WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER OR MEN PROSTATE CANCER

Prof. Jane Plant

WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER
By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE  " Why I believe that giving up milk is the key to beating breast cancer..."


I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation for this cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK ?

I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy. I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two ! young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live.

Fortunately, this desire drove me to  unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.

Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily.

These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it.

The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast&n! bsp;cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session.

He had brought with him cards and  letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China .

The suppositories  were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China , then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.

Those words echoed in my mind. Why didn't Chinese women in  China get breast cancer? I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links betw! een soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the stati! stics.

The disease was virtually  non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries. It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country, with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong, the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame.

The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki  have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too.

The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industriali! zed, irradiated Hiroshima , she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half.
Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer.

I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in  breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic.

Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their  rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community.

The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong. In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China, only the better off can a! fford to eat what is termed ' Hong Kong food'.

The Chinese ! describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, in the past, in mainland China.

So it made perfect sense to me that whatever  was causing my breast cancer  and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle.

There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my  research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions.

According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men  contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5! men in every 100,000. In England, Scotland and Wales, however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups, those that can afford to eat rich foods.

I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back  from China. What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?" Why don't they get breast cancer?'
We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it logically.

We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets. Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in the average Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West.
But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast ca! ncer was very low in fat and high in fibre.
Besides, I knew as a sci! entist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years.

Then one day something rather special happened. Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said: "The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!"
It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional   'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear.

Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to  tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties.

I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wet nurse but never, ever, dairy products.
Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s.
On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a  pudding that contained a lot of ice cr! eam. After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chi! nese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds. At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!

Milk, I discovered,  is one of the most common causes of food allergies. Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency. Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.

Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy  produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yogurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy c! ow.

In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of  cancer, I had been eating organic yogurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria.

Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yogurt had been implicated  in ovarian cancer . Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. I wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.
Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yogurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yogurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish.
It is surprisi! ng how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cak! es, contain some form of dairy produce. Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce
.
I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.

Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with calipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth.

My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still  the same size.
Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink
.
About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce  in size. The line on t! he graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller.

And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour.

One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy  produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either.

On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London. He examined me! thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it." None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty.

My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably skeptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer mortality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients.

I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer. I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system! , cured me.

It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am a living proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan.

Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plant

HOODED PITTA (pitta Sordida)

http://animals.jrank.org/pages/996/Pittas-Pittidae-HOODED-PITTA-Pitta-sordida-SPECIES-ACCOUNTS.html

THIS little and colourful bird, a migrant in Singapore, has interested me to no end, largely because it is quite an elusive creature and hard to photograph if one doesn't have alot of patience. 

This morning, I had gone back to the Singapore Botanic Gardens and try my luck again. The Hooded Pitta I saw two weeks ago wasn't to be seen any where at its usual spot. But I remembered being told by a fellow birder that there is another one a stone's throw away. Heading there, I was attracted to a photographer who was already in position and he advised that the bird was indeed around but had gone somewhere when the gardener came to water the plants. We waited for a short while and it did appear. I was pleasantly surprised to find it some what less afraid of people and went about looking for breakfast while we happily clicked away. More photographs of the bird are found below, but first, some information about it.

Physical characteristics: Hooded pittas have a black head, thin throat, and bill; dark greenish upperparts and wings; light wing bands; dark green underparts; black flight feathers; a black tail with blue-green tips and red underneath; black belly patch and lower belly; and pale brown to pinkish feet. Females are slightly duller than males. Adults are 6.3 to 7.5 inches (16 to 19 centimeters) long and weigh between 1.6 and 2.5 ounces (42 and 70 grams).

Geographic range: Hooded pittas are found throughout Southeast Asia, from the foothills of the Himalayas to Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Guinea.
Habitat: Hooded pittas inhabit forested and wooded areas including primary rainforests, secondary forests, bamboo forests, scrublands, overgrown plantations, and cultivated areas. They are found from sea level to 4,900 feet (1,500 meters). 

Diet: Their diet consists mostly of insects, beetles, ants, termites, cockroaches, bugs, various larvae (LAR-vee), earthworms, snails, and berries. They hop quickly along the ground among dead leaves in search of food, and often feed in pairs about 16 to 64 feet (5 to 30 meters) apart. 

