You can’t argue at this point in your life that you’re just “middle-aged” anymore…

You start getting mail offers from AARP to join up…

And your doctor starts bugging you about getting a colonoscopy.

Of course, the age of the dreaded procedure has dropped as the rates of colorectal cancer in younger people have started to climb. Now, experts advise that regular screening should begin at age 45.

But if your time has come, or maybe come and gone because you’ve put it off, you may be looking for some guidance before you jump up on that table and allow a camera on a flexible tube to pass up your rectum.

You’re not alone, especially after the controversial results of a significant study appear to indicate the screening procedure fails to lower colorectal cancer risks or prevent cancer deaths.

A worthless screening tool?

The results of the Northern-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer trial (NordICC), an “intention-to-screen analysis,” were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study involved 84,585 healthy men and women (aged 55 to 64) drawn from population registries in Poland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands between 2009 and 2014. The participants were randomly assigned in a 1:2 ratio to either receive an invitation to undergo a single screening colonoscopy (the invited group) or to receive no invitation or screening (the usual-care group). 

The participants were followed for 10 years while researchers measured two primary outcomes: the risks of colorectal cancer and related death, as well as death from any cause.

And the findings were not what they expected…

Offering the screening procedure did not significantly reduce cancer deaths over 10 years.

In fact, cancer cases were only reduced by 18% in the group invited to have a colonoscopy, compared to the group that wasn’t invited to get a screening.

According to Jason A. Dominitz, MD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and Douglas J. Robertson, MD, of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire, who wrote an editorial that accompanied the research, “The relatively small reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer and the nonsignificant reduction in the risk of death are both surprising and disappointing.”

Bear in mind that the American Cancer Society estimates the number of new colorectal cases for 2022 at 151,030.

Why the less-than-stellar results?

The colonoscopy procedure has remained largely unchanged since its creation and introduction in 1969, when it was hailed as a life-saving resource that could one day make colorectal cancer extinct.

So why the disappointing findings from the large NordICC trial?

A “screening can only be effective if it is performed,” the writers of the editorial point out.

See, in the group that was invited to undergo colonoscopy screenings, less than half of the participants (42%) actually went through with the procedure.

Per an adjusted analysis, the researchers found that if every participant had a colonoscopy, the incidence of colorectal cancer would have been reduced by 31% and the risk of related cancer death by 50%.

But even though a 31% reduction in the adjusted analysis was “a clinically relevant benefit,” it was still lower than what is anticipated in clinical guidelines based on observational and modeling studies.

Previous research has put reduced incidence and death from colon cancer as high as 70%.

What is the difference between those studies and the NordICC? It may be a “real-world” statement on how useful colonoscopy actually is.

However, with increased levels of participation in screening and with high-quality examinations, higher reductions in the incidence of colorectal cancer and related death would be expected — even if the percentages may not be as high in reality as previously thought. 

If you’d like to know more about colonoscopy and choices that are less invasive, download our free report — Before you say ‘yes’ to a colonoscopy!

Sources:

Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death — The New England Journal of Medicine

If You Invite 455 People to Colonoscopy, You’ll Stop One Case of Cancer — MedPage Today

Key statistics for colorectal cancer — American Cancer Society

The colonoscopy: A historical timeline — Gastroenterology Health Partners

The post Why colonoscopies may be less effective than we thought appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s also why improving specific lifestyle habits is so important. Smoking, drinking alcohol and too much sitting have all been associated with a higher risk of the disease.

In addition, studies have suggested that damaging or upsetting the balance of the gut microbiome can result in a higher risk of colorectal cancer.

Luckily, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered that an inexpensive nutritional supplement could help maintain that balance in those who need it most…

Magnesium could help inhibit colorectal cancer

The Vanderbilt study involved 240 participants. They were also randomized by whether they had the TRPM7 genotype, which plays a critical role in regulating the uptake of magnesium and calcium.

Previous results from the same randomized trial demonstrated that magnesium enhances the synthesis of vitamin D and increases blood levels of the vitamin.

But the findings from the current study were especially fascinating…

According to Qi Dai, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, “The current study reveals that magnesium supplementation also increases the gut microbes which have been shown to synthesize vitamin D in the gut without sunlight and locally inhibit colorectal cancer development.”

The participants were divided into two groups: one that received the magnesium supplement and another that received a placebo. Their gut microbiome was analyzed..

Among participants with adequate function of the TRPM7 gene, the magnesium supplement increased the levels of Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, which were previously found to work synergistically to increase vitamin D and decrease colorectal carcinogenesis.

Among those with inadequate TRPM7 function, the magnesium supplement reduced the abundance of F. prausnitzii in rectal mucosa.

Here’s why that’s significant…

Among 236 participants who all had a history of colorectal polyps, 124 underwent colonoscopies after completing the trial and a follow-up period of about 3.5 years. A higher abundance of F. prausnitzii in the rectal mucosa was associated with an almost threefold increase in developing additional polyps.

These findings suggest that magnesium supplementation treatment may decrease colorectal cancer risk in individuals with inadequate TRPM7 function.

One caveat: the effect was observed primarily in females. The researchers theorize that this could be due to the role that estrogen plays in facilitating the uptake of magnesium into cells.

The right magnesium

According to the researchers, the findings provide new insights into the interactions between nutrition and the gut microbiome contributing to the development of colorectal cancer — and establish the foundation for a precision-based strategy for prevention in high-risk populations.

Magnesium can be found in certain foods, including spinach, black beans, pumpkin seeds, chard, yogurt and kefir. However, modern farming and food processing have led to a decline of about 21 percent in the levels of magnesium in the American diet since 1940.

This is why it’s a good idea to consider adding a magnesium supplement to your daily regimen. However, be aware that there are several different types of magnesium supplements available, so it’s essential to choose the right one.

The magnesium used by the participants in the Vanderbilt study was magnesium glycinate, which binds magnesium to the amino acid glycine. In addition to the impact on the gut microbiome observed in the study, magnesium glycinate has a calming, relaxing effect on the central nervous system, which can help with stress, anxiety and sleep problems.

Sources:

Study shows magnesium inhibits colorectal cancer carcinogenesis by increasing vitamin D-synthesizing bacteria — VUMC News

Magnesium treatment increases gut microbiome synthesizing vitamin D and inhibiting colorectal cancer: results from a double-blind precision-based randomized placebo-controlled trial — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Colorectal Cancer Rates Are Skyrocketing in Young Adults—Is Your Lifestyle Putting You at Risk? — Cancer Research Institute

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But we’re seeing a parallel — younger people developing diseases that used to only strike older individuals.

As it turns out, the same thing that causes cardiometabolic disease earlier in life may also be setting us up for earlier and more aggressive colon tumors.

The Worrisome Trend

Colorectal cancer, also known as colon cancer, has long been seen as a disease that primarily affects older adults. But in the past two decades, something concerning has happened…

The rate of colon cancer in people under the age of 55 has more than doubled. And the sharpest rise is among those under 40. These aren’t isolated cases. It’s a growing trend that has doctors and researchers searching for answers.

So far, no single cause has been pinpointed. But new research is starting to reveal potential contributors, and one of them may be lurking in our gut.

A New Clue: Colibactin and Gut Bacteria

A recent study published in Nature has identified a strong link between early-onset colorectal cancer and a toxin called colibactin, produced by certain strains of gut bacteria like E. coli. Colibactin is a “genotoxin,” which is a compound capable of damaging DNA.

Researchers analyzed tissue samples from nearly 1,000 colorectal cancer patients across four continents and found that most had mutations in their tumors that matched a signature left by this bacterial toxin.

What’s especially noteworthy is that patients under the age of 40 were three to five times more likely to carry these mutations than older patients. Even more surprising? These mutations appear to originate in early childhood — possibly even before age 10.

While this doesn’t prove colibactin causes colon cancer, it’s a compelling clue. And it reinforces something we’re learning again and again: the health of our gut microbiome — the trillions of bacteria living in our digestive tract — can have long-term, far-reaching consequences.

We Still Don’t Know the Full Story

Colibactin isn’t the whole story. Not everyone with colon cancer has these mutations. And not everyone with colibactin-producing bacteria gets cancer. So what’s going on?

Researchers believe it’s likely a combination of factors. Our environment, diet, medications, level of physical activity and other lifestyle choices all shape our microbiome, starting even in childhood. Over time, these factors may work together to encourage harmful bacteria to flourish or behave in damaging ways.

For example, early antibiotic use has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer later in life, possibly because antibiotics can wipe out beneficial bacteria and allow harmful strains to take over. Other possible contributors include how we were born (vaginal delivery vs. C-section), whether we were breastfed, and whether our diets as children included ultra-processed foods.

The Fiber Connection

If there’s one thing nearly all Americans have in common, it’s this: we don’t eat enough fiber. In fact, approximately 95% of us fall short of the recommended daily intake.

That’s a big problem, especially for gut health. Fiber is essential fuel for our beneficial gut bacteria. When we eat a fiber-rich diet full of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts, we help the good bacteria thrive and crowd out the bad.

Fiber also reduces inflammation, improves digestion, regulates bowel movements, and may even bind to and help eliminate toxins in the colon.

Fiber also has wide-ranging effects on cardiometabolic health. It helps reduce cholesterol absorption, keeping LDL levels down, modulates glucose absorption for steadier/lower insulin release, and supports natural GLP-1 production. 

On the flipside, a low-fiber diet (especially one high in ultra-processed foods) can leave our gut microbiome undernourished, unbalanced, and more vulnerable to disruption. That low-fiber diet also leaves our cholesterol elevated, our blood sugars high and our appetites unsatisfied.

But here’s the important point — we can modify this! 

Animal studies have shown that changing fiber intake can impact tumor growth and the activity of toxins like colibactin. Meanwhile, adding 10 grams of fiber per day (the equivalent of what’s in 2 servings of Step One Foods) raises natural GLP-1 production by 56%! In a matter of days!

Colon Cancer Screening: When to Start

Because early-onset colon cancer is on the rise, guidelines have shifted. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that all adults at average risk start screening at age 45. This can be done through colonoscopy, at-home stool tests, or other approved methods. People with a family history of colon cancer or other risk factors may need to start even earlier.  

So, if you’re over 45 and haven’t yet had your colonoscopy, what are you waiting for? Get screened for this condition. Early detection saves lives. In fact, when colon cancer is found early, it’s one of the most treatable forms of cancer.

And if you’ve not been screened for high cholesterol, high blood pressure or high blood sugar, I’d ask the same thing! 80% of heart disease need not exist. But you can’t possibly know if you’re at risk if you have no data.

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Sadly, the incidence of the early-onset form of the disease, which occurs in people aged 50 and younger, is expected to rise by more than 140% by 2030.

The good news is that death rates in people diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer have fallen, as screening and treatment have improved. But survivors still have a shorter life expectancy than their peers in the general population.

However, researchers at the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute believe they’ve identified a simple daily activity that not only helps survivors live longer, but potentially even longer than someone who has never had cancer.

Why just survive when you can live longer

Movement is life. Previous research indicated that exercise could increase the lifespans of survivors even in the advanced stages of cancer.

But the Dana-Farber researchers wanted to take it a step further to find out if regular exercise had the power to help colon cancer patients boost their survival rates beyond people who’d never had cancer.

To find out, they delved into the exercise habits — both before and after treatment — of nearly 3,000 colon cancer patients. And the results were clear…

To remain cancer-free, even three years out from treatment, exercise is key.

According to the researchers, the magic number for survival comes down to physical activity, equivalent to walking about an hour a day at a 2- to 3-mile-per-hour pace, at least 6 days a week.

“Those patients not only had a better overall survival if they were more physically active, they actually looked like they had a slightly better overall survival compared to the general population,” says senior researcher, Dr. Jeff Meyerhardt.

In fact, even patients who suffered a cancer recurrence increased their survival chances if they stayed physically active.

Making healthy changes to your cell soup

According to cancer researchers, multiple mechanisms make exercise one of the most potent tools for not only surviving colon cancer but also preventing it in the first place.

Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, an exercise oncology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, likes to describe the mechanisms this way…

“What you might think of is that all of our cells are bathed in a soup of sorts, and the constituents of that soup change as a result of being more physically active,” she explains.

If you spend most of your time sitting, your immune system suffers, inflammation flares up and your cells can start to change and grow uncontrolled. However, when you get the regular activity your body needs, the fires of inflammation are quenched and your immune system kicks into high gear.

Then, as Dr. Schmitz explains, “The soup in which your cells are bathed is healthier in a way that will tamp down any cancer development or cancer progression.”

In a previous study that linked exercise to reducing the odds of 13 different cancer types, researchers at the National Cancer Institute identified three factors that could be responsible for the cancer-preventing properties of exercise: its ability to reduce hormones like estrogen, its ability to lower insulin levels and its ability to quell inflammation.

So, if you’ve survived colon cancer (or simply want to make sure you do everything possible to prevent it), exercise is a must.

Also, don’t be intimidated by this study’s findings that you need to walk an hour a day, six days a week. Other studies have found that short, high-intensity sessions can also reduce the growth of colon cancer.

Sources:

Survival Rates for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

How common is colon cancer? — Fight Colorectal Cancer

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

Colon cancer survivors who exercise regularly live longer — NPR

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He was in his mid-40s, the same age as my husband and I, at the time.

Even though it came as a shock, it shouldn’t have. In my work, I see the data regularly and know that colon cancer has been on the rise among people under 40 for several years now.

As more and more research is being carried out to get to the root causes and slow the tide, a disturbing revelation may have just been found in a surprising place — the mouth.

Traveling from the mouth to the gut

We’re used to discussing the gut microbiome.

But your mouth has a microbiome as well — a community of millions upon millions of bacteria — some good, some bad and some outright dangerous.

And it’s one of the latter that scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center say is responsible for fueling colon cancer growth to make it far more deadly.

The name of the bacteria is Fusobacterium nucleatum. And past research has shown it can infect tumors, like a virus infecting a healthy cell.

It has also been shown to cause chemoresistance (making chemotherapy less effective for those undergoing treatment).

Now, researchers have been able to prove that a subtype of the bacteria, the tumor-infiltrating Fna C2 type, is the one responsible.

Their work showed that this one subtype of the bacteria had acquired distinct genetic traits allowing it to travel from the mouth through the stomach, withstanding stomach acid, and landing in the lower gastrointestinal tract.

This makes it one of the biggest colon cancer risks around.

“We’ve consistently seen that patients with colorectal tumors containing Fusobacterium nucleatum have poor survival and poorer prognosis compared with patients without the microbe,” explained Susan Bullman, Ph.D., Fred Hutch cancer microbiome researcher and co-corresponding study author. “Now we’re finding that a specific subtype of this microbe is responsible for tumor growth.”

Specifically, their study showed that:

• The Fna C2 subtype is significantly enriched in colorectal tumor tissue
• The subtype causes abnormal cells in colorectal tissue to grow exponentially
• The Fna C2 lineage is found in approximately 50% of cases colorectal cancer cases.

“We have pinpointed the exact bacterial lineage that is associated with colorectal cancer, and that knowledge is critical for developing effective preventive and treatment methods,” said study co-author Christopher D. Johnston, PhD.

A healthier mouth for a healthier gut

Fusobacterium nucleatum is commonly found in dental plaque. So you know what that means…

Your first line of defense is practicing good oral hygiene and seeing a dentist regularly to have any plaque removed.

But there are some practices, a little off the beaten path, that could help as well…

• Use a red wine mouthwash –Spanish researchers have found that that two polyphenols found in red wine — caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid — help prevent harmful bacteria like Fusobacterium nucleatum from attaching to gum tissue where they can start their trip to the gut. This means that swishing out your mouth with a bit of red wine rather than traditional mouthwash could be the key to better colon health.
• Try DIM – Diindolylmethane (DIM) has been shown to reduce the biofilms that produce plaque and cavities by a whopping 90 percent. By disrupting the biofilms, bacteria are not given a chance to grow.
• Chew Greek gum – A gum made from mastic resin has been found to reduce the amount of cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth, lower plaque levels and reduce gum inflammation.
• Use probiotics – Finally, don’t forget to take probiotics, which boost the level of good bacteria in your body, daily. Probiotics are even available in a chewable form designed specifically for oral health. You can find them online or at your local supplement store.

