Nutrition Articles

You can distance yourself from the 400,000 American deaths every year, related to cigarette smoking (according to the Center for Disease Control) by easing the following 7 simple steps into your lifestyle. And even if you don't smoke cigarettes directly use this information to reduce your risk.

If you do smoke - until you quit smoking cigarettes, use these 7 easy steps, reduce your risk of being part of the 1 in 5 deaths in the United States related to cigarette smoking. To help support your health before and after you quit smoking.

Add just one or two of these easy lifestyle changes every week or two. In a short time you may find you've gone a long way to putting some good distance between you and the level of risk you lived with before.

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Increase your level of fitness:

A study of almost 26,000 men found those men who were active at the "competitive recreational level" had 55% less risk of dying from cancer as those men who were not fit. And the men engaged in moderate exercise, 20 to 40 minutes running, 3 to 5 times a week lowered their risk of dying from cancer by 38%.

(reported in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2002 May, 34(5):735-39)

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Increase you level of vitamin E intake:

An eight-year study in Finland, of more than 29,000 men who smoked, revealed that diets high in vitamin E foods can reduce the risk of lung cancer in smokers by about 20%. Those with the highest amounts of the natural form of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) had 19% to 23% less lung cancer. More pronounced results were found in men under 60 years of age, who smoked less than 40 years. This group had 40% to 50% reduction in their risk of cancer. Nuts, whole grain foods and soybean oils are rich in vitamin E.

(findings published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute Vol. 91, No. 20)

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Selenium supplementation shown to lower incidence of lung and other cancers:

This 10-year study was originally to see if dietary supplementation of selenium would lower the occurrence of squamous cell skin cancers. In 1990 they included other common cancers, like lung, prostate and colorectal to the results of the study.

The study showed that total cancer rate was lower in the selenium group than the placebo group. Site-specific cancer rates were also significantly lower ? almost 50% fewer cancers in the selenium-supplemented group oppose to the placebo group.

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Green and black tea shown to reduce risk of lung and other cancers:

Studies have shown that drinking green tea reduces the rate of lung cancer in mice by 45%. This may be why Japanese men have lower rates of lung cancer even though they smoke more than American men.

It was shown that drinking 5 cups of green tea daily, will reduce the occurrence of esophageal cancer by 20% in men who smoke and 50% in women who smoke. Of course the percentages were even greater in non-smokers. This was emphasized in the Journal for the National Cancer Institute where they said that "The more green tea you drink, the lower risk."

Black tea's secret weapon makes cancer cells commit suicide.

Black tea was found to have a compound, nick-named "TF-2", and this compound, according to Dr. Kuang Yu Chen of Rutgers University, leaves normal cells unchanged while at the same time, "causes cancer cells to destroy themselves in huge numbers".

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Carrots and tomato rich meals reduce the risk of lung cancer:

The Harvard School of Public Health analyzed more than 124,207 men and women over 10 years. The analysis indicated that those eating the highest amounts of alpha-carotene and lycopene, reduced their risk of lung cancer by 20% - 25%.

Of course we've all seen recent reports that tomato products help reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

One of the studies lead researchers said that lycopene is an important carotenoid for protection against lung cancer especially in current smokers.

The director of the Center for Human Nutrition at University of California said that, six ounces of tomato-based vegetable juice or an eight-ounce serving of tomato soup has been shown to help raise blood levels of lycopene.

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Grapes hold promise of killing cancer cells:

At the School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, in England, researchers reported the compound "resveratrol" is converted in the body to a known anti-cancer agent that selectively targets and destroys cancer cells.

Also according the results of a study published in "Free Radical Research", while resveratrol, vitamin E and a synthetic antioxidant were all very good at eliminating free radicals, it was the resveratrol that came out on top against certain types of the free radicals.

Resveratrol, which is primarily found in the skin of the grape, has also been found to work on a wide range of cancers, both to prevent and treat existing cancers. It is able to distinguish a cancer cell from a normal cell and actually seems to protect the normal cell. It has been shown to do more than simply scavenge free radicals ? which are themselves major causes of cancers.

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Vitamin C:

Studies have shown that a diet rich in plants is associated with increase health overall and a reduced risk of certain cancers. According to Dr. Gladys Block of the University of California, Berkeley, and her colleagues, new findings suggest that it is by raising vitamin C levels, that fruit and vegetable consumption provides their protective benefits.

According to the researchers, smoking lowers blood levels of certain nutrients, while supplements will increase those levels. So increasing supplements may provide that protection from cancers.

(American Journal of Epidemiology 2001; 154: 1113-1118)