Health News: The Diabetes-Cancer Connection

The relationship between two of today’s most destructive diseases may now be a little clearer. This month, The New York Times reported on the detection of an important link between cancer and diabetes, a correlation so strong it is being compared to the link between smoking and cancer.

The news that Type 2 diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing certain cancers comes from the American Cancer Society and American Diabetes Association and researchers and the National Cancer Institute. One in five cancer patients has diabetes, according to the Times report.

The implication that lowering cancer statistics may hinge on lowering the number of people with diabetes is revealing, but it’s also difficult to hear. That’s because the number of Type 2 diabetes diagnoses today is staggering, and many more cases go undiagnosed. If current trends continue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2050, 1 in 3 people in the U.S. will have Type 2 diabetes – a diagnosis that is already linked with a long list of health complications, companion diseases, and death.

A Diet for Prevention

While the Times report reveals an intriguing link between these two devastating diseases, in fact, we have already observed a connection between cancer and diabetes from a nutrition perspective. In an interview with Wild About Health this past summer, Dan Nadeau, Medical Director of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Associates of Maine’s York Hospital, explained that diabetes is not a disease that exists in a vacuum. Having diabetes means you are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart and vascular disease, inflammation, accelerated aging, and many other complications, he said.

Potent, antioxidant-rich, inflammation-fighting foods that provide protective effects to the body are central to the discussion of prevention, according to experts like Nadeau. Because much of one’s risk of Type 2 diabetes depends on being overweight, he advocates for a change in diet built on daily, ongoing healthy choices in an effort to “quiet the storm” of rampant inflammation inside the bodies of those diagnosed with diabetes and the many at risk.

According to Nutrition Advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association Susan Davis, MS, RD, “The typical western diet, high in refined carbohydrates, fats, sugars and calories actually contributes to inflammation while a diet higher in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and omega 3 fatty acids is anti-inflammatory. Vitamins, minerals, as well as plant compounds have both antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties.” For example, wild blueberries, most known for their high antioxidant capacity, contain flavonoids such as anthocyanins, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins that have been shown to protect us from disease caused by low-grade, chronic inflammation such as cancer and diabetes (not to mention heart disease and arthritis). And when the inflammatory storm is quieted, our risk for disease subsides as well.

Protection on Our Plate

Coincidentally or not, a large portion of today’s research into berries and wild blueberries focuses on both cancer and diabetes prevention potential. We know, for example, that daily consumption of whole blueberries have helped people with a high risk for Type 2 diabetes reduce that risk by increasing the participants’ insulin sensitivity. And, a recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health showed that consumption of anthocyanin-rich fruits can reduce diabetes risk. We’ve also reported on the remarkable study conducted by Lynn Adams, Ph.D. and her team at Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope: they demonstrated the potential of blueberries to inhibit the growth of Triple Negative Breast Center (TNBC), a particularly aggressive and hard to treat form of breast cancer.  We have even covered research that supports that wild plants provide protection from cancer.

Davis has frequently shared with Wild About Health readers her view that we should view food as “treatment” for disease. Just as food can be used defensively as a preventative for disease and the effects of aging, it can be used as medicine to fight disease and counteract the damage done by free radicals that cause inflammation. Such advice is as timely as ever with Type 2 diabetes on the rise and its connection to certain cancers beginning to be established.

Making smart choices in the supermarket and at the breakfast, lunch, and dinner table means better health and lowered risk of challenging diseases like Type 2 diabetes. And when we make efforts toward prevention in important areas like diabetes, we are making efforts toward prevention in others as well.

You can find information about diabetes and diabetes prevention at Center for Disease Control & Prevention, the American Diabetes Association, and at the Mayo Clinic.

