Diet Lowers Risk for Hispanics

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The Kushi Institute of Europe

 

Beans are traditionally eaten around the world as a complement to

whole cereal grains. In Mesoamerica, people eat black beans or pinto

beans. In the Middle East and South Asia, they eat lentils and other

pulses. In the Far East, they enjoy tofu and tempeh. Beans are an

excellent source of protein, complex carbohydrates, and vitamins and

minerals, especially calcium. They are associated with lower

incidence of heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

See Azuki Beans, Chickpeas, Lentils, Menopause.

 

• Bile Acids and Cancer - Beans lowered bile acid production by 30

percent in men with a tendency toward elevated bile acid. Bile acids

are necessary for proper fat digestion but in excess have been

associated with causing cancer, especially in the large intestine.

Case-control studies showed that pinto and navy beans were effective

in lowering bile acid production in men at high risk for this

condition.

Source: J. Anderson, " Hypocholesterolemic Effects of Oat-Bran or

Bean Intake for Hypercholesterolemic Men, " American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition 40:1146-55, 1984

 

 

Whole grain bread is traditionally eaten in the West, Middle East,

and South Asia. Unleavened or sourdough bread is preferable to

yeasted breads or breads containing sweeteners, baking soda, and

other additives. See Prostate Cancer, Sesame.

 

• Sourdough Fermentation Increases Nutrition of Bread - In a study

comparing the effects of sourdough bread with wholemeal bread,

researchers reported that sourdough bread significantly lowered

serum glucose and insulin responses and gave greater satisfaction

than the other bread.

 

" It is concluded that sourdough baking and other fermentation

processes may improve the nutritional features of starch, " the

researchers concluded.

 

Source: H. G. Liljeberg, et al., " Sourdough Fermentation or Addition

of Organic Acids or Corresponding Salts to Bread Improves

Nutritional Properties of Starch in Healthy Humans, " Journal of

Nutrition 125 (6)1503-11, 1995.

 

• Diet Protected Jews During the Exodus - Unleavened bread may have

helped the Jewish people survive a plague that killed many Egyptians

and their livestock, according to two medical researchers.

 

Saccharomyces, a toxic yeast, is believed to have been transmitted

in yeasted bread. By eating unleavened bread that did not harbor

this potentially deadly mold, the Jews escaped the plague and

prepared themselves to escape from Egypt during the Exodus.

 

Source: John Bladwin and John S. Marr, M.D., " Ancient Scroll Carries

Clue to Deadly Mold, " New York Times, August 1, 1997.

 

• Asian Diet Helps Heal - A diet high in soy foods, vegetables, and

fish oil may reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to a study

conducted by the Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of

California at Los Angeles. Dr. John Glaspy put 25 American women in

remission from breast cancer on an Asian-style diet and reported

that in three months on the diet the ratio of omega-3 in the women's

blood rose fivefold. The omega-3 to omega-6 ratio in breast fat is

considered a major indicator of risk for this disease.

Source: D. Bagga et al., " Dietary Modulation of Omega-3/Omega-6

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Ratios in Patients with Breast Cancer, "

Journal of the National Cancer Institute 89(15):1123-31, 1997.

 

• Diet Lowers Risk for Hispanics - Hispanic women in the U.S. have

the lowest mortality rate from breast cancer of all ethnic groups.

 

University of Texas researchers reported that a study of 22 Hispanic

women in the Houston area showed their mean intake of dietary fiber

from whole grain breads, beans, and vegetables was higher than other

groups.

" This may help explain the lower incidence of breast cancer among

some Hispanic populations, " the study concluded.

Source: " Dietary Fiber, Hispanics, and Breast Cancer Risk? " Annals

of the New York Academy of Science 837:524-36, 1997.

 

• Men with high LDL who ate a diet

including a half cup daily of dried pinto, navy, kidney, and other

beans had an average drop in their LDL lipid levels of 20 percent

after three weeks.

Source: J. W. Anderson and W. L. Chen, " Effects of Legumes and Their

Soluble Fibers on Lipoproteins, " American Chemical

Society Abstracts AGFD #39, 1982.

 

• Beans Inhibit Induced Colon Cancer - In laboratory experiments,

researchers at Northern Arizona University reported that rats fed a

diet high in pinto beans had over four times less tumors than rats

fed a diet high in dairy protein. The bean group also had slower

growing tumors.

The experiment was designed to simulate the high bean diet of Latin

American countries where there is a low incidence of colon

cancer. " This study demonstrates that dry beans contain

anticarcinogenic compounds, " the scientists concluded.

Source: J. S. Hughes et al., " Dry Beans Inhibit Azoxymethane-Induced

Colon Carcinogenesis in F344 Rats, " Journal of Nutrition

127(12):2328-33, 1997.

 

According to traditional Far Eastern medicine, blood is created

largely in the small intestine from the transmutation of metabolized

food through the villi. A diet centered on organic whole grains and

vegetables creates strong, healthy blood with a slightly more

alkaline pH value, while the modern diet, combining extremes of meat

and sugar, creates weak, acid blood, requiring buffer mechanisms,

especially depletion of minerals in the body, to make balance. See

Immune Function.

 

• Macrobiotic Subjects Show Ideal Blood Values - Researchers at the

Academic Hospital of Ghent University in Belgium evaluated the blood

values of 20 men assembled by Lima Natural Foods Factory who had an

average age of 36 and had been macrobiotic for about eight years.

According to the tests, all the men were very healthy. Their blood

pressure and body weights were low, their hormone levels favorable,

and they had normal values for proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

Overall, their LDL values were significantly lower than ordinary

people.

J. P. Deslypere, M.D., one of the researchers, concluded, " [in} the

field of cardiovascular and cancer risk factors this kind of blood

is very favorable. It's ideal; we couldn't do better; that's what

we're dreaming of. It's really fantastic, like children, whose blood

vessels are still completely open and whole. This is a very

important matter, deserving our full attention. "

Source: Rik Vermuyten, MacroMuse (Fall/Metal 1984), p. 39.