This one found higher total calcium intakes to be associated with a decreased overall colorectal cancer risk in women.
- The study used data from 1991-2015 from the Nurses’ Health Study II, an ongoing prospective cohort study of female nurses who are followed up every 2 years, and who were aged 25–42 years when the study began in 1989.
- Overall, a strong association was observed for dietary calcium, especially dairy calcium, but not for supplemental calcium.
- Compared with high-fat dairy food intake, low-fat dairy food intake seemed to be more strongly associated with a reduced colorectal cancer risk.
- Importantly, the association between total calcium intake and colorectal cancer became slightly stronger when an 8-year lag period was introduced to the model.
"Our result from the lagged analysis demonstrated that the potential effect of calcium became slightly stronger when taken years prior to diagnosis...
"...A previous study found that the inverse association between calcium and CRC was apparent for intakes at least 8–12 years before diagnosis, suggesting that the latency for CRC related to calcium intake is ~10 years...
"...Given that it also takes ~10 years for a CRC precursor (e.g. adenoma) to develop into cancer, it could be hypothesized that calcium plays a role in early stages of CRC...
"...Both observational data and randomized–controlled trials support that calcium is protective for adenoma...
"...A recent study on the NHS II found that higher adolescent dairy intake was associated with a lower risk of rectal and advanced adenomas later in life, further highlighting the importance of calcium intake early in life."
- The study also assessed whether calcium intake affects colorectal cancer risk before the age of 55 years.
Higher total calcium intakes were associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer among participants aged <55 years, but as the authors themselves say, this association is "suggestive", as after multivariable-adjusted analysis, this association was attenuated.
Total calcium, dairy foods and risk of colorectal cancer: a prospective cohort study of younger US women
This one in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis suggests that the beneficial impact of omega-3 PUFAs on clinical symptoms in psychosis is mediated, at least in part, through the complement and coagulation pathway proteins.
- The complement system is a network of proteins that play an important role in host defense and inflammation.
- The coagulation system, you guessed it, is the good ol' system that is made up of blood cells and proteins, responsible for creating blood clots to allow for rapid healing and prevention of excessive bleeding.
Here, 4000 IU/day vitamin D supplementation in older adults aged 50–80 years with overweight or obesity and vitamin D deficiency had no effect on gait speed either with or without exercise, but combined with exercise, it was more likely to result in decreased waist circumference.
- Further, Vitamin D supplementation taken alone also reduced stair climb times, an effect not observed in combination with exercise, but had no beneficial effects on any other biochemical, body composition or physical function parameters.
- Finally, vitamin D supplementation increased muscle density during exercise, but only in men and "however, this finding should be interpreted with caution given the low numbers in our subgroups".
Here, physically inactive primary care patients aged between 19 and 80 years living in Spain, were more likely to have a reduced risk of mortality by increasing their physical activity, even in doses below the recommended levels.
- Physical activity levels in this inactive population of primary care patients translated into risk reductions in mortality.
- These benefits followed a clear dose–response relationship, in which mortality started to fall even with only small increases in physical activity.
In this one in mice, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) ingestion suppressed chronic detraining-induced reductions of skeletal muscle mitochondrial content.
- The BCAA dose was 0.6 mg/g of body weight twice daily for 2 mouse weeks of detraining, which translates roughly into ~50 mg/kg of body weight for 560 human days of detraining.
- BCAA supplementation suppressed the reduction of mitochondrial enzyme activities and protein content in skeletal muscle.
In this one, Lawrence Mandarino and colleagues clearly show that fuel choice during mild exercise is unaffected by insulin resistance, doing away with the notion that insulin resistant muscle may use and sometimes prefer lipid oxidation.
- There is evidence that resting, insulin-resistant skeletal muscle prefers to oxidize carbohydrate. This contrasts with a preference for lipid oxidation in skeletal muscle from active, fit, healthy individuals.
- This preference for carbohydrate in resting muscle has been proposed to be responsible for insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, at least in part.
In this one in mice, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) ingestion suppressed chronic detraining-induced reductions of skeletal muscle mitochondrial content.
- The BCAA dose was 0.6 mg/g of body weight twice daily for 2 mouse weeks of detraining, which translates roughly into ~50 mg/kg of body weight for 560 human days of detraining.
- BCAA supplementation suppressed the reduction of mitochondrial enzyme activities and protein content in skeletal muscle.