Using pesticides on pot-plants could more than double your risk of developing a brain tumour, according to research released in June 2007.

Householders who use fly sprays, weed-killers and other chemical treatments on their pot-plants are more than twice as likely to develop brain cancer, the findings show. Around 5,000 Britons are diagnosed each year with brain tumours. Some can be removed by surgery but others can be fatal.

Little is currently known about what causes brain tumours, but the study – one of the biggest of its kind – suggested that pesticides play a role. The findings come a week after British researchers warned that using pesticides while gardening could increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease by more than 40 per cent. In the latest study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine in June 2007, scientists examined more than 200 patients with brain tumours and compared them to a healthy group of people. Researchers found that that those who had used pesticides at home were more than twice as likely to have developed a tumour. They also found that all agriculture workers exposed to pesticides had an increased risk of a brain tumour, while agricultural workers exposed to the highest levels were more than twice the risk.

The researchers added that further research is needed as they could not rule out that difference in diet or exposure to chemicals in household cleaning agents had an effect on tumour development. Nor could they pinpoint which products or chemicals were damaging the brain. However, they did suggest that this was a clear warning for people to think of other methods to keep their plants free of bugs.

We generally trust that ‘health foods’ will benefit us in the way they claim to, but just how good for us are they?

• Cereals: We’re often told to start the day with a nutritious bowl of cereal. While breakfast cereals contain vital vitamins and minerals, what the brightly coloured packaging or glossy advertising campaigns don’t always tell us is that they can also be laden with sugar, salt and saturated fats. Cereals can be a great way to start the day, but be careful to avoid high sugar varieties. Instead, go for an oat-based cereal or sugar free muesli to help stabilise your blood sugar.
• Breakfast/cereal bars: Like breakfast cereals, these are full of sugar and saturated fats, shattering their image as a nutritious, low-fat and low-salt nibble. They can sometimes have the same fat and sugar content as a chocolate bar so best to snack on fruit and nuts or seeds instead.
• Fruit juices: Fruit juice drinks tend to be full of sugar – there can be less than 10 per cent real fruit juice, the rest is sugar (or even artificial sweeteners), water and flavourings. If a ‘fruit juice’ has the word ‘drink’ in the title, then it should be avoided as otherwise it will not be 100% fruit juice. Look out for ‘100 per cent fruit juice’ on the label. This means it contains no added sugar, but you should still be aware of the natural sugars found in fruit, so don’t go overboard, or dilute the juice with half water. In the same way, fruit yoghurts contain little in the way of real fruit pieces and are often packed with sugar, additives and preservatives so go for organic, natural yogurt, preferably with a live culture to aid your digestion. A seemingly ‘healthy’ fruit yogurt, even an organic one, can contain up to eight teaspoons of sugar.
• Canned soups: Canned soups are often packed full of salt and high in fat, especially the creamy and cheesy varieties. A diet too high in salt is linked with an increased risk of high blood pressure. Just one cup of soup can contain a third of your recommended daily salt allowance. Even supposedly low-salt canned soup contains a substantial amount of salt. Your best bet is to avoid completely and go for homemade soups instead. They are so easy to make. Also some soups, like tomato soup, can contain a fair amount of sugar, not what you would expect in a savoury food. Also sugar can be added to spaghetti sauces, tomato ketchup and baked beans so read the labels, as there are alternative products without sugar. .
• Pre-prepared salads: Pre-prepared and ready-washed salads are often washed in chlorine, not water. The chlorine is used to disinfect the salad and kill bacteria, but it also destroys the vitamins and minerals. It can be rinsed in up to 200 times the amount of chlorine found in tap water, although most of the residue is removed to ensure it meets government safety regulations. Organic salads cannot be washed using chlorine, so try to buy these if you can. Watch out too for any dressings enclosed; some can be very high in calories.

The food you eat doesn’t just provide you with energy it can have a powerful impact on your body’s ability to fight off heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and weak bones. Study after study has shown that a diet high in plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables, beans and grains — is the body’s best form of defence against poor health. Here’s a round up of what research has to tell us about the disease-fighting power of food.

The cancer fighters

Study after study has consistently shown that approximately 30 to 40 percent of all cancers could be avoided if people ate more fruits, vegetables, and plant-based foods and minimized high-fat, high-calorie foods with little or no nutritional value. Although researchers are still not completely sure they’re beginning to focus their attention in particular on two components –antioxidants and phytochemicals.

The antioxidants (carotenoids, such as beta carotene and lycopene, and vitamins C and E) found in fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods fight free radicals, which are compounds in the body that attack and destroy cell membranes. The uncontrolled activity of free radicals is believed to cause many cancers. The carotenoids, in particular, which give fruits and vegetables their bright yellow, orange, and red colours, are now gaining recognition as cancer fighting super stars and numerous studies have also extolled the virtues of lycopene (the carotenoid that makes tomatoes red and also found in such foods as watermelon and red grapefruit) in preventing cancer.

The phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables protect the body by stunting the growth of malignant cells. Phytochemicals, naturally occurring substances, include indoles in cabbage or cauliflower, saponins in peas and beans, and isoflavones in soy milk and tofu. Investigators aren’t really sure how phytochemicals work but they do believe that you can get enough anti-cancer nutrients by eating at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables with seven or more starchy or protein-rich plant foods such as grains, peas and beans.

Note: Supplements can help you get some of the benefits of these substances, but they are no replacement for real food. This is because when you take a supplement, you’re getting specific vitamins and minerals, but not the thousands of potentially life saving phytochemicals that might be present in fruits and vegetables.

Heart savers

What you eat, and choose not to eat, can have a dramatic effect on your risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Saturated fat, found mostly in meat and full-fat dairy products, is the major culprit in raising blood cholesterol, the main ingredient of artery-clogging plaque. Overindulging in these foods raises the risk of developing heart disease. But you can lower this risk by shifting the emphasis so that nutrient- and fibre rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains make up approximately two-thirds of what you eat each day.

Plant-based foods contain very little fat and provide complex carbohydrates as well as vitamins and minerals. Because they’re rich in indigestible fibre, they take up space in the intestines, which can help you control your appetite, your weight and, most important of all, your risk of heart disease.

Fibre comes in two forms, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibre, found in fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oats, and barley, lowers blood cholesterol levels (and your risk of heart disease) and slows the entry of glucose into the bloodstream, an important factor in preventing or controlling diabetes.

Insoluble fibre, found mainly in whole grains, fruit and vegetable peels, keeps your digestive tract in order by soaking up water and adding the bulk that pushes possible cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) out of the intestine.

Studies show that simply adding two servings a day of oats or other cereals high in soluble fibre can reduce cholesterol levels by almost 3 to 4 percent. Although the reasons aren’t entirely clear, it may be that soluble fibre combines with intestinal fluids to form a gel that binds to fat or prevents it from being absorbed into the bloodstream.

The bone builders

Research has shown that a diet low in calcium can increase the risk of osteoporosis. Leafy green vegetables and seeds like sesame are excellent sources of calcium, the mineral that keeps your bones strong. Your body uses calcium for more than keeping your bones strong. Calcium permits cells to divide, regulates muscle contraction and relaxation, and plays an important role in the movement of protein and nutrients inside cells.

If you have a more acidic diet, your body’s demand for calcium will be high as your body will have to take calcium from your bones to neutralise the acid. So by eating a more alkaline diet with fruit and vegetables and less animal protein, especially red meat and cheese, you are not only giving yourself more antioxidants but also protecting your bones. (For more information on acid/alkaline balance for bone health see my book ‘Osteoporosis — the silent epidemic’).