Nutrition

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and haplotypes, interactions with plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, and prostate cancer risk. Mikhak B, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Platz EA, Hollis BW, Giovannucci E. Prostate. 2007 Jun 15;67(9):911-23. PMID: 17440943 DOI: 10.1002/pros.20570 RESULTS No association was found between these SNPs or their associated haplotypes and all PC subtypes except that haplotype 2 (A-f-b) with Cdx2 A, Fok1 f, and Bsm1 b alleles and haplotype 3 (A-F-B) with Cdx2 A, Fok1 F and Bsm1 B alleles compared to the most common haplotype (A-F-b), were associated with reduced risk of aggressive PC (high stage or Gleason sum 7; P = 0.02), both with two alleles suspected of being low risk. Carriers of the variant Cdx2 A allele who were deficient in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (15 ng/ml) compared to non-carriers with normal 25-hydroxyvitamin D, had a lower risk of total and poorly differentiated PCs (Gleason sum 7) (P for interaction = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively). Plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D deficiency (26 pg/ml) was associated with a threefold risk of poorly differentiated PC (P for interaction = 0.01) when comparing carriers of the Cdx2 A allele to non-carriers with normal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. CONCLUSION In this population of men, none of the VDR polymorphisms studied was associated with susceptibility to PC. Carriers of the variant Cdx2 A allele with low plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D may experience a reduction in risk of total and poorly differentiated prostate cancers compared to non-carriers with adequate 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Serum vitamin D concentration and prostate cancer risk: a nested case-control study. Ahn J, Peters U, Albanes D, Purdue MP, Abnet CC, Chatterjee N, Horst RL, Hollis BW, Huang WY, Shikany JM, Hayes RB; Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial Project Team. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008 Jun 4;100(11):796-804. Epub 2008 May 27. PMID: 18505967 doi:10.1093/jnci/djn152 CONCLUSION: The findings of this large prospective study do not support the hypothesis that vitamin D is associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer; indeed, higher circulating 25(OH)D concentrations may be associated with increased risk of aggressive disease. In summary, results from this large prospective study of men who underwent standardized prostate cancer screening in the context of a screening trial do not support the hypothesis that higher serum vitamin D status is associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer. The study showed no association of vitamin D level with nonaggressive disease; however, it raises the possibility that higher vitamin D level may be associated with increased risks for aggressive disease, although a clear monotonic dose-response relationship was lacking. Along with recent reports of adverse associations for higher vitamin D status and risk of pancreatic (32) and esophageal (33,34) cancer, caution should be taken in recommending high doses of vitamin D or sunlight exposure to the general public for prostate cancer prevention. Future analyses are warranted to confirm these results and to further clarify the effects of vitamin D on aggressive prostate cancer.

"We are fond of grumbling about Britain's grey skies, but there may be a good medical reason for doing so. It seems the dreary weather is bad for our hearts - worse, even, than raised cholesterol and an unhealthy diet. That's the controversial claim being made by Dr David Grimes, a gastroenterologist from Blackburn. He's been gazing at the sky for 20 years for clues about why his patients get more sick than those in the south of the country. And what he's found turns key assumptions about heart disease on their head. 'It's not diet or cholesterol levels that raise your risk of heart disease,' he claims. 'It's where you live. People in the north are more likely to be ill because they get less sunshine Basically they are suffering from 'latitude' sickness. The link is vitamin D. While we get some from our diet, the main source is the sun - sunlight converts a compound in the skin into vitamin D, so the amount you make is directly related to the amount of sunshine you get. In a new book Dr Grimes argues the higher the level of vitamin D in your blood, the lower your risk of heart disease and a range of other illnesses. If he's right, what we need is not diet and lifestyle advice, but food fortified with vitamin D. For years the vitamin was thought to be useful only for preventing rickets. So how does he treat them? 'You can do it with diet,' he says 'One Bangladeshi woman eats oily fish every day and now has a vitamin D blood level of 40. 'We give supplements of 1,000 international units (IU) a day or we can give an injection of 300,000 IU that lasts for a year. 'The patients respond well,' says Grimes 'but what's needed is a proper controlled, long-term trial and who is going to fund that? Not a drug company.'"

