A team of South Korean scientists reported that consuming folic acid would significantly reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, at least in women.

The study on 596 patients with colorectal cancer and 509 healthy people, the authors found that women who consumed the most folic acid, or folate, had two thirds less risk of disease than women who ate the least amount of vitamin B.

But the consumption of folate did not significantly alter the risk of colorectal cancer in men, the team of J. Kim from the National Cancer Center in Goyang.

The colorectal cancer mortality was multiplied six times in the South Korean since the 1980s, said the team, and increasingly Westernized diet influence the increase.

There is evidence that consumption of folate that is found in green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits, reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, although some studies suggest that this protective effect may vary according to ethnicity.

The team analyzed the influence of dietary intake of folate on the risk of developing the disease. They used statistical techniques to control these factors and found that people in the top fifth, according to the individual consumption of folate (more than 270 micrograms / day) were more than 50 per cent more likely to get cancer than those in the fifth bottom, consuming 180 micrograms or less per day.

When the researchers looked at men and women separately, found no influence of the intake of folate for colorectal cancer risk for men.

But women with high intake of folic acid (300 micrograms / day) were 64 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer, unlike those with the lowest intake (200 micrograms per day or less).

The results, says the team are important because they suggest that cancer risk could be reduced with diet modification.

Magnesium is an essential mineral in human nutrition for the many benefits it brings to the body. It ranks among the macro-called because their daily requirements are greater than 100 mg.

Magnesium Benefits

Although there are many benefits in magnesium, is known especially for contributing to the absorption of calcium and for being a powerful muscle relaxant. We know that is involved in various bodily functions such as production and transportation of energy and protein production performance of certain enzymes.

Magnesium helps maintain healthy nervous system, is a powerful natural tranquilizer that promotes sleep and relaxation, so it is recommended antidepressants and anti-stress treatments.

Other offers many benefits magnesium are: prevent kidney stones; decreases premenstrual pains to intervene in the hormonal balance, prevent premature birth, protects cardiovascular disease, controls intestinal flora and acts as a mild laxative and as an antacid.

Main sources of magnesium:

Magnesium may be reduced considerably by refining processes and cooking foods that are submitted, as well as chemical fertilizers used in cultivation.

Some important sources of Magnesium are: nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, sesame and sunflower), cereals (wheat germ, millet and rice, yeast), leafy vegetables and legumes: lentils, beans ( beans), chickpeas and soy sprouts and cocoa. To a lesser amount is found in dairy, meats and fruits such as bananas, dried apricots, apricot and avocado.

Magnesium deficiency

The absorption of magnesium occurs in the intestine. We know that excess calcium and phosphorus decrease its absorption. Magnesium deficiencies are usually rare but can occur in alcoholics, diabetic acidosis, severe vomiting, diuretic abuse, use of certain drugs or malabsorption.

Magnesium deficiency can be expressed by the following symptoms: weakness or lack of muscle coordination, muscle cramps, tremors, convulsions, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, development of calcium deposits in soft tissues, lack of appetite, drowsiness, heart failure, irritability and instability emotional constipation, premenstrual disorders, tooth decay, osteoporosis, hypocalcemia, among others.

Recommended daily amounts of magnesium:

The recommended daily intake of magnesium for children and adults is:

• Children 1-3 years: 80 milligrams
• 4-8 years: 130 milligrams
• 9 to 13 years: 240 milligrams
• 14-18 years (boys): 410 milligrams
• 14-18 years (women): 360 milligrams
• Male adults: 400-420 mg
• Adult females: 310-320 milligrams
• Pregnant women: 350-400 milligrams
• Breastfeeding women: 310-360 milligrams

As for side effects from an excess of magnesium, these are not common because the body eliminates the excess of this macromineral.

How many calories should be enough to provide heat to maintain body temperature, the energy of muscle contraction and the nutritional balance.

From the standpoint of calories, a diet may be, sufficient, insufficient, or too generous. According to this law, slimming considered “insufficient” because they allow a decrease in weight at the expense of a reduced calorie content.

The caloric requirement for each particular person must be determined by a nutrition professional, considering age, sex, complexion, activity, special situations: diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, etc..

2. Quality Act: Any diet should be complete in its composition, ensuring the proper functioning of organs and systems. In any regime must be present: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. According to this law, the regimes are classified as complete (varied) and incomplete.

3. Law of Harmony: the quantities of the various principles that make the food have to save a relationship of proportion between them, so that each one contributes a portion of the total caloric value. It is recommended that any normal diet containing: – Protein: 12-15% of total calories – fat: 30-35% of total calories – carbohydrates: 50-60% of total caloric value

4. Alignment Act: All diet should be appropriate for each particular individual, considering age, sex, activity, health status, cultural habits and economy. This involves proper food choices and proper preparation.

To follow a boring mono-based diet of celery and lettuce, you have to eat what is needed and no power save that we provide food, you have to spend through physical activity that is the best ally to lose weight and avoid kilos gain with age and that the body adjusts to stay nimble and healthy.