Read More About Nutrition, Diabetes & Cancer

Diabetes, Wild & “The Newsroom”

Pterostilbene: Big Promise for an Amazing Antioxidant

Dr. Oz’s “Cancer Detective” Makes a Case for Wild

Berry Good News: Blueberries May Cut Diabetes Risk

Anthocyanin Intake Decreases Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Cancer Study Follow-Up: Report Brings Key Nutritional Messages to Light

Food as Medicine & Colorful Diet at the Heart of New Study, Says Nutrition Expert Susan Davis

This week, Wild About Health shared a new study from researchers at the City of Hope in Los Angeles that showed the positive effect of blueberries on triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer that typically responds poorly to treatment. (Read our post, Exciting Study Ties Blueberries to Breast Cancer Prevention, where you’ll also be able to view the video and hear from the researchers firsthand.) Today, we’re following up on this compelling study with Nutrition Advisor Susan Davis, MS, RD, who provides insight into its promising results and helps us parse its nutritional message.

The investigation into the health benefits of blueberries was familiar to researchers Shiuan Chen, Ph.D  and Lynn Adams, Ph.D. A 2010 study into the cancer-fighting properties of the fruit prompted them to refer to blueberries as one of the most potent and popular disease fighters available. Previous research has focused on the powerful phytochemicals in blueberries that counter the damage of free radicals, and this latest study took the inquiry one step further. “Our results demonstrate that blueberry consumption can greatly reduce the growth and spread of an aggressive form of breast cancer,” said Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., director of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology at City of Hope and senior author on the paper that will appear in the October issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

Such promise for a particularly deadly form of a challenging disease generated excitement for those interested in the topic of breast cancer as well as those in the fields of health and nutrition. While the study’s focus was on blueberries – already known for their disease-fighting properties – the true message of the study, said Nutrition Advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association Susan Davis, MS, RD, is not necessarily to urge people to eat more blueberries, but to help advance a vital health message that still needs spreading.

Wild About Health was fortunate to have Davis weigh in on the study. Davis is a member of the Bar Harbor Group, a collective of U.S. and Canadian researchers who are active in the fields of neuroscience, aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer, eye health and other health-related areas who regularly share their research findings and explore opportunities in blueberry and berry nutritional health and research. The group met this past August to share new research into the connection between blueberries and Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and diabetes.

Susan Davis, MS, RD

Davis said the City of Hope study was significant both in the dramatic performance of blueberries and because of their effect on many markers for breast cancer. Not only did tumor size decrease by 75%, but metastases, or the spread of cancer, was also decreased. In addition, mechanisms were identified to explain how blueberries could have these effects, an important step forward in understanding the connection between health and these superfood components.

The study’s applicability to all diets also reinforced an important message of food as medicine, Davis said. “The fact that the amount of fruit consumed is achievable in ordinary diets shows the power of foods in helping prevent disease,” she told Wild About Health. Researchers like Chen and Adams and those who are part of the Bar Harbor Group continue to make strides toward isolating components in food that could help prevent cancers and diseases of aging, providing more scientific evidence that we should view food as “treatment” for disease as well as use it defensively as a preventative for disease and the effects of aging.

According to Davis, studies like this one solidify this message for the public and help contribute to a cultural understanding that can save our lives and contribute to our longevity: that what we eat makes a significant difference in how we look, how we feel, and how healthy we are. She said that it’s a message that has not been fully adopted in this country. “Many other cultures look to foods and herbs to treat illnesses and honor their bodies,” she said. “In the U.S. we are slow to get the message.” While many of us are taking nutritional measures to preserve our health, others continue to miss the clear connection that exists between food and our wellness.

“Get the colors on your plate at every
meal, and make one of them blue,”
advises Susan Davis.

Davis said another important aspect of this study’s subsequent report and analysis is the message reiterated by its researchers concerning the effects of food synergy. Because fruits and vegetables contain very different compounds that complement each other, it’s important to understand that one will not provide all the health benefits we need. Instead, these components work together, in ways we don’t yet understand, to augment their singular effects. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, variety truly is the key to healthy eating, and that’s another message worth hearing again and again.

“Berries are powerful sources of protective compounds and the blues are one of the best.  A good way to judge how healthy your diet is, is by color,” said Davis. “Get the colors on your plate at every meal, and make one of them blue.”

Have you made one of the colors on your plate blue today? Find out more about why you should get your daily dose of blue.