Recently I have been
reading up on colon cancer because my dad was diagnosed with it almost two
years ago. He, like so many others, is battling cancer, a disease that
his own body feeds and grows from. Learning of his diagnosis piqued my
interest and has held it for a while, and in my research, I came across an
interesting article that looks at the relationship between nut intake and
colorectal cancer risk (Lee, Shin, Oh, & Kim, 2018). It describes a
case control study on nut intake, which is fascinating to me because I would
have thought it was nuts (pun intended) to put so much weight on, well, nuts
when it came to diet and its effects on cancer growth.
According to the study,
there is a “favorable association” between consuming a high frequency of nuts
and a lowered risk of colorectal cancer in both women and men (Lee, Shin, Oh,
& Kim, 2018). For the highest category of nut consumption, there was
a 24% decrease in cancer risk! This
decrease might be explained by analyzing multiple biological pathways. Apparently, peanuts are rich in things like
isoflavones, phytosterols, resveratrols, and phenolic acid, all of which may
have anti-cancerous effects including the normalization of hyper-proliferative
cells or decreasing D1 and D2 cyclins to regulate the cell cycle. Almonds
and pine nuts are rich in fibers, resveratrol, selenium, flavonoids,
polyphenols, and folic acid, which might help prevent cancer through
antioxidants, regulation of cell differentiation and proliferation, reduction of
DNA damages, regulation of inflammatory response, and immunological activity
(Lee, Shin, Oh, & Kim, 2018). In
addition to this, high nut intake is associated with a decreased risk of
obesity and diabetes mellitus, which are both risk factors for colorectal
cancer.
Looking at these
possible anti-cancerous effects, I think that nuts are definitely good options
for dieting. It is a shame that I am not
very fond of the taste of them. But I
urge you all to make it a habit to eat nuts more often. Apparently they are more healthy than most
people realize.
Lee, J., Shin, A., Oh,
J. H., & Kim, J. (2018). The relationship between nut intake and risk of
colorectal cancer: a case control study. Nutrition Journal, 17(1).
doi:10.1186/s12937-018-0345-y
I as well have read that increasing your healthy nut intake (hazelnuts, pecans, etc.) has shown to help with reduction in cancer risks, but have also found that they assist in combating coronary heart disease. Research shows that people who ingest nuts 4-5 times per week have a 37% lower risk of coronary heart disease. Research also found that nuts had the strongest inverse relationship of all foods within their study and the effects were also seen amongst both vegetarians and non-vegetarians (Kelly & Sabaté, 2006). This also needs to be under supervision though. I feel that people suffering from both cancer and cardiovascular disease could benefit from the use of a well-experienced nutritionist that can safely implement the number of fats that nuts contain. By using a nutritionist, the macromolecule levels that are ingested can be at safe/healthy levels to make sure that the patient is as physiologically healthy as they can be via their diet. The reasoning behind this is because patients lack nutritional knowledge. If a patient were to hear that nuts can be beneficial lacking specific nutritional knowledge, they may think that eating a jar of Skippy will prevent coronary heart disease. This is why the supervision of a professional, who knows the effects of the macromolecules, would be suggested to benefit the overall care of the patient.
ReplyDeleteKelly, J. H., & Sabaté, J. (2006). Nuts and coronary heart disease: an epidemiological perspective. British Journal of Nutrition, 96(S2), S61. https://doi.org/10.1017/BJN20061865