Whole food diet may help prevent colon cancer, other chronic conditions

A diet that includes plenty of colorful vegetables and fruits may contain compounds that can stop colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases in pigs, according to an international team of researchers. Understanding how these compounds work on a molecular level could be an initial step toward finding treatments for people with cancer, they added.

"What we are learning is that food is a double-edge sword -- it may promote disease, but it may also help prevent chronic diseases, like colon cancer," said Jairam K.P. Vanamala, associate professor of food sciences, Penn State. "What we don't know is, 'how does this food work on the molecular level?' This study is a step in that direction."

In the study, pigs that were served a high calorie diet supplemented with purple-fleshed potatoes had less colonic mucosal interleukin-6 -- IL-6 -- compared to a control group. IL-6 is a protein that is important in inflammation, and elevated IL-6 levels are correlated with proteins, such as Ki-67, that are linked to the spread and growth of cancer cells, said Vanamala, who also is a faculty member at the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute.

According to the researchers, who reported their findings in a recent issue of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, eating whole foods that contain macronutrients -- substances that humans need in large amounts, such as proteins -- as well as micro- and phytonutrients, such as vitamins, carotenoids and flavonoids, may be effective in altering the IL-6 pathway.

Vanamala said these findings reinforce recent research that suggests cultures with plant-based diets tend to have lower colon cancer rates than cultures with meat-based diets. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States and a leading killer in many other Western countries, which tend to include more meat and less fruits and vegetables, he added.

While the researchers used purple potatoes in this study, Vanamala said other colorful fruits and vegetables could prompt similar effects. Colorful plants, including the purple potato, contain bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins and phenolic acids, that have been linked to cancer prevention.

"For example, white potatoes may have helpful compounds, but the purple potatoes have much greater concentrations of these anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant compounds," said Vanamala. "We use the purple potato as a model and hope to investigate how other plants can be used in the future."

Another advantage of using whole foods for cancer treatment is that it would benefit the agriculture industry and likely help small farmers around the world.

"If this model works, we can see what works in other countries," Vanamala said. "Instead of promoting a pill, we can promote fruits and vegetables that are very rich in anti-inflammatory compounds to counter the growing problem of chronic disease."

The researchers fed the animals three different diets: a standard diet with 5 percent fat; a high-calorie diet, with 17 percent added dry fat and 3 to 4 percent added endogenous fat; and a high fat diet supplemented with purple-fleshed potatoes.

The expression of IL-6 was six times lower in pigs that ate the purple potato-enhanced feed compared to the control group. Researchers used both uncooked and baked potatoes and found similar effects.

Currently, anti-IL-6 drugs are used against certain type of rheumatoid arthritis? and are being considered to treat? other? ?inflammation-promoted chronic diseases like colon cancer. However, these drugs are expensive and can cause side-effects, including drug tolerance.

Vanamala said that the pig model was used because the digestive system is very similar to the human digestive system, more so than in mice. The diet approach to cancer treatment has also shown similar promise in mice, however, he added.

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Materials provided by Penn State. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Abigail Sido, Sridhar Radhakrishnan, Sung Woo Kim, Elisabeth Eriksson, Frank Shen, Qunhua Li, Vadiraja Bhat, Lavanya Reddivari, Jairam K.P. Vanamala. A food-based approach that targets interleukin-6, a key regulator of chronic intestinal inflammation and colon carcinogenesis. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2017; 43: 11 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2017.01.012

How staph cells dodge the body's immune system

For years, medical investigators have tried and failed to develop vaccines for a type of staph bacteria associated with the deadly superbug MRSA. But a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators shows how staph cells evade the body's immune system, offering a clearer picture of how a successful vaccine would work.

Staph frequently causes skin infections but occasionally can lead to deadly conditions such as sepsis, pneumonia and bloodstream infections, particularly in hospitalized patients whose immune systems could be weakened by illness.

One strain of the bacterium, the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is considered one of the top drug-resistant threats in the U.S., causing more than 11,000 deaths per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the superbug kills more Americans than HIV.

"Widespread MRSA infections have prompted routine use of once last-line antibiotics, and this is making the antibiotic resistance problem worse," said George Liu, MD, PhD, co-lead author of the study and a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Children's Health Center and the F. Widjaja Foundation Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute. "Our study focuses on why MRSA is so common and why we never develop immunity to these bacteria."

