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Pomegranates Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© iStockphoto
Pomegranate Fruit
Regular consumption of pomegranate may help prevent breast cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from the City of Hope and published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Researchers tested 10 different naturally occurring pomegranate compounds, all of them in the ellagitannin family of chemicals. They found that some of the ellagitannins significantly reduced the activity of the enzyme aromatase in the laboratory.

In the body, aromatase transforms the hormone androgen into the hormone estrogen. Because 75 percent of breast tumors contain estrogen receptors and use the hormone to fuel their growth, aromatase inhibitors are a popular form of treatment for slowing the growth of breast tumors in post-menopausal women.

Pharmaceutical aromatase inhibitors include the AstraZeneca drug Armidex, the Pfizer drug Aromasin and the Novartis drug Femara.
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Natural Ways to Eliminate and Prevent Painful Kidney Stones

Tony Isaacs
NaturalNews
Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Kidney stones are mineral deposits which are made up of calcium, uric acid or the amino acid cysteine. There are many different theories as to how these "stones" form, but no one seems to know for sure. Regardless of how they form, kidney stones can often be avoided and eliminated naturally without resorting to mainstream drugs or treatments.

Experts agree that diet is a major factor. They note that kidney stones only develop about half as often in vegetarians and other people who eat plenty of fresh vegetables as is the case with people whose diets do not include plenty of vegetables. Other risk factors include obesity and repeated kidney infections.

One effective way to dissolve kidney stones is to consume large quantities of watermelon and nothing else for an entire day. Watermelon fasts help cleanse your kidneys and the rest of your system as well. Regular consumption of watermelon helps keep kidney stones at bay.
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Spicing the Meat Also Cuts the Cancer Risk


Physorg
Wed, 19 May 2010 18:54 UTC
Spices will do more than just enhance the taste of ground beef. They'll also cut down on the risk of compounds that can cause cancer.

J. Scott Smith, a Kansas State University food chemistry professor, has pursued different projects in recent years seeking ways to reduce heterocyclic amines (HCAs). HCAs are the carcinogenic compounds that are produced when muscle foods, such as ground beef patties, are barbecued, grilled, boiled or fried. Consuming HCAs through meat increases risk factors for colorectal, stomach, lung, pancreatic, mammary and prostate cancers.

Smith, in research supported by the Food Safety Consortium, found that certain spices containing natural antioxidants would reduce HCA levels by 40 percent when applied to beef patties during cooking.
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Processed Meat Raises Risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancer

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© NaturalNews
A new study published in the journal Circulation reveals that eating processed meat products significantly raises the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Previous research has linked processed meats to cancer as well.

The new paper involved a meta-analysis of 20 different studies covering more than one million people from 10 different countries. The study found that eating just 2 ounces of processed meat each day resulted in the following:
  • A 42 percent increase in the risk of heart disease.
  • A 19 percent increase in the risk of diabetes.
Interestingly, the analysis simultaneously found that eating non-processed meats was not linked to these increases in disease risk. The study authors concluded that it was the processed salt and chemical additives in the processed meat that caused increase risk of disease.
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Breast Cancer Breakthrough: Broccoli Component Zaps Cells That Fuel Tumor Growth

S. L. Baker
NaturalNews
Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists say they've found a compound that could help prevent and potentially treat breast cancer. It's not a drug or a new radiation treatment but a natural component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts. And it has the remarkable ability to target cancer stem cells -- the specific cells responsible for fueling the growth of cancerous breast tumors.

The researchers tested the broccoli compound, known as sulforaphane, in animal studies as well as in breast cancer cell cultures in the lab. Their findings, which were recently published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, showed sulforaphane not only targeted and killed cancer stem cells, but it also prevented any new malignancies from growing.

What makes this such an extraordinary breakthrough? Current chemotherapies don't do anything to stop cancer stem cells. That's why cancer can recur and spread after chemotherapy. So many researchers have long believed that to control cancer, you have to find a way to eliminate cancer stem cells -- and now it appears sulforaphane does exactly that.
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Placebo Works as Well as Antidepressant Drugs

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© iStockphoto
In many cases of depression, antidepressant drugs provide little or no benefit over the effect of a placebo, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In a meta-analysis of six prior studies on both the older tricyclic and the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, the researchers found that the less severe the depression, the less effective the drug. The sample included 434 patients who were taking antidepressants and 284 who were getting a placebo.

