Glycemic Load, Overall Health, and a New Study on Colon Cancer Survival

"Glycemic index."  It's a term that likely rings a bell, but unless you're a dietician or research scientist, you can certainly be excused for not knowing exactly what it is and why it's even important.  But, like a lot of similar concepts, it's really not that complicated once you look into it a little bit.

Basically, the glycemic index is a lot like the speedometer in your car.  While a speedometer measures how fast you're moving, the glycemic index measures how fast a food you eat gets converted into glucose in your body.  The higher the number, the more quickly and strongly the food boosts blood glucose levels, which can cause a host of reactions that over the long run can lead to weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Some studies have also linked diets filled with high glycemic index foods to an increased risk of some cancers, but this link isn't perfectly clear and is an active area of research.

Adding to this science base, is a new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that links diets high in high glycemic index foods and carbohydrates with the return of cancer and earlier death in patients with stage III colon cancer (study).

The study, part of the federally-sponsored Cancer and Leukemia Group B trial, followed a thousand colon cancer survivors for an average of seven years and looked at the carbohydrate intake and overall glycemic load of patients' diets to see how this related to cancer recurrence and survival.  What the researchers found was that those patients with the highest overall glycemic load diets were almost twice as likely to have their cancer return (recurrence) compared to those with the lowest glycemic load diets. Overall carbohydrate intake had a similar effect.  Looking at overall survival, high glycemic load diets and high carbohydrate intake diets increased the risk of dying by 75 - 80 percent.  In the United States, the large majority of carbohydrates eaten are refined carbohydrates, which have a high glycemic index, so it's not surprising that the results for carbohydrate intake tracked closely to those of overall glycemic load.

Exactly how a high glycemic load diet may promote cancer recurrence is unknown.  But, high glycemic index foods can cause spikes in blood glucose and insulin, which can have wide-ranging effects throughout the body that some lab studies suggest can lead to cancer cell growth and inhibit cancer cell death.

Though this study doesn't provide concrete evidence that a high glycemic load diet hurts survival in colon cancer patients, it does add to overall evidence that a diet filled with low glycemic index foods is a healthy choice for everyone, and there's good evidence that it'll lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes, which are important concerns even for most cancer survivors.

In general, a diet with a lower glycemic load includes a lot of whole grains (like oatmeal, whole wheat, and wild rice) and whole fruits and vegetables. It's also low in refined grains (like white bread, white rice, and regular pasta) and sugary foods (like sweets and soda). (See figure).

For more on healthy steps after a cancer diagnosis, see Cancer Survivors' 8ight Ways to Stay Healthy After Cancer.  For general healthy steps, see 8ight Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Disease.


Glycemic Index of Selected Foods

High
(Over 65)
Medium
(45 – 65)
Low
(Under 45)
Glucose 100
Raisins 65
Grapes 43
Carrots 92
Coca cola 63
Dried Beans (cooked) 42
Molasses 87
Jelly 63
Pear 41
Pancakes 83
Bananas (Ripe) 62
Orange 40
Cornflakes 80
Sweet Corn 61
Apples 39
Cheerios 74
Bran Muffins 60
Chocolate 36
Baked potato 73
Table sugar 59
Wine 35
White Rice 72
Honey 58
Beer 35
Dark bread 72
Oatmeal (cooked) 58
Chocolate Milk 34
Watermelon 72
Kiwis 58
Milk 34
Corn chips 70
Muesli Cereal 56
Yogurt 33
White bread 69
Cookies (general) 55
Ice cream (full fat) 30
Bagels 69
Oatmeal Cookies 55
Strawberries 25
Pita Bread 69
Special K Cereal 54
Barley (uncooked) 25
Cornmeal 68
Orange Juice 53
Cherries 22
French fries 67
Peas 52
Peanut butter 13
Brown Rice 66
All Bran Cereal 51
Walnuts 13
Pineapple 66
Pasta 50
Broccoli 9

Ice Cream (low fat) 50
Spinach (cooked) 9

Grapefruit Juice 48
Lettuce 9

Cake 47
Eggs 0


Fish 0


Hamburger 0


Hard cheese 0
Source: Nurses Health Study Nutrient Database



Going for the gold: Olympic medalists live longer than the rest of us

The Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) is always high in entertainment value, containing as it does a number of off-kilter papers that still manage to inform.  The 2012 issue is marked by papers like, Why Rudolph's nose is red and The tooth fairy and malpractice.  One of the more straightforward pieces, which still managed to be fairly entertaining though it dealt directly with mortality, was a study looking at longevity in former Olympic games medallists.