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Host & Microbe, also sheds light on how investigators could develop an effective vaccine against staph.

When exposed to a pathogen like a staph bacterium, the body usually fights it and then forms a memory of how its immune system responded. The next time the body encounters the same pathogen, it can use that memory to fight off the microbe much more easily.

But the body can suffer from repeated staph infections throughout life without developing a robust protective memory immune response. The study shows that staph bacteria are able to dodge this immune response.

When the staph cell wall primarily is kept intact after infecting a host, bacterial molecules don't escape the staph cell and the body isn't prompted to produce robust protective immune memory.

"Essentially, staph tricks the body's T cells, which are white blood cells that fight infection, and prevents them from mounting an effective defense," said co-lead author Gislaine Martins, PhD, an assistant professor at the F. Widjaja Foundation Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute and departments of Biomedical Science and Medicine.

As a result, the body does not develop long-term immunity and remains vulnerable to that particular staph infection throughout life. While certain staph bacteria cause mild skin infections, other strains of staph bacteria can wreak havoc in the bloodstream and bones, sometimes leading to amputations.

"The study explains why our immune system is fooled by staph," Martins said. "Staph evolved to have this enzyme that makes this modification in its cell wall. This modification protects the wall from degradation and therefore from being properly detected by the immune system, which won't remember the bacteria the next time the body is infected."

When study authors removed the cell wall modification, the staph cells spilled their molecules more easily. The modified bacteria sparked a robust memory immune response that protected against reinfection.

The study provides clues about what type of element could be added to staph vaccines to make them more effective. Whereas most staph vaccines have tried to stimulate antibodies -- specialized molecules that recognize foreign bodies and help to mobilize the immune system -- this study suggests that a successful vaccine should harness the body's T cells.

Funding for this work was provided by NIH research grants R01AI103542,?R21AI083948 and R01AI127406 and by the F. Widjaja Foundation IBIRI Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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Materials provided by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marisel Sanchez, Stacey L. Kolar, Sabrina Müller, Christopher N. Reyes, Andrea J. Wolf, Chihiro Ogawa, Rajat Singhania, Daniel D. De Carvalho, Moshe Arditi, David M. Underhill, Gislâine A. Martins, George Y. Liu. O-Acetylation of Peptidoglycan Limits Helper T Cell Priming and Permits Staphylococcus aureus Reinfection. Cell Host & Microbe, 2017; DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2017.08.008

New hope for people with fibromyalgia

A novel psychological therapy that encourages addressing emotional experiences related to trauma, conflict and relationship problems has been found helpful for people with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia. A research team led by Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., distinguished professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University, in collaboration with a team from the University of Michigan Medical Center led by David A. Williams, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology, has released the results of its research in the journal, PAIN.

In the randomized clinical trial, 230 adults with fibromyalgia received one of three treatments, each of which was presented for eight weekly sessions to small groups of patients. The new therapy, which Lumley and co-developer Howard Schubiner, M.D., director of the Mind Body Medicine Program at Providence Hospital, call Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), helps patients view their pain and other symptoms as stemming from changeable neural pathways in the brain that are strongly influenced by emotions. EAET helps patients process emotional experiences, such as disclosing important struggles, learning how to adaptively express important feelings -- especially anger and sadness but also gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness -- and empowering people to be more honest and direct in relationships that have been conflicted or problematic.

The EAET intervention was compared to both an educational intervention as well as the gold standard psychological approach in the field, cognitive behavioral therapy. Six months after treatments ended, patients were evaluated for the severity and extent of their pain and other problems that people with fibromyalgia often experience.

Patients who received EAET had better outcomes -- reduced widespread pain, physical impairment, attention and concentration problems, anxiety, and depression and more positive emotions and life satisfaction -- than patients who received the education intervention. More than twice as many people in EAET (34.8 percent) reported that they were "much better" or "very much better" than before treatment, compared to 15.4 percent of education patients. An important additional finding was that the new emotion therapy also had greater benefits than cognitive behavior therapy in reducing widespread pain and in the number of patients who achieved at least 50 percent pain reduction.

"Many people with fibromyalgia have experienced adversity in their lives, including victimization, family problems and internal conflicts, all of which create important emotions that are often suppressed or avoided. Emerging neuroscience research suggests that this can contribute strongly to pain and other physical symptoms," Lumley said. "We developed and tested an approach that tries to help people overcome these emotional and relationship problems and reduce their symptoms, rather than just help people manage or accept their fibromyalgia. Although this treatment does not help all people with fibromyalgia, many patients found it to be very helpful, and some had dramatic improvements in their lives and their health."

