Calcium, Weight Loss, and the Prostate 

We are all aware that calcium is an essential element in bones, and calcium supplementation is one important part of osteoporosis prevention.  While osteoporosis is on the minds of many women, researchers in attendance at the 42nd American College of Nutrition annual meeting were looking at the relationship of calcium and weight loss. They found that low calcium intakes in women corresponded to a high body weight.  Evidently, the women who were studied substituted calcium-rich foods and beverages with carbonated beverages such as soda. In another comparative study, children whose diets were supplemented with calcium gained less fat than those on a standard diet.  It is believed that without adequate body stores of calcium, the body cannot properly metabolize fat. 

Cheese and milk are not the only source of calcium.  This mineral is also abundant in green leafy vegetables, fish, meats, and beans.  Many people are allergic or sensitive to dairy foods and should avoid them.  Research from another study gives us another reason to avoid dairy -- prostate cancer. Men who consume high amounts of dairy products may increase their risk of  developing it, according to a new study by Harvard researchers. Over the past several years, scientists have investigated the link between diet and prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men in the United States. In the current study, a group of Harvard researchers examined the diets of 20,885 American male doctors and tracked their health status over an 11-year period. During the course of the study, some 1000 subjects developed prostate cancer. Analysis revealed that the doctors who consumed the most dairy products had a 30% greater risk of prostate cancer than those who consumed the least. 

We have seen other studies link cancer to dairy products.  Modern farms inject their cows with hormones in order to increase milk production.  These hormones concentrate in the milk, and then are sold for human consumption without concern for the health problems that may result.  The hormones can stimulate uncontrolled growth of breast tissue and prostate tissue that leads to cancer.  So should you choose to consume dairy products, make sure they are organic. 

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Exercise Lowers Women's Breast Cancer Risk

Postmenopausal women who exercise may be less likely than their inactive peers to develop breast cancer. Women who biked or walked for more than an hour each day had a 19% reduction in their odds of developing breast cancer.  Physical activity is one of the few modifiable protective factors in breast cancer prevention. While approximately 75 percent of breast cancer cases occur in postmenopausal women, existing evidence indicates that those who exercise one hour each day can significantly cut their breast cancer risk. 

Physical activity has many other health benefits as well. For instance, it decreases the risk of developing heart disease and osteoporosis -- diseases that affect women far more often than breast cancer. And staying active can help your overall health and sense of well being. 

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We are always looking for ways to reduce the risk of the nation's number one killer -- heart disease.  Prior studies have supported the protective role of a low-fat diet and also of Omega-3 fatty acids.  The latest in heart disease prevention comes from a groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Twenty patients with high cholesterol were placed on a diet rich in gluten, a vegetable protein found in wheat, oats, rye, barley, and millet.  The study subjects were then closely monitored for two months.  The researchers found that while the patients were consuming the high gluten diet, there was a reduction in triglycerides and oxidized-LDL.  Oxidized-LDL particles can cause significant heart disease and increase your risk of a heart attack.  Therefore, a reduction in their level is beneficial.

While this study gives us very preliminary evidence of another approach to reducing heart disease, its information must be used with caution.  Approximately 20 percent of the United States population cannot tolerate gluten.  Such people can suffer severe abdominal pain, bloating, and cramping when exposed to gluten. For now, we recommend consuming a variety of fresh vegetables each day to obtain an antioxidant boost.

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A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins suggests that children with difficult-to-control seizures may find more relief from a special diet than from certain anti-seizure medications. The diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that has been used to help control seizures for short periods of time. It is known as the ketogenic diet because the body will produce ketones as a  response to carbohydrate restriction.

Between 1994 and 1996, researchers enrolled 150 children with difficult-to-control seizures (seizures that do not improve from at least two different anticonvulsant medications) in a long-term study to investigate the safety and effectiveness of the ketogenic diet. After one year on the diet, 27 percent of the children experienced at least a 90 percent reduction in the number of seizure episodes per month, with 7 percent totally free of seizures. Three to six years later, the results were even more promising: the same percentage of children were still experiencing at least a 90 percent reduction in seizures, but 13 percent were seizure-free (nearly twice the number who were after one year on the diet). The researchers concluded the ketogenic diet was highly effective in controlling difficult seizures.

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Taking vitamin and zinc supplements can retard the progress of the most common type of blindness known as macular degeneration, a condition that gradually blots out the center of vision.  Of some 3,600 study participants, those who took supplements containing more than the daily requirements of vitamins C, E, beta carotene and zinc had a 28 percent lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration than those taking a placebo.  The clinical research was performed at the National Eye Institute, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The combination of vitamins and mineral supplements used in the study contained 500 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 international units of vitamin E, 15 milligrams of beta carotene, 80 milligrams of zinc and zinc oxide and 2 milligrams of cupric oxide, a form of copper that complements the zinc.

While painless, age-related macular degeneration has been largely untreatable and it is the most common type of blindness to afflict the elderly. Nearly two million Americans suffer from it, and six million more are considered at high risk.

The Institute's Age-Related Eye Disease Study also examined the impact of vitamin supplements on cataracts. The separate study on cataracts, which are a clouding of the eye's lens that also commonly afflict the elderly, found no deterrent effect from taking vitamin or zinc supplements.

We believe the preventive effect of the vitamin and mineral supplement is a combination effect.  Zinc is involved in many enzymatic reactions of detoxification, while the vitamins act in concert to reduce oxidative damage to the blood vessels that nourish the eye.

This landmark study only emphasizes the importance that antioxidants play in protection against many age-related illnesses. At our center, we have seen many patients experience a dramatic improvement in vision when treated with high-dose intravenous antioxidants that specifically address the issue of free radical damage to the eye.

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