Posted in Food as Medicine

Have you ever left a meal in the oven for too long or set the toaster too high? Maybe you’ve fried something in a pan and really fried it. Burning food is a common occurrence — but can these seemingly minor incidents put you at an increased risk of developing cancer? Carcinogens in foods
Certain foods, when cooked at a high temperature, form natural chemicals that are classified as probable carcinogens, but studies suggest that these “likely” carcinogens are actually ...

Scientists have discovered a food pairing that just might add years to your life. According to a large prospective cohort study in Nutrients, long-term consumption of mushrooms and algae reduces all-cause mortality among older adults. Previous observational studies have linked higher intakes of mushrooms and algae with lower risks of cancer, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hyperuricaemia, and cognitive impairment. And a recent meta-analysis (including five prospective studies) identified an i...

The study, published Sept. 7 in The BMJ journal, included over 103,000 French adults who participated in a web-based nutrition study. The average age of participants at the start was 42 years and almost 80% were female. At the start of the study, people filled out questionnaires about their diet, health, physical activity, and personal information such as education, smoking status, and occupation. They also completed multiple dietary assessments at the beginning of the study and every 6 mon...

Researchers from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons set out to investigate the impact of the typical Western-style diet of the microbiome on mice. In the four-week study, scientists found that the mice showed signs of metabolic syndrome, including weight gain, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. Moreover, the animals’s microbiomes were altered — segmented filamentous bacteria (found in rodents, fish, and chickens) decreased and other bacteria ...

Could a ketogenic diet for cancer prove beneficial? In this case study, a British man rejected the standard of care to treat his terminal brain cancer. After adopting a ketogenic diet in 2014, his typically fatal glioblastoma tumour grew at a very slow rate. As the study notes, successful treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) continues to elude, despite decades of intense research. It is known that GBM is similar to most other malignant cancers in that is needs glucose and glutamine for growth, r...

Cheese often gets a bad rap for its high calorie count and fat content. But when consumed in small portions, cheese — particularly Jarlsberg cheese — can help preserve bone health. A small comparative clinical trial, published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health, shows that a small daily portion of Jarlsberg cheese helps ward off bone thinning (osteopenia/osteoporosis) — without raising harmful low-density cholesterol. The benefits appear to be limited to Jarlsberg che...