Filed under: All Cancers , Environment , Diets , Exercise , Vitamins and nutrients , Magazines Time to test your smarts -- about sleep, sun, food, and alcohol. Just read the following questions, pick an option and then scroll down to determine if you really know what's best for your health.

• Is it healthier to sleep an extra hour or force yourself out of bed in the morning to exercise?

• Is it healthier to spend 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen or two hours in the sun wearing SPF 30?

• Is it better to have a second glass of wine at dinner or a sinful dessert?

Is it healthier to sleep an extra hour or force yourself out of bed in the morning to exercise? It's healthier to get out of bed and exercise. Research shows a full eight hours of sleep -- often touted as the necessary amount of slumber -- is not really necessary for optimum health. In fact, those sleeping about seven hours per night enjoy a lower mortality rate than those sleeping eight hours or more. But exercise is necessary for optimum health. So roll yourself out of bed early, head outdoors for some fresh air and sunlight and in time, you will reset your body clock. If you are sleep deprived, however, due to a new baby, an illness, or all-nighters, by all means -- sleep. Don't sacrifice sleep for exercise if you are already lacking in this department. Is it healthier to spend 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen or two hours in the sun wearing SPF 30? Fifteen minutes of pure sun provides a necessary dose of vitamin D, but it also takes its toll. It's better to ingest vitamin D, says one expert, by drinking juice fortified with calcium or taking a calcium supplement or multivitamin. So heading into the sun for two hours -- with SPF 30 -- is the smarter choice. But stay tuned for more on the possible negative effects of sunscreen . Is it better to have a second glass of wine at dinner or a sinful dessert? Take dessert -- just don't overdo it -- over that glass of wine. Because drinking more than one alcoholic beverage per day is known to increase risk of cancer and other health problems. Quiz questions and answers were found in the August 2005 issue of Real Simple magazine. Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Research , Diets , Vitamins and nutrients , Daily news , Thought for the Day I'm never quite sure what to do about vitamin supplements. Should I take them? Or should I leave them? Sometimes I think supplements could surely help me with whatever I'm lacking in my diet. Other times I don't want to mess with what might be working just fine in my body. Now if a doctor tells me my iron is low, I'll take a supplement to boost my levels. But if there is nothing apparently off kilter in my system, I tend to just leave things alone.

Filed under: Prostate Cancer , Colon and Rectal Cancer , Skin Cancer , Prevention , Nutrition , Cancer prevention foods Researchers are not suggesting that people begin consuming grape seed extract because no one is certain at this point in time very much about the potential side effects of taking the extract, but they have found that grape seed extract has the ability to slow the growth of colorectal tumors in both cell cultures and in mice by 44 percent. In the study, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver researchers were also able to determine the molecular mechanism by which grape seed extract works to inhibit cancer growth. As far back as 1999, the same researchers discovered that grape seed extract was effective in cancer prevention relating to skin cancer. Later preclinical work demonstrated that the extract slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells. For an in-depth explanation of the chemoprevention benefits of grape seed extract, read Grape Seed Extract Halts Cell Cycle, Checking Growth Of Colorectal Tumors In Mice . The study is available as a PDF document and can be obtained by emailing Decicco@aacr.org or Ortiz@aacr.org. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Prevention , Vitamins and nutrients , Television , Products ABC News Good Morning America Kate Snow interviewed Los Angeles dermatologist Dr. Jessica Wu about a new herbal supplement being introduced on the American market this summer that is reported to protect the skin from sun damage that can lead to skin cancer. Heliocare, a tropical fern extract used in Europe for decades to treat the skin conditions of psoriasis and eczema, comes in pill form and is taken daily. Dr. Wu warns you cannot skip the sunscreen when spending time in the sun because the herbal supplement will not prevent sunburn. "It gets into your blood stream and works from the inside out, as opposed to sunscreen which works from the outside in," explained Dr. Wu. "So this pill mops up the damage that gets past the sunscreen you might be wearing. It also repairs damage that is done to your skin that leads to skin cancer." Heliocare is not recommended for pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. Heliocare is expensive -- a bottle of 60 pills costs $60 dollars. I don't know why, but I was surprised when I watched this news story on ABC News. If something as simple as a fern extract can reverse sun damage to skin and reduce the risk of skin cancer -- and has been on the European market for decades -- why haven't we heard about it here in the US before now? I am not promoting this product -- I am just telling you what I saw on the news. ABC News. You can watch the video of the news interview here . Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prevention Vitamin E succinate, classified as an antioxidant, is currently sold as a nutritional supplement. Knowing that vitamin E succinate -- or alpha tocopheryl succinate -- had some antioxidant ability to kill cancer cells, researchers decided to study how it worked in order to find a way to enhance the antioxidant compound into a more powerful and potent cancer chemopreventive agent. Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers were successful in discovering how the derivative of vitamin E functions that might lead to the development of an enhanced version to fight cancer. However, according to researchers, the power of vitamin E succinate to send cancer cells into a suicidal death, does not come from the antioxidant abilities of the derivative. The antitumor ability of the derivative is a separate function. Because of this, researchers state they believe their findings could lead to a potent chemopreventive agent that has both strong anticancer and antioxidant properties. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prevention Vitamin E succinate, classified as an antioxidant, is currently sold as a nutritional supplement. Knowing that vitamin E succinate -- or alpha tocopheryl succinate -- had some antioxidant ability to kill cancer cells, researchers decided to study how it worked in order to find a way to enhance the antioxidant compound into a more powerful and potent cancer chemopreventive agent. Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers were successful in discovering how the derivative of vitamin E functions that might lead to the development of an enhanced version to fight cancer. However, according to researchers, the power of vitamin E succinate to send cancer cells into a suicidal death, does not come from the antioxidant abilities of the derivative. The antitumor ability of the derivative is a separate function. Because of this, researchers state they believe their findings could lead to a potent chemopreventive agent that has both strong anticancer and antioxidant properties. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments