Fruit of the Day: New Research on Grapes (1 slide)
Boost Your Brain with Grapes 25 healthy women, ages 40-50, consumed either grape juice or a placebo, and then took tests to measure thinking ability One test was a driving simulation challenge where participants had to match the speed and direction of a lead vehicle The women who drank grape juice had significantly better spatial memory and driving performance than the women in the placebo group Previous research has found that supplementation with grape juice (or blueberries) in adults with mild cognitive impairment increases verbal memory performance Grape seed has also been shown to protect the brain against the damaging changes associated with Alzheimer s disease
Skirt size linked to breast cancer risk (2 slides)
The size of your waist can predict your breast cancer risk Researchers followed 92,834 postmenopausal women for more than 5 years; the women reported their current skirt size and the size they wore in their 20s During the study, the women were also questioned about hormone replacement therapy use, general health, whether they smoked, and how much alcohol they consumed As predicted, family history of cancer and HRT use were all significantly associated with increased risk of breast cancer However, an increase in skirt size emerged as the strongest predictor of breast cancer Going up 1 skirt size every 10 years was associated with a 33% greater risk of breast cancer after menopause, and going up 2 skirt sizes in the same period was associated with a 77% increased risk
Why does weight gain increase breast cancer risk? Many studies have found that being overweight or obese increases risk of postmenopausal breast cancer Weight gain during adult life (between the ages of 18 and 50) is most consistently associated with breast cancer Obese women have more estrogen in their bodies than women of normal weight After menopause, the ovaries stop producing estrogen Fat tissue becomes the most important source of this hormone Obese women have more fat tissue, therefore their estrogen levels are higher, which can lead to more rapid growth of estrogen-responsive breast cancer
3 Ways to Beat Breast Cancer Iodine Iodine has been shown to suppress growth of breast tumors (animal model) in the presence of cancer-causing toxins Over 70% of women with fibrocystic breast disease treated with iodine saw significant reductions in their pain and improvement in fibrosis (thickening of breast tissue) Pomegranate Compounds found in pomegranate interfere in the production of aromatase, an enzyme that increases hormone production in breast tissue, by 60-80% Pomegranate seed oil showed a 90% inhibition of estrogensensitive breast cancer cells and a 70% inhibition of breast cancer cell spread, in a recent (in-vitro) test Curcumin Curcumin has been found to stop the formation, growth and spread of breast cancer cells A cell study on breast cancer cells found that curcumin was able to reduce breast cancer cell migration (spread) by 56%
Low-Fat Diets Don t Help to Lose Fat (1 slide)
Low-fat diets not effective in keeping the pounds In a off review of weight loss studies, researchers found that low-fat diets were not effective in keeping pounds off over time They compared the results of 53 studies including over 70,000 participants They found When comparing low-fat versus low-carb diets, on average, participants in both groups lost about 6 pounds over a year BUT one year after that The low fat diet group gained almost all the weight back The low carb diet group kept off an additional 2.5 lbs Conclusion low fat diets were not effective for longterm weight loss