Low Fat Diet and Breast Cancer Prevention – Why the Proof is Elusive

Last Updated on Sunday, 17 January 2010 12:25 Written by Natural Health Team Sunday, 17 January 2010 12:25

In 2006, results from the world’s largest low fat diet project were published (see reference at end). This was a US government-funded study of 48,835 postmenopausal women in a multicenter prospective, randomized clinical trial known as the Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial. The study was conducted from 1993 to 2005 at 40 centers around the country. The volunteers were randomly assigned to either a low-fat diet group (19,541 women) or a regular diet group (29,294 women). After about eight years of follow-up, this large and costly study did not find any significant differences in breast cancer incidence between postmenopausal women who were asked to eat a low-fat diet and those who continued to eat their regular diet. On the other hand, the results did suggest that changing to a low-fat diet may reduce the risk of breast cancer for women who had diets very high in fat to begin with.

According to most experts, the following may be reasons why this study showed no significant benefit:

1) Not many women met the 20% fat intake goal. This “low-fat diet” regimen may not have truly been low in fat. Since most women did not meet the fat-reduction goal, this study may have proven only that the approach to the intervention did not work. It did not prove that a truly low-fat diet doesn’t help protect you from breast cancer. Getting only 20% of your calories from fat is very difficult to do. This means that, if you eat 2,000 calories per day, only 400 calories could come from fat. So it’s not surprising that less than a third of the women met this goal after the first year, and only 14% continued to meet the goal after six years. Because so few women met the requirements of the study, it means that we don’t really know how a diet low in fat affects breast cancer risk.

2) Diets were self-reported and infrequent, which may make them unreliable. This study relied on the women’s written reports of what they ate, which may not be an accurate reflection of true intake. These reports were done occasionally. No daily food log or journal was done and checked. Most of us aren’t proud to admit in an interview or questionnaire that we’ve broken the rules and haven’t stuck to the “prescribed diet.” So there may be a tendency to under-report the amount of fat actually eaten.

3) Other changes besides the low-fat diet. The study did not separate out the effects of reducing the amount of fat eaten vs. the effects of increasing fruit and vegetable servings. Women in the low-fat diet group ate almost two more servings per day of fruits and vegetables than women in the regular diet group and about one more serving of grains.

4) Length of follow-up time. While 48,835 women is a lot of people, eight years isn’t a lot of follow-up time. Eating a low-fat diet for 15 or 20 years may offer more significant benefits and show a closer relationship between dietary fat and breast cancer risk.

5) Baseline body mass index. In this study, 74% of the women were classified as overweight by body mass index at the beginning of the study. So we don’t really know if a low-fat diet would offer benefits to women who are at a normal weight to begin with.

6) All the women were postmenopausal. It may be that dietary fat plays a more important role in the diets of younger, premenopausal women. It makes sense that your diet in the first 50 years of your life might affect your cancer risk in the second half of your life. This study doesn’t address that question.

7) The type of fat wasn’t specified. There are three basic types of fats: saturated, mono-unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated. In this study, women were asked only to reduce fat. They weren’t asked to consider the various types of fat or told that reducing saturated fats may offer more health benefits than reducing unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are only found in foods that come from animals and are the types of fats that raise your blood cholesterol level. Trans fats (also called trans-saturated fats) are man-made fats. (Vegetable oils are modified to form margarine and vegetable shortening, both of which are trans fats.) Trans fats also are added to prepackaged foods. Saturated fats raise your blood’s “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein or LDL) level and lower your “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein or HDL) level. Mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats are found in plant foods like vegetables, nuts, and grains, as well as oils made from these nuts and grains (canola, corn, soybean). Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are poly-unsaturated. Besides vegetables, nuts, and grains, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are also found in coldwater fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Some studies have shown that eating foods that have mono- or poly-unsaturated fats can help reduce your levels of “bad cholesterol.” Mono- and polyunsaturated fats may also keep your triglyceride levels low. Triglycerides are a form of fat in your bloodstream.