Sources:

Bacteria subtype linked to growth in up to 50% of human colorectal cancers, Fred Hutch researchers report – EurekAlert!

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Many people with conditions like coronary artery disease take daily aspirin to ward off heart attack and stroke. It’s also been suggested for reduction of the brain plaques that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

On the other hand, daily aspirin use has been linked with a significantly increased risk of bleeding, including hemorrhagic stroke and gastrointestinal hemorrhages. It also has been found to almost double the risk of melanoma in men.

Now another study has weighed in on the debate — and it seems to come down on the positive side of daily aspirin use, at least for one very serious threat…

Aspirin’s role in colorectal cancer prevention

Colorectal cancer, also known as bowel or colon cancer, is the third most common form of cancer worldwide, with around 1.9 million newly diagnosed cases and 900,000 deaths every year. It used to be considered an older person’s disease, but rates in people under 50 have been on the rise in recent years.

There is a need for more preventives for this deadly cancer. And aspirin could fit the bill…

Previous studies have shown that aspirin reduces the risk of colorectal cancer. One study found it reduced cancer of the large bowel by an impressive 50 percent. It also has been found to inhibit the progression of cancer in the colon.

More recent research has identified the signaling pathway by which aspirin can inhibit these cancers…

 A team from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Germany conducted a laboratory study to gain clarity on the molecular mechanisms behind this effect.

According to the results, aspirin prompts the production of two tumor-suppressive microRNA molecules (miRNAs) called miR-34a and miR-34b/c. To do this, aspirin binds to and activates AMPK, an anti-aging enzyme that acts as a “master switch” to determine how our bodies process energy. This in turn alters the transcription factor NRF2, which then migrates into the cell nucleus and activates the expression of the miR-34 genes.

In addition, aspirin allows the activation to succeed by suppressing the oncogene product c-MYC, which otherwise would inhibit NRF2.

To sum all this up, aspirin activates genes that help protect against colorectal cancer.

The results show that miR-34 genes are necessary for aspirin to work to inhibit colorectal cancer cells. Aspirin failed to prevent migration, invasion and metastasis in cancer cells that were miR-34-deficient. It was already known that the transcription factor p53 induces the miR-34 genes, which mediate its effects.

“Our results show, however, that activation of the miR-34 genes by aspirin takes place independently of the p53 signaling pathway,” says Heiko Hermeking, a professor of experimental and molecular pathology at LMU. “This is important because the p53-encoding gene is the most commonly inactivated tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer. In most other kinds of cancer, moreover, p53 is inactivated by mutations or viruses in the majority of cases. Aspirin could therefore be employed therapeutically in such cases in the future.”

How to best take aspirin

A lot more research needs to be done before aspirin’s role in colorectal cancer prevention can be confirmed. But if you’re at high risk for colorectal cancer because of family history or other factors, you may be considering adding a daily dose of aspirin to your regime. But is there a safe way to do it?

As is the case with any medication, the first thing to do is to speak with your doctor about it. They will be able to help you decide whether the potential preventive benefits are worth the risks and about existing conditions that need to be considered.

If your doctor does recommend daily aspirin, you’ll want to take a low dose (roughly 75 mg, or the dose in baby aspirin). Make sure to take it with food to help avoid stomach upset. Or you can take it in tablets that dissolve in a drink of water or tablets with a special enteric coating to help protect your stomach.

Of course, you’ll want to do everything you can to reduce your risk of colorectal cancer in the first place. It’s important to maintain a healthy weight, stay active and eat the right foods — particularly resistant starch. This type of starch has been shown to reduce the odds of a range of cancers — including colorectal cancer — by more than 60 percent.

Sources:

Bowel cancer: Aspirin activates protective genes — ScienceDaily

Salicylate induces AMPK and inhibits c-MYC to activate a NRF2/ARE/miR-34a/b/c cascade resulting in suppression of colorectal cancer metastasis — Cell Death & Disease

About low-dose aspirin — NHS

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And I’m not talking about those fruit-flavored yogurts full of sugar. For me, it’s plain Greek yogurt – thick, creamy, and even better when mixed with a teaspoon of honey.

Yogurt is packed with probiotics such as Bifidobacterium animalis that help keep the gut in tip-top shape. When the gut is healthy, your digestion, mood and cognition are supported.

And on top of that, you can worry less about your risk for obesity, diabetes, and colon cancer.

Bacteria in yogurt, including Bifidobacterium, alter the gut microbiome in positive ways.

Here’s some new research that proves just how powerful yogurt can be in slashing your risk for one of the most lethal types of colon cancer.

Eating yogurt can make colon cancer less deadly

Dr. Shuji Ogino, along with a team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard’s H.T. Chan School of Public Health, call themselves “team OPTIMISTICC.”

They conducted a study using data from two well-known prospective cohort studies: the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). These studies have followed more than 100,000 female registered nurses since 1976 and 51,000 male health professionals since 1986, respectively.

Participants in each study answered repeated questionnaires about their lifestyle choices, including questions about their average daily intake of plain and flavored yogurt and other dairy products. They also answered questions about their disease history, if any.

The researchers also assessed tissue samples for participants with confirmed cases of colorectal cancer, measuring the amount of Bifidobacterium DNA in tumor tissue.

For participants with confirmed cases of colorectal cancer, the researchers assessed tissue samples, measuring the amount of Bifidobacterium (B. bifidum) DNA in tumor tissue.

Information on Bifidobacterium content was available in 1,121 colorectal cancer cases. Among those, 346 cases (31%) were Bifidobacterium-positive, and 775 cases (69%) were Bifidobacterium-negative.

The researchers didn’t observe a significant association between long-term yogurt intake and overall colorectal cancer incidence, but they did see an association in Bifidobacterium-positive tumors, with a 20 percent lower rate of incidence for participants who consumed two or more servings of yogurt a week.

Specifically, this lower rate was driven by a lower incidence of Bifidobacterium-positive proximal colon cancer — a type of colorectal cancer that occurs in the right side of the colon.

Studies have found that patients with proximal colon cancer have worse survival outcomes than patients with distal cancers (on the left side of the colon).

“It has long been believed that yogurt and other fermented milk products are beneficial for gastrointestinal health,” said co-senior author Tomotaka Ugai, MD, PhD, of the Department of Pathology at the Brigham and the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our new findings suggest that this protective effect may be specific for Bifidobacterium-positive tumors.”

In other words, even if they did get colon cancer, the people who ate yogurt twice a week were less likely to get the more deadly type.

Supporting your gut with Bifidobacterium

If you’re a yogurt lover like me, you may get a regular supply of Bifidobacterium — and hopefully have for years.

But if you don’t like yogurt, you may not be out of luck…

Fermented foods have a long history and a lot of science behind their disease-fighting benefits, and yogurt isn’t your only choice.

Other fermented foods that should contain Bifidobacterium include:

• Sauerkraut
• Kefit
• Kombucha
• Kimchi
• Natto
• Fermented cheeses
• Cottage cheese
• Buttermilk
• Miso
• Tempeh
• Pickled cucumber
• Olives
• Apple cider vinegar
• Acidophilus milk
• Kvass

A probiotic supplement is another option. And prebiotics, especially inulin type fructans (ITF) and arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides (AXOS), can be consumed to increase the number of Bifidobacterium in the colon.

Sources:

Long-term yogurt consumption tied to decreased incidence of certain types of colorectal cancer — Science Daily

Long-term yogurt intake and colorectal cancer incidence subclassified by Bifidobacterium abundance in tumor — Gut Microbes

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“Milk — it does a body good.”

These slogans are probably very familiar to you. They all point to milk as a vital part of a healthy diet. And there’s no doubt that milk can help you boost two important nutrients: calcium and vitamin D.

Milk naturally contains vitamin D but at low levels. That’s why it’s been fortified with vitamin D since the 1930s. As far as calcium though, one glass contains roughly 300 mg of calcium. Still, you would need to drink at least a few glasses daily to get your recommended amount of calcium (anywhere between 700 mg and 1,200 mg, depending on your age and health situation).

However, according to research, there may be more benefits to drinking milk than the nutrients it contains. Studies show it can reduce fracture risk, support heart health and lower the odds of developing metabolic syndrome. And now, there’s evidence it can reduce the risk of a type of cancer that’s growing in prevalence and hitting people at younger ages…

An extra glass to lower cancer risk

The disease is colorectal cancer, and incidence rates for advanced disease have increased by about 3 percent annually in people younger than 50 since around 2010. That’s higher than the 0.5 to 2 percent annual increase in people between 50 and 64 over the same time frame.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the U.K. examined data from more than 500,000 women to explore possible links between 97 different foods and nutrients to colorectal cancer. The research data spanned an average of 16 years, and what they discovered was fascinating.

Foods containing calcium — including dairy products such as milk and yogurt — were linked with decreased colorectal cancer risk.

In fact, consuming an additional 300 mg of calcium, or the amount found in a large glass of milk, every day could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 17 percent.

This proved true regardless of whether the food in question was from dairy or non-dairy sources such as dark leafy green vegetables.

Researchers have a theory as to why calcium has this effect. “It’s suggested that calcium might protect against bowel cancer by binding to bile acids and free fatty acids to form a type of a harmless ‘soap’, which stops them from damaging the lining of our gut,” says Dr. Keren Papier of the University of Oxford, lead researcher of the study.  

This “soap” then cleanses these bile and fatty acids out of the gut so they can’t build up and are less likely to cause damage.

According to the study, most women participating were consuming more than 700 mg of calcium a day. However, this could be because they consumed foods supplemented with calcium and some that naturally contained calcium. Calcium is added to products like bread and plant-based milks.

While the current findings are promising, more research is underway to determine whether calcium supplements and calcium-fortified foods have the same effect in reducing colorectal cancer risk as foods that contain calcium naturally. This ongoing research gives us hope for further advancements in cancer prevention.

Keeping your colon healthy

The study uncovered links between other foods and cancer risk that went in the opposite direction…

For instance, drinking an additional 20 g of alcohol, the equivalent of a large glass of wine was found to increase colorectal cancer risk by 15 percent.

To understand how calcium can best be utilized to help prevent colorectal cancer, Papier and her team intend to probe further into calcium’s role in the prevention of the disease in different populations with diverse diets.

In the meantime, adding an extra glass of milk to your diet can’t hurt if you’re looking to reduce colorectal cancer risk. But check with your doctor before adding calcium supplements.

A German study, published in 2012 found a surprising link between calcium supplements and an increased risk of heart disease in women. Among 24,000 people, women who were exclusively taking calcium supplements to meet their recommended daily calcium intake doubled their risk for a heart attack.

Sources:

1. Bowel cancer risk could be reduced with an extra glass of milk — Cancer Research UK

2. Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK — Nature Communications

3. Vitamin D and Your Bones — New York State Department of Health

4. How much calcium do you really need? — Harvard Health Publishing

5. Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025 — American Cancer Society

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But unless you have a medical condition like chronic hypertension and have been warned to stay away from caffeine, it shouldn’t be an issue.

In fact, I’ve got more good news for you: not only isn’t coffee bad for you, but it could keep colon cancer from coming back…

Coffee may prevent bowel cancer recurrence

Recently, I shared some great news about how coffee can help post-menopausal women keep their bones strong.

Now, there’s research showing that coffee drinking can also be a life-saver.

Right now, 30 percent of patients treated for colorectal cancer (bowel cancer) experience a recurrence of cancer.

But an international team of scientists in the Netherlands discovered that coffee seems to improve the odds of staying cancer-free longer…

They looked at 1,719 patients with colorectal cancer and found that those who drank at least two cups of coffee a day were less likely to relapse.

In fact, patients with stage I, II or III bowel cancer who drank at least five cups of coffee a day had a 32 percent lower chance of the cancer returning over the following six years.

Recurrence was defined as recurrence in the same segment as the primary tumor, in the lymph nodes of the same segment or in the draining lymph nodes — or distant metastasis.

The Dutch researchers also saw a noticeable link between how much coffee a patient drank and their risk of dying from any cause.

Three to five cups seems to be the “sweet spot.” People who drank that much saw about a 29 percent reduction in all-cause mortality. But drinking more didn’t make that number go up.

What is it about coffee?

Stacks of research show the health benefits of coffee are many — and some have begun to look at the components in coffee that could be responsible for those benefits — including caffeine.

In fact, there’s been indication that decaff isn’t as potent against cancer as regular caffeinated coffee — at least for breast cancer.

Then there’s the sheer amount of antioxidant content in coffee. Not only that, some reports suggest that Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source.

And one of those powerful antioxidants is a polyphenol known as chlorogenic acid (CGA).

CGA is known to fight inflammation in fat tissue. That’s important because inflammation is also a hallmark of cancer and is widely recognized to influence all cancer stages from cell transformation to metastasis.

Some experts suggest around 35 percent of Americans live in a state of chronic, systemic inflammation — and that more than 50 percent of deaths worldwide are attributed to chronic inflammatory diseases, like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The Dutch researchers noted that because CGA improves endothelial and vascular function by increasing the availability of nitric oxides — important for maintaining cardiovascular health — the antioxidant could be key to the decrease in all-cause mortality their study found.

What if you’re not a coffee drinker?

So, you’re not a coffee drinker…

Well, it is possible to get your antioxidants elsewhere, though we’re not 100 percent sure yet what other substances in coffee may be responsible for its impact on cancer.

But if you don’t drink coffee, you’re likely falling short on antioxidants anyway and should certainly boost your intake from other sources.

A popular fruit that’s high in antioxidants has been shown to fuel cancer-fighting cells against colorectal cancer. So consider trading a coffee cup for a pomegranate smoothie.

Some berries are outstanding sources of CGA.

Need more suggestions? Check out the antioxidant diet on easy ways to add more to every meal.

Sources:

Drinking Coffee Dramatically Lowers The Risk of Bowel Cancer Coming Back — Science Alert

Coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer recurrence and all-cause mortality — International Journal of Cancer

Ageing: from inflammation to cancer — Immunity and Aging

Chronic inflammation: Why it’s harmful, and how to prevent it — Novant Health

The post The drink that helps keep cancer from coming back appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Chronic inflammation increases cancer risk. But in the case of colorectal cancer, something else is happening that is both astounding and terrifying.

Researchers have uncovered some disturbing facts about how ultra-processed foods help to “feed” colon cancer…

“A wound that won’t heal”

Previous research from Tufts and Harvard Universities had already proven that men who live on ultra-processed foods are increasing their risk of colorectal cancer by nearly 30 percent.

And now we have a big clue how it works…

A new study suggests that ultra-processed foods and inflammatory seed oils used in packaged food products may contribute to chronic inflammation, fueling colorectal cancer.

“It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies,” said Dr. Timothy Yeatman, a renowned physician-scientist and professor of surgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate center director for Translational Research and Innovation at the TGH Cancer Institute.

“We now see this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal — if your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”

When the researchers used advanced techniques to identify trace amounts of lipids in 162 tumor samples, they saw an excess number of molecules that promote inflammation and a shortage of those that promote healing.

Dr. Yeatman added, “A human’s immune system can be extremely powerful and drastically impact the tumor microenvironment, which is great if harnessed correctly for health and wellness,” he says, “but not if it’s suppressed by inflammatory lipids from processed foods.”

Eating to prevent colon cancer

The colon is the “last stop” in your digestive system, so it stands to reason that what you put in your mouth will affect the health of your colon.

“Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor in the USF Health Heart Institute and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at TGH Cancer Institute.

“Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalance the immune system and drive chronic inflammation.”

So, the first place to start is to eat more of those healthy fats and ditch the bad ones when you eat fewer processed foods. Healthier fats also include omega-3s from fatty fish.

In fact, Dr. Yeatman’s team saw promise in early trials using specialized derivatives of fish oil to address inflammation at its root cause.

The next step is removing bad oils from your diet…

Seed oils were particularly mentioned for fueling cancer — so that’s the ingredient you to avoid. Seed oils include a group known as the “hateful eight”:

• Canola oil (aka rapeseed oil).
• Corn oil.
• Cottonseed.
• Grapeseed oil.
• Soybean oil.
• Sunflower oil.
• Safflower oil.
• Rice bran oil
• Peanut oil.

According to nutrition experts at the Cleveland Clinic, seed oils have high levels of omega-6 fats, which can lead to inflammation. Everything that’s unhealthy about seed oils is compounded when they are used in processed foods.

Sources:

Ultra-processed foods may drive colorectal cancer risk, study finds — Science Daily

Integration of lipidomics with targeted, single cell, and spatial transcriptomics defines an unresolved pro-inflammatory state in colon cancer — BMJ

Seed Oils: Are They Actually Toxic? — Cleveland Clinic

The post The processed food ingredient found in cancer tumors appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But, despite the damage it can do, alcohol has never carried any such warning, other than those urging drinkers not to drive and not to drink while pregnant.

The present surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, wants to see this change. His 17-page advisory, titled “Alcohol and Cancer Risk,” outlines the evidence for a strong link between alcohol consumption and at least seven types of cancer.

What is a Surgeon General’s advisory?

A Surgeon General’s Advisory is a public statement that calls the American people’s attention to an urgent public health issue and provides recommendations for how it should be addressed.

Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.

Health issues that have prompted a surgeon general’s advisory in the past include cigarettes, AIDS, and obesity.

In the late 1980s, Surgeon General Dr Everett Koop issued an advisory on deaths due to drunk driving in the United States. This advisory resulted in tougher blood-alcohol level standards and higher taxes on alcoholic beverages.

But this is the first time an advisory has warned us about the direct health consequences of drinking alcohol.

What the advisory says about alcohol and cancer

“Many people out there assume that as long as they’re drinking at the limits or below the limits of current guidelines of one a day for women and two for men, that there is no risk to their health or well-being,” Dr. Murthy said in an interview. “The data does not bear that out for cancer risk.”

Here are the main points of Dr. Murthy’s advisory:

1. Consuming alcohol increases the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer:
   • Mouth
   • Throat
   • Esophagus (esophageal cancer has doubled in adults under 65)
   • Voice box (also known as laryngeal cancer)
   • Breast
   • Liver
   • Colon and rectum
2. Alcohol causes cancer in four ways:
   • Alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde, which damages DNA in multiple ways, resulting in an increased risk of cancer.
   • Alcohol induces oxidative stress, which increases cancer risk by damaging cells and increasing inflammation.
   • Alcohol affects estrogen levels which can increase breast cancer risk.
   • Alcohol leads to greater absorption of carcinogens.

How much is too much?

Dr. Murthy says it’s important to know that our cancer risk rises as we consume more alcohol.

At the same time, each person’s risk is particular to their family history, genetic makeup and exposure to environmental toxins.

“I wish we had a magic cutoff we could tell people is safe,” Dr. Murthy says. “What we do know is that less is better when it comes to reducing your cancer risk.”

“If an individual drinks occasionally for special events, or if you’re drinking a drink or two a week, your risk is likely to be significantly less than if you’re drinking every day.”

Three years ago, a Chinese study confirmed that alcohol causes cancer. But we still haven’t caught up with this news.

Dr. Murthy hopes that warning labels will convince us to avoid alcohol as much as possible.

Hopefully, his warning will make you rethink the amount of alcohol you consume. Just another way to buy yourself more years of a healthy life.

Sources:

Alcohol labels should carry cancer risk warning, U.S. surgeon general urges — NBC News

Surgeon general calls for cancer warnings on alcohol — NY Times

Alcohol and cancer risk — Office of the Surgeon General

New genetic study confirms that alcohol is a direct cause of cancer — Oxford Population Health

Alcohol metabolism genes and risks of site-specific cancers in Chinese adults: An 11-year prospective study — International Journal of Cancer

The post 7 cancers that may lead to warning on alcohol labels appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That meant drinking that awful prep liquid, spending hours on the toilet and suffering from a raw backside. And that’s before your dignity was ignored if not destroyed during the procedure.

But since colon cancer diagnoses among younger patients — those 40 to 49 — have risen 15 percent over the past two decades, the medical community lowered the age for that first routine colorectal cancer screening to 45.

No matter what age you were fortunate enough to have your first colonoscopy, you may be dreading the fact that you’re supposed to repeat the procedure every 10 years.

However, the good news is some of us may get a reprieve…

Risk level matters

Researchers at Harvard Medical School took stock of colorectal cancer screening results and colorectal cancer incidence across more than 195,000 people, specifically comparing the rate of colon cancer between two groups: people who received negative results on their initial colorectal cancer screening and those who had no colon cancer screening at all.

The initial results showed that those who had a negative cancer screening were at significantly lower risk of developing colorectal cancer than those who had not yet been screened.

The researchers also discovered that among people who underwent a colonoscopy and received a negative screening result, it took 16 years for participants at an intermediate-risk of colorectal cancer (due to negative lifestyle factors) to experience a similar cancer incidence as the high-risk group at 10 years.

Even better, the research showed that participants at low risk of colon cancer thanks to a healthy diet and regular exercise wouldn’t reach the 10-year cancer incidence experienced by the high-risk group for a full 25 years after their initial negative colonoscopy results.

In other words, as long as your first colonoscopy was clear of any signs of cancer or polyps, you may not have to do the deed every 10 years. The researchers believe that colonoscopy guidelines could be altered to be more individualized rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

The colonoscopy guidelines that are right for you

Of course, they also point out that it’s likely that any changes in the guidelines themselves will take time. Therefore, they recommend talking to your doctor about whether or not it’s safe to extend your personal screening interval beyond the recommended 10 years.

According to the researchers, it’s certainly an option if you live a low-risk lifestyle and have had a negative screening (no cancer or polyps) on your previous colonoscopy. A low-risk lifestyle for colon cancer involves maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercise, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, limiting red and processed meats, moderate alcohol consumption and not smoking.

However, make sure your doctor knows the extent of your family history with colon cancer — and no matter what you and your doctor decide, be alert to signs of cancer that need attention between colonoscopies.

These include:

• Persistent changes in your normal bowel habits
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Blood in your stool (you might experience either dark stools or see bright red blood)
• Rectal bleeding
• Narrowed or pencil-thin stools
• Abdominal discomfort or pain, which can include bloating or cramps
• Unexplained weight loss
• Fatigue or weakness
• Feeling as if your bowels won’t completely empty

It’s also important to note that in addition to a colonoscopy, there are four additional ways to screen for colon cancer, three of which are completely non-invasive, making it a much easier and more comfortable process.

Sources:

Time for a rethink of colonoscopy guidelines? — The Harvard Gazette

Colon Cancer: 8 Early Warning Signs & 4 Stages — MedicineNet

What to know about colonoscopies and cancer risk — Easy Health Options

The post Colonoscopy: Is every 10 years really necessary? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s long been considered the culprit behind gastritis — a condition that causes pain under the ribs, indigestion, nausea, sometimes vomiting and weight loss. It’s also the most common cause of peptic ulcer disease.

On the mild side, it can cause bad breath. But left untreated, this bacteria can be responsible for gastric cancer.

But the latest on this nasty bacteria indicates it’s capable of even more harm…

According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, H. pylori could also dramatically raise your risk of developing deadly colorectal cancer.

More than just a stomach bacteria

Although H. pylori is known for its ability to make its home in the stomach and cause all of those issues we talked about, the truth is that the stomach is simply one stop on a long trip through the digestive system which includes the gastrointestinal tract.

This means that H. pylori can spread and cause problems throughout the bowels.

That fact got doctors at the University of California San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare System wondering if H. pylori could also play a role in colorectal cancer.

To test the association, they conducted a retrospective cohort study among U.S. military veterans who completed H. pylori testing from 1999 through 2018. In all, the researchers followed 812,736 individuals, 205,178 of whom tested positive for H. pylori.

And sure enough, the bacteria known for its role in stomach cancer showed a clear link to cancers lower down the gastrointestinal tract.

They found that people with an H. pylori infection were not only at an 18 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer, but they also experienced a 12 percent increased risk of dying from that cancer.

That’s a big risk increase, especially when you consider that colorectal is already one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Treatment reduces threat of cancer

An H. pylori infection is treatable — and doing so is key to downgrading that cancer risk.

Their results showed that antibiotic treatment of H. pylori infection reduced the risk of colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer death by a magnitude similar to that afforded by regular colonoscopy screening.

This means that if you have an H. pylori infection, getting treatment as soon as possible could not only help with any stomach discomfort and ulcers, it could potentially protect you from colon cancer.

Additionally, there are natural options for making H. pylori less welcome in your entire gastrointestinal tract…

• Research published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology says that some of the best natural remedies to reduce this bad bacteria include probiotics, broccoli sprouts, green tea, honey, licorice and red wine. The last two on that list should be used only in moderation.
• Scientists at the Department of Cancer Epidemiology at Peking University Cancer Hospital found that drinking cranberry juice twice daily for eight weeks resulted in a 20 percent reduction in the rate of H. pylori infection.
• Kefir, is rich in both a beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus kefiri) and a carbohydrate (Kefiran) with proven bacteria-fighting abilities, can help cut down on H. pylori.

Sources:

More Evidence Linking H. Pylori Infection to Colorectal Cancer – MEDPAGETODAY

The post The bacterial infection with a growing colon cancer reputation appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The question of whether or not enjoying an alcoholic beverage provides health benefits seems to have sparked never-ending debate in the medical community.

It may have started with the French Paradox, a longevity theory that’s associated with drinking antioxidant-rich red wine with countering the effects of a French diet, high in artery-clogging saturated fats.

Over the years several other studies have linked moderate drinking with reduced risk for diabetes and reduced brain inflammation which could be protective against dementia.

But, at the same time, evidence has mounted demonstrating that drinking and a disease-free life simply don’t mix, especially if you want to live cancer-free.

That’s because alcohol has been found to be a direct cause of cancer — not just a supporting actor.

Now, experts have weighed in on exactly which types of cancers are fueled by alcohol and are nailing down how much drinking is too much if you want to keep that disease risk at bay.

Cancer directly linked to alcohol consumption

According to the American Association for Cancer Research drinking excessive levels of alcohol dramatically increases your risk for six different types of cancer.

These include:

• Breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Liver cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Certain types of head and neck cancer
• Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

A report by researchers for the association found that “in the U.S., 5.4% of cancers were attributed to alcohol consumption in 2019, the most recent year for which data are available.”

How much is too much?

So if “excessive” drinking causes these cancers, how much does it take to put you at risk?

According to Dr. Céline Gounder, a medical contributor for CBS News, it equates to about three or more drinks per day for women and four or more drinks per day for men.

A standard drink would be 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces (a shot) of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor.

However, it’s important to note that some studies have shown that there really is no safe level of drinking and that even for moderate alcohol consumption, the risk of cancer far outweighs any possible benefits.

How alcohol sparks cancer

According to Dr. Gounder, “Some of this (cancer development) is happening through chronic inflammation. We also know that alcohol changes the microbiome, so those are the bacteria that live in your gut, and that can also increase the risk.”

Both of those issues can not only fuel cancer development, but they can also increase risks for other chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

So if you want to disease or cancer-proof your body, it looks like the less you drink, the better. Some experts will tell you there is no safe amount.

But if you’re a beer fan and want to enjoy the taste and feel of a good brew, you’re in luck. Non-alcoholic beers were put to the test and found to have benefits that could improve cardiovascular health and sleep.

Choices for non-alcoholic beers have also greatly improved over the last few years. You can find a range of award-winning microbrew and craft non-alcoholic varieties.

Sources:

Alcohol can increase your cancer risk. What experts say about how much is too much — CBS News

Cancer deaths in U.S. fell by 33% in 30 years, but alcohol remains a lesser-known risk factor — CBS News

There’s “no safe level of alcohol,” major new study concludes — CBS News

Study seems to settle the connection between cancer and alcohol — Easy Health Options

8+ ways an ingredient in beer can boost your health and fight cancer — Easy Health Options

The post 6 cancers associated with ‘too much’ alcohol appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But that’s not all that the eyes can reveal…

It turns out that our eyes can provide a glimpse into what else can be going on in the body, including hints about many health ailments — and not just those affecting the eyes.

In some cases, they can even lead to life-saving early detection.

Here are 10 of them…

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Brain tumor

A simple visual field measurement can reveal abnormalities, but often patients are either unaware of them or consider them so benign that they don’t bother to report them. It’s important to make note of any visual field abnormalities because they can indicate brain tumors, such as pituitary adenoma.

Diabetes

Screening for diabetes is an area that’s ripe for improvement, especially since it often is not diagnosed until six to 13 years after its onset. An eye exam might speed that up — as well as prevent vision loss…

Lesions, characteristic of diabetes, can appear at the back of the eye before other symptoms are known. Slashing this delay is crucial because, within five years of diagnosis, 25 percent of patients with type 1 diabetes and 40 percent of those with type 2 diabetes who are treated with insulin will develop eye lesions that can have a major impact on vision.

Early identification and rigorous monitoring of eye health significantly reduce the risk of blindness, which can happen when diabetes goes untreated.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol

High blood pressure and high cholesterol can significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke. Yet high blood pressure, referred to as a “silent killer,” can go unnoticed until it’s a significant problem.

As strange as it might sound, the eye can be used to diagnose both of these conditions. This is because the eye is the only part of the body where blood vessels can be seen without requiring an incision or invasive techniques.

For instance, high blood pressure can be identified by unusual bends, kinks, or bleeding from blood vessels in the back of the eye, as well as definite signs on the retina. Hypercholesterolemia creates cholesterol deposits and atherosclerosis creates Hollenhorst plaques, both of which are visible inside the eye blood vessels. Cholesterol can also be seen in the cornea or the adnexa of the eye.

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Lupus

This inflammatory disease, in which the body attacks its own tissues and organs, can be indicated by dry eye, as well as by swelling in the white part of the eye, the middle layer of the eye or the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye.

Lyme disease

This infection is transmitted by ticks and results in inflammation throughout the body. Many people with Lyme disease experience inflammation of the optic nerve, as well as an increase in “floaters,” small specks that drift across their field of vision, at the onset of infection.

Multiple sclerosis

About half of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have optic neuritis, a condition in which the optic nerve becomes inflamed. Symptoms can include blurry vision, the sight of “washed out” colors and eye pain for a few days when you move your eyes.

MS can also be indicated by double vision or involuntary eye movements.

Cancer

Cancers that affect the eye, like retinoblastoma, can also cause metastases to the lungs and liver. The disease often develops without symptoms until it’s too late, so early detection is crucial.

Another cancer clue visible in the eye is congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigmented epithelium (CHRPE). It appears as a shape that looks similar to a bear’s paw and may be associated with colon cancer, which is often not diagnosed until the later stages.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Red eyes with deep, severe pain can be a harbinger of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This symptom indicates scleritis, a painful inflammation of the sclera, the white part of the eye, that requires treatment. Many people with RA also suffer from dry eye.

Thyroid disease

Hyperthyroidism can cause protruding eyeballs and retracted eyelids. This is most commonly caused by Graves’ disease, a condition in which the thyroid produces too much or too little hormone. This condition can also be accompanied by dry eye, blurry vision, or vision loss.

Get your eyes checked

If you have abnormal eye movements, asymmetric pupillary responses, sudden reading problems or the appearance of double vision, it’s time to visit your optometrist. They can help determine whether you need to be seen by an ophthalmologist for further diagnosis and treatment. Your ophthalmologist can refer you to another specialist if the condition extends beyond the eyes.

