Archive for May, 2010
Can Sunlight Reduce Cancer Risk?
- Image by smlions12 via Flickr
About 30 years ago a research paper was published that raised the question of the connection between sunlight and reduction of cancer risk. The paper elaborated on the obvious conclusion that followed from sunlight’s effect on humans ability to synthesize vitamin D in its golden presence. The data that triggered the study was geographical data of the incidence of cancers across the United States of America. The southern half of the USA had a lower death rate from cancer than the northern half, but the northeast had the highest rates. For example its rates for colon cancer were twice as high as the southwest region. At the time it was published most of the medical establishment rejected it, but today the paper’s conclusion about the benefit of vitamin D for reducing the risk of cancer have been validated by many medical studies.
The best known studies include breast cancer and colon cancer, but other studies have validated the benefits of adequate vitamin D for 17 other cancers including prostate cancer. It is estimated that if everyone maintained even moderate levels of vitamin D that the deaths from many common cancers would be reduced by about 60%. For folks such as seniors who do not absorb the sun very well and those who live in a region where the sun is not high in the sky, supplements are available. This is very good news for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive steps against cancer to protect their senior health. In particular senior women can reduce their risk of breast cancer and senior men can protect their prostate health by supplementing with vitamin D.
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How B Vitamins Help Senior Women
- Image via Wikipedia
Senior women who are concerned about their senior health need to make certain that they get enough of the B vitamins, because they reduce the risk of breast cancer by 38% and other cancers by 25%. The B vitamins lower homocysteine levels which keep women’s bones strong and promote cardiovascular health, too. It turns out that the risk of age-related macular degeneration was reduced for senior women who took the B Trinity on a daily basis. The healthy trinity of B vitamins that include B6, B12, and folic acid (vitamin B9) definitely improves cardiovascular health for both senior men and women by lowering the level of homocysteine. As an added benefit they reduce the risk of stroke as well. For both senior women and men Vitamin B12 boosts energy, helps keep the brain from degrading, and improves longevity.
Despite all these myriad health benefits why don’t the B vitamins get the press that C, D, and A do? Although some multivitamins list various B vitamins in their ingredients, they don’t tell you what health benefits they bring to the senior health table. Fortunately some of the latest research on vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid (vitamin B9) has uncovered numerous health benefits that improve our health and the health of seniors in particular. Major benefits conferred by the B Trinity for seniors include contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular disease, to the reduction of the risk of cancer, and to a lowered risk of osteoporosis.
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The Big Four Lifestyle Changes for Senior Health
- Image by Damon Duncan via Flickr
Now that the Federal Government has passed Health Care Reform legislation this would be an appropriate time to take take a serious look at what each one of us can do to reform our individual health care practices. Seniors need to be particularly attentive to taking care of our senior health by the choices that we make in terms of the foods we consume, supplements that we take, and the exercise schedule that we follow. When you get right down to the nittygritty there is a lot that seniors and boomers can do to prevent or preempt diseases from ever getting started. This becomes more serious for folks the older we get, because of the special issues that affect senior health. We can choose our lifestyle so that we head in a direction with a high probability of attaining greater health or in an opposite direction with an equal probability of coming down with one of the big three diseases.
The big three killer diseases are cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. A small number of lifestyle changes can reduce the probability of seniors contracting one of the big three by 80%. Instead of raising your health insurance premiums these lifestyle changes will very likely keep them steady and in some cases may actually lower them. These lifestyle changes are attainable by most folks, but they do require sincere commitment. The alternatives for not embracing these changes are higher health insurance premiums for everyone, seriously degraded quality of life and early death. The big lifestyle changes can be reduced to four. They include eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. As one motivation coach put it, “Where attention goes, energy flows, and the result shows”. Practicing the healthy four lifestyle changes will help seniors preempt cancer, promote cardiovascular health, and avoid diabetes.
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Seniors Can Get an Immune System Boost1
- Image via Wikipedia
Seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging measures to improve their senior health can get an immune system boost by implementing some simple changes in their diet. This year in May an article appeared in a leading publication dedicated to immunity that reported on the benefits for the immune system due to adding fiber to the diet. The fiber used in the lab tests included both soluble and insoluble fiber that was added to the diet in the form of citrus pectin over a period of six weeks. In the tests the subjects that had received the added fiber were 50% less susceptible to an induced bacterial infection and recovered about 50% faster than those that lacked the added fiber in their diet.
