Breast cancer affects as many as 1 in 7 women in America, and kills over 50,000 every year. In the UK, 1 in 9 women develop breast cancer and over 13,000 die every year. So any way of reducing these appalling death figures would be a welcome boon for women and health authorities around the world.

Thirty nine women with recently diagnosed breast cancer and awaiting surgery were studied. The women were given either a muffin that contained 25 grams of ground flaxseed, or a plain (placebo) muffin that contained no flaxseed. The study was conducted over a 39-day period.

After the study, all breast-cancer tumours were removed from the women and analysed. It was found that the growth of tumours from the women who had been eating the flaxseed muffins was significantly reduced compared to the women eating the plain muffins. This is the first time it has been proved in humans that flaxseed can significantly restrict the growth of breast tumours!

The suspected reason why flaxseed was found to be so effective against breast cancer tumors is because it contains a significant amount of a compound called lignan. Lignan is known to regulate estrogen levels. High levels of estrogen have been linked to breast, uterus and cervical cancer.

Study link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15897583&query_hl=5

A study concluded in 2004 suggests that children fed a poor diet are more likely to be irritable, swear, argue, and generally develop an anti-social attitude.

Professor Adrian Raine from the University of Southern California (USC) co-authored a study based on the development of more than 1000 children from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of South Africa.

The researchers analysed data over a 14-year-plus period which included factors such as social background, education and health, and they concluded that the more under-nourished the children, the greater the risk of anti-social behavior in later years.

Professor Raine also pointed out that parents could help prevent their children developing anti-social and aggressive bevavior by ensuring they receive a nutritional diet.

But not all experts agree with the finding in this study, with some suggesting that genetics and poor parenting play a greater role in bad behaviour than diet. But there’s no doubt that diet can certainly play a role.

The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Study link: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/11/2005?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=adrian+raine&searchid=1131985250935_4586&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&journalcode=ajp

The exact reason why diets like Atkins (high protein) promote weight loss is not well understood. But there are many anecdotal stories to support the idea that eating plenty of meat can result in losing weight.

Previous research has suggested there is link between significant protein consumption and reduced hunger pains. Indeed, Gilles Mithieux of Lyon University in France, head researcher of a new study, states that, “It is well known that protein feeding decreases hunger sensation and subsequent food intake in animals and humans.”

Researchers from the French research body INSERM, made the surprising discovery that diets high in protein spark glucose production in the small intestine. The study involving rats, demonstrated that significant protein consumption increased gene activity that leads to greater glucose production in the animals’ intestines.

The extra glucose was detected by the liver glucose-sensor which, in turn, triggered parts of the brain that reduced hunger pains and hence food intake. The underlying reasons why protein triggers glucose production still remains unknown, but researchers suspect that eating meat activates a chemical inside intestinal cells which prompts specific genes to produce glucose.

This research supports the idea that adding quality protein to your diet may help you lose weight. The study is published in Cell Metabolism, Vol. 2; Issue: 5; November 5, pages 321-329. DOI 0.1016/j.cmet.2005.09.010

Study link: http://www.cellmetabolism.org/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1550413105002706