Make a change in our dietary habits by implementing a proper plan our daily requirement is not easy but not impossible and is worth a try as they get many benefits including:

* Do not starve
* Enjoy your meal
* No need to eat a different menu to the rest of the family
* Healthy eating does not cause moodiness, anxiety or depression
* No lost kilos recovered
* There is no tiredness or lack of energy
* If you exercise because they suffer no flab or muscle hook.

The food has always been an act of daily life and cultural. There are many types of food according to race, religion, culture and region in the world, however, and with variations this results, it is important to draw. Food as cultural and social need is rather a biological need but also a hedonic need.

For all the food must represent an addiction, a bad habit or an obsession to have a better attitude towards our food will definitely enjoy them in their magnitude of flavors, aromas, colors and more.

There are two sayings that my grandfather always said “eat little, drink double, sleep triple, four times and laughs get old” and the other “Eat dinner little early if you want to get old.”

When a patient tells me I lost weight with “such a diet ‘, I ask you this: do you really gained weight?. No, because if they really have done, would not be trying again to lose weight.

Just what these people have done is one of those fad diets that are anecdotes after them, because they did not solve the fundamental problem is to lose weight, learn to keep it and learn to eat well.

Most people who have lost weight and keep it at the time could not follow a specific diet, have learned to eat.

They are aware that your weight stays on the point that they want because they take food to suit your lifestyle and spending power that they do.

To achieve this they have learned that eating healthy is to eat everything, good portions, less fat and have no excess with food, ie now have another “attitude” toward food.

They have learned that these fad diets are not only absurd but have no real support, like that makes you make soup for 16 days, which is the most fun of all and started as a joke and even today there are people that still makes tremendous absurd.

Food Good or Bad?

There are no food “good” or “bad” or diets “good” or diets “bad” simply is a “single power” that should lead to a good weight and good nutritional status and then start eating right to maintain that “good nutritional status” according to the requirements according to age, sex, height and daily activity, ie having a diet that suits our biological state: childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, elderly, also if there are any pre-existing condition like hypertension , diabetes, lipid disorders, osteoporosis, etc.

To maintain health and proper functioning of our bodies need vitamins and minerals as well as fats, carbohydrates and proteins. And although it is not a nutrient, our body also needs water immediately principle is essential.

By eating a wide variety of foods in reasonable proportions we can obtain optimum levels of all the nutrients we need to maintain good health.

The doctor after examining the patient, perform a physical examination and knowing your medical history and family history, you can perform a series of tests such as skin test.

The skin test and allergic skin test involves applying a series of known substances that often cause allergies. Are injected through a lance to a few millimeters below the skin.

Each substance is inoculated separately in order to see which of them is what causes the allergic reaction. After spending 15-20 minutes there is skin to see what red zone.

When it comes to other substances such as certain foods or medications, should be subject the patient to an induction to the reaction under medical supervision.

For prevention we first have to identify the factors that cause allergies and try to avoid them. If this does nothing, either because insufficient or because you can not avoid or reduce the contact, the physician may administer a drug treatment with antihistamines and / or corticosteroids. Another option is allergy vaccine. ”

Since pollen is one of the factors that most strongly during the spring allergy tested, the doctor noted some recommendations that can help us to avoid contact.

- Keep windows closed at night and / or using air conditioning filters.

- Reduce outdoor activities during the 5-10 am and 7-10 pm, periods of time when the pollen count is higher in the atmosphere.

- Keep windows closed when traveling by car. Install filters on the air conditioning system of the car and change them often.

- In the days when the pollen concentration is higher, stay as long as possible at home. Avoid going out on windy days when pollination is high.

- Choose a pollen-free zone for the holidays

- Do not dry clothes outside on those days.

- Wear sunglasses to go outside.

- Avoid sleeping on the lawn.

- Avoid eating foods or taking drugs that cause allergies.

What are the symptoms that allergy sufferers?

The pollen allergy rhinitis seasonal produce. Symptoms vary from patient to patient but, generally, are characterized by sneezing a lot and have congestion, itching or fluid in the nose. His eyes may also have itching, burning, swelling or be watery.

Other signs are itchy throat and cough. You can also have their ears plugged or diminish the sense of taste or smell. Sudden changes in temperature, smoke snuff and environmental pollution can worsen this allergy.

Some people have more severe symptoms as they are, in addition to the above, headaches, irritability, insomnia, sneezing and watery eyes. Sometimes you notice shortness of breath and wheezing with breathing.

Symptoms of food allergy: urticaria, eczema, swelling of lips, hands, feet, shock, and atopic dermatitis. The most common symptoms in children are diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting.

Foods that cause most allergies are: fish and shellfish. In the first years of life: milk, egg, chocolate, fish and cereals.
There is no medicine to prevent food allergies. Only the exclusion of those foods in the diet is not to suffer the symptoms.