The researchers traced these benefits for the added fiber to changes in the response of immunity cells to the challenge of a bacterial infection. Without the added fiber the immunity cells tended to be pro-inflammatory, but by adding the fiber the immunity cells became more anti-inflammatory. The immunity cells that were more anti-inflammatory were better able to fight the bacterial infection. This is good news for seniors who want to get an immune system boost, in order to improve their senior health, because they can add a number of popular foods to their diets to increase the fiber in their diet. Foods containing soluble fiber include apples, nuts, seeds, oats, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries, and carrots. Supplements in the form of powders are also available.
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Which Diet Preempts Skin Cancer?
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According to archaeologists and anthropologists we humans started out in one of the sunniest regions of planet earth. Our ancestors bodies were bathed in sunshine and it was healthy for our ancestors. Fast forward to the 21st Century and we are bombarded with warnings against skin cancer caused by sunlight. These warnings are based on data obtained by studying the results for folks who spend a lot of time in the sun. We are told that we must stay out of the sun or put on high SPF sunscreen. It turns out that all these results were based on studies of folks that followed a typical “Western” diet. More telling is the fact that the folks in sunny Greece have the lowest rate of the worst skin cancer, namely melanoma. The folks in Greece follow the “Mediterranean” diet and have low rates of that deadly skin cancer.
By way of contrast the folks in Australia have one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world. Similarly when Greeks emigrate to Australia and adopt the typical “Western” diet, they show a higher rate of melanoma than those who remain in Greece eating a “Mediterranean” diet. The bottom line here is that our choice of diet and not our location that determines what keeps us healthy or makes us sick. The parts of the “Mediterranean” diet that appear to be the most helpful in preventing melanoma and all types of UV induced skin damage are as follows. The list includes fish and shellfish, tea, lots of citrus fruits and vegetables, especially the cruciferous vegetables and carrots and tomatoes. The cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kale. This is good news for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive steps to protect their senior health.
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Why Is Topical Vitamin D Needed by Seniors?
- Image by Denis Collette…!!! via Flickr
Recently the health reports in the media have contained a number of articles that promoted the benefits of vitamin D3 for seniors, because it contributes to inhibiting something like 27 age-related diseases. The preemptive aging benefits of vitamin D3 have been highlighted particularly for their ability to reduce the risk of disease such as cardiovascular disease and a number of age-related cancers particularly the hormonal based ones. As we age the ability of our skin to synthesize vitamin D3 from sunlight decreases so that by age 70 we only synthesize about 25% of the amount we did when we were in our 20′s. Fortunately seniors can access vitamin D3 in supplement form to make up the difference. This is good news for seniors who are concerned about their senior health.
Seniors who supplement with vitamin D3 can restore their blood levels of D3 to their youthful levels, but there is a problem. The vitamin D3 that is taken in supplement form is used by our bodies to help build and maintain strong bones. Our skin is the last organ to receive the vitamin D3 which is taken in supplement form. Fortunately for seniors there is good news to report on this matter. Vitamin D3 is available in topical form, so that it can be applied directly to the skin. Applied in topical form vitamin D3 will contribute to skin cell repair, growth and metabolism. It will help to destroy free radicals and stimulate the skin’s immune system. Applying vitamin D3 topically may provide a rejuvenating effect on aging skin.
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Colorful Berries Defeat Free Radicals for Seniors
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Free radicals that are a leading factor in degenerative diseases and aging that strike every cell in our bodies on the order of 10,000 times every day. These diseases include cancer, artheroschlerosis, and diabetes. There is good news for seniors who are concerned with finding information on preemptive steps that they can take to defend themselves against the multiple diseases of aging. The good news is that most berries or fruits provide high antioxidant values, in order to defeat the free radicals that attack the cells of our bodies. The antioxidant potency of berries is determined by a measurement of the ‘oxygen radical absorbance capacity’ or ORAC. The ORAC value of any berry or fruit tells you how effective it is at neutralizing free radicals that are known as ‘reactive oxygen species’ or ROS.
The list of berries with high ORAC values includes many popular ones, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Recently a berry from Central and South America has been measured to have the highest ORAC value of any berry or fruit. The Acai berry has an ORAC value more than five times larger that blueberry which has one of the highest ORAC values among berries and fruit. Consuming these berries will contribute to neutralizing the effects of free radicals in seniors and positively help to promote the desired preemptive anti-aging effects against the multiple diseases of aging. By adding these berries to their diet seniors will be promoting their cardiovascular health.
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