prostrate cancer and walnuts

[Guest guest]

SAN FRANCISCO A new study suggests that mice with prostate tumors should say

" nuts to cancer. " of the University of California, , hopes

follow-up data by his team and others will one day justify men saying the same.

For years, this nutritionist had been studying heart benefits of walnuts. Most

nuts – in sensible quantities – can benefit the heart. But among walnuts'

special attributes were their ability to fight inflammation, an underlying cause

of much heart disease, and to allow vessels to dilate as needed, which should

limit unhealthy blood pressure hikes. But inflammation plays a role in many

cancers. And notes that walnuts can tinker with production of endothelin,

a protein not only related to blood pressure control but also to helping

regulate prostate growth.

So and his colleagues decided to test walnuts in a mouse model of prostate

cancer.

The line of rodents they used are genetically programmed to spontaneously

develop prostate cancer. When fed what is for mice a normal quantity of fat –

five percent of calories – the tumors grow slowly. But bump the fat content of

their diet up to a whopping 20 percent of calories and tumor growth mushrooms.

Except if that 20 percent of fat calories comes from walnuts, reported

this week at the American Chemical Society spring national meeting.

Mice getting the high-fat walnut diets developed the same type of tumors seen in

all animals from this cancer-prone strain. Their cancer just grew slowly,

similar to the rate seen in animals downing a low-fat diet.

The researchers began supplementing the diet of some 8-week-old rodents with

ground up walnuts. The rest got low- or high-fat diets where the source of that

fat came from soybean oil. In all other respects, the animals dined on similar

chow.

But 18-weeks into the feeding trial, those in the walnut group were exhibiting a

tumor mass 30 to 40 percent smaller than in animals on the high fat diet. Six

weeks after that, at the end of the experiment, the walnut group was still

trending toward having a somewhat reduced tumor mass, relative to the

high-soy-oil group, although the difference was no longer statistically

significant, reported.

He notes that " We saw reductions in several different mediators [of cancer

growth] that are present in the bloodstream. " He was referring to insulinlike

growth factor-1, or IGF-1, and tissue plasminogen activator – " both of which,

when they're high, are bad prognostic indicators of prostate cancer. " Indeed, he

said, the reduction in these chemicals correlated with the lower prostate-tumor

growth in the walnut-supplemented animals.

' group also used molecular probes to see if they could uncover biochemical

signatures differentiating prostate tissues in the two high-fat groups. This

gene-chip technology identifies which genes are turned on or off. And

comparisons of the two groups turned up a host of differences that the

scientists are now poring over. One characteristic change that has already

emerged is a reduction of gene activity for IGF-1 in the walnut-supplemented

mice.

When asked what constituents of walnuts might be slowing tumor growth,

said " I suspect it's a combination of things. " He pointed to the omega-3 fatty

acids, such as alpha linolenic acid, together with minerals, other trace

nutrients – perhaps even some of the proteins. Other nuts might also prove

beneficial, he allowed, but he has no plan to study them since he's funded

through the University of California by the state's Walnut Board.

How many walnuts would a man have to consume for his intake to be roughly

equivalent to what the mice downed? About 500 calories worth, says – the

energy content in a " Mac's big fries. " Studies by others have indicated

that additional foods might also fight prostate cancer, including tomatoes,

pomegranates,selenium-rich foods and tea. " And I heard through the grapevine, "

adds, " that pistachios are being examined [for preventing prostate

cancer]. "

When someone asked if he would recommend walnuts to men concerned about

prostate cancer, he said " I don't think it will do any harm. "

But remember not to expect a cure. At best, just a slowing in the growth of any

cancers. And achieving that could be great, he noted, since most men will – if

they live long enough – eventually develop prostate cancer. The goal, he says,

is to find foods that might help ensure that when it comes to this malignancy,

men " die with it, not of it. "

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57701/title/Walnuts_slow_prostate_can\

cer_growth

[Guest guest]

Interesting that the study mention " omega-3 content " as that's a supplement

that's all the rage! Actually, walnut oil has about 3 times as much omega-6 as

it has omega-3, and its the omega-6 I credit with the success of the test, as

most nuts don't have much omega-6! This is just extra confirmation of the the

Budwig protocol and Peskin's work on the polyunsaturated fatty acids and

their protective value with respect to cancer.