More facts about Vitamin D

 This month, anyone who lives north of sunny Atlanta is sunshine starved and therefore Vitamin D deficient. So, unless you have plans to fly south soon, you had better have a backup plan.
Milk (and some brands of milk products, like yogurt) are Vitamin D fortified.
But, the amounts aren’t high enough to ensure you are topped up to a protective level to prevent osteoporosis, cancer and, studies are showing, many other chronic illnesses.Here are some good sources:

1. Salmon
2. Cod liver oil
3. Liver
4. Eggs
5. Caviar
6. Greek caviar dip taramosalata 

Above is reblogged from Metronews

Helth organizations reticently upgraded their daily overall recommended doses of Vitamin D to  1000UI (international units) from different sources (sun,food,supplements). It is reported that for cancer prevention, individuals taking 1,000 IU of oral vitamin D daily had a lower incidence of colon cancer.
See also Low levels of vitamin D in blood double risk of bladder cancer in this blog.

Surprising effects of green tea on cancer

You might want to consider switching your black tea to green based on two recent human clinical studies into the anti-cancer effects of catechins, antioxidants found in green tea leaves.
Prostate cancer results
A study published in the journal Cancer Research showed that men who supplemented with 600 mg a day of green tea catechins exhibited a preventive effect in the transition from pre-malignant prostate lesions to full blown prostate cancer. Only 3% developed prostate cancer, compared to 30% in the group not taking catechins. The catechins group also had consistently lower PSA levels.
Breast cancer study
In a study reported by the American Association for Cancer Research, a group of women diagnosed with hormone-receptor negative breast cancer were given various doses of green tea catechins (400, 600 or 800 mg, twice daily) or a placebo for a period of six months. The green tea catechins encouraged cancer cell suicide (a good thing!) and inhibited signaling pathways within cancer cells linked to the spread of tumours.
How much?
Although animal studies have shown that high doses of catechins may damage the liver, humans have not shown liver damage at dosages used in the studies above.
Hepatologists suggest not supplementing with more than 10 mg of catechins per kilogram of body weight, daily. For green tea drinkers, 10 cups per day is the recommended limit.
Supplement containing 600 mg of green tea extract could be a typical dose. It also contains chromium and hydroxycitric acid. The synergistic effect of these three ingredients has been shown to help keep blood sugar and triglycerides in the ideal range, burn excess body fat and enhance lean mass when combined with exercise and adequate protein intake
Which type?

•  White tea is very unprocessed, and likewise there's more beneficial chemicals or compounds associated with it.
• Green tea is a little bit more processed, it's been steamed a little bit more; oxidation of the chemicals occur.
• Black tea is the most processed of the tea leaves. The chemicals become more oxidized and there's fewer reported benefits from black tea than green or white tea.

Cut out alcohol if you aim to get slimmer

New Year dieters should cut alcohol out of their diets to lose weight as it contains hundreds of ‘hidden’ calories, cancer campaigners have said.

Alcohol such as beer has 'hidden' calories Photo: Alamy

By Stephen Adams

Drinkers obtain about 200 calories a day from booze on average, but few know that it is almost as energy-dense as fat, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

It has found that few count ‘liquid calories’ when assessing how much they consume while on a diet.

Meanwhile, Cancer Research has found that almost four out of 10 people break their New Year’s resolutions within a fortnight, while only one in 11 sticks it out to the six-month mark.

Both charities are trying to get people to reduce their alcohol consumption during the traditional January detox, because research indicates the drug causes 13,000 cancer cases every year in Britain.

Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: "The calories in alcoholic drinks account for a significant proportion of a drinker's calorie consumption while providing little, if any, nutritional benefit.

"Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
"Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don't include them when calculating their daily consumption."
She added: "This is important from a cancer perspective because, after smoking, being overweight or obese is the biggest risk factor.”
While fat contains nine calories per gram, few people know that pure alcohol comes a close second with seven calories per gram, she noted.
A pint of Stella Artois contains about 255 calories - the same as a Mars bar - while a large (250ml) glass of white wine has roughly 200 calories.
Ms Mendoza added: "There is also strong scientific evidence that alcohol itself is a cancer risk factor - possibly through damaging our DNA - in cancers of the breast, bowel, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver."
Drinking alcohol has long been known to have a protective effect on the heart, but doctors say this is only really a benefit in men over 40 and post-menopausal women.
Cancer Research UK, which polled 4,000 adults, found 39 per cent gave up their resolutions within two weeks and only nine per cent lasted to six months.
Close to half of people (45 per cent) blame lack of willpower for their lack of ability to stay the course.
It is challenging people to keep off alcohol and raise money for the charity in January by taking part in its ‘Dryathon’.
The whole article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9774362/Dieters-should-cut-booze-to-ditch-pounds.html