Sources:

Your Eyes Can Shed Light on Underlying Health Problems — Science Alert

MS eye and vision problems — MS Society

20 Surprising Health Problems an Eye Exam Can Catch — American Academy of Ophthalmology

The post 10 hidden health problems your eyes can reveal appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Many of us even know that taking the over-the-counter medicine could also help reduce the brain plaques that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

And even though low-dose aspirin has been found to be a potential preventative tool in the battle against colorectal cancer, there have been concerns.

Doctors have questioned whether or not taking the medication is worth it considering the potential for dangerous side effects, like gastrointestinal bleeding.

Now, the jury is in with a determination on whether or not aspirin is the answer we’ve been looking for to prevent colon cancer.

Here’s what you need to know to determine if staving off colon cancer with aspirin is right for you…

The answer is, it depends

The research, published in JAMA Oncology, followed more than 100,000 people for decades and included data from surveys about their health and lifestyle habits. Specifically, the scientists were looking at the effects of taking aspirin on colon cancer risk — while taking into account whether or not a person was overweight or obese, smoked, drank alcohol, was active or sedentary and the quality of their diet.

So how did things shake out?

Well, the results showed that if you’re super healthy and have healthy habits, taking aspirin for cancer prevention might not be the best choice for you. But that’s because you probably won’t need it…

The results demonstrated that people with the healthiest habits had similar colorectal cancer rates, whether they took aspirin or not. The risk of colon cancer for people with healthy habits was 1.5% with aspirin and 1.6% without.

On the other hand, if you’re not so healthy and your lifestyle habits are less than perfect, aspirin might be the way to go for cancer prevention.

The study showed that people with the unhealthiest lifestyle habits had a significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer if they took aspirin at 2.1%, versus 3.4% for those not taking the medication.

“Our results show that aspirin can proportionally lower the markedly elevated risk in those with multiple risk factors for colorectal cancer,” said lead author Daniel Sikavi, MD. “In contrast, those with a healthier lifestyle have a lower baseline risk of colorectal cancer, and, therefore, their benefit from aspirin was still evident, albeit less pronounced.”

The dose that works for cancer prevention

So, if you do choose to take aspirin, how much does it take to reduce colon cancer risk?

Well, for the study, the people who experienced a lower risk took either two or more standard-dose aspirin tablets (325 milligrams) weekly or a low-dose aspirin (81 milligrams) daily.

It’s best to discuss this option with your doctor before starting, especially if you have any underlying conditions, and to be sure aspirin use isn’t contraindicated with other medications you may be on. Of course, be sure to watch out for those GI side effects.

Also, it’s important to note that researchers believe that the majority of aspirin’s cancer-fighting powers come from its anti-inflammatory properties.

So if you want to skip the aspirin, but still help cancer-proof your body, reducing inflammation is the key. Certain foods and supplements can help conquer inflammation to live longer healthier and disease-free.

Sources:

4 serious ways inflammation makes you sick – Easy Health Options

Can aspirin treat Alzheimer’s? – Medical Xpress

Aspirin May Reduce Colorectal Cancer in High-Risk Adults – WebMD

The post When aspirin for colon cancer prevention is worth the risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If we don’t take care of it, we can get very sick, and the most feared outcome for most of us is likely colon cancer.

There are foods that research tells us can elevate colon cancer risk, and then there are foods that could reduce that risk…

One study of 80,000 men found that those who ate the highest average daily amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22 percent lower risk of colon cancer when compared to those who ate the lowest amounts.

And not long ago, scientists found that eating red meat leads to cancer-causing genetic mutations in the tissue of the colon, something not seen in people who primarily eat chicken, fish, or plant-based diets.

Now, a large-scale study has discovered that if you’re a person with a particular genetic profile, you’re at even greater risk of developing colon cancer than most people if you keep eating red meat.

Genes can take red meat’s cancer risk up to 40 percent

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle compiled data from 27 studies of colorectal cancer risk in people of European origin.

Before even looking at genetic risk, they found that people who ate the highest amounts of red meat had a 30 percent increased risk for colorectal cancer. That risk jumped to 40 percent greater for those with the highest consumption of processed meat (hot dogs, sandwich meat, etc).

Then, when they dove into gene variants (over seven million of them!), their analysis turned up two specific SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or specific locations on a specific gene) that were associated with increased risk for meat eaters:

• People with a common variant of the HAS2 gene, involved in processing protein,  faced a 38 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer if they consumed the highest level of meat. This variant is found in about 66 percent of the population.
• The SMAD7 gene regulates hepcidin, a protein linked to iron metabolism. People with two copies of a variant of this gene face an 18 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer if they eat high levels of red meat. And one copy of this variant raises the risk to a whopping 35 percent.

“These findings suggest that there’s a subset of the population that faces an even higher risk of colorectal cancer if they eat red or processed meat,” said lead author Mariana C. Stern, Ph.D., a professor of population and public health sciences and urology, the Ira Goodman Chair in Cancer Research and the associate director for population science at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Take colon cancer risk down, genes or not

Dr. Stern cautions that these findings don’t provide a causal link between genetic variants and colon cancer.

“This gives us some important food for thought,” she says. “We do these gene-environment interaction studies when we know there’s a clear association between an environmental exposure and a disease, but what happens in between is still a black box.”

Dr. Stern hopes to follow up with experimental studies that may provide stronger evidence of the role of dysregulated iron metabolism in the development of colorectal cancer.

In the meantime, even if you have a genetic risk of colorectal cancer, it’s clear that eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones could cut your risk. And research shows that this is especially true for men.

Start by adding these powerful greens to your diet…

Trade some of that red meat for spinach. More than one study has shown spinach’s power to make gut changes that reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, even when it’s genetically “programmed.”

Learn to love broccoli. Broccoli contains sulforaphane, a naturally occurring compound that protects against prostate, colon, lung and breast cancer.

Add probiotics to the mix. When paired with broccoli, this combo may be even more powerful at keeping cancer cells at bay.

Sources:

Large-scale study explores genetic link between colorectal cancer and meat intake — Medical Express

Genome-Wide Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses to Understand the Relationship between Red Meat and Processed Meat Intake and Colorectal Cancer Risk — Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

Red meat consumption may promote DNA damage-associated mutations in patients with colorectal cancer — Medical Express

The post Why the red meat-colon cancer link is higher for some appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s because colorectal cancer (CRC), which includes colon and rectal cancer, is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer — and it’s on the rise…

Experts expect 3.2 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths by 2040.

There was a time when it was thought of as a disease of aging — mostly hitting older adults. But no more. Cases have been rising in young adults under 50 to the point that the age for getting a first colonoscopy was lowered to 45.

Until now, prevention strategies for CRC have targeted lifestyle changes, additional screening for people at high risk and the removal of polyps.

But advances in probiotic research are pointing to these little “gut helpers” not only for CRC prevention but improving treatment…

How probiotics reduce the risk of CRC

Researchers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in China conducted a review of the latest literature on probiotics and colon cancer. Their goal?

To examine how probiotics can be used to prevent CRC and improve current treatments including chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Probiotics are well known for improving the gut microbiome and strengthening the body’s response against pathogens and disease by…

• Enhancing the intestinal barrier
• Modulating immune response
• Remodeling the microbial composition
• Inducing targeted cell death (apoptosis)

Professor Jun Yu, corresponding author of the review, says, “Administration of CRC-depleted bacteria as a probiotic intervention may help regulate and create an intestinal microenvironment that is unfavorable to CRC development.

“Therefore, it is pivotal to identify CRC-depleted bacteria and develop probiotics as a safe, novel, and non-invasive strategy for CRC prevention.”

He and his team shed light on several other mechanisms by which the researchers believe probiotics can prevent CRC, including…

• Limiting the proliferation of CRC-promoting bacteria in the gut and rebalancing the microbial profile
• Preventing the infiltration of harmful pathogens
• Restoring the intestinal mucus barrier
• Inhibiting the growth and spread of tumors
• Modulating the balance of anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic factors, which decelerate adenoma progression to CRC. Apoptotic factors refer to cell death.
• Deactivating carcinogens and contributing to their elimination

They also discussed the role of probiotics in the treatment of CRC. Per their findings, probiotics can:

• Bolster the effects of chemotherapy
• Overcome chemoresistance caused by Fusobacterium nucleatum,
• Manage dysbiosis due to drug treatment
• And, as an adjuvant in immunotherapy, probiotics can boost the anti-tumor immune response and improve the efficacy of immunotherapy treatment

Especially exciting — and something we’ve heard little about that was also covered in the review — is the role of postbiotics.

According the Harvard Nutrition, postbiotics is a term that “refers to the waste left behind after your body digests both prebiotics and probiotics. Healthy postbiotics include nutrients such as vitamins B and K, amino acids, and substances called antimicrobial peptides that help to slow down the growth of harmful bacteria. Other postbiotic substances called short-chain fatty acids help healthy bacteria flourish.”

Postbiotics are also considered anti-CRC agents and were discussed along with advances in probiotic delivery systems.

Probiotics: A valuable anti-CRC strategy

The review summarized that “the gut microbiome cannot be neglected when treating or preventing CRC. While early detection can reduce mortality, it is not a viable prevention strategy, nor can it eliminate CRC.”

And Prof Yu concluded,“Evidence for the anti-cancer effects associated with probiotics administration is accumulating rapidly due to advancements in the fields of metagenomic sequencing and bacterial genome editing technologies, and investigation into NGPs [next-generation probiotics] and postbiotics holds great therapeutic potential.” 

If that’s not enough to drive home the importance of probiotics, I’m not sure what would.

Yogurt and buttermilk are full of probiotics. So are fermented foods like sauerkraut, kombucha tea, miso and natto, a dish made of fermented soybeans.

But if you want to pump up your probiotic power, consider food pairings that bring antioxidants into the mix. Research has found that the more antioxidants available to the digestive tract, the more efficiently it absorbs probiotics.

Alternatively, probiotic supplements are readily available — and a good idea —especially when it comes to CRC.

Sources:

Chinese Medical Journal review dives deep into probiotics for colorectal cancer Eureka Alert

Probiotics intervention in colorectal cancer: From traditional approaches to novel strategies Chinese Medical Journal

Common Cancer Types — National Cancer Institute

What are postbiotics — Harvard Health Publishing

The post Probiotics: The new prevention strategy for colorectal cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And for survivors, it can leave them reeling from the chemotherapy, radiation and surgery used to fight it.

That’s why when it comes to this deadly disease, your focus MUST be on preventing it from the start…

Luckily, a study from the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute has revealed the power of including the right foods in your diet to stop colon cancer in its tracks.

Purple veggies kept cancer cells from spreading

The researchers fed pigs three different diets, supplementing purple-fleshed potatoes for those fed a high-fat diet. Apparently, the pig digestive system is more similar to the human digestive system than that of mice.

The scientists found that the pigs that were served a high-calorie diet supplemented with purple-fleshed potatoes had less colonic mucosal interleukin-6 (IL-6) compared to the other groups. IL-6 is a protein that is important in inflammation and linked to the spread and growth of cancer cells.

In fact, IL-6 levels were six times lower in pigs that ate the purple potato-enhanced feed compared to the control group. Researchers used both uncooked and baked potatoes and found similar effects.

The scientists pointed out that anti-IL-6 drugs are currently used against certain types of rheumatoid arthritis and are being considered to treat other inflammation-promoted chronic diseases like colon cancer. However, these drugs are expensive and can cause many side effects, including drug tolerance.

Yet, they were able to cut down on the cancer-causing protein using natural, whole foods rather than a pill.

And, while the researchers used purple potatoes in this study, they said that other colorful fruits and vegetables could lead to similar effects. That’s because colorful plants, like the purple potato, contain bioactive compounds, including anthocyanins and phenolic acids that have been linked to cancer prevention.

Eating for reduced cancer risk

Anthocyanins are flavonoids that are amazing antioxidants. They are so powerful that tests have shown they can yield twice the antioxidant power of vitamin C. And if you know anything about the triple miracle of vitamin C, that’s saying a lot!

Another great benefit of anthocyanins is that they’re easy to recognize. Since they give fruits and vegetables, their blue-violet and red-orange colors, you can tell whether your food contains these little powerhouses with just a glance at your plate.

So it’s a complete no-brainer to eat more anthocyanin-containing foods if you aim to reduce your chances of developing colon cancer. Some of the top foods rich in anthocyanin include:

• Berries — Blueberries blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, elderberries, cranberries, bilberries and any other blue, purple or red-skinned berries are all rich sources of anthocyanins.
• Cherries — Tart cherries contain more anthocyanins than sweet berries, and darker berries contain more than lighter varieties.
• Purple grapes — These tasty treats are not only a great source of anthocyanins but also of resveratrol, another powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
• Red Cabbage — There are over 36 different kinds of anthocyanins in red cabbage.

Other great sources include

• Eggplant
• Purple Asparagus
• Pomegranates
• Kidney Beans
• Black Beans
• Red Onions
• Oranges
• Sweet Potatoes
• Beets

If you’ve had colon cancer, adding more of these foods to your diet may also give you the best chance at keeping it from coming back, too…

Previous research has shown that stage 3 colon cancer patients who continued following a Western diet heavy on meat, fat, refined grains and sugar had as much as a threefold increase in recurrence and death than patients who switched to a diet heavy in fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry.

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The fact is this: cancer is on the rise among the under-50 crowd.

Now, I’m not trying to scare you.

What I’d like to do is alert you to the fact that you may be part of a group at higher risk than ever before — and share how you can lower those odds and avoid cancer, at any age.

Cancer in 14 to 49-year-olds jumps 80 percent

A large international group of researchers recently issued a report based on data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study.

Based on information collected across 204 countries involving 29 cancer types, the study led by Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China reports that cancer cases in 14 to 49-year-olds rose from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019.

Over a million people under 50 died of cancer in 2019, with breast cancer responsible for the most deaths overall. The other deadliest cancers for younger adults in 2019 were windpipe, lung, bowel, and stomach cancers.

The findings also show that new cases of early-onset cancer — defined as occurring before age 50 — are expected to increase by 31 percent worldwide by 2030, with a corresponding 21 percent increase in deaths. The risk is greatest for people aged between 40 and 49.

Cases are up, but deaths are down

There is one bit of good news in all these grim statistics.

Cell biologist Dorothy Bennett from St George’s, University of London, explains it this way:

“The increase in numbers of cancer deaths in this age group was notably lower than for diagnoses, namely 28 percent, which is below the increases in total population and case numbers, indicating a fall in the average cancer death rate in this group.”

In other words, although cases of cancer are increasing, the number of deaths is falling.

Fortunately, no matter your age, genetic risk or other factors that predispose you to cancer, there are things you can do to keep it from catching up with you.

Address these culprits and improve your odds

The researchers in this study note that there are many preventable factors to consider that play a role in increased cancer risk:

“Dietary risk factors (diet high in red meat, low in fruits, high in sodium and low in milk, etc), alcohol consumption and tobacco use are the main risk factors underlying early-onset cancers,” they write in their paper.

Their data also indicated that inactive lifestyles, air pollution, obesity, diabetes and high blood sugar are likely to be among the culprits.

Adults born around 1985 (older millennials) have double the risk of colorectal, endometrial, pancreatic and gallbladder cancers as people born around 1950 did at the same age.

Watching too much TV has been linked to a 70 percent higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. So don’t be a couch potato; make sure some mild to moderate exercise — a walk, gardening, or a swim — is part of each day.

And it’s well known that obesity is a risk factor for more than a dozen types of cancer, so eating well is a no-brainer when it comes to outsmarting cancer.

Try to avoid forever chemicals, processed foods, red meat and sugary drinks and be sure to eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Of vital importance is your vitamin D levels. A growing body of research shows this one-a-day vitamin can slash cancer risk and improve the odds against dying from it.