None of the women in either group were asked to change their health-related behaviors, such as exercise, drinking or smoking. These known risk factors for breast cancer were left uncontrolled and may obscure any benefit from eating less fat.

9) This study is about a low fat diet; it is not about going from an overweight/obese state to a normal weight. Eating less fat while staying persistently fat may not help anyone! Since this study cost nearly half a billion dollars, it is unlikely that another lifestyle intervention clinical trial at this large scale would be done again anytime soon, particularly in the current US economy.

Reference: Prentice RL, et al. Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of invasive breast cancer: the Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 295, pages 629-42, 2006.

Diet

Lose Weight With Diet Pills

Last Updated on Sunday, 17 January 2010 12:25 Written by Natural Health Team Sunday, 17 January 2010 12:25

Of the so many diet pills available in the market today, the Alli weight loss pill is said to be the only one to have approval from the FDA as a weight loss product which can be obtained over the counter. If you buy and use the Alli diet pills you will soon realize the change that they can bring about. This weight loss product is said to be extremely safe when used as per the directions. It works only in your digestive system and neither in your heart nor in your brain. In other words you will never experience jittery nerves or sleeplessness with Alli diet pills.

When you are taking Alli diet pills, make sure that you take a multivitamin every day before going to bed as these diet pills can hinder the absorption of certain vitamins. Before you start on your Alli course of therapy, it is advisable that you start on a low fat diet which is well balanced and low calorie. And as a word of caution you might experience bowel changes once you start taking the Alli diet pills. Alli can make a world of difference when it comes to losing weight. You don’t have to wait to lose weight.

If you are really serious about losing weight then you should take care of your diet as well as exercise some. Just make sure you check with your doctor before you decide to start your course on diet pills and the same goes for the exercise. The Alli diet pills produce weight loss be essentially blocking out a quarter of the fat that you consume. The fat which is not digested by your body travels out through the bowel movements and prevents it from getting stored. Since these pills block the amount of fat being retained, your weight loss starts showing almost instantly.

A lot of people are said to have great results with the Alli diet pills and even more so now that they are available over the counter without a prescription. The only problem is that you might have a small accident if you happen to stray from your diet as the excess fat goes out like we said before. Many users of the Alli diet pills claim that it is the diet more than the pills themselves that results in weight loss. The diet is extremely important to avoid embarrassing moments. Apart from that there are no negatives really. Weight loss is quick and easy.

The Alli diet pills are not meant to be used for dieting long term and are not meant for people who need to shed excessive quantities of weight. And it is not just the pills that you have to take; you have to maintain a low fat diet if you are to see the effect of the pills in kilos shed. But if you maintain the diet you can be sure you will be moving towards a new svelte you.

Diet

Generic Propecia Makes Hair Regrowth Possible in Bald Men

Last Updated on Saturday, 16 January 2010 10:05 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 16 January 2010 10:05

Generic Propecia is like a blessing to the bald men. They can get back the dense hairs with the intake of the generic Propecia pills. Male pattern baldness has been observed worldwide. More than 30% of the men in US alone suffer with the problem of the male pattern baldness. Hormonal imbalance is the main cause of the hair loss in the men. The increase in the amount of the dihydrotestosterone and decrease in the testosterone levels leads to the hair loss in men. Too much oiling or washing of hairs roughly can also cause the hair loss. Sometimes hair loss is also hereditary. Hair loss is getting a problem of concern as bald men feels less confident about themselves due to it. Hair loss affects the entire personality of an individual that affects his social, personal, and professional life.

Hair loss can be treated easily with the intake of the generic Propecia daily for about 4 months. You only have to little patient as the effect may take little longer, but we assure you that hair regrowth is confirmed. Generic Propecia is the adapted version of the branded Propecia so it works perfectly same. There is no difference in the effectiveness. You can believe in the generic version of Propecia because it contains the same active ingredient Finasteride. If you dissatisfied with all other methods of hair loss treatment the generic Propecia is the option for you to get back the hairs. The only necessity is that you must take a good care of your hairs and avoid the use of the detergent based shampoos.

