Bad news for non-vegetarians: Diet rich in meat and
animal products as bad as smoking
A new
study has revealed that smoking, diets rich in animal products, and alcohol
have the strongest correlations with cancer incidence rates.
This study
is an ecological study in which incidence rates for the various types of cancer
for males and females from 87 countries with high quality cancer incidence rate
data as well as all 157 countries with cancer incidence rate data were compared
statistically with indices for various risk modifying factors.
Dietary
supply data were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations. Data for various periods back to 1980 were included since there
is generally a lag of up to 20 years between dietary changes and peak cancer
rates.
The animal
products index includes meat, milk, fish, and eggs. Lung cancer incidence rates
were used as an index for the effects of smoking and air pollution.
This index
integrates the effect of all factors contributing to lung cancer and other cancers
linked to lifetime smoking and is a much better index than a snapshot of
smoking rates. Latitude was used as an index of solar ultraviolet-B irradiance
and vitamin D production.
For the 87
countries with high quality cancer data, the smoking and animal products
indices explained over half of the cancer incidence rates, with alcoholic
beverage supply explaining a smaller amount.
For males,
the smoking index was twice as important as the animal product index, while for
females, the animal product index was twice as important.
The types
of cancer for which animal products had the strongest correlation include
female breast, corpus uteri, kidney, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, testicular,
thyroid cancer, and multiple myeloma.
The reason
why animal products increase the risk of cancer is most likely since animal
products promote growth of the body as well as tumours through production of
insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I).
Alcoholic
beverage supply was found significantly correlated with only one type of
cancer, colorectal. Lung cancer was associated with animal fat supply in
addition to cigarette supply.
The study
is published in journal Nutrients.
Source: http://health.india.com
01.01.2014
Fructose found in fruits does not
lead to heart disease
Fructose, naturally found in fruit, vegetables and honey, is
the sugar often blamed for the obesity epidemic and doctors the world over warn
against having an excess of it.
A new research has shown that fructose does not itself has
any impact on an emerging marker for the risk of cardiovascular disease known
as post-prandial triglycerides.
‘This is more evidence that fructose has adverse effects
only insofar as it contributes to excess calories,’ said John Sievenpiper,
researcher in the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre of St.
Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
Sievenpiper conducted a meta-analysis of existing studies on
fructose and its impact on the level of triglycerides, a fat found in blood,
after eating.
‘Fructose doesn’t behave any differently than other refined
carbohydrates. The increases you see are when fructose provides extra
calories,’ added Sievenpiper.
Testing for these triglycerides – in addition to the
standard testing for blood glucose levels – is becoming more common for people
trying to determine their risk for cardiovascular disease, said the study
published in the journal Atheroclerosis.
Fructose is a simple sugar that together with glucose forms
sucrose, the basis of table sugar. It is also found in high-fructose corn
syrup, the most common sweetener in commercially prepared foods.
Glucose also comes from starches like potatoes, our bodies
produce it and every cell on the face of the earth has glucose in it. Fructose,
however, is not. Humans don’t produce fructose and throughout evolutionary
history have never consumed it except seasonally when fruit were ripe.
Glucose and fructose are metabolised very differently by the
body.
Source: http://health.india.com
01.01.2014
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