Sources:

Cancer in Under-50s Has Jumped 80% in 30 Years According to a New Global Study — Science Alert

Global trends in incidence, death, burden and risk factors of early-onset cancer from 1990 to 2019 — BMJ Oncology

The post Early-onset cancers jump 80 percent: Lower your odds appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

From 1999-2000 through 2017-March 2020, obesity rates in the U.S. soared from 30.5 percent to 41.9 percent. During that same period, the prevalence of severe obesity nearly doubled from 4.7 percent to 9.2 percent.

Obesity carries with it some dangerous health risks, including obesity-related cancers — and those cancers are rising while others are decreasing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 40 percent of cancers diagnosed in the United States are associated with being overweight or obese.

Previous research found that one thing can ratchet those cancer odds up even more — being both obese and metabolically unhealthy.

That’s a cancer combo no one wants, but there’s a way to go after both problems — both the weight issue and the metabolic issue, like a higher body mass index (BMI) — and take that cancer risk down…

A common thread among the cancer-free

Researchers followed 14,274 women over nearly three decades. The women were between the ages of 34 and 65 and recruited at a mammography screening center in New York City between 1985 and 1991.

By the end of 2016, about 18 percent of the total number of women studied had contracted a first obesity-related cancer. Out of those participants, 53 percent had postmenopausal breast cancer, 14 percent had colorectal cancer and 12 percent had endometrial cancer.

But during follow-up, the researchers discovered something that women who were less likely to get these cancers had in common…

The researchers measured neighborhood walkability in each participant’s residential Census tract. Then, they analyzed the link between walkability and risk of overall and site-specific obesity-related cancers.

The study found women who lived in neighborhoods with higher walkability levels had lower risk of obesity-related cancers, particularly postmenopausal breast cancer. Walkability also provided moderate protection against endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma.

In fact, those women living in areas in the top 25 percent of walkability had a 26 percent lower risk of obesity-related cancers compared with those living in neighborhoods in the bottom 25 percent of walkability.

“These results contribute to the growing evidence of how urban design affects the health and wellbeing in aging populations,” said Andrew Rundle, DrPH, professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School.

Individual-level interventions to increase physical activity and reduce obesity are costly and often have only short-term effects, according to the researchers.

“However, urban design can create a context that promotes walking, increases overall physical activity, and reduce car dependency, which could lead to subsequent improvements in preventing diseases attributed to unhealthy weight,” Rundle observed.

Walking can take down obesity-related cancer risk

The stats are sobering about why we must break the link between obesity and cancer:

• From 2005 to 2014, most cancers associated with overweight and obesity increased in the United States, while cancers associated with other factors decreased.
• During this time, the rate of new cancers associated with overweight and obesity (except colorectal cancer) increased by 7 percent, while the rate of new cancers not associated with overweight and obesity dropped by 13 percent.
• Breast cancer after menopause is the most common obesity-associated cancer among women. Colorectal cancer is the most common obesity-associated cancer among men.

Per the CDC, overweight and obesity can cause changes in the body including long-lasting inflammation and higher than normal levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and sex hormones. These changes may lead to cancer.

But whether you live in a walkable neighborhood, there are a couple of things you can do to mimic walkability…

• Park far away from entrances when you shop, run errands or go to work.
• Take the stairs instead of an elevator.
• Dedicate a specific block of time for walking in your daily schedule, either on a treadmill, a mall, a school track or your neighborhood if it’s walkable. Aim for 20 minutes to start, then gradually increase it from there.

Dieting and walking can have a bigger impact than walking alone, but walking is undoubtedly a great start.

Sources:

Women living in more walkable neighborhoods have lower rates of obesity-related cancers — EurekAlert!

Long-Term Exposure to Walkable Residential Neighborhoods and Risk of Obesity-Related Cancer in the New York University Women’s Health Study (NYUWHS) — Environmental Health Perspectives

Adult Obesity Facts — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The post Neighborhoods that decrease cancer risk have a common thread appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, physical activity has been shown to not only reduce cancer risk but also help increase the odds of keeping it at bay, as long as you keep moving.

However, most of those studies have been performed on people who were considered healthy.

So what about people who are genetically predisposed to cancer?

Can exercise beat genetics and still provide cancer protection?

It seems so.

What past studies say

But before we get into that, let’s take a look at what we already know when it comes to exercise and cancer…

#1 – Exercise starves cancer cells

Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by 72 percent. This is due to the Warburg effect, namely that cancer cells prefer sugars for energy.

So if you take that sugar away, cancer cells have nothing left to fuel their growth.

#2 – Physical activity blocks prostate cancer progression

A second study discovered that just one session of exercise can increase muscle proteins that suppress tumor growth in men with advanced prostate cancer.

These proteins, called myokines, are produced by skeletal muscles and can suppress tumor growth and even help fight the growth of new cancerous cells.

#3 – Two types of exercise slay six cancer risks

While aerobic activity alone can make a huge difference in the battle against cancer, a study out of Federal University of São Paulo’s Medical School found that adding in resistance training can help reduce the risk of six types of cancer.

#4 – Exercise is important even during cancer treatment

A combination of studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2018 Congress in Munich found that exercise helped patients undergoing treatment for cancer.

They showed that patients who maintained experienced more energy and less pain – a definite win-win.

Anti-cancer immunity for high-risk patients

Now that we know what researchers have discovered previously about exercise’s effects on cancer, let’s find out if it holds for patients who are at high risk for developing cancer.

A team of scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center pitted exercise against a genetic cancer predisposition known as Lynch Syndrome (LS).

LS is a hereditary condition affecting more than a million Americans. The condition carries a high lifetime risk of both colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. Men with LS have a 60%-80% risk of developing CRC. Women with LS have the same 40%-60% risk but for both colorectal or endometrial cancer.

The study followed 21 LS patients over a 12-month period. Eleven patients were assigned to perform three 45-minute HIIT cycling sessions a week. The rest simply went about their daily lives.

After analyzing all of the data, it was clear that the exercise group was the big winner.

The researchers found that performing HIIT:

• Stimulated production of myokines and cytokines, which help regulate your immune system.
• Lowered levels of PGE2 and an increased certain immune cells in the colon, including CD8+ T cells and CD57+ NK cells, which play important roles in cancer defense.
• Resulted in statistically significant changes in gene expression in the normal colorectal mucosa related to immune signaling pathways.
• Could potentially reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by improving the immune system’s ability to detect and remove potentially harmful cells.

“It was mind-blowing to me that exercise induced such strong and durable change,” said study lead, Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Clinical Cancer Prevention. “We found that high-intensity training not only enhances how the body could fight cancer at its earliest stages, but it also gives many other health benefits.” 

I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s a ringing endorsement that makes me want to get up and get moving to keep cancer at bay — genetic predisposition or not.

Sources:

Exercise boosts anti-cancer immunity and reduces inflammation in Lynch Syndrome patients — EurekAlert!

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For example, studies have shown that people who live near the equator, with higher exposure to the sunlight that produces more of the “sunshine vitamin,” have lower incidences of certain cancers and even lower death rates.

In lab and mouse models, researchers have found that vitamin D slowed cancer progression. In a large-scale human study, people who took vitamin D each day had a 17 percent lower risk of ending up with advanced cancer spread throughout their bodies.

Thankfully, these hopeful signs have spurred continuing research, revealing what could be a “game changer for the field of vitamin D as it relates to cancer”…

The power of p53

Researchers in Japan conducted a randomized clinical trial that included 392 patients with digestive tract cancers, including colorectal cancer, who were followed for a median of 3.5 years.

During this study, the researchers took an especially close look at the p53 gene, which produces a protein that prevents cells from becoming malignant. In cancer, the p53 gene becomes mutated, and the mutated p53 protein helps the cancer to grow and become immune to cancer therapy. But some people have an immune system that produces antibodies to control the production and release of this mutated p53 protein.

In the study, participants whose immune system produced those antibodies had a 27 percent reduction in risk of relapse or death if they also took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily — compared with participants in the same subgroup who did not take vitamin D supplementation.

Participants whose immune systems did not produce the antibodies received no survival benefit from taking vitamin D.

In a commentary in JAMA Network Open on the study, Dr. Michael F. Holick, a professor at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, says these results support the conclusion that improvement in vitamin D status through vitamin D supplementation can be an effective strategy for improving survival outcomes of cancers, especially of the digestive tract.

“We now recognize that there are a variety of variables that can influence how vitamin D prevents and responds to cancer,” corresponding author Holick says in the piece. “For example, being at a normal weight and taking vitamin D improves your ability to survive cancer. Other factors include the patient’s genetic makeup and how the patient utilizes and breaks down vitamin D.”

Sun and diet aren’t enough

Holick says it’s important to recognize that most studies showing vitamin D3 supplementation improves cancer survival had patients taking at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 every day. This amount helps get vitamin D concentrations above 30 ng/mL and is not reported to cause any toxicity.

He notes that this amount can’t be achieved from diet or sunlight alone.

“Although vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin you cannot get enough vitamin D from sun exposure unless you expose more than 20% of your body surface to sunlight almost daily like the Maasai and Hazda do in equatorial Africa,” Holick says.

Since vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be as high as 72 percent among cancer patients, it’s an especially good idea to add vitamin D3 to your daily routine if you’re a cancer sufferer or survivor. Even if you’re cancer-free, you still may want to check your vitamin D levels, given that roughly 1 in 3 Americans is deficient in the sunshine vitamin.

Make sure you choose a quality vitamin D3 supplement. My colleague Margaret Cantwell explains the key difference vitamin D3 has on immune system function that vitamin D2 does not, in this post.

Sources:

1. BU commentary: Vitamin D supplementation was found to improve more than 1.5 fold survival of cancers of the digestive tract including colorectal cancer in patients with a cancer fighting immune system — EurekAlert!

2. Effect of Vitamin D Supplements on Relapse or Death in a p53-Immunoreactive Subgroup With Digestive Tract Cancer — JAMA Network Open

The post How vitamin D powers up a cancer-fighting gene appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In 2019, 1 in 5 cases of colorectal cancer were in people age 54 or younger, double the rate of 1 in 10 in 1995. And since 2005, colorectal cancer death rates have increased by 1 percent annually in people younger than 50 and by 0.6 percent in people ages 50 to 54.

There is plenty of speculation as to why…

For example, a study presented at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer found antibiotic therapy use was associated with an increased risk of colon cancer across all ages. However, the risk was increased by almost 50 percent in people under the age of 50, compared with a 9 percent risk increase in those over 50.

The prognosis for people between the ages of 20 and 40 is generally worse. That’s because their cancer is often diagnosed at a later stage since doctors are less likely to check a patient with abdominal discomfort for colon cancer if they’re in their 30s rather than their 70s, and younger patients are usually not eligible for bowel cancer screening.

That’s why recognizing red flags could save a life…

Four red flags for early-onset colorectal cancer

No matter what may be causing this colorectal cancer uptick in younger people, being better informed of the disease’s signs and symptoms makes it possible to seek diagnosis and treatment as quickly as possible.

To that end, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied health insurance data on more than 5,000 patients who contracted colorectal cancer before they turned 50. They found that during the period between three months and two years before diagnosis, four key signs and symptoms that signaled an elevated risk of the disease stood out:

• Abdominal pain
• Rectal bleeding
• Diarrhea
• Iron deficiency anemia

According to the study, the more of these symptoms a patient had, the higher their risk of colorectal cancer.

But even just having a single one of these four symptoms almost doubled the risk of colorectal cancer! Having two symptoms increased colorectal cancer risk by more than 3.5 times, and having three or more symptoms raised the risk by more than 6.5 times.

Two symptoms in particular, rectal bleeding and iron deficiency anemia, indicate the need for immediate endoscopy and follow-up.

“It usually takes about three months to get a diagnosis from the time a person first goes to the doctor with one or more of the red-flag signs and symptoms we’ve identified,” says first author Dr. Cassandra D. L. Fritz, a professor at Washington University School of Medicine. “But in this analysis, we found that some young adults had symptoms for up to two years prior to their diagnoses. That may be part of the reason many of these younger patients had more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis than what we normally see in older people who get screened regularly.”

According to the American Cancer Society, regular colonoscopies and improved treatment have led to a decline in the death rate from colorectal cancer in older adults over the past several decades. Because of this rise in colorectal cancer in younger adults, in 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age for colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45.

Awareness is good, prevention even better

It’s crucial that if you have one or more of the four red-flag symptoms mentioned above, you see your doctor immediately and have them screen you for colorectal cancer. But of course, prevention really is the best medicine…

As is the case with many cancers, lifestyle changes such as eating healthy, unprocessed foods, exercising, losing weight and quitting smoking and drinking alcohol are key factors in colorectal cancer prevention. As far as diet goes, here’s a list of seven specific foods that can help lower your colorectal cancer risk.

In addition, according to the researchers, the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D are especially pronounced regarding colon cancer.

Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome, the population of “good” bacteria and microbes in the intestinal tract, is another key step to preventing colorectal cancer. Studies have suggested that damaging or upsetting the balance of the gut microbiome can raise the risk of the disease.

Sources:

Red flags indicate risk for early-onset colorectal cancer — EurekAlert!

Colorectal Cancer: What Millennials and Gen Zers Need to Know — Yale Medicine

Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025 — American Cancer Society

The post 4 red flags that signal colorectal cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

When Jeremy told his mom that he was bleeding a lot during bowel movements, they thought he had hemorrhoids.

Instead, Jeremy was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer.

Jeremy’s father, Junius, immediately had a colonoscopy which revealed that he, too, had colon cancer, but it was at an early, treatable stage.

Jeremy Nottingham died of colon cancer in November 2021.

He was 28 years old.

Lynch syndrome: inherited cancer risk in multiple organs

Lynch syndrome is an inherited genetic condition that comes with up to an 80% chance of developing colorectal cancer, plus an increased risk of cancer in other organs.

It’s the “other organs” part of this definition that too often gets ignored, costing people their lives.

The Nottingham family is a perfect example of this.

Junius Nottingham’s mother and grandmother had both died of ovarian cancer. But it was only when Jeremy was diagnosed with colon cancer that doctors suggested genetic screening for the whole family.

Unfortunately, this trajectory is not unusual. Many doctors, even cancer doctors, aren’t familiar with the latest research on inherited risk. They don’t appreciate that hereditary cancer syndromes like Lynch syndrome can raise the risk of cancer in many different organs.

“We’re told we all have to get tested for something called Lynch syndrome,” Nottingham says. “I had never heard of Lynch syndrome in my life.”

Junius Nottingham tested positive for Lynch syndrome, presumably inherited from his mother.

Yet he had never made the connection between their ovarian cancer and the risk he and his son had for colon cancer… nor had his doctors made that connection for him.

“My son has Lynch syndrome, and I gave it to him,” says Nottingham. “That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Testing is cheap and easy, but few people are doing it

These days, genetic testing for inherited cancer risk no longer costs thousands of dollars. You can get screened for about $250. And if you have medical insurance, the cost might be zero, or only a copay.

Testing is also more informative. Labs can now check for many cancer-linked genes at once, including Lynch syndrome and the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that mean a 50 percent chance of breast cancer and a 30 percent chance of ovarian cancer for women by the time they’re 70, according to the CDC.

If you have any family history of cancer, you should get tested. Knowing you have a genetic predisposition for cancer will let you get more frequent screenings and quite probably save your life.

But not only that. Knowing you have a cancer gene will save the lives of your children and grandchildren. Unlike Jeremy Nottingham, they won’t be blindsided by an advanced cancer diagnosis; they can do regular screenings and catch any cancer before it becomes untreatable.

Reduce your genetic risk with lifestyle changes

The American Cancer Society reports that the number of adults under 55 being diagnosed with colorectal cancer is on the rise.

According to Dr. Xavier Llor, medical director of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program at the Yale Cancer Center, this can’t be explained only by genetic syndromes like Lynch syndrome.

“Genetic syndromes are … more commonly the cause for younger CRC patients than older ones, but these remain quite stable over the years and can’t explain a sudden rise in cases as we have seen in the last two decades,” he says.

