Category Archives: Cancer Prevention

Spring Cleaning: Control Indoor Dust

Many people are aware of health risks from exposure to outdoor pollution or sources like cigarette smoke, but many remain ignorant of health hazards from indoor dust.

What can indoor dust do to your body?

Crawling_1345796643_4159cd3fba_mOn the surface, dust may seem trivial, more of an annoyance than a health risk. However, think about it carefully. Dust contains various harmful substances, such as bacteria, viruses, mold, lead, endocrine disrupters, and cancer-causing chemicals. Because indoor environments have a limited volume of air, low levels of dust and pollutants can make up higher concentrations of these particles per breath, contributing to higher levels of risk to the human body.

The most vulnerable are young children. They spend a lot of time indoors, often at floor level, playing and putting toys or objects in their mouths. They may swallow indoor dust via a hand-to-mouth behavior as they play on the floor, becoming exposed to harmful chemicals in the dust. This reality, coupled with physiological factors including a smaller body size and an immature immune system, make children particularly at risk from pollutants in indoor dust.

How can you reduce health risk from indoor dust?

Fortunately, we can control indoor dust. Spring cleaning is an excellent opportunity to do so. Here are seven simple yet effective ways to control dust and pollutants in your home:

1. Use a wet cloth, instead of “dry dusting” them around.

2. Leave your shoes near the door, if possible. A recent study revealed that most floor dust is actually tracked in from the outside and may contain potentially harmful substances.
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3. Regularly replace filters on heating and air-conditioning systems. The filters help remove dust from indoor air, as long as they are cleaned, well maintained, and/or periodically replaced.

4. Install an air purifier. Air-purification devices can help reduce the amount of pollutants present in closed indoor spaces.

5. Decorate with house plants. House plants not only convert carbon dioxide to oxygen but also absorb some pollutants to make air cleaner. However, not all house plants can function efficiently in filtering out pollutants or toxins from indoor air. Make sure to pick the right one.

6.  Open windows and use a fan when cleaning. The act of cleaning stirs settled dust into the air. When cleaning, point the fan toward the window or use the fan against the window to blow dust outside.

7.  Change the bags in your vacuum cleaners often. Vacuum cleaners whose bags are overfull will not function properly, only dispersing dust into the air – very counterproductive indeed.

Photo Credit: by whgrad

What else can you add to the list? What experience can you share?

New 2010 Spring Cleaning Checklist

Pink Maglonia_130867807_415e2784d9_mSpring is fast approaching and with it, the need for spring cleaning. We get the job done by going room by room, closet by closet, putting winter clothes away, throwing away or donating what we feel we no longer need, and maybe doing a few extra chores. While it’s a tradition to follow the above agenda, this guide will not only help you freshen up your home, but also help you maximize physical and mental health benefits.

As you go through your home, taking the following measures helps reduce your risk to potential health hazards.

1. Eliminate household cleaners and pesticides as much as possible, because their ingredients contain cancer-causing chemicals (i.e., carcinogens). Although some toxic chemicals cause serious illnesses in addition to cancer, much of their long-term effects on human health remain unknown.

2. Go through all the plastic toys, food packaging, bottles, containers, supplies and materials, and toss those that are potentially harmful. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic often contains additives such as lead and phthalates. Phthalates have been linked to male reproductive problems and cancer. How do you know what to toss? One way you can tell if a product is made with PVC is to look for the number “3″ inside or the letter “V” underneath the universal recycling symbol. Remembering this little rhyme may also help: “4, 5, 1 and 2; all the rest are bad for you.”

3. Remove anything that has a strong chemical odor. For example, odor released from vinyl has a “chemical” smell to it.  Items like shower curtains and liners, placemats and table linens, packaging for personal or travel accessories often contains vinyl.

4. Get ride of any plastic container or bottle with the number 7 inside the universal recycling symbol on the bottom, because it most likely contains BPA. Also another rule of thumb is to recylce those items that are heavily scratched.

5. Don’t forget to eliminate other not-so-obvious items that contain BPA including:
- Useless or unusable CDs
- Expired credit cards or other plastics
- Recycled paper-made books or magazines
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6. Limit canned food. First, if it contains meat, processed meat may increase your cancer risk. Second, the lining of canned food contains BPA. So, reduce your intake of canned foods, eat fresh or frozen foods instead.

7. Eliminate the foods that contain high content of Trans Fats. They’re really bad for your heart and your body.

8. Check out the labels of personal care products (for example, nail polish). The FDA requires that phthalates be listed unless they are an ingredient in fragrances. Phthalates are used in some nail polishes to reduce cracking. Choose personal-care products that do not contain synthetic fragrances.

9. Improve the air you breathe by checking radon levels, quitting smoking, and using an air purifier. Blue flower_2478841847_794283941d_m

10. Clear your mind! When things go wrong, it’s quite common to have negative thoughts, little voices, and emotions. Too much of this clutters the mind, then the brain doesn’t have enough space for positive thoughts. Even worse, you can end up depressed. Changing perspective can help. Spring cleaning is about removing dirt and getting rid of clutter. Do it for your mind, too. Free more space for positive and creative thoughts.

