Eating cheese daily can give you cancer

New research suggests that a daily helping of cheese could increase the risk of bladder cancer.

Eating more than 53g – roughly the same size as a small chocolate bar – raises the chance of the disease by 50 per cent.

On the other hand, a daily portion of olive oil, can more than halve the risk of getting the disease.

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Researchers set out to discover if saturated fats, such as those found in meat and dairy products, made cancer more likely and healthier fats, such as olive oil, offered some protection.

They studied the eating habits of 200 bladder cancer victims and compared them with 386 volunteers who had not developed tumours.



The results showed eating cheese had little effect unless the amount exceeded 53g a day. After that, the risk went up by more than half.

But the Dutch and Belgian researchers stressed the numbers of people in the study may be too small to conclude that cheese is a major health threat and called for further investigations to verify their findings.

Other foods, such as fish, chicken, eggs and margarine, appeared to have little effect.

"We found a potentially protective effect from a high intake of olive oil and a suggestive increased risk from high cheese consumption," the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying.

The study was published in the European Journal of Cancer.

Health benefits of coffee

There's nothing like waking up in the morning to a steaming cup of coffee, is there? For some, a cup ofcoffee along with the news paper is a mandatory morning ritual. Needless to say, millions of people around the world are hooked to coffee — whether it is the first thing that they have in the morning or the last thing that they do before going to bed. 

Contrary to popular belief, experts insist that coffee is indeed good for health. It is known to be a powerful stimulant and also helps to improve performance in physical and mental activities. It also serves as an energy booster. "I drink a lot of coffee as I study late into the night. This helps me concentrate on my work and keeps me awake, especially before an important exam," says student Uma S, a self-professed coffee freak. 


Skin deep 
Coffee can keep your skin healthy in many different ways. Other than preventing skin cancer and melanoma-related diseases, coffee has antioxidant ingredients that can help reduce the occurrence of skin problems and diseases in general. Coffee gets rid of free radicals in the skin — which reduces the onset of skin-related problems such as acne and eczema. It further acts as an effective sun block and prevents sunburn and wrinkles. It also helps in treating redness and inflammation of the skin, reduces the appearance of under-eye circles and also helps get rid of cellulite.

Organic speak 
Coffee can be cultivated using organic methods too. The coffee plant is grown in the shade with the help of natural soil organisms to sustain its growth. Thus, the valuable nutrients needed to preserve coffee beans are retained, adding to their health quotient. Additionally, organic coffee is produced without the use of pesticides and other chemicals.

Benefits galore 
Coffee made with organic beans contains numerous health benefits. In addition to working as a stimulant, it can be used to control diseases such as asthma. It has also been proved that coffee reduces the risk of colon cancer. Organic coffee is said to contain large amounts of antioxidants as well. "Using organic coffee beans is better than using the normal ones because they are healthier and do not contain any harmful chemicals. They also taste great, since they are high on flavour," says Unnamali Thiyagarajan, an expert on organic coffee.

All said and done, too much of a good thing can sometimes prove to be bad. Coffee can also react adversely, if consumed in excess. "One must drink only two to three cups of coffee a day. Too much of anything is not good for health," advises Unnamalai, on a parting note. TNN(Contributed by Monisha V)

Artificial sweeteners broaden waist size

Two new studies have suggested that taking diet sodas as healthy alternatives to control weight gain might be a self-defeating behaviour. 

Epidemiologists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio found that diet soft drink consumption was associated with increased waist circumference in humans, and a second study found aspartame raised fasting glucose (blood sugar) in diabetes-prone mice.

"Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas andartificial sweeteners as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised. They may be free of calories but not of consequences," said Helen P. Hazuda, Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine.

To examine the relationship between diet soft drink consumption and long-term change in waist circumference, the Health Science Center team assessed data from 474 elderly Mexican Americans and European Americans. 


Diet soft drink users, as a group, experienced 70 per cent greater increases in waist circumference compared with non-users.

Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 per cent greater than those of non-users.

In the related project, Ganesh Halade, Ph.D., Gabriel Fernandes, Ph.D., the senior author and professor of rheumatology and clinical immunology, and Fowler studied the relationship between oral exposure to aspartame and fasting glucose and insulin levels in 40 diabetes-prone mice.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener widely used in diet sodas and other products.

The mice in the aspartame group showed elevated fasting glucose levels but equal or diminished insulin levels, consistent with early declines in pancreatic beta-cell function.

"These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure might potentially directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans," noted Fernandes.

The study was presented June 25 at the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions.