Mridula Chopra and colleagues at the University of Portsmouth, through laboratory studies tested the effect of the nutrient lycopene on the simple mechanism through which cancer cells hijack a body’s healthy blood supply to grow and spread. The research found that lycopene , which is what gives tomatoes their red colour, intercepts cancer’s ability to make the connections it needs to attach to a healthy blood supply.

The researchers, from the university’s School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, are now calling for tests to check if the same reaction occurs in the human body, the Daily Telegraph reported.

“This simple chemical reaction was shown to occur at lycopene concentrations that can easily be achieved by eating processed tomatoes ,” Chopra said.

Lycopene is present in all red fruits and vegetables, but its concentrations are highest in tomatoes and becomes more biologically active when it comes from processed tomatoes with a small amount of cooking oil added. The Times of India

Researchers at the University of Western Australia gave black leaf tea, such as Earl Grey or English Breakfast to volunteers with normal to high blood pressure.

They were given drinks containing 429 milligrams of the plant chemical polyphenols—or the equivalent of eight and a half cups of tea a day.

A second group were given a tea-flavoured placebo.

After six months, the blood pressure of the tea-drinking group had fallen by between two and three mmHg, the measurement of pressure used in medicine.

A blood pressure fluctuating with the heartbeat between 112 and 63 mmHg is considered healthy, while a reading fluctuating between 140 and 90 is deemed high.

If the experiment was emulated by the general population, the number of people with high blood pressure would be cut by 10 percent and the risk of heart disease would fall by between seven and 10 percent.

“Our study has demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge that long-term regular consumption of black tea can result in significantly lower blood pressures in individuals with normal to high-normal range blood pressures,” the team, led by Jonathan Hodgson, wrote in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Adding milk to tea also does not affect the body’s ability to absorb polyphenols, earlier studies have suggested.

Green tea is believed to have many health benefits as it is high in antioxidants. It is said to help in weight loss, prevent glaucoma and reduce risk of cancer. Khaleej Times

Cholesterol is a fat (lipid) which is produced by the liver and is crucial for normal body functioning. Diet plays an important role in lowering or increasing the cholesterol. The saturated fats from the processed foods you usually consumed were converted into cholesterol which causes problems on exceeded limit.

LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol is called “bad” cholesterol, because elevated levels of LDL cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol is called the “good cholesterol” because HDL cholesterol particles prevent atherosclerosis by extracting cholesterol from artery walls and disposing of them through liver metabolism.

High levels of LDL cholesterol and low levels of HDL cholesterol are risk factors for atherosclerosis.

Michael van Straten, a popular osteopath, naturopath, acupuncturist and nutritional consultant in UK shared these tweaks on how to keep your cholesterol to the right level to prevent any artery and heart diseases.

*Eat less saturated fat. Saturated fats increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, and most of them are found in the fats around your pork chop, beef-steak, crispy pata and chicken skin. Even lean meat contains substantial amounts, especially if the animals have been intensively reared. You can remove all the visible fat, but for overall lower fat content, choose organic meat and poultry. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

All (processed) meat products including sausages, pate, pastries and burgers as well as lard, dripping butter and cheese contain high levels of saturated fats. Watch out for coconut and palm oils, widely used in food processing and high in saturated fats. Don’t forget that Danish pastries, croissants and many other bakery products are also rich in saturated fats.

* Eat more mono-unsaturated fats. They’re found in olive, walnut and rapeseed oils and in the flesh of avocados. These fats reduce the LDL cholesterol level without affecting the amount of HDL.

* Use modest amounts of poly-unsaturated fats. Sunflower, safflower and, best of all, rapeseed oils also help reduce LDL cholesterol, but they lower the levels of protective HDL. Rapeseed, however, has the least effect on HDL.

* Get your omega-3 fats and oats. These help prevent blood clotting and are highly protective against heart and arterial disease. They occur in all oily fish like salmon (pictured), sardines, herrings, mackerel, kippers, trout, anchovies and fresh tuna.

The soluble fiber in oats makes porridge a daily must both for prevention and treatment of raised cholesterol. Don’t add salt or cream, but make it with half milk and half water. It’s the cheapest and healthiest of all the breakfast cereals.

You may add oats to soups, stews, casserole as well as home-made biscuits and bread. By Bhaby See, Journal Online

The Eat Right for Your Type Diet promises users they will feel better faster and get sick less if they eat right and exercise for their blood type. “This is an individualized approach and that is one thing I really, really like,” said dietitian Pamela Ligowski.