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Materials provided by Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Mark A. Lumley, Howard Schubiner, Nancy A. Lockhart, Kelley M. Kidwell, Steven E. Harte, Daniel J. Clauw, David A. Williams. Emotional awareness and expression therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and education for fibromyalgia. PAIN, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001036

Nutrition has benefits for brain network organization

Nutrition has been linked to cognitive performance, but researchers have not pinpointed what underlies the connection. A new study by University of Illinois researchers found that monounsaturated fatty acids -- a class of nutrients found in olive oils, nuts and avocados -- are linked to general intelligence, and that this relationship is driven by the correlation between MUFAs and the organization of the brain's attention network.

The study of 99 healthy older adults, recruited through Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, compared patterns of fatty acid nutrients found in blood samples, functional MRI data that measured the efficiency of brain networks, and results of a general intelligence test. The study was published in the journal NeuroImage.

"Our goal is to understand how nutrition might be used to support cognitive performance and to study the ways in which nutrition may influence the functional organization of the human brain," said study leader Aron Barbey, a professor of psychology. "This is important because if we want to develop nutritional interventions that are effective at enhancing cognitive performance, we need to understand the ways that these nutrients influence brain function."

"In this study, we examined the relationship between groups of fatty acids and brain networks that underlie general intelligence. In doing so, we sought to understand if brain network organization mediated the relationship between fatty acids and general intelligence," said Marta Zamroziewicz, a recent Ph.D. graduate of the neuroscience program at Illinois and lead author of the study.

Studies suggesting cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in MUFAs, inspired the researchers to focus on this group of fatty acids. They examined nutrients in participants' blood and found that the fatty acids clustered into two patterns: saturated fatty acids and MUFAs.

"Historically, the approach has been to focus on individual nutrients. But we know that dietary intake doesn't depend on any one specific nutrient; rather, it reflects broader dietary patterns," said Barbey, who also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at Illinois.

The researchers found that general intelligence was associated with the brain's dorsal attention network, which plays a central role in attention-demanding tasks and everyday problem solving. In particular, the researchers found that general intelligence was associated with how efficiently the dorsal attention network is functionally organized used a measure called small-world propensity, which describes how well the neural network is connected within locally clustered regions as well as across globally integrated systems.

In turn, they found that those with higher levels of MUFAs in their blood had greater small-world propensity in their dorsal attention network. Taken together with an observed correlation between higher levels of MUFAs and greater general intelligence, these findings suggest a pathway by which MUFAs affect cognition.

"Our findings provide novel evidence that MUFAs are related to a very specific brain network, the dorsal attentional network, and how optimal this network is functionally organized," Barbey said. "Our results suggest that if we want to understand the relationship between MUFAs and general intelligence, we need to take the dorsal attention network into account. It's part of the underlying mechanism that contributes to their relationship."

Barbey hopes these findings will guide further research into how nutrition affects cognition and intelligence. In particular, the next step is to run an interventional study over time to see whether long-term MUFA intake influences brain network organization and intelligence.

"Our ability to relate those beneficial cognitive effects to specific properties of brain networks is exciting," Barbey said. "This gives us evidence of the mechanisms by which nutrition affects intelligence and motivates promising new directions for future research in nutritional cognitive neuroscience."

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Materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marta K. Zamroziewicz, M. Tanveer Talukdar, Chris E. Zwilling, Aron K. Barbey. Nutritional status, brain network organization, and general intelligence. NeuroImage, 2017; 161: 241 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.043

Whole grains decrease colorectal cancer risk, processed meats increase the risk

Eating whole grains daily, such as brown rice or whole-wheat bread, reduces colorectal cancer risk, with the more you eat the lower the risk, finds a new report by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). This is the first time AICR/WCRF research links whole grains independently to lower cancer risk.

Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Colorectal Cancer also found that hot dogs, bacon and other processed meats consumed regularly increase the risk of this cancer. There was strong evidence that physical activity protects against colon cancer.

"Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers, yet this report demonstrates there is a lot people can do to dramatically lower their risk," said Edward L. Giovannucci, MD, ScD, lead author of the report and professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. "The findings from this comprehensive report are robust and clear: Diet and lifestyle have a major role in colorectal cancer."

