Vitamin D may extend the lives of people with colon and rectal cancer, according to a study published on Wednesday, suggesting another health benefit from the so-called sunshine vitamin. Previous research has indicated that people with higher levels of vitamin D may be less likely to develop colon and rectal cancer, also called colorectal cancer. The new study performed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Harvard School of Public Health involved 304 men and women diagnosed with colorectal cancer from 1991 to 2002, to see if higher levels of vitamin D in the patients affected their survival chances and this turned out to be the case.

  Flaxseed is the richest source of mammalian lignans and it has previously been shown to reduce the growth of tumors in rats. This study examines, in a randomized double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, the effects of dietary flaxseed on breast cancer markers in postmenopausal women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto gave 19 newly diagnosed women 25g of Flaxseed in a muffin and 13 women a placebo muffin for a little over a month.

  An increased intake of antioxidant flavonols from tea, onions, beans, and apples may slash the risk of colorectal cancer by a whopping 76 % according to the results of a new US study performed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. The analysis of the data was from a randomized dietary intervention trial. The study adds to a growing body of science linking increased consumption of flavonol-rich foods, antioxidants found in particular fruits and vegetables, to risk reductions for a range of cancers, including lung, pancreatic, and breast cancers.

     Resveratrol is the most beneficial compound present in the skin of red grapes and red wine. Resveratrol reduces the number of fat cells and may one day be used to treat or prevent obesity, according to a new study. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

     Researchers compared results of 3 prospective studies (forward looking studies of specific individuals), 3 case control studies (these compare people with a condition to people without it) and 3 cross sectional studies (looking at a point in time and estimating a disease in this population) all published prior to May 2007 for a current review. The studies involved a total of 88,974 men and women of which 3,203 had age-related macular degeneration; the major cause of blindness in the elderly.      Analysis of the nine studies shows that a high intake of Fish Oil Fatty Acids (EPA and DHA) decreases the risk of sight robbing advanced macular degeneration by almost 40% compared to those with a low intake.