Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Serving your nutritional needs since 1975. Our September 2007 Newsletter for Healthy Living O lder adults with high levels of beta-carotene, vitamins C, D, and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, and omega-3, had healthier eyesight than those who had low levels of these nutrients, according to a new review of five large studies covering 21,485 participants, aged 50 to 80, in over a dozen research centers around the world, from 1988 through 2005. In the U.S. National Eye Institute Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), participants with moderate to high risk of losing eyesight—a condition known as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD— who took a daily combination of 15 mg of beta-carotene, 500 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, plus 80 mg of zinc oxide with 2 mg of copper (cupric) oxide, had an average 22% lower risk of developing AMD than those who did not take these nutrients. The placebo Eyesight group had the highest risk of AMD. Doctors included the 2 mg of copper to protect against copper deficiency, which can occur when zinc levels are high. Participants in the Netherlandsbased Rotterdam Study who had high levels of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc had substantially lower risk for AMD than those with low levels. In the 20th report of AREDS, participants who had high levels of the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were less likely to develop the most serious type of AMD, called “wet” AMD, where abnormal blood vessels form in the eye. In two studies, the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study (CAREDS) and the Pathologies Oculaires Liees a l’Age (POLA), in participants with AMD, the disease progressed more slowly for those who had a high level of lutein or zeaxanthin compared to those with low levels. In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), those with the highest levels of vitamin D had 40% less risk of developing AMD than those who had the lowest levels. Reference: Current Opinion in Ophthalmology: 2007; Vol. 18, 220-3. Dear Customer: We are glad you shop with us, and hope you find this issue of our Newsletter informative. When you visit our store, please ask us for assistance with any products you would like to know more about. News & Research This Issue Supplements aided healthy eyesight. Selenium and multivitamins lowered risk of prostate cancer. Oat fiber lowered cholesterol. Antioxidants increased cancer survival rates. Black cohosh decreased breast cancer risk. Magnesium strengthened bones in girls. Vegetables and soy slowed spread of cancer cells. M Protecting the prostate en who had high levels of selenium, multivitamins, vitamin E, and soy isoflavones had lower risk for prostate cancer than men with low levels of these nutrients in two new studies, and soy isoflavones slowed the growth of prostate-cancer cells in a third new study. In the selenium study, researchers measured the blood fluid (serum) levels of selenium in 724 men with prostate cancer and in 879 healthy men of the same age who entered the study at the same time, and followed up for eight years. Scientists found that men who had higher selenium levels who also reported taking multivitamins had 39% lower risk for prostate cancer than men with O at fiber lowered cholesterol and risk for heart and bloodvessel disease, according to the results of a new study from the the lowest selenium levels. Doctors also found that men with higher selenium levels who reported taking more than 28 IU of vitamin E per day had 42% lower risk for prostate cancer than men with the lowest selenium levels. Men with higher selenium levels who did not take vitamin E or multivitamins did not have significantly lower prostate cancer risk than those with low selenium levels. In the soy isoflavone study, published March, 2007, in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers examined the diets of 43,509 Japanese men, aged 45 to 74, average age 57, and followed up for nine years. During the study period, 307 men developed prostate cancer. Doctors found that Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: 2007; Vol. 85, No. 1, 209-17. Get your oats! blood pressure, and blood fats at the beginning of the study, and after three and six weeks. The researchers asked participants to maintain the “Oat beta-glucan would make a good standalone cholesterol-reducing dietary supplement.” Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul. Researchers recruited 75 healthy, non-smoking men and women, aged 22 to 65, with total cholesterol levels of 200 mg per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or more, a level which doctors say is the beginning of high risk for heart and bloodvessel disease. Participants took 6 grams of concentrated oat betaglucan twice per day at morning and evening meals, or a placebo, for six weeks. Doctors measured weight, men who took 32.8 mg or more of soy isoflavones per day had 40% lower risk for prostate cancer compared to men who took less than 13.2 mg per day. When doctors analyzed men aged 60 or older, leaving out the younger men, those who took 32.8 mg or more of soy isoflavones per day had 49% lower risk for prostate cancer compared to men who took the least soy isoflavones. In a test tube study published in the April, 2007, issue of the Journal of Nutrition, scientists reported a soy isoflavone concentrate cut the growth of malignant prostate-cancer cells, known as lymph node carcinoma prostate or LNCaP, and helped regulate the gene activity that influences cancer growth. usual diet and physical activity, and to keep a diet diary for three days at three and six weeks, which doctors analyzed for nutrients. At the end of the study period, low-density lipoprotein—LDL, the “bad” cholesterol— and total cholesterol had both dropped by 0.3 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) of blood in the betaglucan group, a change doctors said was equal to or greater than a 12% decrease in heart and bloodvessel disease risk. There were no significant changes in the placebo group. The beta glucan group did report some increase in intestinal gas. Oat beta-glucan is a water-soluble fiber that digests in the large