Guest guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 " HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch Rocket Food Tue, 14 Dec 2004 09:08:33 -0500 Rocket Food Health Sciences Institute e-Alert December 14, 2004 ************************************************************** Dear Reader, Are you getting enough pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and bovine growth hormones in your diet? You certainly are if you drink pasteurized and homogenized commercial milk every day. Unfortunately, postmenopausal women may be getting all that, plus a whole lot more: A higher risk of developing a serious form of ovarian cancer. --------------------------- One dangerous moustache --------------------------- Lactose is a milk sugar that contains galactose; a sugar component that has been associated with ovarian cancer in previous studies. Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, examined this association with a study of dairy product and lactose intake. The Stockholm team used data collected from the Swedish Mammography Cohort to review dietary and medical records of more than 61,000 women, aged 38 to 76 years who were cancer-free at the outset of the study. Over a follow up period of about 13 years, more than 260 subjects were diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer, and 125 of those cases were considered " serious. " Frankly, it's hard to imagine a case of epithelial ovarian cancer that isn't serious, especially given the fact that it's usually not caught in the early stages. To make matters worse, this type of cancer originates in the surface cells of the ovaries and frequently spreads to other organs in the abdomen. After analyzing their data, the Stockholm researchers came to these conclusions: * Lactose intake was associated with serious ovarian cancer risk. * Women who consumed approximately four daily servings of dairy products had twice the risk of developing serious ovarian cancer compared to women who consumed less than two daily servings of dairy. * The dairy product most strongly associated with serious ovarian cancer was milk. --------------------------- On the preventive side... --------------------------- In an upcoming e-Alert I'll take a closer look at the common health and nutrition problems associated with commercial milk. For today I'll stay on the topic of ovarian cancer with a quick look at an important study on the prevention of this cancer. And coincidentally the study comes from the same Stockholm researchers that conducted the milk/ovarian cancer study. In previous e-Alerts I've told you about the many benefits of a diet rich in the B vitamin folate. In addition to lowering homocysteine levels and reducing the risk of stroke, folate may also help prevent breast and colorectal cancer. Earlier this year, the Stockholm team published a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that examined the association between folate intake and ovarian cancer. For this study they also used data from the Swedish Mammography Cohort. The researchers found that when the women with the highest folate intake were compared to the women with the lowest intake, those in the higher group had a slightly reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer. More striking, however, was the fact that women who had folate- rich diets and who also drank at least two or more alcoholic beverages each week were 74 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer. --------------------------- Don't deplete --------------------------- Obviously, two drinks a week is a fairly moderate intake of alcohol. But this is one of those cases where more is not better, because excessive alcohol consumption can create a folate deficiency. Other factors that can lead to low folate levels include: smoking, oral contraceptives, high intake of aspirin, general malnourishment, and certain drugs such as the chemotherapy drug methotrexate. The researchers noted that their findings were based on dietary questionnaires, so further studies would be required to determine if supplements of folate might be just as effective as dietary sources of the vitamin. But fortunately, dietary sources of folate are easy to come by. Citrus fruits, tomatoes, leafy green vegetables, avocados, bananas, asparagus, whole grains, and pinto, navy and kidney beans are all good sources of folate. Supplements of folate are available as natural (folate) or synthetic (folic acid). The daily recommended intake of folate is usually 400 micrograms, but in the Stockholm study those in the higher-intake group were getting a minimum of about 200 mcg per day. ************************************************************** ....and another thing Speaking of milk, I came across this alarming news headline last week: " Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Organic Milk. " But it turns out that I shouldn't have been alarmed, because an Associated Press (AP) report offered this quote from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official: " Alarm is not warranted. That is clear. " Unfortunately the official left it at that, leaving me wondering, well, if my alarm is " clearly " not warranted, what reaction IS warranted? Maybe queasiness? Mild dread? Or how about some good old fashioned outrage? The rocket fuel chemical is called perchlorate, and not only did it turn up in organic milk in Maryland, but traces of it were also found in bottled spring water in California and Texas, and lettuce in Florida and Arizona. Given the coast-to-coast diversity of locations where perchlorate was detected in food, it seems that some garden variety worrying might be in order. When the EPA official was asked if the situation was worrisome, he said, " We don't know yet. " Which is sort of like saying, go ahead and worry if you want to, because your worry just might turn out to be justified. Apparently the EPA and the FDA have spent years puzzling (and worrying?) over the toxicity of perchlorate, trying to determine what amount should be considered unsafe in foods. Nobody asked me, but I'd like to go on record as suggesting this simple standard: Why don't we set the safe amount of perchlorate in food at, oh, I don't know, how about ZERO!? But the fact is I know better. Because perchlorate is just one of the many man-made chemicals that show up in trace amounts in virtually all our foods. And all of these chemicals put a serious drain on the nutritional value of food. So the next time someone suggests that dietary supplements are unnecessary because you can get all the vitamins and minerals you need from good dietary choices, remind them that many of us pick up a pinch of rocket fuel in our diets, along with pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, carbon monoxide and aluminum from acid rain, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, etc. But – you know – no need for alarm. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** Sources: " Milk and Lactose Intakes and Ovarian Cancer Risk in the Swedish Mammography Cohort " American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 5, November 2004, ajcn.org " Two Daily Glasses of Milk May Up Ovarian Cancer Risk " Reuters Health, 11/17/04, reutershealth.com " Dietary Folate Intake and Incidence of Ovarian Cancer: The Swedish Mammography Cohort " Journal of the National Cancer Institute,Vol. 96, No. 5, 3/3/04, jncjcancerspectrum.oupjournals.org " Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Organic Milk " The Associated Press, 11/30/04, Copyright ©1997-2004 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. The e-Alert may not be posted on commercial sites without written permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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