-3s from
fish had a 26% lower risk of colorectal
cancer, compared to the men with the
lowest intake of omega-3s.…
Read>>
|
AUGUST 2008
TO HELP REDUCE your risk of diabetes, eat like a
Mediterranean. That’s the suggestion of a new Spanish
study, which linked following a Mediterranean-style diet
to sharply lower rates of developing type 2 diabetes.
The findings, by lead author Miguel Martinez-González,
MD, PhD, of the University of Navarra and colleagues, are
consistent with the scientists’ previous research associating a
Mediterranean-style diet with reduced risk of metabolic syndrome,
a precursor of diabetes. Other studies have reported
that such a dietary pattern might be beneficial against mortality
from heart disease and some cancers.…
Read>>
|
SEPTEMBER 2008
In news sure to perk up coffee drinkers
everywhere, a study of more than
125,000 Americans spanning 18 to 24
years finds no link between coffee consumption and increased risk of death even for those sipping six cups or more a
day. In fact, heavy coffee drinking
seemed to be associated with a
decreased risk of death, especially from
cardiovascular causes and among women.…
Read>>
|
SEPTEMBER 2008
Higher vitamin D levels reduce risk of heart attack and death.
TWO NEW STUDIES add to what
one researcher called an “overwhelming”
accumulation of evidence
that maintaining adequate vitamin
D levels is important to your
health—and that those levels may be
higher than current official recommendations.
In one study, men with low
blood levels of vitamin D were at twice
the risk of heart
attack as those getting
plenty of the “sunshine
vitamin.” Just
days later, a second
report was published
showing that individuals
with lower blood
levels of vitamin D
had an increased risk
of death in general
and from cardiovascular
causes in particular.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2008
Flavonols—naturally occurring
antioxidants found especially in
beans, onions, apples and tea—may
dramatically reduce the recurrence of
advanced adenomas, the polyps that
are associated with colorectal cancer. A fresh look at data from a randomized dietary intervention trial of more than 2,000 men and women reveals that those consuming the most flavonols were 76% less at risk than those with the lowest flavonol intake.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
SEPTEMBER 2008
Add a healthy gullet to the bountiful
benefits of eating lots of fruits and
vegetables. A new study reports
that high dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins C and E and beta-carotene,
linked to produce consumption, is associated with sharply lower risk of
Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to
esophageal cancer.…
Buy>>
|
OCTOBER 2008
Juice drinks boost your risk, while fruits and vegetables protect you.
A TRIO OF STUDIES published in
the Archives of Internal Medicine sheds new light on the importance of diet in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes—and especially the role of calories. In an accompanying editorial, Mark N. Feinglos, MD, and Susan E. Totten, RD, of Duke University Medical Center, summarized the findings: “Until we have more information, we have to assume that calories trump everything else, and that our number-one goal for the reduction of new cases of type 2 diabetes…should be to reduce the intake of high energy,
low-benefit foods.”…
Read>>
|
NOVEMBER 2008
Alarge clinical trial has failed to support hopes, based on prior population studies, that B vitamin supplements might help patients who already have coronary artery disease to prevent future heart trouble. It was thought that, by lowering blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine that’s associated with heart disease, B vitamins could protect heart patients. But while the supplements did lower homocysteine, there was no accompanying benefit in reducing cardiovascular events or mortality.…
Read>>
|
NOVEMBER 2008
If the harmful effects of trans fats on cholesterol and heart health haven’t yet motivated you to cut them out of your diet, researchers have come up with another reason to steer clear: a possible increased risk of colon cancer.…
Read>>
|
DECEMBER 2008
You already know that keeping active whether walking the treadmill at the gym or gardening in the backyard-can help your heart and your waistline. Now a major Japanese epidemiological study adds to the growing evidence that getting off the couch can also reduce your risk of cancer.…
Read>>
|
JANUARY 2009
Don’t be intimidated by the figure of 2 1/2 hours a week of physical activity in the new federal exercise guidelines, says Tufts’ Miriam Nelson, PhD, who served as vice chair of the expert panel behind the recommendations. “Any activity is better than nothing. That’s the really important message,” says Nelson, an associate professor at the Friedman School and director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition. “Don’t think, ‘I’ll never get there.’ It’s important to take a stepwise approach.”…
Read>>
|
JANUARY 2009
Not only aren’t Americans eating enough vegetables, but when it comes to combating cancer we’re eating the wrong ones. Researchers who tested extracts from 34 different vegetables against eight types of tumor cells report that the least popular vegetables in the US diet—such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts—pack the greatest anti-cancer potential. The veggies we prefer—potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes and carrots, which together account for about 60% of US adults’ vegetable consumption—may have their virtues, but prove less effective in cancer protection.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
|
FEBRUARY 2009
A large study of antioxidant vitamin supplements has
dashed hopes that vitamins C and E might protect against
cardiovascular disease or cancer. Unlike most previous
studies, the Physicians’ Health Study II tested vitamin C and E
supplements individually as well as in combination. After an
average eight years of followup, neither vitamin worked any
better than placebos in preventing major cardiovascular events
or cancer among the 14,641 men over age 50.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
FEBRUARY 2009
The National Cancer Institute (NCI)
has pulled the plug on a major trial
of selenium and vitamin E’s possible
benefits against prostate cancer. The
Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention
Trial (SELECT), one of the largest cancer
chemoprevention trials ever conducted,
involved 35,533 men ages 50 and up.
Scheduled to run through 2011, SELECT
was halted early because of an absence of
benefit from either supplement. In fact,
men in the vitamin E group had a statistically
nonsignificant increased risk of
prostate cancer, and those assigned to
selenium pills had a slightly raised risk of
type 2 diabetes.…
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
APRIL 2009
Anew evidence review will disappoint
garlic lovers who hope that the pungent
bulbs might ward off not only
vampires but the real-life threat of cancer.
But other experts say the jury is still out
on garlic’s cancer-preventing prowess. …
Buy>>
|
$ 1.95
|
MARCH 2009
Newly approved no-calorie sweetener is touted as “natural.”
The US Food and Drug Admini -
stration (FDA) has given the longawaited
green light to Reb A, a
zero-calorie sweetener derived from the
leaf of the stevia plant, labeling the
product as “generally recognized as
safe” (GRAS). This means the sweetener
is approved not only as a dietary supplement
but has been okayed for much
broader use in food and drink products.
The ink was barely dry on the agency’s
decision before major commercial beverage
companies like Coca-Cola and
PepsiCo were lining up to launch new
stevia-sweetened products, along with
producers of everything from baked
goods to breakfast cereals. …
Buy>>
|
IF YOU’RE COUNTING on that daily multivitamin pill to help protect you against cancer or heart disease, think again. The largest study ever of multivitamin use among older women has found that the pills made no significant difference in the risk of cancer, heart disease or overall mortality.…
Read>>
|
$ 1.95
CALCIUM MIGHT HELP prevent some cancers, after all. Three years after the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) dashed hopes that calcium and vitamin D supplements might offer a benefit against colorectal cancer, another big study has found an association between calcium intake and reduced risk of colorectal and other digestive-system cancers. One difference: This seven-year study of nearly a half-million participants in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study focused on calcium from food, such as low-fat dairy, as well as pills.…
Buy>>
|
|
|
|