Aspartame, sold under the brand names NutraSweet and Equal and found in popular products like Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Snapple and Sugar Free Kool-Aid, has been under pressure for the past two years from evidence that it might cause leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer in rats. Reuters reports today that the FDA is “unmoved” by this evidence, which comes from Italy.

We have some recipes for canned pink wild Alaskan salmon for people who, like many of us, live on limited budgets. Hughie Kearnley, a chef who is fighting prostate cancer, shares his recipes for wild Alaskan salmon both canned and fresh.

January 16, 2007 Tomatoes and broccoli — two vegetables known for their cancer-fighting qualities — are better at shrinking prostate tumors when both are part of the daily diet than when they’re eaten alone, according to a new study from University of Illinois and University of Ohio.

“When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect,” said University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman. “We think it’s because different bioactive compounds in each food work on different anti-cancer pathways.”

Researchers have found that men who drink an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week are only half as likely (52% ) to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who do not drink red wine. In addition, red wine appears particularly protective against advanced or aggressive cancers.

Why red wine? Scientists are focusing on plant chemicals — especially resveratrol — found in wine, in grapes and in several other fruits. Resveratrol appears to normalize certain cancer-stimulating processes in cells, upregulate vitamin D3 and counterbalance androgens, the male hormones that stimulate the prostate.

Flax is a contentious issue among prostate cancer researchers. Dr. Dean Ornish on WebMed cites Dr. Charles “Snuffy” Myers’ view of flaxseed oil as virtual fuel for prostate cancer tumors. Recommending omega-3 fatty acids in fish, Ornish notes some “disturbing research published by Dr. Charles ‘Snuffy’ Myers at the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville. He has evidence indicating that flax seed oil may promote the growth of prostate tumors. In someone with prostate cancer, I would avoid flax seed oil and instead take 2-3 grams per day of fish oil.”

Yet Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., a researcher in Duke’s School of Nursing, continues to turn up evidence that flaxseed — not flax oil — inhibits growth of prostate cancer.

Researchers exploring the notion that certain nutrients might
protect against pancreatic cancer found that lean individuals who got
most of these nutrients from food were protected against developing
cancer. The study also suggests this protective effect does not hold true
if the nutrients come from vitamin supplements.