I’ll take any excuse to eat an avocado, so I am always happy to see research identifying yet another virtue of this delicious fruit (and yes, it’s a fruit!). I just saw a new study reporting that plant chemicals in avocados are effective in killing certain cancer cells in the laboratory and also in preventing particular precancerous cells from developing into actual cancers.
For this study, Steven D’Ambrosio, PhD, professor at Ohio State University and his research team published a review of previous studies where a chemical extraction process was used to isolate six compounds in avocado meat, which were then injected into a petri dish containing human cells. These were either normal, precancerous or actively cancerous (in this case, oral cancer) in order to ascertain how the cells would react to the isolated avocado compounds.
One of the six extracts (they called it D003) was found to have an effect — it reduced the growth of some pre-cancerous and cancerous cells while also killing other ones outright. Based on these study results, Dr. D’Ambrosio speculates that “as part of a healthy diet, a cup of avocado may have some cancer-prevention effect.”
This adds to other research pointing to some cancer-fighting benefits of avocado as well. A 2005 study done at UCLA found that the growth of human prostate cancer cells was inhibited by 60% when exposed to avocado extracts. But keep one caveat in mind: Each of these studies used an extract from only a single type of avocado whereas there are actually hundreds of avocado varieties. The studies Dr. D’Ambrosio reviewed involved only Haas avocado extracts.
Why does this matter? Because, according to Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, the nutritional value of an avocado varies by type and growing location. For example, 100 g of a California avocado has about 28% fewer calories, 35% less fat and about 10% fewer carbohydrates than a Florida avocado. He believes nutrient values may vary as well, although the California Avocado Commission says there is likely only a slight difference. In addition to potential for cancer prevention, avocados are a source of lutein, zeaxanthin, beta carotene and folate, among other nutrients. So it looks like avocados are worth incorporating into your diet for lots of reasons. Bring on the guacamole!

Source(s): ?
Steven D’Ambrosio, PhD, professor, Ohio State University. Dr. D’Ambrosio’s area of research and interest is natural preventatives for cancer.
Jonny Bowden, CNS. Bowden, the popular “Weight Loss Coach” on iVillage.com, is a contributing writer to AOL.com and a frequent Daily Health News contributor. His free mini-course “7 Super Foods That Could Change Your Life” is available at http://www.feelyourpower.com. A radio talk-show host, he’s the author of the best-selling Living the Low Carb Life and, most recently, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.

I voted for McCain because I was afraid that a black man would no be able to lead and protect us in a national emergency. Now I think that it is McCain that would have been a disaster for this country. I have PHD in economics. I have been a tenured professor at a prestigious university for 7 years now. One would think that I would have known that McCain was too dumb to lead us through our economic problems. Actually I knew this.

Yet, I was willing to accept his ineptitude because I believe that he could keep me safe from terrorists. Today’s events convinced me that I was wrong. If it happens here Obama will handle it as well if not better than McCain ever could. So would Hillary.

I needed to say that. Thank you Zen Lill for speaking up when us cowered women hide in the shadows of our men. Michelle you sound as if you have always been a bad as bitch. I mean that in a most envious way.

Zen Lill you are closer to my position. I feel that you were once like me smarter than your man, but walking in his shadow waiting for that event that would force you into the light never to return to the darkness.

Thanks for showing us timid shadow seekers the way to the light.

Shelia

The FDA has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to protecting us against unsafe drugs and medical devices, and the Supreme Court has just ruled against us having reasonable recourse if we fall victim to bad goods.

The High Court ruled that lawsuits brought by patients against medical companies need to be limited. Right now, this protection extends only to companies that make medical devices.

But, next up on the docket are the makers of prescription drugs.

It has become a dizzying display of smoke and mirrors—and you’re the one who caught in the middle. I’m going to try to walk you through it, but it’s circular logic at its worst. For the upcoming case that could determine whether or not drug makers will also be included in this liability protection, you have two old cronies pointing fingers at one another. The FDA says that they expect the drug companies to know their products and to label them accordingly with the appropriate warnings.

But the drug companies point back and say that the FDA provides a foundation of what should go on those drug labels—but also a cap on how much to put on there, as well. The FDA retorts that they don’t want the label warnings to cause an “overreaction,” and by placing a limit, they’re protecting against undue alarm.

When this is the type of stuff they’re arguing over, the only thing I know for sure is you will be hard-pressed to get a fair shake. And now, if you actually have a problem, the Supreme Court might take that shake away altogether.

The threat of litigation is the only thing that a patient has in his bag when it comes to trying to keep a company honest. And with this one form of recourse restricted, the drug companies will be even more out of control.

I just wrote to you in my last House Call about a company that was playing fast and loose with their research data. If the recent practices of the drug companies prove anything it’s that their goal is profit at any cost—even thousands of lives. We’re not talking about minor issues here—this is blatant fraud. But now they’ll have a fortress of protection from the highest court in the land.

And, incidentally, we already have a system to limit their liability—a jury system. If they aren’t at fault, the jury can rule in their favor—if the court doesn’t decide to strip us of that, too.

Well, the court can limit our recourse, but they can’t quiet or voices (at least not yet). Write to your senators and representatives and demand the same protection for the average Joe that they are doling out to the big corporations.

On some of the ships that have been transporting some of their humans experiments have shown that humans minds function better when they are fed bananas prior to testing brain functions. It seems that human brains processing speeds function better on a high-carb/low-fat foods diet.

Using the tropical gardens on board, banana was chosen as the high-carb/low-fat. It increased their mental capacity by 38%. I like the idea that it has the potential of making my food smarter.

Gleia