"The magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo increases with severity of depression symptoms and may be minimal or nonexistent, on average, in patients with mild or moderate symptoms," the researchers wrote.
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Brick Wall

Lawsuit Seeks to Ban Genetically Modified Sugar Beets

Ethan A. Huff
NaturalNews
Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© iStockphoto
A group of Oregon farmers are seeking an injunction against this year's planting of Monsanto's genetically engineered sugar beets. The groups of organic farmers, food safety advocates and conservationists, is seeking to persuade a judge to ban the crop until the USDA provides a proper environmental impact statement proving that the crops are safe and that they will not cross-contaminate nearby fields.

The debate over whether or not to allow GE crops into the food supply has been a hotly debated one, but the biotech industry has been the side unable to prove that its products are safe. Those concerned about the negative consequences of GE crops have plenty of unresolved questions that demand answers prior to any GE crop being approved. Yet in reality, the USDA has succumbed to industry pressure instead, jeopardizing the entire food industry.

Nearly half of the nation's sugar beets are genetically modified. They can be found planted on more than one million acres across ten states. The beets have been engineered to be resistant to Monsanto's "RoundUp" herbicide, but their components are not limited to the fields in which they are planted, spreading across the landscape via pollen and seeds carried in the wind. Because it is impossible to track where GE plant fragments end up, there is no ensuring that any crop is truly non-GE or organic.
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BPA Plastics Chemical Damages Intestines, Study Shows

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
The widespread toxin bisphenol-A (BPA) damages the intestines and may lead to a painful condition known as leaky gut syndrome, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Agronomic Research researchers in Toulouse, France, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences.

The study "shows the very high sensitivity on the intestine of BPA," the National Institute of Agronomic Research said.

BPA is used to make hard clear plastics for products such as water and baby bottles. It is also used to make dental sealants and composites, and is in the liners food cans, beverages and infant formula. More than 130 studies have linked the hormone-mimicking chemical to a wide variety of health problems, including cancers, birth and reproductive defects, obesity, early puberty onset, behavior disorders and brain damage.
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Toxic Nail Salons: Why Your Nail Polish Color Could be the Next Agent Orange

Luanne Bradley
Alternet
Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:27 UTC
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"Pick a color!" a pretty, 38-year-old woman named Pong orders, as I enter Tower Nails, a typical Bay Area nail salon owned and staffed by Vietnamese immigrants of childbearing age.

Reds, corals, pinks, creams, blacks, blues, even Kelly greens. Selecting a polish can be as stimulating as shopping for baby names, a fun and serotonin-releasing, female preoccupation witnessed as early as the teenage years. Perhaps that explains the huge proliferation of the affordable walk-in salons - the number of nail salons in California has tripled in the last two decades. The overwhelming majority of the workers are Asian immigrants, and of the 300,000 nail salon workers in the state, 80 percent are Vietnamese. And these women, and perhaps even their customers, may be at risk from a toxic cocktail of chemicals.

The biggest concern is the trio of toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) found in most base and top coats and polishes. This combination of chemicals has been linked to cancer, birth defects and skin rashes, especially with frequent exposure. Women in America need to ask themselves, are they picking their color or their poison?
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Sherlock

Health Claims for Food: Good Science, Please


The Atlantic
Mon, 17 May 2010 18:15 UTC
Image
© Jeff Keen/flickr
If a shopper who is worried about her risk of heart problems notices a box of cereal that says its whole grains reduce cholesterol, she may be that much more inclined to put it and not another brand of cereal into her grocery cart. Like many people, she knows that cholesterol levels are connected to the chances of having a heart attack.

She may not know that she has just made a biomarker-based decision. Blood levels of cholesterol are one measure used as a biomarker - a benchmark that substitutes for clinical outcomes - for risk of heart attack. How much a customer can trust that cereal's health claim, or for that matter the benefits of a cholesterol-lowering drug, depends on how strongly science connects lowering cholesterol levels with a reduced risk for heart disease.
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