Tuesday, 3 November 2015

EXCLUSIVE: The foods YOU can eat to prevent cancer, reveals Oncology dietitian

THIS week we learnt red meat can give you cancer from the World Health Organisation, but is your diet linked to illness?

PUBLISHED: 08:01, Sun, Nov 1, 2015 | UPDATED: 10:26, Sun, Nov 1, 2015

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Oncology dietitian Tara Whyand has revealed all about the link between cancer and diet

Cancer is a scary word and a diagnosis of the disease can be intimidating and daunting - but what can we do to prevent or lower our chances of getting it?

Tara Whyand, an oncology dietitian, has explained to Express.co.uk there is a link betweendiet and the chances of getting cancer.

Did you know turmeric can help act against bowel, breast and pancreatic cancer? Express.co.uk asks the questions YOU want to know the answer to.

Which nutrients have been shown to have a role in cancer prevention?

Curcumin, a compound inside turmeric may act in bowel, breast, pancreatic and liver tissue

Tara Whyand, oncology dietitian

There are a vast number of laboratory studies showing nutrients and botanical supplements acting against the cancer process. What is harder to distinguish is what helps to lower cancer risk when studying a person’s diet as a whole.

Different body tissues have different relationships with nutrients and foods we eat, for example vitamin D is linked to bowel and breast health but not so much prostate health.

Higher lycopene levels are related to lower breast and prostate cancers. Selenium is related to pancreatic health. Green tea may help bowel, pancreatic, prostate and liver health.

Curcumin, a compound inside turmeric may act in bowel, breast, pancreatic and liver tissue, whereas vitamin E and thiamine are especially useful in damaged livers. A low intake of zinc is related to increased breast cancer risk.

It's thought green tea may help act against certain cancers

How do they do this? Some vitamins, minerals and botanical extracts can directly block cancer pathways and protect against DNA damage using antioxidant properties.

Vitamin D is a little different, possessing hormone action, and can normalize cells, decrease cancer cell growth, stimulate abnormal cell death and reduce blood vessels forming around tumours. Botanical extracts, such as curcumin and green tea reduce inflammation, which is sometimes the starting point for cancer.

Which should we be taking every day?

A normal varied, mainly plant based diet, including at least 5 fruit and vegetables a day from a rainbow of colours will provide enough vitamins and minerals to keep some people healthy.

It will not treat vitamin and mineral deficiencies however, or provide high doses of curcumin, pomegranate, or green tea, so called ‘nutraceuticals’, unless you make a conscious effort to include these in large amounts every day.

People can therefore take appropriate supplements if they need to treat a proven deficiency or have a condition that is very likely to benefit from a botanical extract.

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Some vitamins, minerals and botanical extracts can directly block cancer pathways

Top tips for avoiding cancer?

If you know you have an increased risk of cancer from being overweight or having a poor diet and lifestyle then it is advisable to prevent deficiencies related to specific cancers. How you choose to do this, with or without supplements is up to you.
If you have a condition in one of your organs e.g. diabetes, pancreatitis, polyps, hepatitis you must attend all appointments and comply with medication, diet and lifestyle advice given to reduce your risk.
Keep a healthy weight (BMI between 18.5-24.9kg/m2) and exercise everyday if possible.
Include at least 5 different coloured fruit and vegetables in your diet every day and cook with turmeric daily. Choose black tea or green tea over alcohol!

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Turmeric and green tea are amongst the list of good foods to eat

Is it different for men and woman? And how?
Men and women have different requirements for vitamins and minerals depending on age, and if you meet these requirements it reduces the chance of deficiency.

For cancer risk factors which include deficiency of a vitamin or mineral, meeting the requirements may reduce cancer risk. There are no official requirements for intakes of green tea or curcumin as our bodies do not need them to live, but they contain dietary compounds which can be seen as an added bonus for health.

Men have a prostate gland which obviously women do not, so things like pomegranate may not benefit women in the same way to men, although still remain beneficial to all round health as one of their 5 a day.

