Potato chips, fries linked to cancer

(NaturalNews) When potato products are fried in oil at high temperatures, they produce a chemical called acrylamide that can cause cancer. And a new study in the British Journal of Cancer adds to the mounting evidence against the chemical, showing that acrylamide is associated with a 20 percent increased risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women. Back in July, a study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment found that women with the highest intake of acrylamide were 31 percent more likely to develop ER+ breast cancer, 47 percent more likely to develop PR+ breast cancer, and 43 percent more likely to develop ER+PR+ breast cancer, compared to women who consumed the least or no acrylamide. In 2009, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that acrylamide intake caused an increase in oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, increased inflammation markers in antioxidants, which would otherwise remove acrylamide, and other neurological damage (http://www.naturalnews.com/025774_acrylamide_food_health.html). And in 2008, a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology found that women who eat roughly one serving of potato chips a day are twice as likely as those who do not to develop ovarian or endometrial cancers. Fried potatoes are not the only foods that contain acrylamide, though. Any starchy foods that are cooked too long or at too high a temperature can form acrylamide, including even grilled meats and vegetables with grill marks on them. Toasted breads and cereals, baked foods, browned meats, and even some dried fruits also contain acrylamide (http://www.naturalnews.com/024942_acrylamides_acrylamide_foods.html). “Consumers can reduce their exposure to acrylamide by limiting their intake of potato chips and French fries…and quitting smoking, which is a major source of acrylamide,” said Mary Ann Johnson, PhD, a spokesperson at the American Society for Nutrition. Sources for this story include: http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/carcinogen_in_fries_linked_to_breast_cancer_2810100734.html http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/fries_chips_linked_to_breast_cancer_1910100751.html

Fruit and vegetable carotenoids protect women from breast, ovarian cancer

(NaturalNews) Achieving good health and avoiding disease involves eating a variety of nutrient-rich foods on a regular basis, particularly those that together provide the full spectrum of phytonutrients that each contribute to a different aspect of good health. Unfortunately, many people are not getting the variety of nutrients they need to stay healthy, including a third of American women that do not consume even the minimal recommendations of fruits and vegetables, which contain important carotenoids that support breast and ovarian health. Carotenoids are the phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables that give them their rich, unique colors. In women, these organic pigments work to protect them from ovarian and breast cancers, as well as guard against heart disease, inflammation and eye disease, among other things. They are also powerful immune system boosters that improve overall vitality. But according to a new report called America’s Phytonutrient Report: Women’s Health by Color , many women are not eating enough carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables, especially women younger than 45 years of age. Based on fruit and vegetable consumption patterns, women over 45 consume 50 percent more beta-carotene, 40 percent more alpha-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin and 10 percent more beta-cryptoxanthin, than younger women do. But overall, women in general are not getting enough of any of them. The original report, America’s Phytonutrient Report: Quantifying the Gap , found that 80 percent of American adults in general do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and are thus deficient in important phytonutrients. So researchers are urging people to incorporate more varied fruits and vegetables into their diets. Cooked pumpkin, for instance, is a rich source of alpha- and beta-carotenes as well as beta-cryptoxanthin. And cooked kale is rich in lutein/zeaxanthin, containing three times as much as raw spinach. Each fruit and vegetable color contains different types of carotenoids so it is important to eat from all categories. To learn more about the benefits of carotenoid phytonutrients and to see where your favorite fruits and vegetables land on the “Phytonutrient Spectrum”, check out the following page: http://www.nutrilite.com/color/ Sources for this story include: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-10/wsw-sic100410.php

Using ultrasounds to determine gestational age could kill your baby

(NaturalNews) Ultrasounds can be a great way to monitor the development of an unborn baby, but improper use of them could have potentially fatal outcomes for the child. A new study out of Sweden has found that using ultrasounds alone to determine the gestational age of a baby girl could cause her to unnecessarily be born post-term, which in some cases can lead to death. Dr. Alkistis Skalkidou from Uppsala Universitet in Uppsala and his colleagues found that doctors who use ultrasound measurements alone to determine the age of baby girls during their second trimester of development may mistakenly think those babies are younger than they actually are, and thus deliver them late. Babies who stay in the womb for too long face potentially serious health problems, including death. For the study, researchers compared two sets of data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register: one set from between 1973 and 1978, a time when doctors typically used women’s menstrual periods to estimate fetal age, and the other from between 1995 and 2007, when ultrasound measurements were more commonly used. They found that during the latter period, baby girls were 40 percent more likely to develop meconium aspiration, a potentially fatal lung disease, and 60 percent more likely to die during labor, compared to boys. The team believes that “systemic misclassification” is to blame, where doctors simply rely on the size of the baby in ultrasound images to determine its age, rather than utilize multiple methods, including keeping track of the mother’s menstrual cycles. Researchers are urging doctors to use both ultrasounds and menstrual cycles as evaluative tools in determining the age of unborn babies in order to reduce the number of mistaken post-term deliveries. Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68M4E320100923

Inadequate levels of vitamin D may significantly increase risk of stroke, heart disease and death

Researchers found that patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to die, 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke than patients with normal levels. Patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were also twice as likely to develop heart failure than those with normal Vitamin D levels.