Thursday, June 17, 2010

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


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.

8 comments:

  1. Interesting. I used to never eat bananas (I don't like them), but started added them to my green smoothie. And garbanzos are so versatile!

    I thought of you the other night - I took a family favorite recipe for a noodle side dish and added tofu, loads of veggies, & cut back on the noodles to make a really great main dish with all the flavors we love!

    Have a great day and thanks for the sharing this info!

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  2. Neca,

    Bananas add nice texture to smoothies. I like to keep them in the freezer to use in smoothies. Though Dan would prefer they become banana soft serve.

    Your noodle and veggie dish sounds good to me. :-) Glad it turned out well. I do similar things to old recipes by adding tons more veggies. It always worked for me too. ;-)

    I hope you are having a great Thursday. It is almost the weekend, Yay!

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  3. Thanks for sharing. Good thing I eat all of the foods you mentioned on a fairly regular basis. I can completely relate to you on just not feeling like being creative in the kitchen. Sometimes you just run out of steam.

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  4. Heather,

    I am very curious to see if we meet the 2mg from our diet now. Just something else for me to start tracking. Like I don't have enough already, LOL.

    It is good to know I am not the only one that gets tired of cooking. Sometimes I am just not in the mood. ;-)

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  5. Hey Alicia

    Would you like me to get the actual study from your link for you so you could read the whole thing from the source? Let me know.

    I am sorry your dinner plans fell through tonight! I know you were looking forward to you dinner with your friends tonight. Will you be able to reschedule to do it sometime soon?

    Courtney

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  6. Courtney,

    Thanks for offering, I would love to read the entire study. You know me too well, LOL.

    Phil's trip got postponed, long story, and Dan decided to work late. But we hope to catch up with him and Alexandra soon.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  7. I'm finally catching up with your posts... we've had company this weekend and have been quite busy. It's good to see at least one good thing about ready-to-eat cereal, since I can't get my husband to switch just yet. But I'll continue working on it!

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  8. Laura,

    Why are all husbands so difficult to convince that they should eat healthier? It seems to be a universal truth.

    I hope you had a great time with your company,
    Ali

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