Are there specific foods we should avoid?Avoid smoked, salted and cured meat and fish as they are likely to raise the risk of some cancers, especially those in direct contact with the gastrointestinal system

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/615786/Food-to-eat-prevent-cancer-breast-diet

Monday, 31 August 2015

Women have to work HARDER than men to lose weight and get fit.

Women have to do about 20% more exercise to get the same benefits and while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women also have to look at their diet to get the same results
Experts say body composition such as muscle mass and hormones to blame

By ANNA HODGEKISS

PUBLISHED: 17:23, 24 January 2013 | UPDATED: 17:43, 24 January 2013

Women have to do a lot more exercise to get the same health benefits as men, in terms of both diet and fitness

It's bad news for women who work out with their partners. Scientists have discovered that when it comes to the benefits of exercise, the odds appear to be firmly stacked against the fairer sex. New research suggests that women have to do a lot more exercise to get the same health benefits as men, in terms of both diet and fitness.

Scientists at the University of Missouri who put obese men and women on the same fitness programme found men reaped significantly more benefits. And experts are now warning that while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women must also address their diet to get the same results.
During the study, Professor Jill Kanaley and her colleagues looked at the heart rate and blood pressure of nearly 75 obese men and women with Type 2 diabetes.

They all followed a programme of aerobic (i.e. cardiovascular) exercise for 16 weeks. They all worked at an effort of 65 per cent, which was worked out based on each individual's ability.

Despite everyone exercising at relatively the same speed, the researchers found that men got far more benefit from the exercise than women. Over the 16 weeks, women's recovery time did not improve, whereas men's did, indicating their fitness had improved. They also lost more weight.

Commenting on the study, Dr Chris Easton, a lecturer in clinical exercise psychology at the University of West Scotland, told MailOnline: 'This adds to a growing body of evidence that men and women respond to exercise in different ways.

'One main reason for this is body composition - men have a higher proportion of of muscle of women - and muscle has a higher metabolic rate than
'This is crucially important as it means that even when they are resting, men burn more calories than women. This indicates that women really have to look at their diet as well as exercise, whereas men may be able to get by on exercise alone.'He said that go get the same effect as a man working at 65 per cent effort, a woman would effectively need to work at around 85 per cent effort - or work out for longer.

Experts are now warning that while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women also have to look at their diet to get the same results

He added that men naturally have an advantage when it comes to fitness as they have larger hearts and lungs and a higher proportion of haemoglobin - that part of the blood that carries oxygen around the body, which is vital during exercise.

Study leader Professor Kanaley said: 'This research highlights that the advantages we think exercise is going to give individuals may not be the same across genders, particularly for those who have Type 2 diabetes. This is a concern because there are high mortality rates with Type 2 diabetes, especially for women.'

'We keep assuming that exercise will do the trick—we think when we tell people to "go train," regardless of gender, everyone will get the same results. Our research indicates certain exercises may not be enough for women. These findings could help health providers and researchers develop targeted exercise interventions for obese women.The study was published in the journal Metabolism.

The latest figures from Health Survey for England show that 62.8 per cent of adults in the UK are overweight or obese.

SO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR WOMEN TO LOSE WEIGHT?

Personal trainer Dan Roberts says 'by far the best way' for women to lose weight is to lift weights. This temporarily raises levels of testosterone and growth hormones, which burns more fat.

He told MailOnline: 'It's all to do with hormones. Men have more muscle because they have more testosterone. Women have more oestrogen which naturally makes them store more body fat.

'Women also have to work harder to lose weight because they store fat around the thighs, bottom and stomach to protect the womb and for childbearing reasons.

'Older women in particular have the lowest testosterone levels. It is they, not 20-year-old boys, who should be doing weight-training.'

He also recommends women ditch the tiny dumbbells, too. 'Women should be doing what's known as compound weight training, that is, using muscles such as the glutes and quads. 'The bigger muscle groups you use, the more calories you will burn.'