Well, these projects will add more work to your traditional spring cleaning. Yet these tasks are important since they could make substantial differences in the quality of your living space. So get all your family motivated and involved. Start walking through your home in search of stuff you don’t need, particularly the items mentioned above. The rewards?  A truly clean, fresh  home, an organized life, and physical and mental health benefits.

What’s your plan for spring cleaning? If you like this post, please share it.

Photo credit: Pink magnolia by Muffet; Blue macro by spisharam

Dark Chocolate Mini Review (Part 2)

How can you maximize dark chocolate’s cancer prevention benefits while enjoying the pleasure?

This is my focus on this part of the Dark Chocolate Mini Review. I strongly recommend you follow these guidelines in the choice and consumption of dark chocolate:

1. Eat dark chocolate containing at least 70% cocoa. Keep in mind, the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the more flavonoids.

2. Find dark chocolate made from the least destructive processing technologies, or those created as close to its original raw state (unprocessed cacao).

3. Check the ingredients. Read the label. As the saying goes, “the devil is in the details”. Examine the nutrition facts. Avoid trans fat, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial sweeteners, and anything that will compromise your health. Limit saturated fat too.

4. Select chocolate with a low sugar content, especially if you have certain health challenges. Chocolate is a calories-dense food, with fat, sugar, and other additives and preservatives added by the manufacturer.

5. Consume dark chocolate in moderation. By moderation, I mean having 1-2 oz a day or no more than 14 oz. a week.

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7. Consider real cocoa powder (not the instant hot chocolate). Research shows that pure cocoa powder has the most antioxidants, followed by dark chocolate, then milk chocolate.

Finally, I don’t sell chocolate nor do I receive fees from manufacturers for recommending them. My review is based purely on both solid science and my opinion after tasting various products over the years.

My experience? When I open a box of chocolate, I feel like I’m opening a world of mystery, joy and vitality. Once various shapes of chocolate appear in front of me, I pick up one piece and put it in my mouth for a bite. As it melts, I feel delightful, euphoric — a smile lighting up my face. Whoever thought something so dark could bring such brightness! Mmm…

Take home message: You can indulge yourself in dark chocolate moderately and regularly, without guilt!

What experience or tip would you like to share? And if you like this post, please share it.

Click here for more Cancer Prevention Tips

Dark Chocolate Mini Review

First, I’m writing this mini review as both a medical scientist and a chocolate lover, not necessarily as an expert on chocolate. (As the title states, this is not a full-scale review on dark chocolate either).

As everyone is aware from personal experience, chocolate comes in many forms, including bars, candies, chocolate coated nuts or dried fruit, cookies, and cakes …. What you might not know is that dark chocolate is chocolate without milk as an additive.
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Why is chocolate so popular?
1. It tastes delicious.
2. It serves as a snack, treat, or an energy booster.
3. It can be a nice gift.
4. Noticeably, dark chocolate offers health benefits.

Let me zoom in a bit here and summarize these health benefits, esp. cancer prevention benefits.
The basic ingredients in dark chocolate are cacao beans. The cacao bean is a plant-based food and naturally rich in antioxidants such as resveratrol and flavonoids. In fact, the cacao bean is one of the most concentrated natural sources of antioxidants that exist.

Next, I’ll focus on one of the antioxidants — flavonoids, also known as vitamin P, a powerful antioxidant.

How do flavonoids benefit us?
1. They help prevent heart disease.
2. They promote our blood flow and lower blood pressure.
3. They fight inflammation — a common problem in heart disease and cancer.
4. They have a stress-relieving effect.
5. They protect our DNA from any damage that could lead to cancer.
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Preclinical studies have shown that flavonoids in chocolate stop cell division, which could potentially inhibit development of cancer. In addition, the flavonoids appear to cut off the blood supply to tumors, which could suppress cancer and starve it to death.

So, what’s the key when choosing dark chocolate? The main component in dark chocolate that reduces cancer risks is found in the cacao bean, hence the substantial amount of antioxidants. So if you shop for dark chocolate, the higher percentage of cocoa (i.e. the bean is called after cacao has been processed), the higher level of flavonoids antioxidants.

The cocoa content of commercial dark chocolate bars can range from 30% (sweet dark) to 70%, 75%, or even above 85% for extremely dark bars. The percentage of cocoa solids in the bars is usually labeled.

What are the downsides of dark chocolate?
1. Dark chocolate tends to have a dry, chalky texture and a bitter taste because of the lack of milk additives.
2. During the processing, flavonoids content is reduced or destroyed, sometimes substantially. All the wonderful traits from dark chocolate are only as good as the process used to create the end product. It is said that some dark chocolate producers remove the flavanols (a structural subgroup of flavonoids) during processing to eliminate the bitter taste. By doing so, they’ve essentially diminished your potential health benefits.
3. Chocolate, in general, is a calorie rich food with sugar and fat contents. The health benefits of dark chocolate come from the antioxidants in the cacao solids. All of the other ingredients, like sugar, or any extras, like nougat and caramel, just add calories.
4. Chocolate contains a variety of other substances, some of which have addictive properties, e.g sugar, theobromine, etc.

What’s the rating?
Sorry, I don’t rate these products in 1 to 10, or A to D. I consider ratings to be subjective, because the best item to me doesn’t mean it’s the best for you. My favorite dark chocolates, such as Dove and Lindt, provide a high cocoa content (70% and up) while remaining tasty. Again, personally, dark chocolate with 85% cocoa is too bitter for me, compared with those with 70% cocoa. So you get the point.

(Shortly, my next post will follow and provide the guidelines on how to maximize dark chocolate’s health benefits, so stay tuned.)

Photo credit: by EverJean

Is All Red Meat Bad?

There’s lots of “Red meat is bad” talk these days. What are your thoughts? Is there any good red meat?

Some red meats such as pork and beef are high in saturated fat, which raises blood cholesterol, consequently increasing the risk of heart disease. Red and processed meats are also linked to several types of cancer, esp. colon cancer.

Bad enough…but don’t ban it too soon! For those meat lovers out there, I believe that there is an alternative healthy red meat, i.e. somewhat of a novelty — bison.

Bison_PixabayHere’s what makes bison a good choice:

Bison are indigenous to North America and raised on grass, so contain
-  No antibiotics
-  No growth hormones
-  No excessive human manipulation, as far as I know.
-  The meat is lean.
Sounds like a “natural protein” or “organic meat”, doesn’t it?

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-  High in protein, low in fat, calories, and cholesterol.
-  Rich in iron
-  Great sources of antioxidants (such as selenium, conjugated linoleic acid or CLA), that help prevent cancer.

How about the taste? The consensus is: it tastes sweet and tender. However, as usual I would experiment with it, have fun and try different recipes.

For all reasons, eat bison with a real pride — It is America’s Original Health Meat!

If you want to find out more about bison or want to try a recipe, just check here.

By the way, nobody pays me to express my opinion. :)

Photo credit: by Pixabay

How to Reduce Cancer Risks with Meat Preparation

Meat, pork, beef, and chicken are delicious. However, how it’s prepared or cooked may raise your cancer risk. Cooking meat such as beef, pork and fish at high temperatures can create a cancer-causing chemical called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Frying, broiling, and barbecuing produce the largest amounts of HCAs because the meats are cooked at very high temperatures. So, here’s a word of caution: avoid burning or high-temperature heating (e.g. oven > 350°F) of these meats for extended time.

meatNow you might be wondering, “But how do I cook delicious meats without producing any carcinogens?”

1. Prepare with extra time. For you barbecue chefs out there, trim the excess fat and remove the skin from any meat you are grilling, then marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes before grilling, because the marinade will serve as a coating or a barrier.

2. Practice carcinogen-free grilling techniques. Keep the gas jets low or wait until the charcoal turns into glowing coal before you start cooking. During grilling, turn the meat frequently to avoid charring, and control the flames of the grill and the grease that drips from the meat.

3. Scrape off any black parts!

4. Use other ways of cooking. The most common and easy one is using a conventional oven, where roasting or baking may be done at lower temperatures, thereby forming lower levels of HCAs.
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5. Another alternative is the pressure cooker. Again it mainly uses steam based on a lower temperature, not only lowering carcinogen exposure, but also keeping the meat well-moist and tasty. Extra bonus: time-saving!

6. Then there’s the slow cooker. Stewing or boiling may be done at or below 212°F (100°C) which creates negligible amounts of cancer-causing chemicals.

7. Quick stir-fry, but not deep-fry. Because it’s done quickly, a lower level of the carcinogen is formed.

8. Add cancer-fighting ingredients or antioxidant-rich herbs as necessary seasoning. For example, use garlic, because it has a strong anti-microbial effect and potential cancer-fighting power. Plus it contains health-promoting antioxidants like flavonoids and can stimulate the immune system. Other antioxidant-rich herbs such as basil, oregano, or thyme can be your smart choices too.

What other techniques do you use or can be added to the list?

Cancer Prevention: Simple Healthy Lifestyle Helps

Have you lost a loved one or a friend to cancer? Do you know estimated 1,479,350 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in US last year? Do you know more than 7 millions of people die of cancer each year worldwide? Accumulating scientific evidence indicates that more than one-third of cancer death can be prevented just by lifestyle changes to have healthy weight, healthy diet and become physically active. Then the question is: how to achieve it?

Cancer is not a single disease and doesn’t grow out of control overnight. It cannot be prevented by one-day event for a few times a year. Cancer prevention is a life journey of practicing healthy lifestyle day by day, small steps counts. It starts showing it s result after cheap cheap viagra 36 hours of intake. Besides common sense, there get free levitra are also Net safety tools that you can employ to keep your friends and family safe. Do not take this drug for erectile dysfunction if you believe you might have erectile buy cialis professional http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482459178_add_file_5.pdf dysfunction, very first step is to consult your doctor. Apart from this there are several generic levitra online view my page disorders which could arise exclusively in men or in women. I’m here to help you with simple, small lifestyle modifications to gain long-term health benefits, while you still enjoy life and fulfill your dreams. Having cancer is devastating. Let’s prevent it!