With regard to drug allergies, there are many drugs that can cause allergy, this depends on the individual, if you are predisposed to it.

The symptoms are usually skin rashes, redness of it, swelling of lips and eyelids, trouble breathing. The most dangerous reaction called anaphylactic reaction, which is that the person, within minutes, he feels an intense itching on the scalp, palms and soles, with widespread redness of the skin, difficulty breathing, hypotension and loss of consciousness. ”

Myths and truths

• No one is allergic to something that has not contacted. Also one can become allergic without having any symptoms.
• The itching is a symptom of any allergies capital.
• A skin test does not necessarily show that the patient is allergic.
• Of the urban tree pollen, the most important is the banana East, accounting for one third of the spring allergy.

Intiminero spoke with the Doctor, Denisse Moran, Chief Medical Collahuasi to know more about allergies, how can we confront them, their symptoms and some basic recommendations for addressing, among other related aspects.

What are allergies, what causes them?

An allergy is an overreaction of the body to a substance perceived as a harmful agent.

The human body contains a number of components, cells and proteins that are responsible to defend when attacked by foreign agents. These components form the immune system.

Sometimes agents are considered harmful to the body, are not dangerous but that is as perceived by the defense system. When these agents come into contact with the body produces an exaggerated response that causes the symptoms of allergies.

Substances that can cause this type of allergy are many but the most common are pollen, certain foods, medicines, etc.

Anyone can have allergic reactions?

There is a predisposition to allergies. For example in 1966 was found to be responsible for the immune system’s reaction to the pollen, was immunoglobulin E. Until then, only knew of other types of immunoglobulins, G, M, A and D.
It was through this discovery that identified what was happening to these patients when they came into contact with pollen.

They were detected in high concentrations of IgE antibodies (immunoglobulin E) directed against pollen grains.
E immunoglobulins bind to the pollen and release substances, histamine is one of them, producing reactions in the body leading to symptoms that characterize allergies.

* Oxycoccus or Oxycoccus Vaccinium palustris (Common Cranberry or Northern Cranberry). It is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere cold area, including northern Europe, northern Asia and North America.

The leaves are small, between 5 and 10 mm. The leaves are dark pink with a purple central spike, and grow on stems finely hairy. The fruit is a small pale pink berry, with a refreshing sharp taste sour.

* Vaccinium microcarpum or Oxycoccus microcarpus (small cranberry), which occurs in northern Europe and northern Asia, and differs in that the leaves are more triangular, and flower stems are hairless. Some botanists include it in V. oxycoccus.

* Vaccinium macrocarpon or Oxycoccus macrocarpus (American Cranberry) native to northern North America (eastern Canada and eastern United States, south of North Carolina at high altitudes). It differs from V. oxycoccus in the leaves are larger, between 10 and 20 mm in length, and taste slightly similar to the block.

* Vaccinium erythrocarpum or Oxycoccus erythrocarpus (mountain cranberry south), is native to southeastern North America at high altitudes in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and also in East Asia.

Cranberries may be a victim of false flower, a disease harmful but controllable phytoplasma that is common in production areas of Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The cranberry has been part of the diet of Arctic peoples for millennia, and remains a very popular fruit in Scandinavia and Russia. In Scotland the berries were harvested in wild shrubs, but the loss of suitable habitat has become so scarce plants no longer does.

In eastern North America, Native Americans used the fruits of Vaccinium macrocarpon as food is one of the main ingredients of survival food called pemmican. It is known that they are taught the starving English settlers in Massachusetts around 1620, so the cranberry was added to the traditional celebration of Thanksgiving Day.

It is also a typical crop of the Friesian island of Terschelling, where he arrived in the nineteenth century: a barrel (the rest of a Shipwreck) loaded with fruit arrived at the coast where, they say, was opened by the inhabitants of the island.

They, finding nothing of value in the barrel, the fruits yielded by land. But cranberry found suitable habitat and now plentiful on the island, where they make liqueurs, jams and many other products with it.

Anthocyanins and carotenoids are abundant in the composition of all fruits. From the biochemical point of view are characterized by a high antioxidant activity; neutralize the action of free radicals that are harmful to the body.

These properties can lead to very different physiological effects, inflammatory and antibacterial effects of anthocyanins, among others. These fruits contain, in addition to the anthocyanins and carotenoids, other antioxidants such as vitamin C.

The dietary intake of these substances enhances our immune system or the body’s defenses and helps reduce the risk of degenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. Also, vitamin C has the ability to promote absorption of iron from food.

The name cranberry refers to a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, subgenus Oxycoccus, although some botanists believe Oxycoccus a separate genus. They grow in acidic bogs in the colder areas of the Northern Hemisphere.

The cranberry bush is low, with stems of 10 cm or less, with thin stems and small evergreens. The flowers are dark pink, with distinctive petals “reflected” leaving the style and stamens fully exposed, pointing forward. The fruit is a berry-sized authentic than the leaves. It is initially white, but turns bright red when ripe.