The new report evaluated the scientific research worldwide on how diet, weight and physical activity affect colorectal cancer risk. The report analyzed 99 studies, including data on 29 million people, of whom over a quarter of a million were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Other factors found to increase colorectal cancer include:

• Eating high amounts of red meat (above 500 grams cooked weight a week), such as beef or pork
• Being overweight or obese
• Consuming two or more daily alcoholic drinks (30 grams of alcohol), such as wine or beer

Lowering Risk with Fiber, Activity and Grains

The report concluded that eating approximately three servings (90 grams) of whole grains daily reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 17 percent.

It adds to previous evidence showing that foods containing fiber decreases the risk of this cancer.

For physical activity, people who are more physically active have a lower risk of colon cancer compared to those who do very little physical activity. Here, the decreased risk was apparent for colon and not rectal cancer.

In the US, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer among both men and women, with an estimated 371 cases diagnosed each day. AICR estimates that 47 percent of US colorectal cancer cases could be prevented each year through healthy lifestyle changes.

Notes Giovannucci: "Many of the ways to help prevent colorectal cancer are important for overall health. Factors such as maintaining a lean body weight, proper exercise, limiting red and processed meat and eating more whole grains and fiber would lower risk substantially. Moreover, limiting alcohol to at most two drinks per day and avoidance or cessation of smoking also lower risk."

Fish, Fruits and Vegetables, Emerging Evidence

The report found other links between diet and colorectal cancer that were visible but not as clear. There was limited evidence that risk increases with low intake of both non-starchy vegetables and fruit. A higher risk was observed for intakes of less than 100 grams per day (about a cup) of each.

Links to lowering risk of colorectal cancer was with fish and foods containing vitamin C. Oranges, strawberries and spinach are all foods high in vitamin C.

The research continues to emerge for these factors, but it all points to the power of a plant-based diet, says Alice Bender, MS, RDN, AICR Director of Nutrition Programs. "Replacing some of your refined grains with whole grains and eating mostly plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables and beans, will give you a diet packed with cancer-protective compounds and help you manage your weight, which is so important to lower risk."

"When it comes to cancer there are no guarantees, but it's clear now there are choices you can make and steps you can take to lower your risk of colorectal and other cancers," said Bender.

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Materials provided by American Institute for Cancer Research. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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American Institute for Cancer Research. "Whole grains decrease colorectal cancer risk, processed meats increase the risk: Report analyzing the global research finds hot dogs and other processed meats increase risk of colorectal cancer, eating more whole grains and being physically active lowers risk." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 September 2017. .

Eat fat, live longer?

As more people live into their 80s and 90s, researchers have delved into the issues of health and quality of life during aging. A recent mouse study at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine sheds light on those questions by demonstrating that a high fat, or ketogenic, diet not only increases longevity but also improves physical strength.

"The results surprised me a little," said nutritionist Jon Ramsey, senior author of the paper that appears in the September issue of Cell Metabolism. "We expected some differences, but I was impressed by the magnitude we observed -- a 13 percent increase in median life span for the mice on a high fat vs high carb diet. In humans, that would be seven to 10 years. But equally important, those mice retained quality of health in later life."

Ramsey has spent the past 20 years looking at the mechanics that lead to aging, a contributing factor to most major diseases that impact rodents and humans alike. While calorie restriction has been shown in several studies to slow aging in many animals, Ramsey was interested in how a high fat diet may impact the aging process.

Ketogenic diets have gained popularity for a variety of health benefit claims, but scientists are still teasing out what happens during ketosis, when carbohydrate intake is so low that the body shifts from using glucose as the main fuel source to fat burning and producing ketones for energy.

The study mice were split into three groups: a regular rodent high-carb diet, a low carb/high fat diet, and a ketogenic diet (89-90 percent of total calorie intake). Originally concerned that the high fat diet would increase weight and decrease life span, the researchers kept the calorie count of each diet the same.

"We designed the diet not to focus on weight loss, but to look at metabolism," Ramsey said. "What does that do to aging?"

In addition to significantly increasing the median life span of mice in the study, the ketogenic diet increased memory and motor function (strength and coordination), and prevented an increase in age-related markers of inflammation. It had an impact on the incidence of tumors as well.

