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Comment on New Evidence That Red Meat Raises Risk of Cancer by New Evidence – Red Meat Consumption can Raise Risk of Cancer « The Epigenetics Project Blog

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:47:56 +0000

[...] In a study published at PSA Rising shows that eating red meat and drinking milk may put these animal proteins in close proximity to our cells causing an immune system response that may result in cancer tumors. These results are published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). A molecule (sugar based) called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is introduced into humans via red meat consumption. The body then produces anti agents to combat these molecules. This can lead to chronic inflammation and cancer. [...]

Comment on Common Food Additive May Fuel Growth of Lung Cancer, Study Finds by admin

admin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:17:21 +0000

For a quick and partial look at how phosphates are used in processing foods and drinks see Phosphates in Food by Ricardo A. Molins, pp. 186 ff. This is an online book.

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by One Brand of Modified Citrus Pectin Kills Prostate Cancer Cells, Another Brand Has "Little Activity" Researchers Say | psa-rising.com » EatingWell » food news

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:31:04 +0000

[...] Georgia researchers who announced that citrus pectin kills cancer cells actually discovered something more specific. They expected and showed that Thorne’s modified [...]

Comment on Salmon, Prostate Cancer and a COX-2 gene variant by osheapj14

osheapj14 — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:40:36 +0000

I wouldn’t rely on fish for the proper daily intake of omega-3.

The problem with most salmon (restaurant or supermarket) is that it is farmed & no more healthier than steak. And perhaps less so. You’d be better off with grass-fed beef.

Avoid almost all farmed fish (tilapia is always farmed, e.g.).

People think that fish is healthy, but if it is served fried (the only way a lot of people can stomach it), the ratio of omega-6 (from the oil), relative to the omega-3 (from the fish) is so high, that you might as well not bother.

-Patrick

Comment on Canned Wild Salmon for Omega-3s by osheapj14

osheapj14 — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:21:23 +0000

Marian Burros has written a few articles on salmon in the NY Times. The first that got my attention claimed that some farmed salmon has almost no omega-3. The feed is often highly unnatural animal byproducts, resulting in high omega-6 & greyish flesh. In the period before harvesting, the fat content & flesh color (via dye) are modified for the purchaser. For example, a high-end restaurant may favor a delicate pink hue & a high fat content. Diners will choose it over the porterhouse steak, thinking it is healthy. Wrong!

The second piece from Burros follows naturally from the first. Many people started looking for wild salmon. This has a darker color & less fat. Both can be controlled by the farm. Sure enough, a lot of places in NYC were unknowingly selling farmed as wild. No-one seemed to wonder how wild salmon suddenly became plentiful.

Basically, you need a supplier who is really on the ball (they can easily be fooled). Incidentally, farmed can be OK. Clare Island salmon [Ireland] has a good reputation.

As for canned, it was an occasional treat when I was a kid, but you didn’t want a lot & you didn’t want to eat it again for a while. However, canned is a reliable source (at present) of wild salmon.

I love the skin & bones. It’s the flesh that gets a bit boring to me. The fish-cake idea makes sense. You can add all sorts of stuff to make it interesting. Otherwise, canned fish is a tough sell.

Another canned fish that deserves mention is the sardine. So far, the sardine is not farmed (as far as I know). There is no reliable definition of what a sardine is (as far as I know). If you look for sardines from Maine, they will almost certainly be baby herring. Herring is a great fish for omega-3 & used to be plentiful, but I never see it now. The Maine products are very inexpensive. They come in various sauces, e.g. Mustard. But it’s still a tough sell.

And yet people are happy to eat canned tuna – a deeply compromised fish. Since tuna has such a strong track record in the U.S., I suggest looking for tuna recipes with a mind to substitute canned salmon. The standard tuna salad mix is not a good idea, since men with PCa should stay away from mayonnaise.

-Patrick

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by osheapj14

osheapj14 — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:40:33 +0000

Hi Jacquie,

I wasn’t clear. Getting to the journal wasn’t the issue. The only way to get a glimpse inside the text is to have guessed a keyword. Sure enough the FPP was purchased from Thorne. That was the backdoor.

Regards, -Patrick

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by jacquie

jacquie — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:22:45 +0000

Patrick,

I don’t understand why the abstract “drove you crazy,” except it’s not enough to answer your questions. PubMed is actually an excellent place to start, for 2 reasons. Firstly, they give (in this case) a direct link to the journal, Glycobiology, that you found by a “backdoor” route (Googling “Thorne”). Look on the upper right hand side of the PubMed abstract page for this link.

Secondly, PubMed pulls up related studies (right hand side of the abstract page). This enables readers to trace the history of new data and check for supporting and/or contrasting findings.

Now, it’s true that while medical journals are not in the business of promoting specific commercial products (or should not be), in a case like this people will want to know which of the products tested worked better than the others. Thanks for your input!

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by osheapj14

osheapj14 — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:24:34 +0000

The abstract [at PUBMED] drove me crazy. Why be so coy about a "commercially available" product? At least the abstract lets you know that PectaSol isn't the one. But there is a back-door way of finding out - maybe. Searching on 'Thorne', etc, I got to: http://glycob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/cwm054v1 Same abstract. No mention of Thorne, but in the Google hit list, you see: "Fractionated Pectin Powder from Thorne ..." Coincidentally, because of the study, I had added the Thorne product to my regimen (makes PectaSol taste like fine wine). Only today did I connect the study to Thorne. I still take PectaSol though. -Patrick

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by jacquie

jacquie — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:29:07 +0000

This University of Georgia finding really only applies to apoptosis of cancer cells in a dish. It certainly fits in with other research that indicates that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may help prevent multiple conditions -- heart disease, diabetes, cancer. It might be helpful for prostate cancer patient who, post-primary treatment, hope to avoid recurrence. These researchers suggest, eat more fruits and vegetables. Fruits differ in their pectin content. Apples, quince, plums, gooseberries and oranges contain more pectin than soft fruits like grapes and strawberries. However, berries and grapes have other healthful properties. Even in fruits and veggies considered "high" in pectin, it's relatively low. Typical levels of pectin: in apples, apricots approx. 1% oranges 0.5 - 3.5% carrots approx. 1.4% Squash is under study as a source of pectin for the food processing industry. A product called modified citrus pectin, announced as a tumor-shrinker c. 1995, is sold to and used by prostate cancer patients. Refs: Pienta K et al, J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995 Mar 1;87(5):348-53 . Search at PUBMED for "cancer, citrus pectin" to see the brief history of research with modified citrus pectin. University of California San Diego has an entry for modified citrus pectin in its complementary and alternative medicine section. American Cancer Society also has an entry on modified citrus pectin .

Comment on Pectin in Fruits, Vegetables Kills Prostate Cancer Cells by hglass

hglass — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:41:24 +0000

Although one of the authors said that the way we should obtain a high intake of pectin is to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, that’s not what the research was about. It demonstrated that “commercially available” Fractionated Pectin Powder (FPP) was potent at killing prostate cancer cells in the lab.

While the advice to focus on food as the best source of pectin is reasonable, there is no harm in taking pectin powder supplements. Pectin intake is beneficial for digestive health and may help transport dietary sources of cholesterol out of the body.

Unfortunately, I have found it impossible to identify sources of FPP that meet the definition in the article. All the FPP I have tracked down looks suspiciously like Pectasol or Pectasol look-alikes. Pectasol was specifically found in the research to be ineffective at killing PCa cells.