Dihydrotestosterone causes the hair loss by sticking to the hair follicles. This leads to cut down the supply of the nutrients to the hairs. As a result the hair starts thinning which later on leads to the hair fall. Dihydrotestosterone also makes the hold of hairs from the roots to loosen up which promotes the hair loss. This dihydrotestosterone is produced from the testosterone and is required in the body to perform various functions. It is produced from the testosterone with the help of the enzyme type 2 reductase. When this enzyme is found to be more amount it converts more testosterone into dihydrotestosterone that later on leads to the hair loss.

Generic Propecia works by stopping the conversion of the testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. It does this by inhibiting the activity of the enzyme type 2 reductase. Due to this the hair loss is stopped. In the next step it improves the nutrients supply to the scalp region. As a result of this hair regrowth is boosted and hairs start appearing on the bald areas. This process is not so easy; it takes a time of about 4 months to grow on the bald areas. If you want the dense hair growth then you need to wait for a year to see the thick dense hairs.

The generic Propecia dose is 1 mg in a day. It is advisable to maintain the same dosage for about 3 months. If you don’t get any effect consult the doctor but, don’t increase the dosage on your own. Generic Propecia should be taken for time recommended by the doctor, don’t take it for the more time because it may lead to the serious effects on your sexual health. It has been noted that sperm count of the person who take Propecia in excess or for more time is being reduced. Even the functioning of the male reproductive organ is adversely affected. So, take generic Propecia but only after consulting with the doctor.

men health

Tips for Women’s Health and Fitness

Last Updated on Saturday, 16 January 2010 09:55 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 16 January 2010 09:55

Health and fitness is basic concern in most of people’s mind these days. We are living a very fast paced life. A life full of stress and tensions. A life full of workloads, commitments and more work load. Many people have different diseases that they never had any idea of because they were so busy in there day to day life. Although we try follow the simple heath and fitness tips , a few lucky one’s also join some health and fitness center but still we are unable to take care of our health the way we should be.

Fitness Tips For Women

Supportive nutrition, as opposed to just healthy eating, supports a lifestyle that will help you achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. In order to maintain a healthy weight we must have a proper balance of beneficial proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Eating a variety of healthy foods from all of the food groups is essential to achieving and maintaining lasting weight loss.

Women are predisposed to fat storage. It is in your genetic make up. Puberty, your monthly cycles, pregnancy, and menopause are all factors that promote an immense amount of fat storage. And, if you are taking any kind of hormone replacement therapies, your situation is compounded. Not to mention medical conditions that are more common to women. Men do not have to deal with any of this.

Joint Stability, Proper Posture, & Muscular Balance

Another area of concern for women’s fitness is joint stability, proper posture, and muscular balance. These three areas of concern are crucial to any woman who wants to lead a vital, pain free life.

Without exception, every woman that I have come across has needed help with posture, joint stability and muscular balance.

For many women, fitness is a challenge simply because taking the physical steps necessary to begin a fitness program can be the most difficult part of the process. The need for motivation to make that effort starts there. For many other women, getting started is not an issue. Ultimately though, whether getting started in easy or not, for the large majority of us staying focused, committed, and on the right track requires motivation on a daily and even sometimes hourly basis.

You can get that motivation through various means. Play great music, live for the compliments that come as your body starts changing, (gotta love that attention), buy that outfit or swimsuit you want to wear this summer and look at it everyday, or even tape a picture of you with that body of your dreams all over the house.

Fitness supplements should not be confused with that of performance enhancing substances, which are mostly illegal due to the fact that they provide an unfair advantage to the sportsperson, or because of the potential health hazards and risks that are associated with these substances, like that of anabolic steroids. Although some performance enhancing substances are available by prescription, as they are controlled within the medical fraternity, and are still used today by bodybuilders and some sportspeople, at the risk of being found out and possibly banned from their chosen sport.

women health

Surviving Your Wedding: Stress-Free Wedding Tips

Last Updated on Saturday, 16 January 2010 05:09 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 16 January 2010 05:09

It’s down to the wire, and you find yourself pulling out your hair because the florist is slow at returning your calls, the tailor is taking too long to alter your gown, and you can’t decide which dish to serve at the reception. It’s enough to make anyone go crazy, but surviving wedding stress is possible.

