Download Eyesight - Toomey Natural Foods

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.