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who want to maintain a healthy weight over time shouldn't obsess about their fat intake, new research shows. The percentage of calories that a person got from fat, as opposed to protein or carbohydrates, had nothing to do with how much weight they gained in the coming years, the research team found. The kinds of fat they ate didn't matter either, Dr. Nita Forouhi of the Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK and her colleagues found. The findings, Forouhi noted in an email to Reuters Health, show that "it is more important to aim for a healthy lifestyle including a balanced healthy diet and regular physical activity, than to focus on fat intake alone as a factor for weight gain.""

Coconut kernel protein modifies the effect of coconut oil on serum lipids. Padmakumaran Nair KG, Rajamohan T, Kurup PA. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1999;53(2):133-44. PMID: 10472790 DOI: 10.1023/A:1008078103299 Feeding coconut kernel along with coconut oil in human volunteers has been found to reduce serum total and LDL cholesterol when compared to feeding coconut oil alone. This effect of the kernel was also observed in rats. Since many plant proteins have been reported to exert a cholesterol lowering effect, a study was carried out on the effect of isolated kernel protein in rats. Feeding kernel protein resulted in lower levels of cholesterol, phospholipids and triglycerides in the serum and most tissues when compared to casein fed animals. Rats fed kernel protein had (1) increased hepatic degradation of cholesterol to bile acids, (2) increased hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis, and (3) decreased esterification of free cholesterol. In the intestine, however, cholesterogenesis was decreased. The kernel protein also caused decreased lipogenesis in the liver and intestine. This beneficial effect of the kernel protein is attributed to its very low lysine/arginine ratio 2.13% lysine and 24.5% arginine....

A diet rich in coconut oil reduces diurnal postprandial variations in circulating tissue plasminogen activator antigen and fasting lipoprotein (a) compared with a diet rich in unsaturated fat in women. Müller H, Lindman AS, Blomfeldt A, Seljeflot I, Pedersen JI. J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11):3422-7. PMID: 14608053 In conclusion, our results indicate that a coconut oil-based diet (HSAFA-diet) lowers postprandial t-PA antigen concentration, and this may favorably affect the fibrinolytic system and the Lp(a) concentration compared with the HUFA-diet. The proportions of dietary saturated fatty acids more than the percentage of saturated fat energy seem to have a beneficial influence on Lp(a) levels. The connection between Lp(a) and atherosclerosis is not entirely understood. Different studies have provided strong evidence that Lp(a) level is an independent risk factor for developing coronary artery disease in men (47,48), but the question of causality continues to be debated. Recent data suggest that Lp(a) might be atherogenic (49), in particular when combined with other risk factors. High levels of Lp(a) combined with other risk factors such as the ratio of plasma total/HDL cholesterol have been shown to increase the risk for coronary heart diseases (50). It has also been reported that when substantial LDL cholesterol reductions were obtained in men with coronary heart disease, persistent elevations of Lp(a) were no longer atherogenic or clinically threatening (51). In conclusion, the present results show that the HSAFA-diet lowered postprandial t-PA antigen and thus potentially improved fibrinolysis compared with the HUFA-diet. Diets with either high or low levels of saturated fatty acids from coconut oil beneficially decrease Lp(a) compared with a HUFA-diet. The proportions of dietary saturated fatty acids more than the percentage of saturated fat energy may be of importance if the goal is to decrease Lp(a).

Docosahexaenoic acid inhibits superoxide dismutase 1 gene transcription in human cancer cells: the involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha and hypoxia-inducible factor-2alpha signaling. Tuller ER, Beavers CT, Lou JR, Ihnat MA, Benbrook DM, Ding WQ. Mol Pharmacol. 2009 Sep;76(3):588-95. Epub 2009 Jun 15. PMID: 19528198

Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation. Nevin KG, Rajamohan T. Clin Biochem. 2004 Sep;37(9):830-5. PMID: 15329324 doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2004.04.010 Conclusion: The results demonstrated the potential beneficiary effect of virgin coconut oil in lowering lipid levels in serum and tissues and LDL oxidation by physiological oxidants. This property of VCO may be attributed to the biologically active polyphenol components present in the oil

Antioxidant capacity and phenolic acids of virgin coconut oil. Marina AM, Man YB, Nazimah SA, Amin I. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 2:114-23. Epub 2008 Dec 27. PMID: 19115123

