Coffee Vs Cancer

The second topic of the series on Coffee is Caner.

A study done by the Japan's National Cancer Center has shown that drinking coffee can prevent Liver Cancer. The study was conducted on 90,000 people in japan over a span of 10 years. Result of the study has shown that coffee drinkers have half the risk of getting liver cancer compared to non drinkers. However, scientist could not identify the substance which prevents liver cancer. They only evaluated that coffee contains certain antioxidants which have this properties. A comparison was done with tea but the scientist did not see a significant link with tea and liver cancer prevention.

The traditional way of making coffee in Singapore has shown to prevent development of advanced colorectal cancer. Singapore Chinese makes coffee by boiling and sieving ground coffee beans with a muslin cloth filter.In this way, the cloth retains chemoprotectants such as cafestil and kahweol which may protect frequent coffee drinkers against the development of advanced colorectal cancer.

Coffee has been proven to be of help to other type of cancers such as Throat, Breast, Stomach Cancer etc. However, do not over consume coffee because it might cause other complications.

Next up: Coffee problems
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Are You More Cultured Than a Cup of Yogurt?

If you are a lover of dairy products, you will never want to miss this food called the Yogurt. There are a lot of health benefits associated with yogurt and you would definitely want to add it into your grocery list the next time you are going to the supermarket. It provides a very good source of nutrition such as Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), probiotics and calcium.

Picture taken from wdexpo.org

Here are some reasons why Yogurt is good for you

1) Good for your bones

An average person would require 1,000mg of calcium a day and a glass of yogurt would easily provides you with 30-40% of calcium required for the day. Calcium is an important mineral as it is required for the development of bones. A high calcium diet would allow you to have strong bones. It also prevents osteoporosis especially for the old people. Choose yogurt which contains Vitamin D because it promotes the absorption of calcium into our body.

2) Boost immune system

Yogurt contains probiotics, good bacteria which are good for the immune system. Probiotics such as Lactobacillus casei has been proven to increase the number immune cells, such as T-lymphocytes,which kill unwanted substances in the body. As the number of these cells increase, the body will have a better immune system. It also prevents cancer.

3) Prevents yeast infection

Women, especially those with diabetes are more prone to Candida infection, commonly known as vaginal or yeast infection. Patients with Candida infection have vaginal pH around 6.0. Research has shown that active culture in yogurt helps to reduce vaginal pH to around 4.0 (normal range), hence, discouraging yeast growth.

4) A healthy gastrointestinal system

For people who exhibits diarrhea due to lactose(milk sugar) intolerance. The high lactase (enzyme which breaks down lactose), low lactose yogurt would reduce this problem.

Healthy bacteria such as Acidophilus prevents the conversion of bile into carcinogenic bile. Hence, preventing diseases such as colon cancer and H pylori infection.

Just a tip on how to choose your yogurt. Choose those with active probiotics, low fat and light sweetener.

Ever heard of the phrase "You are what you eat?" If you want to stay healthy, then eat well.

If you have any queries, do feel free to email Jin's Health tips at tanjinlin@gmail.com

Red Wine & the French Paradox

Heard of the French paradox? Wondering why albeit their high fat diet, the French still maintains a low mortality for heart diseases. This arouses the attention of scientists and they discovered that Red Wine is the answer.

Picture taken from telegraph.co.uk

Red wine contains many antioxidants which prevent the free radicals from attacking the healthy cells. The most studied antioxidant Resveratol, a derivation of grape skin and seeds, has been scientifically proven for the prevention of heart disease and cancer. On the contrary, white wine contains less Resveratol than red wine because the skins of the grapes are removed during the wine making process.

Resveratol prevents the blood clots from forming. This would allow a good flow of blood, supplying oxygen efficiently to all parts of the body. When blood clots are formed, ischemia(lack of oxygen) would occur. If ischemia occurs in vessels near the brain or heart, it might cause a stroke or a heart attack.

If you have read my article on Cholesterol, you would know that Low-density lipoprotein(LDL) are the bad cholesterol that you would not want too much of them in the body. These LDL cause plaque in the arteries which results in atherosclerosis. What Resveratol does is that it prevents the oxidation of LDL and thus preventing the formation of plaques.

Resveratol also has anti-cancer properties as it has the ability to neutralize the free radicals. Research has shown that Resveratol can cause the apoptosis(self destruction) of certain cancer cells. It can also suppress the formation of tumor by preventing the formation of new blood vessels around the tumor. Hence, cutting of the supply of nutrients to the tumor.

If alcohol is part of your daily diet, Jin's Health tips suggests that you make red wine your choice. Recommended consumption is a glass of red wine daily for women and two glasses for the men. It's important to note that over consumption of alcohol has detrimental effects to the body, especially the liver.

For people who don't drink, please do not start drinking red wine because grape is definitely the better choice as does not contain alcohol at all.

If you have any queries, do feel free to email Jin's Health tips at tanjinlin@gmail.com