Cancer Prevention in Every Aisle

Nearly everything in the produce aisle can help you prevent cancer, but there are items throughout the supermarket that can protect your health and the health of your family.

Produce Aisle Picks
Cantaloupe - a great source of carotenoids, plant chemicals that act as antioxidants shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer.

Kale and cabbage - cruciferous vegetables are widely considered to be one of the healthiest food choices you can make. Included in this family of vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage and bok choy. Cruciferous vegetables are high in vitamins, fiber, and potent anti-cancer phytochemicals.

According to the American Institute for Cancer, there is solid evidence that links cruciferous vegetables and protection against cancer. Studies have shown that this vegetable group has the ability to stop the growth of cancer cells for tumors in the breast, uterine lining, lung, colon, liver, and cervix. And studies that track the diets of people over time have found that diets high in cruciferous vegetables are linked to lower rates of prostate cancer.

It is recommended that we eat 3-5 servings of cruciferous vegetables per week. It's best to eat these veggies raw or only lightly steamed so they retain their cancer fighting phytochemicals.

Freezer Aisle Pick
Edamame (soybeans) - These cancer-fighting beans contain phytoestrogens, that may help prevent estrogen-driven cancers by binding to estrogen receptors. They are also good for the men of the household since evidence suggests the isoflavones found in soy products may help fight prostate cancer.

Cereal Aisle Pick
Whole Grain Oats - Oats have the highest proportion of soluble fiber of any grain. Fiber is rich in antioxidants, helps fight colon cancer and phenolic compounds in whole grains my help reduce the risk of certain GI cancers. Pick cereals high in folate, fiber and/or flaxseed.

Beverage Aisle Picks
Orange juice - this favorite breakfast beverage is a powerful source of folate which has been linked to lowered risk for GI and pancreatic cancer.

Green tea - green tea is lower in caffeine than coffee and can help prevent prostate cancer and possibly bladder cancer.

Pomegranate juice - this juice is extremely antioxidant-rich and helps prevent colon and prostate cancer.

Soy milk - also made from soy beans, soy milk works the same way as edamame to fight cancer.

Household Aisle Picks

Sunscreen – summer is starting, so lather on the SPF each and every time you go out in the sun to block exposure to ultraviolet rays.

Mop or damp cloth - it's important to get rid of dust without spreading it around your home. Recent evidence has shown that dust can contain carcinogens that are known to cause cancer.

Source:
Qi Mail™ The Acupuncture Newsletter
Erika Lessey Chen, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac., C.M.T
(http://www.acufinder.com/Acupuncturist/59396).
The Lotus Center
1085 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-336-0577

Weight Training and Prostate Cancer

How Weight Training Minimizes the Effects of Prostate Cancer Treatment

By Paul Rogers, About.com

Updated: May 21, 2007

Before I explain the value of weight training in prostate cancer therapy, here's a brief background on the prostate cancer treatment relevant to this article.

Prostate Cancer Hormone Treatment

Prostate cancer is the scourge of the ageing male. It can develop silently with few symptoms, progress slowly, or sometimes rapidly once a critical point is reached, and may require surgery and perhaps drug treatment to cure or slow its development. The prostate is a walnut-size gland just below the bladder and it produces seminal fluid but not sperm.

In most men over 50, the prostate gland grows and may block the flow of urine to some extent, but this is not prostate cancer only 'benign prostate hypertrophy' and it has little to do with prostate cancer, which can spread beyond the prostate.

Because the male hormone testosterone seems to cause most prostate cancers to grow, one of the treatments for prostate cancer is the delivery of drugs to stop the body producing or using testosterone as it normally does, the result being a slowing or cessation of the cancer growth. The problem with this approach is that without testosterone various unwanted health effects occur: reduced muscle strength and bone mass and increased risk of fractures, increased fat mass and reduced muscle mass, unfavorable cholesterol levels and depression and mood swings.

How Can Weight Training Help?

Could weight training prevent some of these symptoms occurring? That's what researchers from the School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University in Western Australia attempted to find out. They studied 10 men aged 59-82 yr on androgen deprivation for localized prostate cancer before and after progressive resistance training for 20 weeks at 6-12-repetition maximum (RM) for 12 upper- and lower-body exercises in a university exercise rehabilitation clinic. The exercises included the chest press, seated row, shoulder press, lat pull-down, triceps extension, biceps curl, leg press, squat, leg extension, leg curl, abdominal crunch, and back-extension exercises.

If you need to see how such a weight training program could look in detail, see my Basic Strength and Muscle Program, which is similar.

Results

The research team tested the subjects at the beginning of the study, at 10 weeks and at 20 weeks for elements of body composition, strength, exercise performance and blood parameters. Here is what they found.

• Body composition
  There were no significant overall changes to body fat, muscle mass or bone mineral density in the group. Note, however, the quadricep muscle mass improvement noted below.
• Muscle strength and endurance
  A significant increase in muscle strength and endurance was noted for the exercises tested for the upper and lower body. Thigh quadricep muscle size increased significantly -- in some subjects up to 15 percent.
• Exercise performance
  After 20 weeks of training there was a significant improvement in physical performance in the nominated exercises of chair rise, stair climbing, and walking tests with incremental performance improvements at 10 weeks and up to 20 weeks.
• Blood parameters
  There were no significant differences in PSA, hormones or hemoglobin blood measurements.

What Do the Results Mean?

Even though the study could have produced more meaningful results had it been a randomized study where two groups were chosen -- one group chosen randomly to perform the weight training and another to act as a 'control' group -- nevertheless, the positive aspects of the study are that strength increased and muscle and bone mass did not decrease significantly nor did fat mass increase. These are the crucial factors likely to be adversely affected in hormone depletion treatment, so overall the results are very promising.

The bottom line is that if you do find yourself in such a prostate cancer treatment situation, weight training can probably help you to maintain important elements of physical function and health while undergoing the best treatment as recommended by your specialist.

References

Galvao DA, Taaffe DR, Spry N, Newton RU. Exercise can prevent and even reverse adverse effects of androgen suppression treatment in men with prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2007 May 8; [Epub ahead of print]

Galvao DA, Nosaka K, Taaffe DR, Spry N, Kristjanson LJ, McGuigan MR, Suzuki K, Yamaya K, Newton RU. Resistance training and reduction of treatment side effects in prostate cancer patients. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Dec;38(12):2045-52.

Exercise Helps Treat Breast Cancer?

Combined Aerobic and Resistance Training in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Trial

Herrero F, San Juan AF, Fleck SJ
Int J Sports Med
vol. 27, 573 - 580, 2006

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of a combined cardiorespiratory and resistance exercise training program of short duration on the cardiorespiratory fitness, strength endurance, task specific functional muscle capacity, body composition and quality of life (QOL) in women breast cancer survivors. Sixteen subjects were randomly assigned to either a training (n = 8; age: 50 ± 5 yrs) or control non-exercising group (n = 8; age: 51 ± 10 yrs). The training group followed an 8-week exercise program consisting of 3 weekly sessions of 90-min duration, supervised by an experienced investigator and divided into resistance exercises and aerobic training. Before and after the intervention period, all of the subjects performed a cardiorespiratory test to measure peak oxygen uptake (O_2peak), a dynamic strength endurance test (maximum number of repetitions for chest and leg press exercise at 30–35% and 100–110% of body mass, respectively) and a sit-stand test. Quality of life was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 (EORTC-C30) questionnaire. In response to training, QOL, O_2peak (mean 3.9 ml/kg/min; 95% CI, 0.93, 6.90) performance in leg press (17.9 kg; 95% CI, 12.8, 22.4) and sitstand test (–0.67 s; 95% CI, −0.52, −1.2) improved (p≤0.05). We observed no significant changes in the control group. Combined cardiorespiratory and resistance training, even of very brief duration, improves the QOL and the overall physical fitness of women breast cancer survivors.

Vitamin D: Good for More than Bones

Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:57 PM By: Drs. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish-Wreden

We know that vitamin D helps the bones by preventing osteoporosis and fractures, but did you know that vitamin D also plays an important role in the prevention of many other diseases, including cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases like MS and Type 1 diabetes, arthritis, infections, chronic pain and muscle weakness? Here is the latest research on this versatile vitamin: Vitamin D helps control pain. A fascinating study from the Mayo clinic published last month online in the journal Pain Medicine looked at vitamin D levels in people with chronic pain. They found that patients who had low vitamin D levels required almost twice as much narcotic pain medication as those with normal levels. The vitamin D-deficient folks also perceived their health as poor. Another study from the Mayo Clinic in 2003 looked at the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in people ages 10-65 with chronic pain syndromes like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue – 93 percent of them were found to be vitamin D-deficient. Vitamin D helps the heart. A study published last month in the journal Circulation looked at the impact of vitamin D blood levels on heart health in people with high blood pressure. Participants in the study with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to have angina, a heart attack, heart failure or a stroke as those with normal vitamin D levels. Vitamin D reduces the risk of falls. Another study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, published in March, looked at the effect of vitamin D supplements on falls in older women. A team of researchers in Australia gave 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day to 300 women ages 70-90, all of whom had low blood levels of vitamin D and had also fallen in the past year. They found that in those women who had fallen once in the past year, vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of falls – but only in the winter months when the sun's rays are weaker and less vitamin D is made in the skin. In women who had fallen multiple times, vitamin D did not seem to help, possibly because these women were more frail and were falling for other reasons. Who is deficient in vitamin D? Perhaps you are. An adequate blood level is probably at least 40-60 ng/ml. It is estimated that 25 percent to 100 percent of adults are deficient, depending on the population and time of year; many children are deficient as well. Primitive people relied on sun exposure for all their vitamin D; now, however, most of us work inside, and when we do go out, we slather on the sun screen, which impairs our ability to make vitamin D. Older folks, people of color and people who live at higher latitudes are also at higher risk of deficiency. Most vitamin D in food, such as dairy products, does not occur naturally; it is added as a supplement and is not considered a reliable form of intake, since amounts may vary from product to product. Most of us need at least 800 units per day. Bottom line? It may help you to take supplemental vitamin D. Drs. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish-Wreden are medical directors of Sutter Downtown Integrative Medicine program in Sacramento, Calif. © 2008, The Sacramento Bee. Reprinted Via Newscom.