“It will likely boil down to environmental, dietary factors that we have not quite identified yet to explain many of these cases.”

As with most diseases, diet is medicine … what you eat, and what you stay away from.

Let’s start with some basic dietary guidelines to lower the risk of colon cancer:

• Avoid red meat and ultra-processed foods
• Add probiotics to your diet
• Eat more fiber, especially spinach

Then there’s exercise. Research has shown over and over that a couch potato lifestyle is contributing to the growing population of young people who develop colon cancer, as noted by Dr. Lyon above.

But being active is paramount to avoiding cancer no matter your age. Exercise can not only reduce the risk of cancer (by up to a third, depending on the routine), it can stop the spread.

And finally, many studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to cancer. Getting your levels checked and adjusting your intake could go a long way to improving your odds against colon cancer.

Sources:

Testing your genes for cancer risk is way cheaper now — and it could save your life NPR

BRCA Gene Mutations CDC

The post Genetic cancer testing: The reason anyone should do it appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s also among the deadliest of cancers, for several reasons.

First, it’s one of the most aggressive (fast-moving) cancers.

Second, in its early stages, it’s often symptom-free.

Unless you’re getting a regularly scheduled colonoscopy (normally every ten years), colon cancer can go undetected until it reaches an advanced stage.

Exercise can reduce your chances of being diagnosed with colon cancer.

But what if you’ve already been diagnosed? What can you do to lower that risk…

Exercise’s powerful impact on cancer recurrence

Dr. Justin Brown has a personal interest in preventing colon cancer.

His father died of metastatic colorectal cancer when he was only 48.

Dr. Brown works at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana and has led a study showing that exercise can prevent, and not just delay cancer recurrence in patients previously treated for colon cancer.

Between June 2010 and November 2015, 1,696 patients with stage 3 colon cancer from 654 academic and community oncology centers in the United States and Canada were enrolled in the study. Physical activity was calculated based on self-reporting during and after chemotherapy.

There were three key findings:

• During the study, the rate of cancer recurrence in physically active patients never exceeded that of physically inactive patients.
• Physically active people survived disease-free for about a year after surgery.
• Even when cancer recurred, those who exercised survived for three years after surgery.

The researchers concluded that postoperative physical activity is associated with improved disease-free survival by lowering the recurrence rate within the first year of treatment. This translates into an overall survival benefit.

They also found that the benefits of being physically active were more significant if the patient was active shortly after surgery. It’s considered safe for cancer survivors and is recommended during chemotherapy.

You should also know that previous studies have also found that exercise can also reduce the risk of cancer metastasis and by starving it of the glucose it needs to survive..

Other ways to reduce colon cancer risks

Exercise. As I mentioned earlier, exercise is strongly associated with helping avoid cancer in the first place. One study found a combination of strength training and aerobics cut slash the risk of cancer death by 28 percent.

Colonoscopy. I’ll admit that the prep before a colonoscopy is no picnic.

You may not be aware that there are other ways to screen for colon cancer. You can talk with your doctor about these alternatives — but get screened! Doctors are now recommending that screenings begin at age 45.

Cut your calories. A trial involving 154,942 people and spanning eight years found that people who lost weight benefitted from a 46 percent lower risk for colorectal adenoma. Weight gain increased the chances cancer would develop. Participants who put on more than 6.6 pounds over approximately five years were found to be at special risk for colon growths.

Eat the right foods. For starters, here are seven foods that help reduce your risk of colon cancer, even if your genes put you at high risk

Avoid red meat. Scientists have discovered that eating red meat leads to genetic mutations in the tissue of the colon that not only lead to colorectal cancer but make it more deadly.

Eat more fiber. This one may seem kind of obvious, but many of us don’t get enough fiber in our diets. Quite a few fiber-rich foods have been shown to protect you from colon cancer, including:

• broccoli
• black raspberries
• spinach
• tree nuts

Supplement vitamin D. Time and again researchers have found a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and colorectal cancer.

Go easy on the antibiotics. Aside from encouraging the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in your gut, researchers think that the overuse of antibiotics may be behind the fact that colon cancer is increasing in people under 50.

Watch your alcohol consumption, especially if colon cancer runs in your family.

Sources:

Study shows physical activity prevents, not just delays, cancer recurrence in patients previously treated for colon cancer — Eureka Alert

Association between physical activity and the time course of cancer recurrence in stage III colon cancer — British Journal of Sports Medicine

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These pesky bacteria are typically found in both animal and human intestines and are shed through their excrement. While salmonella is most often associated with the consumption of undercooked chicken or eggs, humans can become infected through contact with any contaminated food or water source.

In some cases, the infection doesn’t cause any symptoms. However, most people develop fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps within 8 to 72 hours of exposure and recover within a few days to a week without needing specific treatment.

For most people, salmonella encounters usually end there. But there are less fortunate individuals for whom the infection can lead to long-term health issues like irritable bowel syndrome and arthritis, as well as this potentially deadly condition…

Salmonella exposure could raise colon cancer risk

An international team of researchers led by Dr. Jun Sun, a professor from the University of Illinois Chicago, first looked at data from a Netherlands-based study that analyzed tissue samples taken from patients during routine colon cancer surgery. The study found that the samples containing salmonella antibodies tended to be from people with worse colon cancer outcomes.

The Sun-led team used the salmonella strains isolated from those tissue samples to study mice with colon cancer that had been exposed to the bacteria. They saw that the tumors in the mice with salmonella exposure grew faster and were larger than in the mice that had not been exposed.

According to Sun, the bacteria take over essential host signaling pathways during infection, a molecular action that could lead to tumor transformation.

Sun’s collaborators in the Netherlands also conducted a laboratory study of the salmonella bacteria. They combined human cancer cells and pre-cancerous cells with the salmonella strain, then measured any growth or changes in the tumor.

The results showed that even one salmonella infection caused cell transformation — and that each subsequent infection increased that rate of transformation exponentially.

“The current study tells us that more research is needed into the connection between salmonella exposure and colon cancer risk in the USA, and that simply by practicing safe food preparation, we can potentially help to protect ourselves,” Sun says. She adds that the evidence also indicates the need to examine salmonella exposure as an environmental risk factor for other chronic diseases.

Ways to protect yourself from salmonella and its cancer threat

Obviously, the best way to defend against salmonella infection is to not get exposed in the first place. You can avoid getting and spreading salmonella by washing your hands, following safe and sanitary food preparation methods and not eating raw meat, dairy or egg products. Also, when you travel, you may want to steer clear of places where the drinking water and food preparation methods are not sanitary.

One good way to support your body in fending off bacteria like salmonella is to eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables. Research shows vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale help optimize levels of a protective protein that fights pathogens in your gut.

Cruciferous vegetables also have some cancer-fighting clout…

Researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center just discovered that a compound in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables could target a cancer gene that suppresses tumor growth.

The cruciferous cancer fighter is a molecule called indole-3-carbinol (I3C). When broccoli or any other cruciferous vegetables are chewed, plant enzymes are released. Once these enzymes are exposed to stomach acid, indole-3 carbinol (I3C) is formed which, in turn, yields di-indole methane (DIM) — considered a chemoprotective compound.

Research showed that this molecule has an interesting effect on a gene called WWP1, which can fuel cancer development. It inactivated it and bolstered a well-known potent tumor-suppressive gene called PTEN.

Not a fan of the cruciferous? Eat nuts. This food heals your gut, slows the inflammation linked to colon tumor growth and reduces overall colon cancer risk.

Sources:

Salmonella exposure a risk for colon cancer — UIC Today

Repetitive non-typhoidal Salmonella exposure is an environmental risk factor for colon cancer and tumor growth — Cell Reports Medicine

Salmonella infection — Mayo Clinic

The post Food poisoning: How it raises your colon cancer risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Although it’s the third most common form of cancer, it is one of the most treatable if it is found early. Currently, there are over 1.5 million colorectal cancer survivors in the United States.

Men tend to have a higher colon cancer risk than women, and that’s what brought a group of scientists to re-examine the power of diet to prevent colon cancer, focusing their research specifically on men…

The diet that cuts men’s colon cancer risk

Studies show that a plant-based diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and whole grains can cut your heart disease risk in half.

But that’s not all…

Dr. Saray Stancic, director of medical education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, has gathered evidence that a plant-based diet reduces the risks for diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and even COVID-19!

Now we’re finding that sticking to a plant-based diet can also dramatically lower a man’s risk for colon cancer…

“Although previous research has suggested that plant-based diets may play a role in preventing colorectal cancer, the impact of plant foods’ nutritional quality on this association has been unclear,” says study co-author Jihye Kim, from Kyung Hee University in South Korea, “our findings suggest that eating a healthy plant-based diet is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.”

The researchers studied a population of nearly 80,000 American men and found that those who ate the highest average daily amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22 percent lower risk of colon cancer when compared to those who ate the lowest amounts of these foods.

While studying more than 93,000 American women, however, the researchers did not find the same association.

Foods can deter or promote colon cancer

The colon is the “last stop” in your digestive system, so it stands to reason that what you put in your mouth will affect the health of your colon. There are foods that elevate colon cancer risk, and then there are foods that actually reduce that risk.

Here are some ways to adjust your diet to lower your risk…

Lay off the red meat. Not too long ago, scientists found that red meat eaters have alkylation-induced mutations in their colon that people who primarily eat chicken, fish, or plant-based diets do not have.

Not only that — patients with colon cancer tumors showing high levels of this type of damage were almost twice as likely to die of the disease.

Stay away from ultra-processed foods. In a study of 200,000 participants, the strongest association between colorectal cancer and ultra-processed foods was in men who ate meat-, poultry-, or fish-based ready-to-eat products (think frozen burgers, chicken nuggets and fish sticks).

Add fiber and probiotics to your diet. Researchers found that by adding both fiber and probiotics to cultivated colorectal cancer cells, they could slow the growth of the cancer cells and prevent the existing cancer cells from self-renewing.

Eat more spinach. Research shows that eating more spinach prevented benign polyps in the digestive tract of mice from progressing into hereditary forms of colon cancer.

And speaking of genetic risk, it appears that the greater your hereditary risk of colon cancer, the more you can do to prevent it, starting with eating these seven foods.

Sources:

Healthy Plant-Based Diets Lower Men’s Odds for Colon Cancer — US News and World Report

Plant-based dietary patterns defined by a priori indices and colorectal cancer risk by sex and race/ethnicity: the Multiethnic Cohort Study — BMC Medicine

Colorectal cancer statistics — Cancer.net

The post What men who want to avoid colon cancer eat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Nutrition has often been examined as a possible path to controlling cancer. For example, it’s been determined that men who eat ultra-processed meats and drink sugary drinks are more likely to end up with colon cancer.

Now, researchers are uncovering another dietary strategy for controlling the spread of cancer cells that lead to colorectal cancer.

Low-protein diet puts tumor cells in crisis

A study from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center suggests that a low protein diet could provide effective control of the system of signals that turns colon cancer on and off.

“In colon cancer, when you decrease the nutrients available in the tumors, the cells don’t know what to do. Without the nutrients to grow, they undergo a kind of crisis, which leads to massive cell death,” says senior author Dr. Yatrik M. Shah, Horace W. Davenport Collegiate Professor of Physiology at Michigan Medicine.

Specifically, a regulator known as mTORC1 controls how cells use nutritional signals to grow and multiply. When a cell has plenty of nutrients, mTorc1 is activated. When nutrients are low, it is deactivated.

It seems that a low protein diet deprives the cell of crucial amino acids and blocks the signaling that turns mTorc1 on, thus blocking the cell’s ability to use nutrients to feed cancer.

Previous efforts had focused on blocking cancer-causing signals directly, rather than blocking the nutrient pathway that feeds those cancer cells.

“We knew that nutrients were important in mTORC regulation but we didn’t know how they directly signal to mTORC. We discovered the nutrient signaling pathway is just as important to regulate mTORC as the oncogenic signaling pathway,” says first author Dr. Sumeet Solanki, a research investigator at the Rogel Cancer Center.

A low-protein diet could be risky for cancer patients

While cutting protein intake seems promising in terms of preventing colon cancer, there is one risk.

Persons with cancer often experience muscle weakness and weight loss and limiting protein would only make this worse.

“Putting cancer patients on a protein-deficient diet long-term is not ideal. But if you can find key windows — like at the start of chemotherapy or radiation — when patients could go on a low protein diet for a week or two, we could potentially increase the efficacy of those treatments,” says Dr. Shah.

In other words, when scientists figure out when in the cancer journey a low-protein diet would have the most beneficial effect, then it could be prescribed for specific short-term periods of time, minimizing the possible detrimental effects.

Dietary strategies for prevention

Research into low-protein diets continues. But in the meantime, your hands are certainly not tied when it comes to taking action to decrease your risk of colon cancer.

A good start is cutting red meat out of your diet. Other types of proteins such as fish and chicken haven’t been found to raise your cancer risk, but we’ve long known that red meat and colon cancer go hand-in-hand.

In a study, published in Cancer Discovery, scientists concluded that eating red meat leads to genetic mutations in colon tissue that results in a type of DNA damage known as alkylation.

Not only can the mutation cause damage, but patients with colon tumors showing high levels of alkylating damage had a 47 percent greater chance of dying from the disease.

Instead of red meat, add some spinach (shown to have anti-tumor properties), along with these seven other foods to a healthy plant-based diet that leans away from colon cancer.

Weight loss has also been found to confer some serious protection against colon cancer. In a trial that involved a whopping 154,942 people and spanned a period of eight years, people who lost weight benefitted from a 46 percent lower risk for colorectal adenoma — a polyp that could become cancerous.

Sources:

Dietary change starves cancer cells, overcoming treatment resistance — Science Daily

Dysregulated Amino Acid Sensing Drives Colorectal Cancer Growth and Metabolic Reprogramming Leading to Chemoresistance —Gastroenterology

The post Limiting protein: A strategy for cancer treatment and prevention appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

One of the main reasons is due to the tenacity of colon cancer cells. Following chemotherapy, a group of these cells are able to remain in the colon and can cause relapses.

But help for patients fighting this battle may come from a simple vitamin…

Using a vitamin to “override” cancer cells

The surviving colon cancer cells are especially persistent because they are stem cells — meaning they are immature cells waiting to grow into full-blown normal cells in the colon. The problem? They still contain the dangerous cancerous mutation. And until now there was no other therapy effective at keeping them from continuing to develop, allowing the cancer to come back and spread.

That is until researchers discovered a “signaling pathway” these cells have been manipulating to survive.

A study, published in Cancer Cell, focused on a protein called HOXA5 which is part of a family of proteins that regulate fetal development. These proteins make sure the human body develops as it’s been patterned to — that every cell develops into specific areas of the body. In the gut, these proteins play a major role in restricting the number of stem cells, as well as the cells that make them.

But the cancerous stem cells of the colon have created a signaling pathway that allows them to block the HOXA5 protein, and continue to develop uncontrollably as mature cancer cells, causing relapses and metastasis.

When researchers made this discovery, the next logical step was to identify another mechanism that could override the cancerous stem cells and perform the same function that HOXA5 normally would. They found their answer in vitamin A.

Vitamin A: The cancer therapy of the future

Vitamin A is a retinoid, and scientists were previously aware that the small chemical structure of retinoids could induce the differentiation of stem cells in the skin. So when scientists used retinoids against the colon stem cells, they found it re-activated HOXA5.

In mice that had colon cancer, the treatment with retinoids blocked tumor progression and normalized the tissue. And with the HOXA5 protein turned back on, this treatment eliminated cancer stem cells and prevented the spread of it in the live mice.

But these researchers took it a step further — they got the same results in tissue samples from actual human patients. That’s great news!

This new treatment is called retinoid differentiation therapy, and the researchers who helped discover it believe it could be significantly effective against colon cancer — not only for the treatment of existing disease but also as a preventive measure in high-risk patients.

Vitamin A is plentiful in sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, winter squashes, lettuce, dried apricots, cantaloupe, bell peppers, fish, liver and tropical fruits.

