Lung Cancer Risk is Lower Among Those with Higher Levels of B-6

(pictured: Italian Zucchini and Potato Bake garnished with Homemade Tofu Sour Cream)

Today I have been trying to catch up on my health and nutrition reading. It seems as though I am always behind on this. ;-) Since I had just read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the increased incidence of lung cancer among women, even those that never smoked, this article on B-6 and lung cancer stood out to me. According the study those with higher levels of vitamin B-6 had a lower incidence of lung cancer.

I did a little more research and found that B-6 is required for producing thymidine without which cells are more likely to develop cancerous mutations. Additionally a low intake of B-6 increases tumor susceptibility and tumor size.According to the USDA the RDA for B-6 is 2mg per day and 80% of Americans don’t consume enough. Some animals studies indicate that above-normal intake of B-6 stimulates the immune system, slows tumor growth and increase survival time. Threshold toxicity occurs at 2,000mg and 500mg is said to be safe daily dose. Studies have shown 50mg is enough to enhance the immune system. We are not supplementing with B-6 (other than our multi vitamin) at this time, but will keep this in mind for the future.

The obvious question for me was what foods are highest in B6 so I can be certain to include them in our diet. I found this handy chart  at NIH that shows quite a few high sources in vegan foods. Baked potatoes with skin, bananas and garbanzo beans are all good sources. I am going to start monitoring our intake to see how close we get to the 2mg from food.

Unrelated note:

I have not been doing much inventive cooking this week. A few times per year I get bored with cooking and don’t feel like spending much time in the kitchen. This week has been a little hectic with appointments which is probably playing into the lack of kitchen love I have been feeling.

We were scheduled to have dinner tonight with friends but things fell through. This is what happens when you make dinner plans with someone 1,000 miles away.  This should mean I will be cooking tonight, but we will see, LOL. I plan to make vegan mozzarella today and use my garlic scapes in dinner. Fingers crossed this actually happens. I hope everyone is having a great Thursday. If I find anything else interesting in my health reading I will be back before dinner.