Does milk cause cancer?

Estrogen in the fat of dairy products may fuel cancers that are hormone related, including cancers of the breast and prostate, research suggests.

In one study of breast cancer patients, women who ate more than one serving daily of high-fat dairy products were about 50 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than other patients.

The link may be due to estrogen. This hormone is soluble in fat, so it is found in higher concentrations in high-fat dairy products. And some types of breast cancer have estrogen receptors and are fueled by estrogen.

However, a healthy, well balanced diet is more important to prevent cancers. A healthy diet should also be high in fibre and include at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day. And it is best to avoid smoking and limit alcohol intake.

Are you hungry?

How do you know you are hungry?

Leptin is a very important hormone produced in the fat cells. It tells your brain when you are full, triggering the feeling that you need to stop eating. If you have too much leptin, your sensitivity to it can decrease and this leads to more hunger and cravings, and eventually obesity.

No food contains leptin. But some foods can help increase our sensitivity to it. This means our metabolism can then go up, cravings go down. These foods include leafy greens and fiber-rich foods. They can also help keep your body feeling full. These foods spark the sensitivity that your body needs in order to respond appropriately to leptin. For even more regulation of that sensitivity, it needs to get a good allotment of fish in your diet. 

Benefits of Green Tea

The bioactive polyphenolic compounds found in green tea account for the benefits of drinking green tea. Its predominant polyphenols are the catechins and include epicatechin, epicatechin-3-gallate, epigallocatechin and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).

Studies show that green tea can increase our metabolic rate and greater use of fat.

This is because the catechins in green tea inhibit the enzyme that breaks down norepinephrine (a chemical released from the sympathetic nervous system in response to stress, also referred to as a stress hormone) so that its biological effect (e.g., increased metabolic rate, increased fat breakdown, etc.) are prolonged.

Further, green tea causes a preferential use of fat over carbohydrate. A study shows that green tea is an effective in shedding fat, particularly in the mid-section. It has a great effect on reductions in subcutaneous and visceral fat in the abdomen, a region associated with higher risk for many chronic diseases.

The increased metabolic rate and greater use of fat amounted to an increase in energy expenditure ranging from 65 to 200 kcal/day. This extra fat burning translates into about 0.7 to 1.5 pounds of fat loss over a month period.

Green tea may also act to reduce food intake and inhibit the main enzymes involved in fat storage.

In addition, several lines of evidence point to green tea as an effective preventative and therapeutic agent in heart disease and cancers.

Green tea lowers cholesterol levels in the blood and is positively associated with a lower incidence of different forms of heart disease. This could be due to improved antioxidant capacity in the blood after intake of green tea and lowering of oxidized LDL. Green tea can also prevent a variety of different cancers.

And it may be used as a nutritional supplement for atherosclerosis, blood sugar control, HPV virus infection and neurodegenerative diseases.