Food groups and colorectal cancer risk. (1/682)

Most studies of diet and colorectal cancer have considered nutrients and micronutrients, but the role of foods or food groups remains open to debate. To elucidate the issue, we examined data from a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 1997 in the Swiss canton of Vaud. Cases were 223 patients (142 men, 81 women) with incident, histologically confirmed colon (n= 119) or rectal (n= 104) cancer (median age 63 years), linked with the Cancer Registry of the Swiss Canton of Vaud, and controls were 491 subjects (211 men, 280 women, median age 58 years) admitted to the same university hospital for a wide spectrum of acute non-neoplastic conditions unrelated to long-term modifications of diet. Odds ratios (OR) were obtained after allowance for age, sex, education, smoking, alcohol, body mass index, physical activity and total energy intake. Significant associations were observed for refined grain (OR = 1.32 for an increase of one serving per day), and red meat (OR = 1.54), pork and processed meat (OR = 1.27), alcohol (OR = 1.28), and significant protections for whole grain (OR = 0.85), raw (OR = 0.85) and cooked vegetables (OR = 0.69), citrus (OR = 0.86) and other fruits (OR = 0.85), and for coffee (OR = 0.73). Garlic was also protective (OR = 0.32 for the highest tertile of intake). These findings in a central European population support the hypothesis that a diet rich in refined grains and red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer; they, therefore, support the recommendation to substitute whole grains for refined grain, to limit meat intake, and to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.  (+info)

Racial bias in federal nutrition policy, Part I: The public health implications of variations in lactase persistence. (2/682)

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the basis for all federal nutrition programs and incorporate the Food Guide Pyramid, a tool to educate consumers on putting the Guidelines into practice. The Pyramid recommends two to three daily servings of dairy products. However, research has shown that lactase nonpersistence, the loss of enzymes that digest the milk sugar lactose, occurs in a majority of African-, Asian-, Hispanic-, and Native-American individuals. Whites are less likely to develop lactase nonpersistence and less likely to have symptoms when it does occur. Calcium is available in other foods that do not contain lactose. Osteoporosis is less common among African Americans and Mexican Americans than among whites, and there is little evidence that dairy products have an effect on osteoporosis among racial minorities. Evidence suggests that a modification of federal nutrition policies, making dairy-product use optional in light of other calcium sources, may be a helpful public health measure.  (+info)

Quantitative analysis of styrene monomer in polystyrene and foods including some preliminary studies of the uptake and pharmacodynamics of the monomer in rats. (3/682)

A variety of food containers, drinking cups and cutlery, fabricated from polystyrene (PS) or polystyrene-related plastic, were analyzed for their styrene monomer content. Samples of yogurt, packaged in PS cups, were similarly analyzed and the leaching of styrene monomer from PS containers by some food simulants was also determined. Blood level studies with rats, dosed with styrene monomer by various routes, illustrated uptake phenomena that were dependent on the dose and route of administration and were also affected by the vehicle used to convey the styrene monomer.  (+info)

Animal products, calcium and protein and prostate cancer risk in The Netherlands Cohort Study. (4/682)

Prostate cancer risk in relation to consumption of animal products, and intake of calcium and protein was investigated in the Netherlands Cohort Study. At baseline in 1986, 58,279 men aged 55-69 years completed a self-administered 150-item food frequency questionnaire and a questionnaire on other risk factors for cancer. After 6.3 years of follow-up, 642 prostate cancer cases were available for analysis. In multivariate case-cohort analyses adjusted for age, family history of prostate cancer and socioeconomic status, no associations were found for consumption of fresh meat, fish, cheese and eggs. Positive trends in risk were found for consumption of cured meat and milk products (P-values 0.04 and 0.02 respectively). For calcium and protein intake, no associations were observed. The hypothesis that dietary factors might be more strongly related to advanced prostate tumours could not be confirmed in our study. We conclude that, in this study, animal products are not strongly related to prostate cancer risk.  (+info)

Modulation of immune function by a modified bovine whey protein concentrate. (5/682)

