What women eat may affect kids, grandkids

High-fat diet during pregnancy could raise cancer risk for generations

While cancer victims usually blame themselves — I shouldn't have smoked, should have eaten better, should have exercised — or the cruelty of chance, they may now have a new scapegoat: Grandma.

Eating poorly during pregnancy can increase your children's and your grandchildren's risk of cancer, even if they themselves eat healthily, a new study on rats suggests.

The risk associated with high-fat diets, especially those high in omega-6 fatty acids, "can be passed from one generation to another without any further exposure," said lead researcher Sonia de Assis of Georgetown University.

 While done in rats, the diets used by the study mirrored some typical American eating habits, and so the researchers suspect the results could hold for humans as well.

The research was presented last week at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Washington D.C.

During the study, some pregnant rats were fed a diet high in omega-6 fat while others received standard fare. After the babies were delivered, all the mothers, their children and their eventual grandchildren ate healthy moderate-fat diets.

Granddaughters of the rats that gobbled excess fat during pregnancy had a 30-percent greater chance of developing breast cancer than those with grandparents who ate healthfully. When only one grandmother, on either the mother's or father's side, had indulged, the granddaughter's disease risk was 19-percent higher.

For the high-fat diet, the study used a chow that was 43-percent fat, predominantly from omega-6 rich vegetable oil. Most recommendations for a healthy diet include keeping fat intake at 25 to 30 percent, de Assis told LiveScience, "but with fast foods and everything, a lot of people eat more than that each day."

Fat gone rogueThis should not imply that fat causes cancer — many fats are quite good for you, after all. But it is more bad news for omega-6 fatty acids, found in corn oil and most non-grass-fed meats.

Omega 6s, while essential to a healthy diet, should be balanced with omega 3s. The optimum ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 is likely between 4:1 to 1:1, but in the typical American diet the ratio is more like between 20 and 16:1. This imbalance has previously been linked to a host of health problems, including depression, infertility, heart disease and, yes, cancer.

In the new study, the researchers theorize the increased cancer risk might be a result of the epigenetic effects of omega-6 fats. (Epigenetics refers to the idea that even if genes themselves aren't altered, how they function can change.) Omega 6s may indirectly turn off genes that slow cell apoptosis (normal cell death). Cells can then proliferate and lead to tumors, which are essentially a bundle of multiplying cells gone wild.

Somehow, the fat must also be affecting the "germ line," the pathways that lead to viable sperm and eggs, for the effect to be crossing multiple generations.

DNA is not in the driver's seat
Epigenome, which literally means "on top of the genome," refers to all the factors that control how a gene is expressed. The new study potentially adds to the growing body of research suggesting the epigenome may be at the root of many health problems.

"People think there is nothing you can do (about your disease risk)," said researcher Rod Dashwood of Oregon State University, who gave a lecture on epigenetics at the Experimental Biology 2010 conference in Anaheim, Calif. "But you are not just what your genes are." (Dashwood has conducted separate research from de Assis.)

Rather, you are your genes under the influence of your epigenome, which, during critical periods, is shaped by your environment, your lifestyle, your life experience — and those of your immediate ancestors.

"Genes only account for 5 to 10 percent of the familial risk of breast cancer," said de Assis, by way of illustration. Something inherited in the epigenome could account for the rest.

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Take hold of the steering wheel
For decades, studies have been associating diet with disease risk. Now, research on the epigenome may be revealing the mechanism at play.

For example, Dashwood's work indicates that many whole foods — including broccoli sprouts, onions, garlic, radishes, wasabi, daikon, horseradish and wheat bran — may help prevent epigenetic processes that lead to degenerative diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and even aging.

"The (epigenetic) effect may be contributing to the overall health benefits of these particular foods," Dashwood told LiveScience.

While the multi-generational impact of veggies has not been studied, Dashwood said, "some epigenetic marks can go through six, seven generations."

More research is needed but the lunchroom choice between a bacon-cheeseburger or stir-fry may not only affect your own health, but that of your children and grandchildren.

What women eat may affect kids, grandkids

While cancer victims usually blame themselves — I shouldn't have smoked, should have eaten better, should have exercised — or the cruelty of chance, they may now have a new scapegoat: Grandma.

Eating poorly during pregnancy can increase your children's and your grandchildren's risk of cancer, even if they themselves eat healthily, a new study on rats suggests.

The risk associated with high-fat diets, especially those high in omega-6 fatty acids, "can be passed from one generation to another without any further exposure," said lead researcher Sonia de Assis of Georgetown University. 

While done in rats, the diets used by the study mirrored some typical American eating habits, and so the researchers suspect the results could hold for humans as well.

The research was presented last week at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Washington D.C.

During the study, some pregnant rats were fed a diet high in omega-6 fat while others received standard fare. After the babies were delivered, all the mothers, their children and their eventual grandchildren ate healthy moderate-fat diets.

Granddaughters of the rats that gobbled excess fat during pregnancy had a 30-percent greater chance of developing breast cancer than those with grandparents who ate healthfully. When only one grandmother, on either the mother's or father's side, had indulged, the granddaughter's disease risk was 19-percent higher.

For the high-fat diet, the study used a chow that was 43-percent fat, predominantly from omega-6 rich vegetable oil. Most recommendations for a healthy diet include keeping fat intake at 25 to 30 percent, de Assis told LiveScience, "but with fast foods and everything, a lot of people eat more than that each day."

Fat gone rogueThis should not imply that fat causes cancer — many fats are quite good for you, after all. But it is more bad news for omega-6 fatty acids, found in corn oil and most non-grass-fed meats.

Omega 6s, while essential to a healthy diet, should be balanced with omega 3s. The optimum ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 is likely between 4:1 to 1:1, but in the typical American diet the ratio is more like between 20 and 16:1. This imbalance has previously been linked to a host of health problems, including depression, infertility, heart disease and, yes, cancer.

In the new study, the researchers theorize the increased cancer risk might be a result of the epigenetic effects of omega-6 fats. (Epigenetics refers to the idea that even if genes themselves aren't altered, how they function can change.) Omega 6s may indirectly turn off genes that slow cell apoptosis (normal cell death). Cells can then proliferate and lead to tumors, which are essentially a bundle of multiplying cells gone wild.

Somehow, the fat must also be affecting the "germ line," the pathways that lead to viable sperm and eggs, for the effect to be crossing multiple generations.

DNA is not in the driver's seat
Epigenome, which literally means "on top of the genome," refers to all the factors that control how a gene is expressed. The new study potentially adds to the growing body of research suggesting the epigenome may be at the root of many health problems.

"People think there is nothing you can do (about your disease risk)," said researcher Rod Dashwood of Oregon State University, who gave a lecture on epigenetics at the Experimental Biology 2010 conference in Anaheim, Calif. "But you are not just what your genes are." (Dashwood has conducted separate research from de Assis.)

Rather, you are your genes under the influence of your epigenome, which, during critical periods, is shaped by your environment, your lifestyle, your life experience — and those of your immediate ancestors.

"Genes only account for 5 to 10 percent of the familial risk of breast cancer," said de Assis, by way of illustration. Something inherited in the epigenome could account for the rest.

Weekend calories may wreck your diet

Weigh yourself before and after to stay on track

Calorie counting can be tricky, because calories can be sneaky things. Sometimes they hide in portion sizes that mislead us. Other times they're lurking in beverages that we gulp down without thinking. Now, a new study shows that unexpected calories can be a consequence not only of what we're eating and drinking, but also what day it is. And for dieters who aren't counting calories carefully on the weekend, a week of healthy eating can be wrecked before Monday morning.

The detailsA pair of marketing professors from the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut examined data collected in 1998 and 1999 by a market-research firm on the eating habits of roughly 600 men and women. Each participant kept track of the foods eaten by everyone in their household over a two-week period. The professors analyzed the data and found that people tended to eat more on weekends than they did during the week — particularly at breakfast, when they likely had more time to eat than on weekdays.

What it meansIf you're trying to maintain a healthy weight, weekend calories may be wrecking your diet without your realizing it. "Many dieters feels as though they're dieting all the time but not losing weight, when, in fact, they're creating a calorie deficit Monday through Friday but filling it — and more — during the weekend," says dietitian and exercise physiologist Kim Gorman, MS, RD, Weight Management Program director at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Denver. Often the problem, says Gorman, is that weekends can lack structure; at the very least, they signify a change in routine. And lack of routine can be especially tricky for those who are consciously trying to break unhealthy eating patterns and establish a new, healthier eating routine.