Behavior and reproduction: Hooded pittas are strong fliers that are found alone or in pairs. When alarmed, or in order to distract other birds, they display such features as bowing, head-bobbing, wing flicking, and wing/tail fanning. They breed from February to August. Their call varies depending on region, but generally is a double-noted fluty whistle like "whew-whew." The dome-shaped nests are usually on the ground, made of roots, leaves (often bamboo), rootlets, moss, and twigs. The inside is lined with finer material. A short path, made of twigs, usually leads up to the entrance. Females usually lay three or four eggs that are white with gray, brown, or dark purple spots. Both sexes share nest construction, incubation, and care of the young. The incubation period is fifteen to sixteen days. The fledgling period is about sixteen days.

Read more: Pittas: Pittidae - Hooded Pitta (pitta Sordida): Species Accounts http://animals.jrank.org/pages/996/Pittas-Pittidae-HOODED-PITTA-Pitta-sordida-SPECIES-ACCOUNTS.html#ixzz0dzPJeTrY

End

Singapore Botanic Gardens Revisited 2

19 January 2010

 

The Hooded Pitta and the Orange Headed Thrush (above) are among the favourite migratory birds currently making these gardens their winter home of birders and photographers. In December, I managed to take a photo of the thrush but that was spoilt by the multiple flashes blasted by the photographers. The Pitta eluded me altogether. Now most of the photographers are gone and birders said both thrush (now two) and the Pitta are still around. And this time, I got lucky.

Hooded Pitta (Above and Below)

Orange-Headed Thrush (Above and Below)

 

The Thrush Taking Its Evening Bath

Another Large-tailed Nightjar (below) was spotted among a pile of rocks, blissfully asleep. As it was almost sundown, it was a race against both the available light and time (sounds like a vampire movie when this bird will wake up and fly away). This was not the same nightjar, which I had photographed days earlier.

 

A Little Heron was chanced upon in a quiet area of the gardens foraging in a small stream. At first it looked like a Bittern only to find out that this was a juvenile Little Heron (a lifer).

End

Singapore Botanic Gardens Revisted 1

15 and 16,  January 2010


This post is dedicated to various authorities in Singapore, especially NParks, and other nature groups such as the Singapore Nature Society, who have chipped in to protect many of our birds from poachers, and for the banning the use of air guns and catapults. As a result, we today are able to enjoy the sight and songs of these feathered friends all over our islands.


What a hoot it was when I made two short trips to revisit the Botanic Gardens on 15 and 16 January. I saw several lifers the moment I arrived, through advice given by fellow birders who were at the gardens. First was the Tiger Shrike, a juvenile judging by the absence of the black eye band.

 

Wandering towards the Eco-Park area, I thought I spied another Tiger Shrike because of the stripes of the small bird. It turned out to be Sundar Pygmy Woodpecker, my second lifer for the day.

Foraging in the same tree as the woodpecker and in the adjoining palm oil trees, which were fruiting, were many gregarious Long-tailed Parakeet.

 

Making one last round the gardens before evening fell, a fellow birder was seen squatting among a stretch of shrubbery. He said there was a Malayan Night Heron (MNH) around. Then I spotted it, a juvenile and quite unafraid of humans. I had seen many of these night herons in Taiwan but never here.

 

Of course, what is visiting the Botanic Gardens without seeing the Black Swan? So here it is in all its glossy black glory.

  

The next morning, upon entering the back part of the gardens, my attention was drawn to another lifer: Red-Legged Crake. It was foraging for breakfast underneath some bushes and one could have missed it completely were it not for a helpful fellow birder.

Then rounding the corner a rather peculiar block of stone stood out among a pile of rocks, in the sense it was not of the same gray-green colours. This one was rather brownish-black. Through my binoculars, it turned out to be my second lifer for the morning, a Large-Tailed Nightjar. Here's its front view:

And its side profile with eyes trying to keep awake because of my presence, poor thing. I hurried away after taking this shot, of course.

