Monday, March 16, 2009

Reduce your cancer risk with fruits and vegetables

So if you've read any of my previous blogs, than you know that fruits and vegetables are important to eat. However, did you know that you can reduce your risk of getting cancer just by eating more of them? And did you know that if you've had cancer you can reduce your risk of it coming back? The Canadian Breast Cancer society has a new poster filled with fruits and vegetables aimed at prevention. Many doctors are also switching to prevention of Cancer instead of focusing on finding a cure. If we can prevent ourselves from getting cancer in the first place then why would we need to cure it?

Roughly 11 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer and nearly eight million people die from cancer each year. However, cancer is mostly preventable."

Healthier living could prevent about a third of the most common cancers in rich countries and about a quarter in poorer ones, claim researchers. Better diets, more exercise and controlling weight could also prevent more than 40 percent of colon and breast cancer cases in some countries, according to the study which urged governments and individuals to do more to cut the number of global cancer deaths each year.

Researchers recommended -- in line with what health experts, including governments and the U.N. World Health Organization, have long been advising -- that people follow diets based on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and go easy on red meats, dairy products and fats. On a global level every year, there are millions of cancer cases that could have been prevented and this is why we need to act now before the situation gets even worse.

If you've had cancer before then you don't just want to eat a few fruits and vegetables, but eat LOTS. According to a
U.S. study released on Monday December 15th, 2008, certain breast cancer survivors who LOAD up on fruits and vegetables, eating far more than current U.S. guidelines, can slash their risk the tumors will come back by nearly a third. the women in this study were told to eat at least 10 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables per day.

One specific fruit that has been linked with killing leukemia is grape seeds. An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract.

Further tests will need to be done on this specific extract, but as far as simply eating more fruits and vegetables to prevent cancer: The verdict is in: Just do it! And if you need some help in getting more fruits and vegetables in your diet, consider the whole food supplement juice plus, which is made from 17 fruits, vegetables, and grains. Studies done on juice plus have shown that it can reduce your risk of cancer. For more information see www.morellojuiceplus.com


Friday, March 13, 2009

Fruits and Vegetables: What's so great about them?

Did you know that the world health organization has increased the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables you should consume in a day from 5-9 to 9-13. That means that an average adult should be getting 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables every day! Do you know very many people who do that? Probably not, and the reason is because most people don't know just how important they are. In my previous blog I discussed multivitamins and their ineffectiveness in preventing disease or making you more healthy. In this blog I will discuss the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables and not relying on a multivitamin to save you.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, scientific advisor to the Health Supplements Information Service in Britain, said: "A significant proportion of British people, particularly women, young children and teenagers, have inadequate intakes of key nutrients, such as iron, folate, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin A. As a nation we are still failing to meet the five-a-day fruit and vegetable intake targets.

So why these new healthy eating guidelines from the government?
Research shows that people who eat nutrient-rich diets filled with fruits and vegetables have lower rates of heart disease and cancer. Researchers have noted for years that populations with healthy diets — lots of vegetables, little junk food — are less likely
than others to get cancer, says Peter Gann of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who wrote an editorial accompanying the newspapers. There are many preventable illnesses from not eating healthy. Eating more fruits and vegetables can help prevent you from getting diabetes, cancer and heart disease, which are the 3 main killers in North America.

The body requires 13 vitamins and 15 minerals to function properly. Among the necessary vitamins are B6, which maintains brain function; biotin, which is essential for metabolism; and A, which is critical to the maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. A deficiency in any of these 13 vitamins can cause a range of health problems, including depression, anemia and diminished immunity. An average eater who fills his or her plate mostly with fruits, vegetables and whole grains should meet the daily recommended intake of vitamins, says Dr. John W. Erdman Jr., a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Remember as well that the nutritional value of raw fruits and vegetables is much higher than the nutritional values of fruits and vegetables that have been cooked or processed in any way.

Even skipping leafy greens one day or apples and bananas the next won't adversely affect your health--provided this doesn't become a chronic habit. (Children, pregnant or lactating women and the elderly, however, can be more vulnerable to vitamin deficiencies.)


Researchers and health experts are now telling us that health-conscious consumers should focus on getting their vitamins from plant foods, such as vegetables and whole grains, which contain precise mixtures of hundreds or even thousands of compounds. Researchers are continually discovering more, but they know that there are tens of thousand of vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables. Many of these compounds work better in the combinations selected by nature instead of an artificially made vitamin which may contain 100 different nutrients if you are lucky. However, whole food supplements such as juice plus contain all of the thousands of phytonutrients that are found in 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains. Adding a supplement such as this can help you to get many key nutrients into your diet that you may be missing. The juice plus website also contains a list of some vitamins found in common fruits and vegetables. See www.morellojuiceplus.com for more information.

Vitamin Supplements: Pros and Cons

How many people do you know that take a vitamin or supplement of some kind? Almost everyone I know does. Why do you think so many people are taking these vitamins and supplements? Probably because of a nutritional deficiency in what they are eating; ie: not enough fruits and vegetables. However, do vitamin supplements work? In this blog I would like to discuss the research on the effectiveness of multivitamins in replacing the vitamins you are not getting in food, as well as their ability, or lack of, to prevent disease and keep you healthy.

About half of all Americans use some form of vitamin or dietary supplement, spending $20 billion annually on the products. However, researchers now warn that taking multi-vitamin supplements as 'health insurance' to help you live longer is a waste of time. The biggest ever study of its type found no benefits from vitamin pills against cancers or heart disease, and they did not protect against dying prematurely. The Food Standards Agency has warned that taking pills is no substitute for a healthy diet. Both cancer and heart disease are conditions with multiple causes such as genetics, smoking, obesity and diet, so it is unlikely that simply taking a multi-vitamin supplement would prevent them

Dr. Marian L. Neuhouser, the lead author of the multivitamin study and an associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, says that while fruits, vegetables and whole grains have been linked to good health and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease, that doesn't mean vitamins extracted from those food groups will have the same effect.

Dr. Marian Neuhouser was also quoted as saying in the New York Times that “I don’t want to disparage people who take multivitamins — it’s their choice as a consumer. What we’re presenting is the science showing it’s neither beneficial nor harmful. If they want to choose to spend their dollars elsewhere this might be a good place to do so. Perhaps they can buy more fruits and vegetables.”

So in conclusion I have 2 questions: Do vitamin supplements work? Does taking vitamin supplements make a person healthy? It seems that the research is saying no. There seems to be more cons than pros to taking a vitamin supplement. However, if for some reason you cannot get all of your required nutrients through the foods you are eating, then consider a whole food supplement such as juice plus instead of a vitamin. See www.morellojuiceplus.com for more information on how you can add this supplement to your diet today.