It’s recommended to get vitamin A from dietary sources unless advised by a physician to supplement it. In an odd twist, very high levels of supplemented vitamin A have been associated with an increased risk for some gastrointestinal cancers.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance for adults 19 years and older is 900 mcg RAE for men (equivalent to 3,000 IU) and 700 mcg RAE for women (equivalent to 2,333 IU).

Sources:

Treating colon cancer with vitamin A — EurekAlert

Traffic lights for retinoids in oncology: molecular markers of retinoid resistance and sensitivity and their use in the management of cancer differentiation therapy — BMC Cancer

Vitamin A — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The post They used this vitamin to block tumor growth – and it worked appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Superfoods such as berries, beets, kale and green tea can do everything from reducing inflammation and improving your blood sugar to promoting healthy blood flow and fighting heart issues.

But there’s one superfood that hasn’t necessarily received the attention it deserves — the pomegranate.

This juicy red fruit is not only packed with antioxidants, but it also possesses rich levels of a compound known as urolithin A. It’s a compound that has been found to have the power to revive aging and defective mitochondria ­­— the powerhouses of your cells — to help keep your muscles stronger longer and extend your lifespan.

And now a new study has revealed that this one compound also has the potential to power the fight against colorectal cancer, and possibly all other forms of cancer as well.

The role of the immune system in colon cancer

Colorectal cancer is gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of years. Not only is it impacting younger people, like beloved actor Chadwick Boseman who lost his battle at just 43, but it carries high mortality rates in advanced stages.

And while some progress has been made in recent years that has improved early diagnosis and therapy, not all patients respond to the current therapeutic approaches.

One of the reasons for this is due to a specific characteristic of cancer tumors: immune dysfunction.

Basically, it works like this…

When you get cancer, immune cells in your body that are supposed to fight the tumor are actually suppressed by the surrounding tissue of the tumor or the tumor microenvironment.

When this happens, T cells, which are your body’s natural immune response against cancer, are restricted in their function, allowing the tumor to grow and spread uncontrollably.

And that’s where urolithin A comes in.

Supporting immune cells in their fight against cancer

Researchers in Frankfurt using preclinical models, as well as in studies on human immune cells, have now found that urolithin A is capable of improving the function of immune cells in their battle against cancer.

And it all has to do with its effects on mitochondria that also help your muscles.

The researchers found that because urolithin A kicks off a biological pathway that recycles and renews mitochondria inside the T cells that are necessary to fight off cancer, defective T cells are removed and replaced by new, functional ones.

Those T cells become T memory stem cells — potent immune stem cells that, due to their ability to divide, constantly supply the immune system with rejuvenated, non-exhausted T cells.

This makes your body better able to fight the tumor.

The researchers say that this fact opens up the door to using urolithin A not only in the treatment of colorectal cancer but also in other cancers as well.

Pomegranate power, let me count the ways

So it looks like someday soon, pomegranates may take their place in cancer therapy.

In the meantime, you can up your levels of urolithin A by simply enjoying a juicy pomegranate, sipping pomegranate juice or taking a urolithin A supplement.

There are even more good reasons to enjoy pomegranates or pomegranate juice…

Need to lower your cholesterol, pomegranate can help!

When brain cells called microglia become inflamed, they can damage neurons and accelerate dementia. Pomegranate can help here too.

And the benefit to male health is a long list you’ll have to read here.

You’ll be powering the powerhouses of your cells for better health now and in the future.

Sources:

Pomegranate fueling cancer therapy – EurekAlert!

The post Pomegranate: The fruit fueling cancer-fighting cells appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s a no-brainer that eating anything that barely resembles real food and bears a list of unpronounceable ingredients could be remotely healthy.

So it probably doesn’t surprise you to hear that these so-called foods have been linked to everything from dementia to weight gain.

They’ve even been shown to shorten your telomeres — the caps on your DNA strands that keep your chromosomes stable — and trigger aging.

But they’ve become so ingrained in the Standard American Diet (SAD) for so long, many of us still consume these low-cost, zero-nutrition foods on a daily basis.

Well, now there’s one more warning about the health dangers of eating ultra-processed foods that men especially should heed…

Ultra-processed foods trade convenience for cancer

That was the conclusion of a team of researchers from Tufts and Harvard Universities, who found that men who consumed high rates of ultra-processed foods were at a whopping 29 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer.

But what made the researchers focus on the relationship between pre-packaged, artificially-flavored foods and colon cancer in the first place?

According to Lu Wang, the study’s lead author, “Processed meats, most of which fall into the category of ultra-processed foods, are a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer.”

But they’re not the only contributor…

“Ultra-processed foods are also high in added sugars and low in fiber, which contribute to weight gain and obesity, and obesity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer.”

So, they set out to analyze the dietary intake of 200,000 participants, comparing it to the rate at which they ended up with colon cancer.

And while the study didn’t find an association between eating an ultra-processed diet and colorectal cancer in women — for men, the results were frightening…

The strongest association between colorectal cancer and ultra-processed foods in men came from meat, poultry, or fish-based ready-to-eat products.

However, those ultra-processed meats weren’t the only offenders…

They found that men who consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages, including sodas, fruit juices and sugary, milk-based beverages were also more likely to end up with colorectal cancer.

You may remember that just one sugar-sweetened beverage a day was linked to an increase in liver cancer for women recently.

Ultra-processed foods and the gut microbiome

So why are ultra-processed foods so dangerous?

Well, according to the researchers, it’s likely that these food are disruptive to the gut microbiome.  They are full of additives that promote inflammation and can contain microparticles of toxic contaminates from food packaging.

For women, ultra-processed dairy foods, like yogurt, may have counteracted the harmful impacts of other types of ultra-processed foods that otherwise should have increased their risks as well. Yogurt contains probiotics which promote a balanced gut microbiome.

In a previous study looking at colorectal cancers, researchers found that probiotics plus prebiotics and a diet rich in fiber lowered cancer risks and slowed cancer growth when it did occur.

Prebiotics are probiotics’ underrated cousin and could be especially beneficial to men trying to cut down on ultra-processed foods.

That’s because a previous study demonstrated prebiotics not only dramatically increase the number of a bacterium that’s particularly good for the microbiome, Bifidobacterium — but also helped participants cut down on foods containing sugar and carbs, which sounds like most ultra-processed foods.

So, if you want to avoid colorectal cancer, it seems it’s time to seriously cut back on ultra-processed foods, like hot dogs, sandwich meats and sodas, and eat more of the good stuff for your gut.

Sources:

New Study Links Ultra-Processed Foods and Colorectal Cancer in Men – Tufts Now

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In 2012, researchers looked at an E. coli strain that carries polyketide synthase (pks) genes. This genetic material produces a DNA-destroying toxin that causes the mutations in human cells that cause cancer.

In the same study, the scientists found much higher levels of this variety of E. coli in people with inflammatory bowel disease and those with colon cancer. Further research found that laboratory animals harboring E. coli expressing pks (pks+ E. coli) have a higher incidence of colon cancer.

Because the bacteria that affect our health constitute our intestinal microbiome, researchers have speculated that diet may have an impact on pks+ E. coli and colon cancer.

Recently, an international group of researchers decided to analyze dietary patterns as well as DNA from E. coli strains found in more than 1,000 colorectal tumors to see if that hypothesis would hold true.

What they found may change the way you eat….

Western diet’s effect on E. coli strain

The most recent study examined data dietary patterns from 134,775 participants in two U.S. prospective cohort studies. Researchers also analyzed DNA from strains of E. coli found in 1,175 colorectal tumors to look for bacterial strains carrying pks.

Overall, results demonstrated that a Western-style diet — rich in red and processed meat, sugar and refined grains and carbohydrates — was indeed linked with colorectal tumors containing high amounts of pks+ E. coli. By contrast, the Western diet was not associated with tumors containing little to no pks+ E. coli.

“These findings support our hypothesis that Western-style diets increase colorectal cancer risk through its effect on pks+ E. coli,” said corresponding author Dr. Shuji Ogino of Brigham and Woman’s Hospital.

Ogino notes this is the first study to link a Western diet with specific pathogenic bacteria in cancer. “This is the first study to link Western diet with specific disease-causing bacteria in cancer.

“Our next question is which component of Western-style diet and lifestyle relates to colorectal cancer containing this bacterial species,” he adds.

The danger depends on the type

It’s not surprising that pks+ E. coli in the gut might influence colorectal cancer development. Just as a healthy gut microbiota can protect against cancer, heart disease and mood disorders, unhealthy gut bacteria can promote a variety of diseases.

However, one thing to remember about E. coli is that only certain strains cause illness. Most E. coli strains are harmless and an important part of a healthy human gut microbiome.

So, how can you know the difference? The only way is to get your stool tested. If you’ve had diarrhea for more than three days, or that’s accompanied by high fever, bloody stools or extreme vomiting, contact your healthcare provider. They can test your stool for the presence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), the pathotype that’s most commonly associated with foodborne outbreaks.

Avoiding harmful E. coli strains

The worst part of E. coli infection is once you have it, there’s no antibiotic or medication that will get rid of it. Treatment is limited to symptoms and includes rest and fluids.

Your best bet is to avoid it as much as possible. The most common source of E. coli-foodborne illness is eating undercooked, contaminated food, like ground beef. Other potential sources of E. coli infection include raw milk, unpasteurized juice and salad greens like spinach and romaine. Even if they’re labeled as prewashed, you should always wash all your greens again before consuming them.

What else can you do? Don’t make it easy for the cancer-causing bacteria to contribute to colon cancer.

The same researchers who in 2012 identified the relationship between pks+ E. coli and colon cancer also studied how different foods affect E. coli movement in the gut. They discovered the fat emulsifiers found in processed foods increase the amount of E. coli being taken in by cells.

These results suggest the processed foods common in a Western-style diet — like the red and processed meat, sugar and refined grains and carbohydrates deemed problematic in the most recent study — could be the real danger when it comes to E. coli and colorectal cancer.

Conversely, they found plantains and broccoli reduced the amount of bad bacteria being absorbed. Both of these foods are prebiotic fibers — which also help to regulate the gut microbiome and prevent dysbiosis — the overgrowth of bad bacteria. Unfortunately, these foods are much less a part of a Western diet.

Given that processed foods cause a host of other health problems, including obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, stroke and heart disease, it’s best to rid your diet of as many of them as possible.

Sources:

Microbial Link Between Western-Style Diet and Incidence of Colorectal Cancer Uncovered — Brigham Clinical & Research News

Western-style Diet, pks Island-Carrying Escherichia coli, and Colorectal Cancer: Analyses from Two Large Prospective Cohort Studies — Gastroenterology

E. coli (Escherichia coli) Questions and Answers — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

E. coli — Mayo Clinic

Escherichia coli — Washington State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

The post Is E. coli and a bad diet a recipe for colon cancer? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s a fact that has led to the recommended age for colonoscopy screenings being lowered in the hopes of catching any signs of cancer even earlier — particularly polyps.

There’s also been a lot of speculation about what’s behind the uptick in younger people — including the possibility that antibiotics could be driving it and even sedentary behaviors like binge-watching too much TV.

In addition to investigating causes, researchers are, thankfully, also looking at how we can lower the risk in the first place. News out of the University of Maryland School of Medicine shows that if you’ve been thinking about losing weight, avoiding colon cancer is one very good reason to go for it…

Keeping your colon clear of risky polyps

For the study, the scientists gathered massive reams of data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. I say massive because the trial involved a whopping 154,942 people and spanned a period of eight years.

For each person, weight gain and weight loss were assessed over three periods of adulthood. Health was tracked and a variety of screening measures were put in place to focus on different cancers.

To monitor for the development of colon cancer, participants were screened first at the beginning of the study and then a second time three or five years later.

What did the results show when it came to weight and colon health?

According to the researchers, the results clearly showed that weight loss confers some serious colon cancer protection.

Specifically, they found that people who lost weight during adulthood benefitted from a 46 percent lower risk for colorectal adenoma than those who maintained a stable weight.

For reference, a colorectal adenoma is another name for a polyp. And while not all turn into cancer, approximately 10 percent do go on to become cancerous.

The protection against colon growths that weight loss conferred was especially prominent in participants who started out overweight or obese, as opposed to those who only needed to lose a little weight.

It goes both ways

Just as weight lowered the risk for the development of polyps, weight gain, conversely, increased the chances they would develop. Participants who put on more than 6.6 pounds over approximately five years were found to be at special risk for colon growths.

Study senior author, Dr. Kathryn Hughes Barry, had this to say when asked about the results, “Our findings suggest that avoiding weight gain in adulthood may help lower someone’s chance of developing a pre-cancerous growth called a colorectal adenoma, which may, in turn, reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer.”

Her recommendation?

“Based on our findings, we would not recommend weight loss for all adults. But the results suggest that overweight and obese adults may benefit from weight loss.”

So if you’ve been thinking it might be time to take off a few pounds or ten, you’ve certainly got more incentive. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Researchers have found that the Mediterranean diet is your best bet if you want to lose weight — and keep it off. They also found that it’s the diet most people stick to. Eating more fruits and vegetables and less red meat, as you will in the Med diet, leans towards alkalinity and less acid, which helps create a healthier environment in the body as well.
• In addition to diet changes, exercise should always be part of any weight loss plan. Short bursts of HIIT don’t just kick up your body’s fat-burning mechanisms but have also been shown to reduce the growth of colon cancer cells.
• There are also a few weight loss supplements that have been shown to be safe and effective.
• And if you need more advice on losing weight, here are tips from 6,000 people who have!

Sources:

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

Colorectal Cancer Statistics — CDC

Weight Change and Incident Distal Colorectal Adenoma Risk in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial — Oxford Academic

Weight loss reduces risk of developing growths which could lead to cancer — StudyFinds

The post Why cutting calories could cut your colon cancer risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And while we think of colon cancer as only something to worry about as we get older, the truth is that it can strike at any age, a fact which has led doctors to recommend earlier and earlier screening.

The good news is that knowing your risks of the disease, by using one of the five screening options for colon cancer and being aware of any predispositions you may have, can help you fight back before it starts.

So, what should you look for?

Colon cancer risk factors include:

• Family history of the cancer
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• History of polyps
• Smoking
• Type 2 diabetes

And now there’s one more to add to the list — your height.

As important as age or genetics

You see, doctors have long noticed that taller people tend to develop colorectal cancer more frequently. Yet, previous research into that risk had produced conflicting results.

So researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine set out to settle the issue for good so that we can be forewarned and forearmed with the knowledge we need in the battle against cancer.

“This is the largest study of its kind to date. It builds on evidence that taller height is an overlooked risk factor, and should be considered when evaluating and recommending patients for colorectal cancer screenings,” said Gerard Mullin, M.D., associate professor at Johns Hopkins.

The team analyzed the height of people over 285,000 people who were either diagnosed with colon cancer or colon polyps, as well as another 1,400 plus participants who underwent an outpatient colonoscopy.

And overall, they found that people who fall in the highest percentile of height have a 24 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than the shortest within the lowest percentile.

“Every 10-centimeter increase (about 4 inches) in height was found to be associated with a 14 percent increased risk of developing colorectal cancer and 6 percent increased odds of having adenomas (polyps which can become cancerous),” says Mullin.

To put it into plain, simple English, this means that men who are 6’1” and women who are 5’8” or taller are at a 14 percent increased risk of colorectal cancer and a six percent increased risk of adenomas.

“One possible reason for this link is that adult height correlates with body organ size. More active proliferation in organs of taller people could increase the possibility of mutations leading to malignant transformation,” says Elinor Zhou, M.D., co-first author of the study.

A previous study also found that, for every extra 10 centimeters above average height, cancer risk increases by 11 to 13 percent.

Colon cancer protection

So if you fall into those height ranges, asking your doctor about earlier screening could be a life-saving step.

