Preventing Cancer

Women seeking an alternative to hormone-replacement therapy have hoped that soy foods, which contain a plant type of estrogen

Ginkgo biloba, one of the most popular herbal supplements despite repeated trials failing to show

Kale may well be the it vegetable of the moment, celebrated in everything from cooking magazines to health websites. But unlike some food fads, this nutritious leafy green deserves the attention its suddenly getting.

Mushrooms are the only food in the produce aisle that naturally contains vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin thats essential for bone health and associated with a wide range of other possible health benefits.

While there are still plenty of reasons to watch your consumption of animal fats, a large European study concludes that meat, eggs and dairy products do not increase the risk of breast cancer. Results from the European Pros - pec tive Investigation into Cancer and Nutri - tion (EPIC) study of 319,826 women show no significant link between overall intake of these foods and breast-cancer risk.

H eres more motivation to get going on a program of regular physical activity: A new National Cancer Institute re- view of 14 prior studies reports that women who regularly exercise reduced their risk of endometrial cancer by about 30%. On the other hand, women who spend more of their day sitting were at greater risk of the can- cer, which affects the lining of the uterus.

A lthough folic acid supplementation has proven benefts- most notably, preventing birth defects-hopes it might protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer were disappointed by a major new meta-analysis.

T aking low-dose aspirin-often recom- mended to protect your heart-may also reduce your odds of colon cancer. A team of researchers whod previously shown a link between high-dose aspirin and lower colon-cancer risk looked at fve trials totaling 16,488 participants taking lower doses, since long-term high-dose aspirin usage can have adverse bleeding effects. Over nearly 20 years of followup, the new analysis found that people assigned to low- dose aspirin regimens for six years were at one-quarter lower risk of colon cancer and one-third less likely to die of the disease.

In a rare bit of good news for red-meat lovers, a study of nearly a half-million people from 10 European countries has found no link between eating red or processed meat and risk of bladder cancer

Quenching your thirst for answers about sodas and your health. Soft-drink lovers who thought they were doing something good for their health got a jolt-not the highly caffeinated soda kind-earlier this year when a report linked diet sodas to greater risk of stroke and heart attack. The surprising findings captured headlines and blared over the nightly news: In a study of 2,564 people