The commercial preparation of dairy foodstuffs generates large volumes of by-products, many of which have as yet undocumented effects on mammalian immune function. In the present report, a modified whey protein concentrate (mWPC), derived as a by-product from the commercial manufacture of cheese, was tested for its ability to modulate murine immune function in vitro. The mWPC suppressed T and B lymphocyte proliferative responses to mitogens in a dose-dependent fashion. The mWPC also suppressed alloantigen-induced lymphocyte proliferation during a mixed leucocyte reaction, but showed no suppressive effect against IL-2-sustained proliferation of mitogen-activated T cell blasts. Other indices of lymphocyte activation, such as cytokine secretion and the formation of activated (CD25+) T cell blasts, were suppressed by the mWPC, suggesting that the mode of suppression may be to inhibit the lymphocyte activation process. Enzymatic digestion by pepsin and pancreatin, under physiologically realistic conditions in vitro, ablated the immunomodulatory function of the mWPC. These results are discussed in relation to the potential development of complex-mixture dairy products into health-modulating products.  (+info)

Health risks associated with unpasteurized goats' and ewes' milk on retail sale in England and Wales. A PHLS Dairy Products Working Group Study. (6/682)

A pilot study to determine the microbiological quality of unpasteurized milk from goats and ewes sampled from farm shops, health food shops, and other retail premises found that 47%, (47/100) of goats' and 50% (13/26) of ewes' milk samples failed the standards prescribed by the Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, haemolytic streptococci or enterococci, were present in excess of 10(2) c.f.u./ml in 9 (7 %) 2 (2 %) and 19 (15%) samples, respectively. Salmonella, campylobacter, verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes were not detected in the samples. At the time of purchase approximately half of the milk samples (58 %) were frozen, the rest were liquid. Farm outlets sold predominantly liquid milk, other retail premises sold a frozen product. The microbiological quality of goats' and ewes' milk, whether frozen or liquid, was not significantly different. Milk sold from farm shops was of lower quality than that from health food shops and other retail premises. In this pilot study most producers (92 %) supplied, and most retailers (76 %) sold unpasteurized goats' and ewes' milk that contained unacceptable levels of indicator organisms. The study was carried out during the winter when goats' milk production is reduced. The results indicate the need for a full representative study of unpasteurized goats' and ewes' milk on retail sale throughout the year.  (+info)

Genus- and species-specific PCR-based detection of dairy propionibacteria in environmental samples by using primers targeted to the genes encoding 16S rRNA. (7/682)

PCR assays with primers targeted to the genes encoding 16S rRNA were developed for detection of dairy propionibacteria. Propionibacterium thoenii specific oligonucleotide PT3 was selected after partial resequencing. Tests allowed the detection of less than 10 cells per reaction from milk and cheese and 10(2) cells per reaction from forage and soil.  (+info)

Factor analysis of digestive cancer mortality and food consumption in 65 Chinese counties. (8/682)

Dietary factors were analyzed for the regional difference of GI tract cancer mortality rates in China. Sixty-five rural counties were selected among a total of 2,392 counties to represent a range of rates for seven most prevalent cancers. The dietary data in the selected 65 counties were obtained by three-day dietary record of households in 1983. The four digestive cancer mortality rates (annual cases per 100,000 standardized truncated rates for ages 35-64) and per capita food consumption were analyzed by the principal components factor analysis. Esophageal cancer associated with poor area, dietary pattern rich in starchy tubers, and salt, lack of consumption of meat, eggs, vegetables and rice. Stomach cancer seemed to be less associated with diet in this study because of its small model Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy, suggesting some other carcinogenic factors would play more important role in the development of this cancer in China. The colon and rectal cancer showed close relation to diet; rich in sea vegetables, eggs, soy sauce, meat and fish, while lack in consumption of milk and dairy products. Rapeseed oil was more important risk factor for colon cancer than that of rectum. Rice, processed starch and sugar were closely associated with colon cancer, supporting the insulin/colon cancer hypothesis.  (+info)