HEALTH BRIEFS: Fiber-rich diet; Incredible eggs; vitamin D and prostate cancer; endurance exercise

Fiber-rich diet may reduce death risk

A diet rich in fiber, particularly from whole grains, may cut risk of death from cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases, according to a report that was published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week.

Dr. Yikyung Park, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., in the U.S., and colleagues from NCI and AARP also found that dietary fiber was linked to a reduced risk of death from any cause over a nine-year period.

Diets rich in fiber, the part of plant foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains that resists digestion, are thought to lower risk of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and obesity, wrote the researchers in their background information.

We also know that fiber reduces inflammation, helps bowel movements, lowers blood pressure, reduces cholesterol and improves glucose levels in the blood, promotes weight loss, and binds to agents that potentially cause cancer so they are more likely to be excreted by the body.

The incredible edible egg

Eggs’ nutritional value has been re-examined by the USDA, and the findings are promising for egg lovers. Eggs in actuality contain 14 percent less cholesterol than previously thought. In addition, eggs turn out to be a huge supplier of Vitamin D, which was the most ingested single vitamin pill in 2010. Vitamin D came out the big winner in 2010 as the “most used single vitamin” at 56.2 percent usage amongst those surveyed, and also won the “most improved” category with a 52 percent increase in usage since 2008.

Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralization of bone and to prevent hypocalcemic tetany. It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodeling. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen. Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.

No link between vitamin D levels and prostate cancer

Vitamin D levels do not affect men’s chances of developing prostate cancer, according to new research published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.

In a detailed review — funded by Cancer Research UK — scientists from the University of Bristol looked at all the available evidence and found there was no link between the amount of vitamin D in men’s blood and the risk of prostate cancer.

The findings support a review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer which found no evidence that lower levels of vitamin D increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Endurance exercise prevents premature aging: McMaster study

Endurance exercise may stop you looking and feeling old, it may even help you live longer, a study by McMaster University researchers has found.

“Many people falsely believe that the benefits of exercise will be found in a pill,” said Mark Tarnopolsky, principal investigator of the study and a professor of pediatrics and medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “We have clearly shown that there is no substitute for the “real thing” of exercise when it comes to protection from aging.”

The study, published in the prestigious science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that premature aging in nearly every organ in the body was completely prevented in mice that ran on a treadmill three times a week for five months.

Tags: life, health