"Coconut oil is a staple food in many parts of the world. You can travel to Thailand, the Caribbean, parts of Brazil, countries in Africa, and the vast southern half of India and find this oil on center stage when it comes to delicious and healthy cuisine. The popularity of this oil is partly due to its stability, ease of use in cooking, and taste. Like all foods, the quality of coconut oil has a lot to do with its potential health benefits. Refined coconut oil that has been heavily processed, bleached, and deodorized is not going to provide you with the same desirable balance of fatty acids, or the same beneficial polyphenol content, as either virgin coconut oil or less extensively refined coconut oil (sometimes called "naturally refined" by the product manufacturers). Choosing organic coconut oil is a good way to assure you of higher quality in this regard. However, at the same time, there is such a long track record of coconut oil use in many cultures and their food traditions that I will be surprised if the research doesn't eventually show some key health benefits. Some of these health benefits are likely to be related to the unusual fatty acid composition of coconut oil, and other benefits are likely to be associated with the special polyphenols found in this oil (when virgin or very lightly refined). Also, it's the natural pattern of fats found in coconut oil that seems especially important to me, in addition to the blend of fats in the overall diet that results from the inclusion of coconut oil. If you decide to include coconut oil in your diet, I therefore recommend that you continue to use other high-quality oils (like extra virgin olive oil) as well. One of the practical benefits of coconut oil is that it has a higher smoke point than many other oils, so that you can cook with it at normal stovetop temperatures and have less concern about oxidation. The smoke point for lightly refined coconut oil is about 450ºF (232ºC) while the smoke point for unrefi

"I've always read that you should avoid coconut oil because of its high level of saturated fat. But I recently heard it is actually healthful and can help you lose weight. Is that true? Most nutritionists don't believe consuming coconut oil will help with weight loss -- the evidence is far from conclusive on that point. But most will also concede that the oil may not be the demon many think it is. To be honest, when it comes to nutrition research, the "truth" often seems elusive. Studies pronounce one verdict and then new findings point in another direction. That's simply the nature of the scientific process and the complexity surrounding nutrition and health. As long as we persist in hunting for more precise answers, we'll continue to encounter surprises. "

In vitro antimicrobial properties of coconut oil on Candida species in Ibadan, Nigeria. Ogbolu DO, Oni AA, Daini OA, Oloko AP. J Med Food. 2007 Jun;10(2):384-7. PMID: 17651080 It is noteworthy that coconut oil was active against species of Candida at 100% concentration compared to fluconazole. Coconut oil should be used in the treatment of fungal infections in view of emerging drug-resistant Candida specie

Giving saturated fat another chance. Saturated fat has long held a bad rep and been noted for its potential to contribute to cardiovascular disease. So you might understand why I was a bit skeptical of all the hype surrounding the supposedly miracle-working power of coconut oil, which is composed of saturated fatty acids. However, if there's one thing I have learned as a nutrition student, it is that research has the potential to change our views as we continue to expand our knowledge and make new discoveries. Coconut oil may prevent and alleviate disease. Both research and clinical studies have shown that MCFA may be useful in treating and preventing diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, virus-related dieases (mononucleosis, hepatitis C, herpes, etc.), gallbladder disease, Crohn's disease, and cancer. The smaller size of MCFA (compared to LCFA) allows them to be digested more easily, making them ideal for those suffering from digestive diseases. Coconut oil may assist in the absorption and retaining of calcium, thereby benefiting bones. Coconut oil has antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Lipid-coated bacteria and viruses contain a lipid coat which encloses their DNA among other cellular materials. When consumed by humans, coconut oil disrupts the lipid membrane, killing the pathogens without damaging the host or harming health-promoting intestinal bacteria. The antimicrobial properties stem from the monoglycerides and free fatty acids (mainly lauric acid and capric acid) that compose coconut oil.

"ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2009) - Monolaurin, an extract from coconut oil could be used as a microbial agent in foods, according to a study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists."

A new study in animals demonstrates that a diet rich in coconut oil protects against 'insulin resistance' (an impaired ability of cells to respond to insulin) in muscle and fat. The diet also avoids the accumulation of body fat caused by other high fat diets of similar calorie content. Together these findings are important because obesity and insulin resistance are major factors leading to the development of Type 2 diabetes. "