Even if you have a wedding planner, you’re still facing hurdles of your own when it comes to surviving the wedding stress, trying to make sure that everything flows smoothly on the big day. But what do you do when unexpected issues arise? Have you considered your plan of action and which stress-free wedding tips you’ll rely on if something goes wrong? In these instances, a hands-on approach to the problems you’ll encounter will solve everything right then and there.

So, with all the potential problems that can happen before and during your wedding day, how do you handle, manage, and overcome wedding planning stress? Here are a few of the best stress-free wedding tips that brides swear by to get them through the wedding planning stages.

Stay in Control with These Stress-Free Wedding Tips!

1. Surviving wedding stress involves giving yourself enough time to plan. Your wedding is what you make of it. If you allot no more than six or seven months for an extravagant affair, chances are it may look like it was rushed. With extra time, you can plan, make changes, hire the right vendors the first time around, and choose the best venues that match your budget (because you can shop around). And if you’re in a rush to get married, opt for a simpler ceremony and reception – one that’s affordable but doesn’t cause you stress in the long run.

2. Remember that a holiday wedding, while beautiful, is more stressful. Not only do you have a wedding to plan, but you have to worry about the added stress from the holidays. At Thanksgiving, for instance, you’ll have guests coming in from out of town, and you’ll worry about a big dinner, while at Christmas, you’re focused on buying gifts and decorating–all at the same time. This is not to say that surviving the wedding stress (and holiday stress) can’t be done; holiday winter weddings are some of the most elegant, joyous events. But you need to keep in mind that you will have added stress to deal with. Make sure you have a dependable wedding planner who can offer valuable stress-free wedding tips as well as many helpful friends who have the time to help you plan your big day.

3. Hire the right wedding planner – and get knowledgeable stress-free wedding tips. This is a given when it comes to surviving wedding stress. Of course, some brides do not hire a wedding planner, and that’s fine. Planners simply provide a sort of stress buffer for you and your family so that you can concentrate on other elements of the wedding. You’ll have the opportunity beforehand to interview wedding planners in your area to see if they can accurately align with your wishes and carry them out as you see fit. Plus, you can evaluate his or her personality to see if it’s someone you can work with on a regular basis.

4. Surviving wedding stress when one of your vendors goes MIA. Yikes! This is a tricky situation. You’ve planned for months that your vendor will show up at the time agreed upon. But it’s the day of the wedding — what can you do now? If at all possible, try to find a replacement; this may not be feasible since it’s truly last minute. A missing vendor does not spell immediate doom however. Here’s your chance to save the day – if the florist doesn’t show up, make a pit stop at the local grocery store and buy all the flowers you can. If the DJ cancels, enlist a friend to bring along an MP3 player with music everyone can dance to. And if the minister calls out sick, there’s a possibility a notary (in some states) can marry you, or you can have an eloquent guest perform the ceremony. After all, once you have that license in hand, you’re officially married regardless.

5. One of the best stress-free wedding tips for you (and your family) is to avoid being a ‘bridezilla.’ Stress can bring out the worst in anyone, and tackling and surviving wedding stress is the most difficult. And no one knows it better than the friends and family of the bride, who may witness a change in her demeanor over time. There’s no need to subject your loved ones to your emotional outbursts. Always give yourself time to reflect and relax. You don’t have to spend every waking moment making plans. Trust your friends to help you when it comes to planning the wedding and surviving the wedding stress; don’t go it alone.

Proper Planning Means Surviving Wedding Stress

Managing and surviving wedding stress is not easy. There are so many things that might make you want to call the planning off. Just remember that one of the most helpful stress-free wedding tips out there is to make sure that you allow yourself enough time to plan and make the day right. This is, after all, your wedding day, and while everything will not go the way you planned, keep a smile on your face and appreciate the many people who made the time to celebrate with you.

stress