UCLA SCIENTISTS REPORT
PRITIKIN DIET/EXERCISE PROGRAM KILLS CANCER CELLS
UCLA scientists report that 11 days of daily exercise and the Pritikin diet,
low in fat and high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, induce prostate cancer cells to die.
The research, recently published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control (Vol 13: 929) is the first to show that diet and exercise can kill prostate cancer cells.
âYou can make changes in a short period of time that have a dramatic impact on your health â in this case, on the growth and death of prostate cancer cells,â said R. James Barnard, professor of physiological science at UCLA and lead investigator on the study.
Barnard and UCLA colleagues studied two groups of men: 14 obese men, ages 42 to 73, who attended an 11-day diet and exercise program at the Pritikin Longevity Center; and 8 normal-weight men, ages 38 to 74, who have followed the Pritikin Program, which includes regular exercise and a very low-fat, high-fiber diet, for close to 15 years.
The researchers collected blood serum samples from the 14 obese men before they began their 11-day Pritikin Program. At UCLA, they mixed the serum samples in dishes with prostate cancer cells. At the end of the 11-day program, they collected a second set of blood samples from the 14 men and mixed them with a second set of prostate cancer cells.
With the first set of blood samples, those taken from the men before they began the Pritikin Program, the LNCaP prostate cancer cells grew vigorously in the cell cultures. Fewer than 3% showed apoptosis (programmed cell death).
At the conclusion of the 11-day program, the prostate cancer cells grew much more slowly. In fact, almost 40% of the cells were on their way to death.
The prostate cancer cells grew even more slowly in the serum from the 8 men who had been following the Pritikin Program for close to 15 years. Furthermore, over 50% of the cells were in the throes of apoptosis, or programmed death.
âThat was the finding that made our jaws drop,â Barnard said. âWe donât know yet whether these dramatic changes that occurred to prostate cancer cells cultured in a laboratory will also occur in patients, but we certainly suspect they do, and weâre launching research to find out.â
Since 1975, over 70,000 men and women worldwide have attended the lifestyle change programs at the Pritikin Longevity Center, located in Aventura, Florida. The success of the Centerâs one-, two-, and three-week diet and exercise programs has been documented in over 65 peer-reviewed medical journals. Results include:
Cholesterol and Triglycerides:
Analysis of 4,587 Pritikin participants in the three-week Pritikin Program showed an average 23% drop in total and LDL cholesterol and an average 33% drop in triglycerides. (Archives of Internal Medicine, 151:1389,1991).
Diabetes:
Among 652 diabetics, 70% on oral agents left the Center free of such medications. 39% of those on insulin left the Center insulin-free. (Diabetes Care, 17: 1469, 1994).
High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease Prevention:
Within three weeks at the Pritikin Center, 11 obese men normalized blood pressure and showed an average 19% drop in cholesterol, 46% drop in insulin, and 17% drop in glucose. (Circulation, 106: 2530, 2002)
Among 268 hypertensives studied, 83% left Pritikin with normal blood pressures and completely off medications. (Journal of Cardiac Rehabilitation, 3: 839, 1983).
Cancer:
Five studies of risk factors for breast, prostate, and colon cancer showed short- and long-term risk factor reductions as a result of adopting the Pritikin Program. (Preventive Medicine, 17: 432, 1988; Nutrition, 7: 137, 1991; Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 86: 1419, 1994; Cancer, 76: 2491, 1995; Nutrition and Cancer, 31: 127, 1998.)
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