By Curt Pesman

Low-carb (and lower sugar) diets may soon look a lot better to colorectal cancer survivors. In a recent data-rich study of more than 1000 stage III colon cancer survivors, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that those who consistently ate a high-carbohydrate, sugar-laden diet appeared to have markedly higher recurrence rates of their disease than patients whose diets were more varied and contained less-sugar. The results were published in the Nov. 7 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The main finding after surveying and following 1,011 patients during and 6 months after chemotherapy? That those who reported having the highest dietary levels of carbohydrate intake (and related glycemic load) also had an 80 percent increased risk of colon cancer recurrence or death compared with those who had the lowest carb diets.

 But because cancer patients (and health-minded others) are advised not to make a nutritional or lifestyle change based on just one research study or peer-reviewed journal article, it’s worth noting that in the Feb. 7^th issue of Nature, doctors from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) argued that sugar effects are so detrimental that the substance should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco to protect consumers’ health.  Read the rest of this entry »

For every 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) increase in height, women have a 16 percent increase in their risk of cancer.

Taller women have an even greater risk for colon cancer — 25 percent for every 10 centimeters.  There is a 14 percent increased risk for rectal cancer.

There is about a 37 percent increase in the chance of getting any cancer between the shortest women (less than 5 feet, 1 inch) and the tallest (over 5 feet, 9 inches) according to a very large study in the United Kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »