Yuusuke Saitou writes:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer
among women. Genetic, environmental, and gene-environment interactions
are now considered as key. Let's look at Mrs. Masuda's problem and advise
her from various angles.
First, in interviewing Mrs. Masuda I discover that she likes to stay at
home and she doesn't exercise much. Using oxygen exercise stimulates blood
circulation. It activates enzymes that dissolve triglycerides. Triglycerides
cause heart disease and arteriosclerosis. Besides, exercise like jogging
rises HDL cholesterol levels. HDLs are believed to remove excess "bad"
cholesterol from the body; therefore higher levels of HDLs are also believed
to be associated with lower rates of heart disease. So It is important
for her to exercise like walking, jogging, swimming.
Next, I want to advise her about diet. Her LDL-level is above normal. So,
in addition to being overweight, tests indicate that she has consumed too
many of the wrong kinds of food. She eats quite a bit of beef and pork;
she cooks a lot of her food using sweet coconut oil or margarine; she dislikes
most vegetables; and she prefers to eat Western-style desserts like rich
cakes and ice cream. Butter, bacon, and cheese for example, are animal
products high in saturated fats.
There are also some saturated vegetable fats that tend to raise the cholesterol
level in the blood. These can be found in solid shortenings, coconut oil,
and palm oil. A high blood cholesterol level is a risk factor for heart
disease.
Cholesterol is required for the formation of bile acids which are needed for fat digestion. It is also used to make important hormones such as estrogen and progesterone and is involved in the formation of Vitamin D in the skin. So, she needs to eat food which includes Vitamin E. Especially she should try to to eat green and yellow vegetables like spinach and carrots. Vitamin E prevents LDL from oxidizing. Vegetables like spinach and carrots also prevent LDL from oxidizing as they contain Vitamin E and carotene. LDLs, are often referred to as "bad cholesterol" because these lipoproteins carry most of the cholesterol in the blood. As a result Vitamin E will keep Mrs. Masuda's blood clean and help prevent cancer and hardening of the arteries.
And she should not eat cake and sweets like chocolate. The amount of cake eaten may increase blood cholesterol. She should eat fruit instead of cakes and ice cream. Fruits contain pectin, and pectin removes cholesterol. Fruits and vegetables are chemically very complex, and contain many biochemicals that may contribute to reduction of cancer risk. Research underway in many laboratories is seeking to identify the factors in foods that help to prevent cancer.
Moreover Mrs. Masuda needs to eat fish instead of meats and take in dietary fiber. Many foods contain dietary fiber. Eating foods that are high in fiber can help relieve some problems with constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and irritable bowel syndrome. Dietary fiber may help lower her cholesterol. It may also help prevent heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
She might try the following ideas
to increase the fiber in her diet. Dietary fiber is found in soybean, adzuki.
Fat of fish eaten does not increase blood cholesterol but keeps blood clean.
Third, she is a moderate drinker. Suitable alcohol raises HDL cholesterol
levels, but a great deal of alcohol increases triglycerides in the liver.
So it is necessary to cut down her drinking.
Finally, she needs to be aware of the importance of diet. For example,
she tries to skip eating breakfast. But she should eat three meals a day.
That's because eating only two meals often leads to overeating. In other
words, cholesterol rises in the body. It is most important for her to keep
that point in mind.
| Click the BACK button to return to the student index.|