A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers has found that red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. The results also showed that substituting other healthy protein sources, such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes, was associated with a lower risk of mortality.
“Our study adds more evidence to the health risks of eating high amounts of red meat, which has been associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers in other studies,” said lead author An Pan, research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH.
Replacing one serving of total red meat with one serving of a healthy protein source was associated with a lower mortality risk: 7% for fish, 14% for poultry, 19% for nuts, 10% for legumes, 10% for low-fat dairy products, and 14% for whole grains. The researchers estimated that 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% in women could have been prevented at the end of the follow-up if all the participants had consumed less than 0.5 servings per day of red meat.
- Red Meat Takes It’s Toll (worldofathletes.wordpress.com)
First, I heard that coffee is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline. Then I found out that coffee appears to lower my risk for type II diabetes.
Now it looks as if I could add “lowers your risk of stroke” to the list of good things this so-called bad habit could do for me.
In fact, according to a Swedish study published online in March in Stroke: The Journal of the American Heart Association, drinking more than one cup of coffee per day is associated with a 22% to 25% lower stroke risk!
Then a new study revealed drinking coffee can improve a women’s brainpower and performance in the office (but impairing men’s memories) and on top of that a new Harvard study of 47,911 men who reported on their coffee intake even suggests that coffee lowers the risk of prostate cancer.
Boston, MA – Men who regularly drink coffee appear to have a lower risk of developing a lethal form of prostate cancer, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. What’s more, the lower risk was evident among men who drank either regular or decaffeinated coffee.
The study was published May 17, 2011, in an online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Read the abstract.
Dr Allen Spreen
Scientists from Australia found that vitamin E might play a major role in hampering the development and re-growth of prostate cancer tumours. For the study, Dr Patrick Ling and a team of researchers injected mice with prostate cancer cells. Then, they divided the mice into two groups. They fed one group of mice water fortified with a form of vitamin E called gamma-tocotrienol or y-T3. The other group of mice drank regular water.
Researchers found that 70% of the vitamin E mice never went on to develop prostate cancer tumours, despite being injected with malignant cells. And, yes, the remaining 30% developed prostate cancer. But following surgery, their tumours were far less likely to re-grow or metastaside. On the other hand, tumours formed in 100% of the control group of mice not given vitamin E.
Certainly too much for me …
A new study in Japan, appearing in the Annals of Epidemiology, shows that drinking seven cups of green tea a day could cut heart disease risk death by a massive 75%.
The study followed over 12,000 people between the ages of 65 and 84 over five years. In comparison to people who drink less than one cup of green tea per day, those who drink seven show, in addition to the impressive heart benefits, a 55% lower risk of death from other diseases.
For example: Their risk of death from colorecta cancer shows a massive 31% drop.
Now, the researchers say these strong effects may be due to a lifetime of heavy green tea drinking.
But, given all of the other benefits of green tea – protection against Alzheimer’s, lower risk of prostate cancer, and help with weight loss – I say there’s no such thing as “too late” for green tea.
Especially when you look at some recent work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There, scientists have reported the cells of regular tea drinkers (an average of 3 cups per day) may actually have a younger biological age than the cells of people who don’t drink tea. At the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There, scientists have reported the cells of regular tea drinkers (an average of 3 cups per day) may actually have a younger biological age than the cells of people who don’t drink tea.