Can we target cancer with ketogenic diets? Can you help?

Richard David Feinman is raising money for ground-breaking research that may help cure cancer. I think it’s a worthy cause.

Dr. Feinman writes:

“We have a good deal of enthusiasm in the keto/paleo/low-carb community. We have the real sense that we can we use carbohydrate restriction to take advantage of the characteristic metabolic features of cancer — inflexible reliance on glucose. Enthusiasm may have outstripped the data and several groups are trying to fill the gap. The barrier rests with the difficulty for anybody to obtain funding from NIH or other government or private agencies and the long-standing resistance to low-carbohydrate diets makes it particularly difficult.We have some good experiments and a dedicated technician and we can efficiently use limited funds. Your backing can help. A $15 donation gets us several days of supplies for the in vitro experiments that provide the biochemical underpinnings for attacking cancer in the clinic. Our project at experiment.com provides background, a place for discussion and reports from the lab.

The current metabolic point of view in cancer — emphasizing flexibility of fuel choices —  derives from renewed interest in the Warburg effect. Warburg saw that many cancer cells were producing lactic acid, the product of glycolysis. In other words, the tumors were not using the more efficient aerobic metabolism even when oxygen was present in the environment. The tumor cell’s requirement for glucose suggests the possibility of giving the host an advantage by restricting carbohydrate and offering ketone bodies as an alternative fuel.”

Click the link below for a little more info and to make a donation:

Source: Can we target cancer with ketogenic diets? Can you help? | Richard David Feinman

Potatoes Don’t Cause Diabetes, Obesity, or Cardiovascular Disease

…at least according to researchers in Denmark who did a review of the scientific literature.

“The identified studies do not provide convincing evidence to suggest an association between intake of potatoes and risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, or cardiovascular disease. French fries may be associated with increased risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes although confounding may be present. In this systematic review, only observational studies were identified. These findings underline the need for long-term randomized controlled trials.”

Source: Potatoes and risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy adults: a systematic review of clinical intervention and observational studies

Mediterranean and Paleo Diets May Reduce Incidence of Colon Polyps

Colon cancer is one of several cancer types reduced by the Mediterranean diet. The diet may do so by preventing colon adenomas (aka colon polyps), which are precursors to cancer. Click the link at bottom for the full scientific report. A snippet:

“Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States. Rapidly increasing incidence rates in previously low-incidence populations in urban China and Japan and among male Polynesians in Hawaii have coincided with the adoption of a more westernized lifestyle by those populations. These changing incidence rates, along with studies of immigrant populations, point to a strong influence of diet and other lifestyle factors on CRC risk.”

Source: Paleolithic and Mediterranean Diet Pattern Scores and Risk of Incident, Sporadic Colorectal Adenomas

My Wife Has Started Sous Vide Cooking

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We just use one of our large pots and this Anova Heater/Circulator

I don’t know much about this cooking method yet. It uses heated water to cook food at a constant, relatively low temperature.

Traditionally, the food is sealed in a vacuum bag. My wife has done that but lately has just been using plastic bags and squeezing most of the air out manually.

It does a very good job with chicken. If you over-cook chicken, it gets tough. That rarely happens with the sous vide method.

Now I’m worried about chemical poisoning from the plastic bags.

Steve Parker, M.D.

I Finally Tried Quinoa

Not my cup o' tea

Not my cup o’ tea

Quinoa has been trendy for several years. Proponents tout its relatively high protein and fiber content. My daughter wanted to try it, so we cooked some together. She chose Giada De Laurentiis’ Herbed Quinoa recipe.

It was just OK. I doubt quinoa will ever be in my top 20 favorite recipes. If I run across it in a restaurant, I’ll try it one more time.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Even if you don’t know how to pronounce quinoa, you’ll have no trouble with 99.9% of the words in my books.

Is Sitting the New Smoking? Not Quite

Click the link below and you’ll find that young adults in the United States are sedentary for 6-8 hours a day, while adults 60 or older spend 9 hours a day sedentary.

From MedicalNewsToday:

“Sedentary behavior can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions, even among people who are physically active. This is according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Sitting too much is detrimental to health, regardless of physical activity levels, say researchers.In recent years, there has been an increasing number of studies documenting the harms of sedentary behavior – defined as any waking activity that involves sitting or lying down, such as watching TV or working on the computer.

Research has repeatedly linked sedentary behavior with increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and more.A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine earlier this year estimated that prolonged sitting is responsible for 430,000 all-cause deaths over 54 countries, and a more recent study claimed that sedentary behavior is a leading risk factor for mortality, second only to smoking.”

Source: Prolonged sitting: ‘Exercise does not offset health risks,’ say AHA – Medical News Today

Obesity-related cancer risk increased by overweight duration

MedicalNewsToday has all the details you need:

“The study found that being overweight for a longer duration as an adult significantly increased the incidence of all obesity-related cancers by 7 percent for every 10-year increase in overweight adulthood period. An increase in risk was also seen for postmenopausal breast cancer, by 5 percent, and endometrial cancer, by 17 percent.

After adjusting for the intensity of overweight – how overweight individuals were – these figures rose to 8 percent for postmenopausal breast cancer and 37 percent for endometrial cancer for every 10 years spent with BMI ten units above normal weight.

The findings highlight that the duration a woman spends overweight, and how overweight they are, play important roles in their risk of cancer, which emphasizes the importance of obesity prevention at all ages from early onset.

The authors write: “We found that longer durations of overweight and obesity were significantly associated with an increased incidence of obesity-related cancers, postmenopausal breast cancer, and colon, endometrial, and kidney cancer.”

Source: Obesity-related cancer risk increased by overweight duration – Medical News Today

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet

Two diet books in one

Book Readers Live Longer 

P.D. Mangan has all the pertinent details:

“A recent study found an association between the reading of books and longevity. Compared to people who read no books, those who did experienced a 20% reduction in mortality.”

Source: Book Readers Live Longer – Rogue Health and Fitness

I’ve always thought my books help people live longer.

DHA, an Omega-3 Fatty Acid, Is Again Linked to Alzheimers Disease

Dead whole fish aren't very appealing to many folks

Dead whole fish aren’t very appealing to many folks

Linked in a good way.

It’s a little complicated.

DHA is an essential fatty acid. Our bodies need DHA, and certain fish are a good sources for us.

A recent small study found that people with higher levels of bloodstream DHA have less accumulation of amyloid in their brains. Amyloid deposition is a marker of Alzheimers disease. As the dementia starts and progresses, amyloid builds up in the brain. We don’t know if the amyloid is actually causing harm to brain tissue, or is simply a bystander to some other primary disease process. Some researchers think that if we can prevent amyloid build-up, we can prevent Alzheimers.

A recent MedPageToday article reviews the new study I mentioned above:

“So what’s a clinician to do? Quinn asked. “Maybe the best advice is to adhere to the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, each of which recommend eating fish two to three times per week, primarily for vascular health,” he suggested.

Source: Role for Fatty Acid Metabolism in Preclinical AD? | Medpage Today

I’ve been recommending at least that level of consumption since 2007. Follow my Advanced Mediterranean Diet or Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet and you’ll get plenty of DHA.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Fish with decent levels of DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, herring, and albacore tuna.

I’ve Long Known That Exercise Is Powerful Medicine, But Didn’t Expect This…

Physical activity improved brain function in schizophrenics:

“The researchers note that a number of previous studies have hailed exercise for its neurocognitive benefits, but that to date, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of how physical activity might affect the cognitive functioning of people with schizophrenia.

With this in mind, the team conducted a meta-analysis of 10 controlled trials involving a total of 385 individuals with schizophrenia. All trials looked at how exercise – predominantly aerobic exercise – affected patients’ cognitive functioning.

The analysis revealed that schizophrenia patients who completed around 12 weeks of aerobic exercise – alongside their usual schizophrenia treatment – had better cognitive functioning than those who did not engage in aerobic exercise.In detail, the team found aerobic exercise significantly improved the attention, social cognition – the ability to understand social situations – and working memory of individuals with schizophrenia.”

Source: Schizophrenia symptoms eased with aerobic exercise – Medical News Today