If you have type O blood, the diet states your body thrives on animal proteins and intense exercise. O-types should eat a diet high in proteins and low in carbohydrates. Eat meat, poultry and fish and avoid wheat, bread and most other grains. “This is kind of like an Atkins style diet.

I think over the course of time it might lead to high cholesterol,” said Ligowski. If your blood type is A, the diet states you should enjoy a vegetarian diet. High in carbohydrates, low in fat and in addition to vegetables, add soy protein and grains. Type A’s are said to respond to gentle exercise such as yoga or golf.

The type B diet calls for the most choice because it states a B person has the most tolerant digestive system. The B diet calls for low fat dairy, meat and produce, but to avoid wheat and corn.

People with type B blood should do moderate exercise, swimming or walking. The “AB” blood type has a sensitive digestive track and is advised to avoid chicken, beef and pork.

The diet states calming exercise works best. “You look for randomized control trials which are the gold standard in the medical community. There are none with this diet,” said Ligowski.

But there are many believers including Kate Busby who went on the diet more than ten years ago and says her life became better immediately. “I was having trouble. I was kind of marginally sick all the time” said Busby. “If you have had a hard time in your health, take a look at this.

You could be a brand new person almost.” Most diets are strict but not this one. The physician who developed this plan says if you stick to it 70 percent of the time, you will see results.

Critics of the diet say if you need to shed a few pounds after the holidays the best way is to develop healthy eating and exercise habits you can follow for a lifetime.  msnbc

Both drugs, pertuzumab from Genentech and everolimus from Novartis, also showed signs in clinical trials that they could prolong lives, though researchers said it was too early to say that definitively.

Results of the studies, which were sponsored by the companies, are being presented this week at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and were published online Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Pertuzumab is designed to complement Genentech’s big-selling drug Herceptin for the roughly 20 percent of breast cancer patients whose tumors have elevated levels of a protein called Her2. Both pertuzumab and Herceptin block the action of the protein but in different ways.

In a late-stage clinical trial involving 808 patients, women randomly chosen to receive pertuzumab, Herceptin and the chemotherapy drug docetaxel went a median of 18.5 months before their tumors worsened or they died, a measure known as progression-free survival. That was significantly longer than the 12.4 months for those who received a placebo, Herceptin and docetaxel.

“We have an improvement in progression-free survival that is six months,” Dr. José Baselga, chief of hematology and oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in an interview. “That’s huge. By any criteria we want to analyze, this is clinically meaningful.”

Dr. Baselga was a principal investigator in the studies of both pertuzumab and everolimus and has been a paid consultant for Genentech and Novartis.

He said the addition of pertuzumab did not increase cardiac dysfunction, a worrisome side effect of Herceptin.

Genentech and its parent company, Roche, have applied in the last few days for permission to market pertuzumab in the United States and Europe.

Approval could help the company recover from the recent decision of the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the approval of another Genentech drug, Avastin, for the treatment of breast cancer.

Avastin had been approved based on a trial that showed it delayed the worsening of tumors by 5.5 months — almost as big a gain as seen now with pertuzumab. But the use of Avastin did not prolong lives, and subsequent studies found a much smaller improvement in progression-free survival.

That could make the F.D.A reluctant to approve pertuzumab unless it also helps women live longer. But Dr. Sandra J. Horning, head of cancer clinical trials at Genentech, said the pertuzumab results on tumor progression were more trustworthy than the original Avastin results because the trial was conducted more carefully.

Novartis’s drug, everolimus, is a tablet that is already sold under the name Afinitor to treat kidney cancer and some rare tumors. Novartis plans to apply for the tablet’s approval as a breast cancer treatment by the end of the year.

Its clinical trial involved 724 postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.

The women who took both everolimus and a drug called exemestane had a median progression-free survival of 7.4 months compared with 3.2 months for those who took a placebo plus exemestane. Exemestane, also known by the brand name Aromasin, deprives tumors of estrogen, which can fuel their growth.

Women in the study already had failed to benefit from other estrogen-depriving drugs. So perhaps it is not surprising that the control arm did not do that well on exemestane alone.

“They put it up against a weak opponent,” said Dr. Peter Ravdin, a breast cancer specialist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, who was not involved in the study.

But trial investigators said the comparison was valid because in daily practice, doctors often use exemestane when other estrogen-blocking drugs fail.

Everolimus works by inhibiting mTOR, a protein that often spurs tumor growth after tumors become resistant to hormone therapy.

“This is the first time we have a strategy to revert endocrine resistance, which has been the holy grail of therapy for endocrine-positive tumors,” Dr. Baselga said.