"In this case, many of the things we're looking at aren't much different from humans," Ramsey said. "At a fundamental level, humans follow similar changes and experience a decrease in overall function of organs during aging. This study indicates that a ketogenic diet can have a major impact on life and health span without major weight loss or restriction of intake. It also opens a new avenue for possible dietary interventions that have an impact on aging."

A companion study published by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in the same issue of Cell Metabolism shows that a ketogenic diet extends longevity and improves memory in aging mice.

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Materials provided by University of California - Davis. Original written by Trina Wood. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Megan N. Roberts, Marita A. Wallace, Alexey A. Tomilov, Zeyu Zhou, George R. Marcotte, Dianna Tran, Gabriella Perez, Elena Gutierrez-Casado, Shinichiro Koike, Trina A. Knotts, Denise M. Imai, Stephen M. Griffey, Kyoungmi Kim, Kevork Hagopian, Fawaz G. Haj, Keith Baar, Gino A. Cortopassi, Jon J. Ramsey, Jose Alberto Lopez-Dominguez. A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice. Cell Metabolism, 2017; 26 (3): 539 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.08.005

Your stools reveal whether you can lose weight

Something as simple as a feces sample reveals whether you can lose weight by following dietary recommendations characterized by a high content of fruit, vegetables, fibers and whole grains. This is a finding of a new study conducted at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The bacteria we all have in our gut may play a decisive role in personalized nutrition and the development of obesity. This is shown by several studies that have delved into the significance of these bacteria.

"Human intestinal bacteria have been linked to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, and scientists have started to investigate whether the intestinal bacteria can play a role in the treatment of overweight. But it is only now that we have a breakthrough demonstrating that certain bacterial species play a decisive role in weight regulation and weight loss" says Professor Arne Astrup, Head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The ratio between the two groups of intestinal bacteria is crucial

A relationship between two groups of intestinal bacteria is decisive for whether overweight people lose weight on a diet that follows the Danish national dietary recommendations and contains a lot of fruit, vegetables, fiber and whole grains. In the study 31 subjects ate the New Nordic Diet for 26 weeks and lost an average of 3.5 kg, whereas the 23 subjects eating an Average Danish Diet lost an average of 1.7 kg. Thus weight loss was on average 1.8 kilos greater in the subjects on the New Nordic Diet.

High proportion of Prevotella bacteria lead to weight loss

When the subjects were divided by their level of intestinal bacteria, it was found that people with a high proportion of Prevotellabacteria in relation to Bacteroides bacteria lost 3.5 kg more in 26 weeks when they ate a diet composed by the New Nordic Diet principles compared to those consuming an Average Danish Diet. Subjects with a low proportion of Prevotella bacteria in relation to Bacteroides did not lose any additional weight on the New Nordic Diet. Overall, approximately 50 percent of the population has a high proportion of Prevotella-bacteria in relation to Bacteroides-bacteria.

"The study shows that only about half of the population will lose weight if they eat in accordance with the Danish national dietary recommendations and eat more fruit, vegetables, fibers and whole grains. The other half of the population doesn't seem to gain any benefit in weight from this change of diet," says Assistant Professor Mads Fiil Hjorth at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen. He continues: "These people should focus on other diet and physical activity recommendations until a strategy that works especially well for them is identified."

The researchers emphasize that they have already confirmed the results in two independent studies, so they are certain that these results are credible.

Personalized weight loss guidance

The results show that biomarkers, e.g. faecal samples, blood samples, or other samples from our body, which says something about our state of health, should play a far greater role in nutritional guidance. Simply because biomarkers allow us to adapt the guidance to the individual.

"This is a major step forward in personalized nutritional guidance. Guidance based on this knowledge of intestinal bacteria will most likely be more effective than the "one size fits all" approach that often characterises dietary recommendations and dietary guidance," says Assistant Professor Mads Fiil Hjorth.

At present it is primarily research units at universities and other academic institutions that examine the composition of intestinal bacteria, but as an effect of this breakthrough the University of Copenhagen has licensed a company in Boston, USA, to develop and publish a concept based on this research, that will be of benefit to obese people.

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Materials provided by Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. M F Hjorth, H M Roager, T M Larsen, S K Poulsen, T R Licht, M I Bahl, Y Zohar, A Astrup. Pre-treatment microbial Prevotella-to-Bacteroides ratio, determines body fat loss success during a 6-month randomized controlled diet intervention. International Journal of Obesity, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2017.220