1. Wake up at the same time on the weekends as you do during the week.That way, your eating times and conditions will be the same as well — and it will be easier to stick to the healthy eating pattern you established during the week. (Bonus: This is also classic advice for anyone who has trouble getting enough sleep, since it also helps synchronize your sleeping patterns.) Can't give up those weekend sleep-ins? Be extra diligent about the rest of these tips.

2. Eat breakfast.And, yes, that's breakfast, not brunch. Even if your morning agenda is just to lie around reading the paper, have a morning meal first. Research has proven that people who eat breakfast routinely eat healthier (and lighter) throughout the day than those who don't, says Gorman. Just be sure you're not eating a bigger breakfast than you do during the week.

3. Weigh in before and after."A great way to gain insight as to what's going on during the weekend is to weigh in on the Friday morning and then again on Monday morning," suggests Gorman. Numbers never lie.

4. Keep a log."Evidence shows that self-monitoring — whether it's routine weigh-ins or daily food logging — absolutely works as a tool for weight loss and weight maintenance," says Gorman, who notes that there's a wealth of free online food-tracking sites such as sparkpeople.com and slimfast.com that computer-savvy dieters might like. If it seems like a lot of data entry, "I recommend people identify the most difficult times to maintain their diets during the week and track only those days," Gorman says.

5. Be a teetotaler — or nearly one.Alcohol packs piles of empty calories. Make yourself happy on Sunday by sipping mostly good old H2O at happy hour on Friday.

6. Work out on the weekend.This may be your most powerful tool. "The majority of people in the National Weight Control Registry — a group of more than 5,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for one year or more — don't continue to log food on a daily basis," explains Gorman. "What they do is use high levels of physical activity — 60 to 90 minutes a day — to maintain their weight loss." If you feel you consistently blow your diet on weekends, mimic their success by scheduling lengthy Saturday- and Sunday-morning workouts to balance any extra calorie gain with extra calorie burn.

 

Calcium may help you live longer

Men with higher intake 25 percent less likely to die over 10 years

Getting a bit more calcium in your diet could help you live longer, new research suggests.

Swedish researchers found that men who consumed the most calcium in food were 25 percent less likely to die over the next decade than their peers who took in the least calcium from food. None of the men took calcium supplements.

The findings are in line with previous research linking higher calcium intake with lower mortality in both men and women, the researchers point out in a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

While many researchers have looked at calcium and magnesium intake and the risk of chronic disease, less is known about the association between consumption of these nutrients in food and mortality.

To investigate, Dr. Joanna Kaluza of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and her colleagues looked at more than 23,000 Swedish men who were 45 to 79 years old at the study's outset and were followed for 10 years. All had reported on their diet at the beginning of the study. During follow-up, about 2,358 died.

The top calcium consumers had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause and a 23 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease during follow-up relative to men that had the least amount of calcium in their diet. Calcium intake didn't significantly influence the risk of dying from cancer.

Men in the top third based on their calcium intake were getting nearly 2,000 milligrams a day, on average, compared to about 1,000 milligrams for men in the bottom third. The US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium intake is 1,000 milligrams for men 19 to 50 years old and 1,200 milligrams for men 50 and over.

"Intake of calcium above that recommended daily may reduce all-cause mortality," Kaluza and her colleagues conclude.

Calcium could influence mortality risk in many ways, they note, for example by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels. For the men in the study, the main sources of calcium in the diet were milk and milk products and cereal products.

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In contrast to calcium, there was no relationship between magnesium consumption and overall mortality or deaths from cancer or heart disease. Study participants' intakes ranged from around 400 milligrams per day to around 525 milligrams; the RDA for magnesium is 420 milligrams for men 31 and older.

This analysis, the researchers say, may have found no effect for magnesium because all of the men in the study seemed to be getting enough of the mineral in their diet. "Further studies are needed in other populations with lower dietary magnesium intakes to address this issue," they say.

Future research should also look into calcium and magnesium intake from drinking water, they add, which can be a significant source of these minerals.