Additionally, if you’re at higher risk, it’s vital to remember the old adage, “An ounce of prevention’s worth a pound of cure.”

That means getting checked and staying up on colonoscopies. But lifestyle factors have a major impact on cancer risks as well…

• Exercise regularly and spend less time sitting, since even watching just two hours or more of TV can increase your risk by 70 percent
• Follow a healthy diet and eat foods that are shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer or polyps.  No cancer diet would be complete without broccoli — the cancer-fighting superfood, thanks to sulforaphane.
• Taking curcumin and boswellic acid, which have been found to regulate certain microRNA pathways in human colorectal cancer.
• Supplementing with vitamin D since higher blood levels have been linked to lower rates of the cancer

When it comes to colon cancer, knowing your risks and taking steps to mitigate them can make all the difference.

Sources:

Study: taller adults may be at increased risk for colorectal cancer – EurekAlert!

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer – American Cancer Society

Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors – American Cancer Society

The post What height has to do with colon cancer risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Spinach also is packed with phytochemicals known as carotenoids — specifically beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. These carotenoids help prevent eye diseases and reduce the inflammation that can lead to heart disease.

As if that weren’t enough, eating spinach can help lower your risk of certain cancers, including colon cancer. Researchers at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center have been studying spinach for colon cancer prevention, and they’re getting closer to understanding exactly how the leafy green may provide this protection…

Spinach, gut health, genes and colon cancer

While colon cancer is only the fourth most common cancer, it’s the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths and is becoming more common in younger people. In fact, the American Cancer Society now recommends people begin colon cancer screenings at the age of 45 rather than in their 50s.

Investigators are eager to find new ways of fighting this deadly disease. In previous studies, consuming green vegetables and fiber has been shown to cut the risk of colon cancer by as much as half. The most recent Texas A&M Health study goes further, exploring the relationship between spinach, gut health, genes and colon cancer outcomes.

The researchers used a mouse model of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a hereditary disease that causes young people to develop noncancerous polyps in their colon. Most people with this disease end up getting their colon removed to prevent these hundreds of polyps from turning into tumors as they age. Then, they’re subjected to often-toxic treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs to prevent additional tumors from forming in the first part of the small intestine.

Results of the study indicate eating spinach might help prevent cancer in these patients by delaying the need for colon removal and prolonged NSAID treatment.

After feeding these FAP mice freeze-dried spinach for 26 weeks, researchers found significant antitumor activity in the colon and small intestine. When looking more closely, they connected this spinach-related tumor suppression with increased diversity in the gut microbiome and changes in gene expression to help prevent cancer.

The results also showed a rise in beneficial linoleate metabolites, fatty acids associated with inflammation regulation, in these mice after the spinach diet.

Principal investigator Roderick Dashwood, director of the Center for Epigenetics & Disease Prevention at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology, says exposure to carcinogens through diet and environment over decades can change the way genes in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are expressed. This change can cause polyps to develop in the colon and lower GI tract later in life, which can then progress into cancer.

Hereditary forms of colon cancer like those caused by FAP account for only 10 to 15 percent of cases, with the majority being sporadic, or uninherited. However, in earlier studies, Dashwood’s lab noted the benefits of spinach in a model mimicking sporadic colorectal cancer cases. Because spinach was very effective in preventing polyps in those cases, they decided to see how spinach might work in colon cancer cases driven by genetics.

“My bias was to focus on the chlorophyll story because of my long history examining anticancer effects of chlorophyll,” Dashwood says. “But when we looked at the metabolomic data, there was no chlorophyll. It was actually fatty acids and linoleic acid derivatives that were causing the beneficial effects.”

Ramping up your spinach consumption

Dashwood’s team eventually plans to validate the metabolomic findings, such as concentrations of linoleic acid metabolites and short-chain fatty acids with anticancer effects, in human patients. Until then, he says it’s a good idea for people to start eating more spinach now.

“The sooner the better,” he says. “You shouldn’t wait until polyps arise in order to start to do these sorts of preventive things.”

There are lots of ways to add spinach to your diet. You can start making all your salads with spinach greens or add a handful of spinach to your morning eggs, omelet or quiche. Many soups and stews can also benefit from a healthy dose of spinach.

It’s also great added to smoothie recipes. I toss a couple of handfuls of spinach into a blender with some protein powder, a cup of milk, a banana, a few strawberries and a handful of blueberries. Not only is the resulting smoothie delicious, but it’s also the best way to get the full nutritional benefits of spinach, since chopping up raw spinach leaves releases more of certain nutrients like lutein.

Sources:

Eating Spinach Could Protect Against Colon Cancer, Texas A&M Study Says — Texas A&M Today

Dietary spinach reshapes the gut microbiome in an Apc-mutant genetic background: mechanistic insights from integrated multi-omics — Gut Microbes

Health Benefits of Spinach — WebMD

The post How spinach can help prevent colon cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Another area where vitamin D has the potential to help is cancer, though the link between the two has been tough to prove conclusively so far. Still, one study has found vitamin D can reduce your risk of developing advanced cancer. Another found a connection between higher-than-normal vitamin D levels and reduced breast cancer risk. And a third showed men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer tended to have low levels of vitamin D.

Low vitamin D and colorectal cancer risk in Black women

Now researchers have discovered Black women with low vitamin D levels could have an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

This finding is in line with similar studies conducted in White populations. But it’s really important here because vitamin D levels tend to be lower in Blacks than in other groups. In fact, it’s estimated that more than three-quarters of people with darker skin, including Blacks and Hispanics, are deficient in vitamin D.

A study published last spring connected low vitamin D levels with higher rates of heart disease among African Americans.

The major source of vitamin D, aside from supplements, is sunlight. And people with darker skin have more melanin, which reduces the body’s ability to make vitamin D from the sun.

Blacks are also especially vulnerable to colorectal cancer, having the highest rates of both incidence and mortality from the disease. Given vitamin D’s key role in many of the body’s cellular processes, it’s possible that maintaining good levels of the vitamin may reduce their risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Researchers found that Black women with low vitamin D levels who were in the bottom 25 percent of all participants had an estimated 40 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer compared with women whose predicted vitamin D levels were in the top 25 percent.

The researchers say determining whether there’s a connection between vitamin D and colorectal cancer risk in Black populations will help in knowing whether to advise individuals at increased risk of colorectal cancer to take steps to increase their vitamin D levels.

Winning the battle to maintain vitamin D levels

Getting enough vitamin D consistently can be challenging. You can get vitamin D from certain food sources like milk, eggs, salmon and liver. But you would have to consume large amounts of these foods daily to meet the minimum 600 IUs of vitamin D recommended per day for optimal health.

As for sunlight, you need to get between 10 and 30 minutes of direct midday sun exposure per day to trigger vitamin D production within your body. That means exposing your bare skin — without sunscreen or clothing covering it — to the sun’s direct rays. And that puts you at risk of sunburn, which can occur in as little as 15 minutes in some people. Repeated sunburns can lead to skin damage, which raises your risk of skin cancer.

People with darker skin may need to spend even longer in the sun if they want to get enough D. And while their skin doesn’t burn as quickly, they’re still putting themselves at risk of skin damage with repeated unprotected sun exposure.

Taking all this into account, it may be best to simply add a vitamin D supplement to your daily regimen. Since so many of us are vitamin D deficient, many doctors recommend taking more than the minimum required 600 IUs every day. In fact, some recommend amounts as high as 5,000 IUs to quickly lift your vitamin D levels back up to good health.

Make sure the supplement you’re buying is third-party tested so that you’re getting high-quality vitamin D in the amount promised on the label. And be sure to take the supplement with a meal containing some sort of healthy fat like olive oil. Because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, it needs to be paired with a fat for your body to absorb it properly.

Sources:

Low Vitamin D Status May Lead to Elevated Colorectal Cancer Risk in Black Women — Boston University School of Medicine

Does Vitamin D Deficiency Pose a Special Risk for Black People? — Everyday Health

How to Safely Get Vitamin D From Sunlight — Healthline

UV Index: The Sun Safety Scale — Forefront Dermatology

How does sunburn affect dark skin? — Medical News Today

The post The urgent reason black women should check their vitamin D levels appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The vitamin has even taken the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its immune-boosting effects.

And now, more evidence is mounting showing that getting more vitamin D in your life could even be the secret to avoiding colorectal cancer.

The link between ultraviolet light and colon cancer

The study from researchers at the University of California San Diego builds on a long-standing observation that deficiency in vitamin D increases your risk of colon cancer.

Yet, while time and again researchers have found a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and colorectal cancer, other studies have questioned that link.

So those San Diego researchers decided to tackle the question from a different perspective.

They instead looked at how much exposure to UVB light — sunlight — people experience across 186 different countries. Then, they adjusted for other factors that could contribute to cancer risks like skin pigmentation, smoking and age.

And hands-down, they found that in countries where people experience lower levels of UVB light they also report higher rates of colorectal cancer.

They also found that as you age, exposure to ultraviolet light (to get your body to make more vitamin D) becomes even more important.

“Differences in UVB light accounted for a large amount of the variation we saw in colorectal cancer rates, especially for people over age 45,” explains Raphael Cuomo, co-author of the study. “Although this is still preliminary evidence, it may be that older individuals, in particular, may reduce their risk of colorectal cancer by correcting deficiencies in vitamin D.”

And while this wasn’t the first study to find a relationship between UVB exposure and colorectal cancer, it is the first one to demonstrate that age makes getting your vitamin D vital!

According to the researchers, this relationship between aging and the risk increased risk of colon cancer due to lack of UV light could be due to chronic vitamin D deficiency increasing your colorectal cancer risk over time.

In other words, the longer you’re without sufficient D levels, the higher and higher your risk may go.

Vitamin D and other types of cancers

Now, UVB is the spectrum of light responsible for sunburn — and that presents a problem of its own. But luckily exposure to UVB rays from the sun isn’t the only option to get sufficient vitamin D. It also may not be the most efficient option as we age either, as other studies have shown the older we get, the less effective our bodies get at converting vitamin D from sunlight.

Your doctor can check your levels to see if you’re deficient and will likely prescribe a very high dosage to get you up to speed. You’ll taper down after that.

If you have any doubt about your levels, don’t put off your concerns. Past studies have also linked vitamin D deficiency to lung, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers, as well as leukemia.

And one stringently controlled trial of 1,179 post-menopausal women discovered that those who supplemented with vitamin D and calcium had 76.8 percent fewer cancers after the first year, compared to the group that got no extra vitamin D.

Just be sure not to pair your vitamin D supplement with the wrong vitamin since certain nutrients can steal that disease-fighting D you need so much.

Sources:

New evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to colorectal cancer risk — New Atlas

The post The ties between vitamin D deficiency and cancer get stronger appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Following a regular exercise routine, and not necessarily an overly strenuous one, is good for just about everything: your heart, your lungs, your weight and your brainpower.

Research has also shown us that exercise can slash our cancer risk, especially for hormone-driven cancers like breast cancer.

Now, a new study has shown that exercise can dramatically lower your risk for, and slow the growth of, the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

Exercise releases proteins that attack bowel cancer

New research presented at the annual conference of the Physiological Society shows that small proteins and other molecules released into the bloodstream during exercise can act directly on bowel cancer cells to slow down their growth.

Regular physical activity helps maintain healthy body weight, and previous research led scientists to believe that this was the reason that exercise could reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer.

But the new study shows that the chemicals produced as a result of being physically active can reduce that risk, even if the exercise doesn’t result in weight loss.

The subjects of this study were males age 50 or older who had lifestyle risks for bowel cancer, including being overweight or obese. None of them exercised regularly.

Researchers took blood samples from each subject before and after 45 minutes of moderate-intensity indoor cycling, and before and after a control period where they did no exercise.

They looked for alterations of specific proteins in the blood. Then, they added samples of blood serum (the portion of blood containing the proteins) to bowel cancer cells in a laboratory and monitored cancer cell growth over 48 hours.

Although they did observe a slowing of growth in the cancer cells, the study authors point out that cancer cells in humans are much more complex than those grown under controlled conditions in the laboratory.

Whether these findings apply to “real-life” bowel cancers is something the researchers intend to investigate. Still, these findings could very well help develop cancer drugs that mimic some of the benefits of exercise.

You can decrease your risks for bowel cancer

Within the last five years or so, science has uncovered some risk factors for bowel cancer that are very much within your control.

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Imperial College London and the University of Oxford recently uncovered a connection between TV watching and bowel cancer.

They found that men who watched more than four hours of TV per day had a 35 percent higher risk of developing bowel cancer within six years than men who watched one hour or less per day.

This is likely due to the habits that accompany TV watching, such as snacking, drinking and smoking, since spending an equal amount of time sitting at a computer was not associated with greater risk.

For women, on the other hand, it’s not just weight gain that increases the risk of bowel cancer. What really matters is where on the body your fat is stored. Fat around the middle was found to increase the risk of bowel cancer by 25 percent!

Finally, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found that women who used antibiotics for a total of two months or more over the course of two decades were more likely to develop pre-cancerous colon polyps.

So it seems that what you eat, how much you exercise, and whether you can find natural alternatives to antibiotics can make the difference between life and death.

Sources:

The effect of acute exercise in humans on cancer cell growth — Eureka Alert

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

The post How to release proteins in your body that attack cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Yet, the risk of ending up with this type of cancer often comes down to lifestyle factors.

In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, “the links between diet, weight, and exercise and colorectal cancer risk are some of the strongest for any type of cancer.”

So what are their recommendations to keep cancer at bay?

Watch your weight, get more exercise and eliminate certain types of foods from your diet — particularly red and processed meats.

However, while we’ve long known that red meat and colon cancer can go hand-in-hand, there have still been questions as to why this type of meat in particular can lead to cancer. After all, other types of proteins such as fish and chicken haven’t been found to raise your cancer risk.

Now, however, new answers have been found in the DNA of colon cancer cells.

Genetic mutations and a higher risk of death

In a study, published in Cancer Discovery, scientists have now discovered that eating red meat actually leads to genetic mutations in the tissue of the colon.

Specifically, the researchers say that red meat causes a type of DNA damage known as alkylation.

To discover this missing link in the red meat/cancer puzzle, researchers sequenced the DNA from the colorectal tissue of 900 cancer patients. They also reviewed data that had been gathered on each patient’s diet for several years leading up to their cancer diagnosis.

And it all came down to one glaring fact…

Red meat eaters have alkylation-induced mutations in their colon that people who primarily eat chicken, fish, or plant-based diets just don’t.

And while simply having genetic mutations that cause cancer sounds bad enough on its own, there’s more bad news for people who love a juicy steak or hamburger…

Scientists say that the mutations with that alkylating signature have the potential to make colon cancer even more deadly.

In fact, they found that patients with tumors showing high levels of alkylating damage had a 47 percent greater chance of dying from the disease.

Guarding against colorectal cancer means less red meat

With the results of this study, it’s clear that to reduce your colorectal cancer risk, eating less red meat is a good start.

Additional ways to protect yourself recommended by the American Cancer Society include:

• Spending less time sitting. Too much sitting can increase your colorectal risk by as much as 70 percent.
• Reducing alcohol consumption.
• Not smoking.
• Adding more fresh fruits and veggies to your diet. The alkaline diet and macrobiotic diets came out ahead in comparison to other diets that are in step with the American Cancer Society’s dietary guidelines.
• Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D, calcium and magnesium

To make giving up that red meat easier, try making small substitutions that add up to big changes. For example, swap out your hamburger for a turkey or Portobello mushroom burger. Or instead of a grilled steak for dinner, why not go for a thick, juicy piece of salmon?

Every small change you make could be the one that saves you from cancer.

Sources:

Red meat consumption may promote DNA damage-associated mutations in patients with colorectal cancer — MedicalXpress

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

Colorectal cancer risk factors you can change — American Cancer Society

Can Colorectal Cancer Be Prevented? — American Cancer Society

Eating red meat linked to DNA damage, mutations in patients with colorectal cancer — Study Finds

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