Researchers from Australia, the United States, and the Netherlands compared the lifespan of 15,000 medalists from nine difference countries (including among others, the United States, Russia, Norway, and Germany) to the lifespan of average folks of the same age and gender from the same countries.

What they found was that on average Olympic medalists lived nearly three years longer than the average person.  And that the color of the medal (gold, silver, or bronze) didn't didn't further effect survival.  In other words, gold medalists - despite the added glory - didn't live any longer than either the silver or bronze medalists.  What did seem to make a distinction among medalists, however, was the type of sport a medal was won in.  Events with an endurance component were linked to a greater survival advantage than power events, like weight lifting.   Though, medaling in power events was still linked to boosted longevity compared to the average person in a population, even though the advantage was fairly slight.

The lifespan distinction between endurance and power events certainly suggests that cardiovascular fitness and regular endurance activity is a likely reason that Olympians live longer than most people. And there are certainly good data showing that exercise boosts longevity overall.

Of course, Olympians, and especially medallists, are far from normal people when it comes to fitness and physiology, so a study like this may be more fun than informing, especially because it didn't set out to answer why the distinctions exist.  Perhaps the authors are saving that for Christmas 2013.

Beyond issues of fitness and activity level, any number of other factors could also account for medalists living longer.  There's genetics.  There's financial standing, with successful athletes able to earn more money than they otherwise might and therefore afford better medical care and the time to look after their health.  And there's simply a broader focus on overall healthy living that many Olympians adhere to.

Whatever it is, Olympians seems to, once again, embody an ideal to strive for.  And perhaps that's something to keep in mind as we hop from holiday party to holiday party, and maybe why the BMJ published it in the first place.

Boomer Women Should Know About Breast Cancer


The American Melanoma Society desires that 230,480 new situations of obtrusive breasts cancers will be clinically diagnosed in 2011, 57,650 new situations of CIS (the non-invasive form of breasts cancer), and that about 39,520 females will die from breasts cancers. That's too many! What should Boomer females know about prevention?

There has been much advertising about Supplement D of late. Now research that the great vitamin D can also help protect all of us Child Boomer females against breasts cancers.

I encourage every woman to check her vitamin D level consistently and keep it in the maximum range. Dependant on the obsolete requirements for this essential vitamin, which have recently been increased, "normal" is not the same as maximum. Many of us have been told by our physician for years that our vitamin D stages are frequent. It's time to get them checked against the more recent "optimal" requirements.

Most documents today now recommend adding to with 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day, as well as getting as much from your daily eating plan as you can. I know it's hard to get all you need from food. Fatty seafood like Fish, sardines, catfish and halibut are excellent sources, but if you don't like seafood it can be nearly impossible to find great stages of this essential vitamin in other meals.

There is another easy way to improve our vitamin D. Create sure you are getting plenty of frequent, safe, because the. Believe it or not, the sun is actually the best source of vitamin D. The sun's UVB rays help our bodies manufacture vitamin D in the fat layer under the epidermis. Our own body can make all the vitamin D we need from frequent because the. We should spend about 15 minutes showing some epidermis before we put on our sunscreen; revealing the epidermis is excellent for us as long as we don't burn.

There is also evidence that Supplement K not only helps stimulate necessary protein that are involved in the constructing of bone mass, which is best part about it for all of us Child Boomer females, but recent reports show it also has an anti-cancer effect; vitamin K has been used in the treatment of several different cancers, including breasts cancers. You can get your vitamin K in europe chard, him, parsley and green spinach, green spinach and cauliflower, belgium's capital seedlings, liver, soy bean oil and wheat wheat bran. Many more choices here than with vitamin D, however, supplements are also available if you'd prefer.

Dietand Work out are hugely essential in preventing breasts cancers. A research published in the " Publication of Clinical Oncology " supports previous results that females with breasts cancers reduce their chance of repeat by eating a healthy, plant-based eating plan full of fruits and vegetables and veggies, and exercising. This research, conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Paul, monitored dietary styles and employ routines of nearly 1,500 females who were clinically identified as having early-stage breasts cancers. Researchers found that the death amount for females who absorbed a high-fiber eating plan full of fruits and vegetables and veggies, and used excellent exercise routines, was 44% lower than the amount for females who worked out little and ate few plant-based meals. Almost half the danger,