Eating nuts may aid colon cancer survival

People with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t, according to a new, large study led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center.

The findings were published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The study followed 826 participants in a clinical trial for a median of 6.5 years after they were treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Those who regularly consumed at least two, one-ounce servings of nuts each week demonstrated a 42% improvement in disease-free survival and a 57% improvement in overall survival.

“Further analysis of this cohort revealed that disease-free survival increased by 46% among the subgroup of nut consumers who ate tree nuts rather than peanuts,” said Charles S. Fuchs, M.D., director of Yale Cancer Center and senior author of the study. Tree nuts include almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, and pecans, among others. In contrast, peanuts are actually in the legume family of foods.

“These findings are in keeping with several other observational studies that indicate that a slew of healthy behaviors — including increased physical activity, keeping a healthy weight, and lower intake of sugar and sweetened beverages — improve colon cancer outcomes,” said Temidayo Fadelu, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and lead author of the paper. “The results highlight the importance of emphasizing dietary and lifestyle factors in colon cancer survivorship.”

/news.yale.edu/2018/02/28/nut-consumption-may-aid-colon-cancer-survival

Not just cancer recurrence but maybe cancer prevention too, at least indirectly. This study is about selenium, and by far the number one food source of selenium is Brazil nuts.

Selenium is one of those rare nutrients that it is possible to overdose, but 200 mcg is well with the safety range. Several years over 1,000 mcg is the upper limit. If interested I like Rainbow Light multivitamins because most of their formulas contain 200 mcg of the organic L-selenomethionine selenium as well as chromium, etc., which helps to prevent diabetes. If you are allergic to taking vitamins then one of the richest sources of natural selenium is eating a couple of Brazil nuts every day.

www.lef.org/magazine/mag2012/ss2012_Selenium-Protect-Against-Cancer_01.htm?source=search&key=selenium
"In a now-famous 1996 study, Dr. Larry C. Clark of the University of Arizona was attempting to prevent skin cancers with a 200 mcg supplement of L-selenomethionine.

While the supplement proved ineffective at preventing either of the two major forms of skin cancer, the supplemented patients were significantly protected from death by all cancers (a 50% reduction compared with controls), from developing any cancer (a 37% reduction), and specifically from developing lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers.

These unexpected results were so compelling that the blinded phase of the study was stopped early to allow all subjects to achieve maximum protection."

Some studies of vitamin E can be ambiguous. One explanation is that there are 8 different forms of natural E not to mention the artificial DL alpha version.

But please show me the study where selenium increases the chances of getting cancer.

Thanks

BTW the study cited above was initiated by the U of Arizona and not affiliated with Life Extension at all.

Probably has to do with the methylation and transulfuration cycles in the body, all of which have enzymes that run on trace minerals.... which nuts are full of. If the detox pathways in the body and not well supported with trace minerals then cancer is a more likely outcome.