intestine and produces these gases as well as short-chain fatty acids that doctors believe help lower cholesterol. The study authors suggested that oat betaglucan would make a good standalone cholesterol-reducing dietary supplement, and that food manufacturers could add the ingredient to recipes to increase dietary fiber. Reference: Nutrition Journal: March, 2007; Vol. 6, No. 6. A Antioxidants aid chemotherapy ntioxidant supplements tended to increase cancersurvival rates, shrink tumors, and did not interfere with cancer chemotherapy treatments, according to a new review. Researchers from the Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Education in Evanston, Illinois, reviewed 19 randomized, clinicallycontrolled trials involving 1,554 participants, most of whom had advanced or relapsed cancer. Seven of the trials used glutathione, four trials used melatonin, two trials used vitamin A, two trials used an antioxidant mixture that included beta-carotene and selenium, and four additional trials used, individually, N-acetylcysteine, vitamin C, vitamin E, or ellagic acid, an antioxidant in fruits and nuts such as W cranberries and walnuts. Scientists concluded that chemotherapy treatments were at least as effective in participants who took antioxidant supplements as in those who took placebo, and that the antioxidant group had similar or better survival rates than did the placebo group. In 18 out of the 19 trials, tumors shrank and responded as well or better for those who took antioxidants compared to those who took placebo. In 15 out of 17 trials that analyzed the toxic effects of the chemotherapy—such as diarrhea, losing weight, damaging nerves, and low blood counts—the antioxidant group had similar or lower toxicity rates compared to placebo. There has been a long-running debate in the medical community about whether or not antioxidant supplements alter the effect of cancer chemotherapy. One theory is that—because chemotherapy works by creating oxidants—antioxidants may diminish this effect. Another theory is that antioxidants reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy. The study authors noted that, by reducing side effects from chemotherapy, antioxidant supplements may permit people to continue cancer chemotherapy treatment without stopping, interrupting, or reducing dosing, which may improve cancer health outcomes. Reference: Cancer Treatment Reviews: March 28, 2007. Breast cancer—good news omen who took the herb black cohosh to manage menopause symptoms were less likely to have breast cancer than women who did not take the nutrient, and black cohosh appeared safe for breast, uterine, and general health, in two new studies. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, recruited 949 women with breast cancer, and 1,524 women of similar age without breast cancer and analyzed which herbal preparations the women were taking to manage menopause symptoms. The doctors determined that 5.4% of African American women and 2.0% of European women had used or were using herbal preparations containing black cohosh. Comparing the black cohosh users to all other women, and accounting for lifestyle and other risk factors, the scientists determined that women who took black cohosh were 61% less likely to have breast cancer than women who did not take black cohosh. In an open (not placebo-controlled) drug-safety study from the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, published in the February, 2007, issue of Menopause, researchers recruited 65 healthy, naturally—not surgically induced—postmenopausal women who took 40 mg of black cohosh extract per day for six months. At the start and end of the study, doctors took mammograms to determine breast tissue density and biopsies for breast cell growth, both of which can signal breast cancer risk. Doctors also measured the thickness of the endometrial lining of the uterus, another cancer signal. At the end of the study, the women had no increase in breast tissue density or breast cell growth, and no endometrial thickening. Doctors concluded that black cohosh did not cause adverse effects on breast tissue, and did not raise any endometrial or general safety concerns during six months of treatment. Reference: International Journal Cancer: 2007; Vol. 120, No. 7, 1523-8. Toomey Natural Foods 914 Lila Avenue Milford, OH 45150 Phone: 513-831-4771 Website: ToomeyNaturalFoods.com Store Hours: Monday-Friday: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday: Closed G Healthy bones for girls irls who took magnesium supplements had stronger bones, according to a new study. Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, recruited from community pediatrician offices 120 healthy Caucasian girls, aged 8 to 14, who filled out diet diaries. Doctors asked girls whose daily diets had less than 220 mg of magnesium to take 300 mg of magnesium oxide in two 150 mg capsules per day, or a placebo, for 12 months. At the end of the study, compared to placebo, girls who had taken magnesium had significantly increased bone mineral content (BMC) of the hip. Doctors also noted an increase—though not statistically significant—in BMC of the lower lumbar spine (vertebrae numbers one through four) and concluded that magnesium safely improved BMC of the hip without side effects. Reference: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism: December, 2006; Vol. 91, No. 12, 4866-72. This Month’s HealthyTip T wo naturally occurring compounds from vegetables and soy slowed the spread of cancer cells in a new test-tube study. Researchers exposed breast and ovarian cancer cells to diindolylmethane (DIM), a compound that results from digesting vegetables such as broccoli, and genistein, a soy isoflavone, and found that the compounds reduced the spread of cancer from cell to cell (metastasis) by 80% compared to cells that were not exposed. The doctors reported similar results using DIM and genistein on melanoma and prostate cancer cells, and noted that the amounts of the compounds are probably similar to high-dose supplements. Reference: Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research: April, 2007; Abstract 4217. © 2007 RI All articles in this newsletter are for the purpose of nutritional information only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.