Another drug — entinostat, from privately held Syndax Pharmaceuticals — might also be able to do that, according to the results of a small study presented in San Antonio. Women who received that drug plus exemestane had delayed tumor progression and also lived months longer than those who took exemestane alone.

Those results will have to be confirmed in a larger trial, and it will be several years before entinostat can reach the market.

Everolimus costs about $7,000 a month when used for kidney cancer. The drug can have significant, even fatal, side effects like mouth sores, infections and lung inflammation. That could give some doctors pause about adding it to hormone therapy.

“Hormone therapy, which is relatively well tolerated, becomes closer to chemotherapy” in terms of side effects, said Dr. Clifford A. Hudis, chief of the breast cancer medicine service at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study.  By Andrew Pollack, The New York Times

“The results show that it’s not just overall carbohydrates, but particularly starch,” said Jennifer A. Emond, M.S., a public health doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego. “Women who increased their starch intake over one year were at a much likelier risk for recurring.”

Researchers conducted a subset analysis of 2,651 women who participated in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial, a plant-based intervention trial that enrolled about 3,088 survivors of breast cancer. WHEL researchers studied breast cancer recurrence and followed the participants for an average of seven years.

The subset analysis involved an examination of how changes in carbohydrate intake influenced breast cancer recurrence. “The WHEL dietary trial, even though it focused on fruits and vegetables, fiber and fat, didn’t really have a specific carbohydrate goal,” Emond said.

She and her colleagues obtained carbohydrate intake information from multiple 24-hour dietary recalls at baseline and at one year. In an annual phone interview, participants reported everything they had eaten during the last 24 hours.

At baseline, carbohydrate intake was 233 grams per day. Results showed that women whose cancer recurred had a mean increase in carbohydrate intake of 2.3 grams per day during the first year, while women whose cancer did not recur reported a mean decrease of 2.7 grams per day during the first year.

Starches were particularly important, Emond said. Changes in starch intake accounted for 48 percent of the change in carbohydrate intake. Mean change in starch intake during the first year was ????.1 grams per day among women whose cancer recurred vs. ????.7 grams per day among women whose cancer did not recur.

When change in starch intake during one year was grouped into quartiles of change, the rate of an additional breast cancer event was 9.7 percent among women who decreased their starch intake the most during one year, compared with an event rate of 14.2 percent among women who increased their starch intake the most during one year.

The change in starch intake was “independent of dietary changes that happened in the intervention arm,” Emond said. “It is independent of more global changes in diet quality.”

After stratifying patients by tumor grade, Emond and colleagues found that the increased risk was limited to women with lower-grade tumors.

These results indicate a need for more research on dietary recommendations that consider limited starch intake among women with breast cancer. PhysOrg

A study found that former sufferers who followed a starch-rich diet were more likely to develop tumours compared to those who reduced their intake.

Researchers are unable to explain the trend but it is believed that increased insulin levels, sparked by refined carbohydrates, could stimulate the growth of cancerous cells.

A team from University of California, San Diego, studied the diets of 2,651 breast cancer survivors over 12 months.

They found that carbohydrates in general – especially starches – were linked to the risk of new tumours developing.

The rate of recurrence was 14.2 per cent among women who increased their starch intake while it was 9.7 per cent for those who decreased their consumption.

Lead researcher Jennifer Emond said: ‘The results show that it’s not just overall carbohydrates, but particularly starch.

‘Women who increased their starch intake over one year were at a much likelier risk for recurring.’

At the start, the women’s carbohydrate intake was 233g per day.

Women whose cancer recurred increased their carbohydrate by 2.3g per day during the first year, while those who did not see a recurrence reduced their intake by 2.7g.

Carbohydrates are the most important fuel for muscles, and an essential energy source for the brain and central nervous system, but some can be healthier than others.

Refined carbohydrates, such as white breads and white pasta, contain more starch than whole grains.

Professor Emond added: ‘We didn’t pinpoint the exact foods.’

Marji McCullough from the American Cancer Society said the findings, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas, are important for breast cancer survivors who want to know know how to lower their risk of recurrence.

However she added that it is too early to advise making dietary changes and further research is need.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive, Breast Cancer Campaign said, ‘This study suggests that reducing starch consumption could possibly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.

‘However, it is too early to make dietary recommendations based on these results and we therefore welcome further investigations into this interesting area.

‘While the overall risk of developing the disease can be reduced with some adjustments to diet, a reduction in alcohol consumption and not smoking, the causes of breast cancer are complex with the biggest risk factors being gender, age and genetics.’

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK affecting about 46,000 women every year. By Sadie Whitelocks, The Daily Mail

At No. 1 is Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, coming in at 55.6 percent sugar by weight, followed by Post Golden Crisp at 51.9 percent and Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow at 48.3 percent. The list also includes, in descending order of sugar, Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries (yes, that’s really the name), Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch original, Quaker Oats Oh!s, Kellogg’s Smorz, Kellogg’s Apple Jacks and Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries. In last place, a somewhat dubious achievement, is Kellogg’s Froot Loops original at 41.4 percent sugar by weight.

How much sugar is that? The report found that a cup of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp or General Mills Wheaties Fuel has more sugar at 18.7 to 20 grams than does a Hostess Twinkie, which comes in at 17.5 grams.

Also, not all cereal brands are created equal, at least when it comes to the sweet stuff. Original Cheerios, according to the report, is 3.6 percent sugar, while the Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate and Fruity varieties are 33 percent sugar.

The group also claims that only one-fourth of 84 children’s cereals tested met the voluntary proposed guidelines of the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketing, a group of federal nutrition, marketing and health experts brought together to make suggestions about the nutritional quality of food marketed to children and teens.

The voluntary proposed guidelines, says the Environmental Working Group, recommend that ready-to-eat cereals have no more than 26 percent added sugar by weight.

Sugar wasn’t the only problem found by the Washington, D.C.-based EWG, a nonprofit research and advocacy group focused on public health and the environment. Others were found to exceed proposed government nutrition guidelines: 10 cereals had more than 210 milligrams of sodium and at least 26 cereals were not predominantly whole grain.

The EWG’s report says that the Interagency Working Group’s guidelines could be even a little tougher and go for a 15 percent cap on added sugar and making that mandatory instead of voluntary.

The amount of added sugar children consume has come under fire in recent years as obesity rates among kids remain high. Juice, cereals, snacks and desserts are being scrutinized for added sugar content as well as other nutritional pitfalls such as saturated fat and sodium.

What’s a better breakfast for kids? The report says some popular brands of kids’ cereals meet nutritional guidelines: Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats (Unfrosted Bite Size, Frosted Big Bite, Frosted Bite Size and Frosted Little Bites), General Mills Cheerios original and General Mills Kix original.

Or you could ditch the cereal altogether and give your kids a breakfast of oatmeal with nuts and fresh fruit, plus nonfat or lowfat milk. By Jeannine Stein, Sacramento Bee

Cyrus Raji, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre and School of Medicine, said: “This is the first study to establish a direct relationship between fish consumption, brain structure and Alzheimer’s risk.

“The results showed that people who consumed baked or broiled (grilled) fish at least one time per week had better preservation of grey matter volume on MRI in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.”

The findings of the decade-long study, which are to be presented at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting, centred on 260 healthy individuals.

The findings showed weekly baked or grilled fish consumption was positively associated with grey matter volumes – which is crucial to brain health.

Decreases in gray matter volume indicate that brain cells are shrinking.

Researchers said the results also demonstrated increased levels of cognition in people who ate fish cooked either of those ways.

But eating fried fish was not shown to increase brain volume or protect against cognitive decline.

Dr Anne Corbett, research manager of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This moderately sized study adds weight to existing evidence suggesting that eating fish reduces your risk of developing cognitive decline.

“However, this research did not account for lifestyle factors such as other foods or exercise which could also have had an effect. The best way to lessen your chance of developing dementia is to eat a healthy diet including fruit and vegetables along with taking regular exercise and giving up smoking.” London Evening Standard

Bisphenol A (BPA) is added to the lining of food and drinks cans to stop rusting and keep food fresh. It is also found in plastic bottles, pizza boxes and dental sealants.

The chemical mimics the effects of oestrogen and some studies suggest it hinders neurological and reproductive development. It is already banned from baby bottles in Europe.

The study by the Harvard School of Public Health divided 75 volunteers into two groups. One group ate a 12oz serving of vegetarian canned soup every day for five days and the other group ate the same amount of fresh vegetarian soup daily for five days. The groups then switched the type of soup they ate for another five days.

Those eating the canned soup had 1,221 per cent higher levels of BPA in their urine compared with those eating the fresh soup, according to the research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jenny Carwile, who led the study, said: “We’ve known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body. This study suggests canned foods may be an even greater concern.”

The study authors said the increase may be temporary and more research was needed. But a senior author, Karin Michels, said: “It may be advisable for manufacturers to consider eliminating BPA from can linings.” By Nina Lakhani, Belfast Telegraph