Lovely bird songs filled the morning air as a group of Oriental Magpie Robin hopped among some bushes and at the bottom of trees. They look black from afar but actually have some Prussian blue feathers in the head and top of the wings.

This time round the only kingfisher spotted with some regularity was the White-Collared. 

One lifer that I failed to photograph, because it just won't sit still long enough for me to find it on my camera, was the Asian Brown Flycatcher, which to the casual eye resembles a sparrow.

 

Bukit Batok Nature Park

16 Jan 2010

Some birders have had very good trips to this park, but my first visit there almost ended without seeing anything new or familiar other than the odd Olive-Backed Sunbird. But high up under the canopy of some trees were a noisy bunch of birds, which through the binoculars, indicated that these were a lifer for me. But it was too dark to take any shots. I believe they were some kind of Babbler Tits. But while walking back to the carpark, on top of a bare tree branch stood a bird with a parakeet silhouette. It turned out to be a Red-Breasted Parakeet (lifer!). Patience paid off, as it was soon joined by four others. It looked like they were a family, as the one perched on the top began to feed one of the flock that joined it. This made for several wonderful photos.

 

 

And there were the ubiquitous Pink-Necked Green Pigeons. And here they were having their evening supper of tree fruits.

  

Here are some other birds seen at Seletar Reservoir and Sime Road.

Pacific Swallow (one that sat still!):

 

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo (definitely not Singaporean!):

  

And last but not least an Olive-Backed Woodpecker:

 

 End

 

 

Pasir Ris Park

January 9, 2010

The term Pasir Ris is Malay for 'beach bolt-rope', implying a narrow beach. This charming and tranquil park offers modern park activities such as pony rides, water sports, cycling, inline skating and barbeque rental, but also features a carefully preserved 6-ha mangrove forest.

Boardwalks built into this mangrove forest bring visitors closer to the inhabitants of the mangrove community. Bird enthusiasts can also observe birds from the 3-storey high Bird Watching Tower located within the mangrove forest. (N Parks)

A late afternoon stroll by the Sungei Api Api within the park turned out to be rather pleasant as I caught a small bird wave. Bird calls were noisy and the birds were hopping all over the mangrove trees, while some other birds were chasing each other.

Here are a couple of birds which I managed to capture on camera.

 

 

Nearer the beach, where the wind is strong, House Crows ride the winds. Here's one handsome crow taking a rest from its wind surfing:

 

To be continued ...

Singapore acts to save the Hornbill and Bali Mynah

 

Hornbill breeding takes flight in Singapore

http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2010/01/hornbill-breeding-takes-flight-in.html

Jurong BirdPark bid to rescue Bali mynah

http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2010/01/jurong-birdpark-bid-to-rescue-bali.html

Sime Road

January 2, 2010

I went back for more, even if was for the same. But I know I would at least pick out a few others that I missed seeing yesterday morning.

This time I arrived just after 7 a.m. and the dew was still heavy in the air. Bird song was just starting and I had time to survey this stretch of Sime Road.

In the far distance on the trunk of a dead tree, a Common Flameback Woodpecker (photo below) was busily pecking for grub. No "tock tock" sound as you would hear in Woody's cartoons.

As the first sun rays hit the top of the trees, several birds had stationed themselves on bare branches to warm up their bodies made cold over the night. Here, a Yellow-naped Oriole took the opportunity to groom its flight feathers (photo below):

Over at the next tree, a trio of (clockwise from centre) Little Green Pigeon (lifer), Pink-necked Green Pigeon and Lineated Barbet, shared the space harmoniously (photo below):

I saw my lifer of yesterday, the Lineated Barbet, this time with a pal in tow. Here are photos showing its early morning routine of sunning and eating:

 

 

  

 

End

 

January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!


Sime Road, leading in from Lornie Road, is full of bird life between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. There are few houses around as the road skirts an old Chinese cemetery on Bukit Brown (Bukit means hill in Malay). There are many flowering and fruiting trees in the area. It's truly a sanctuary for birds and I hope it stays this way for some time to come. But I fear it may not be too far off when these graves are exhumed by the government and the land given over for development.

First stop was a quiet lane within the cemetery, populated with one hut and some dogs, which barked non-stop at my intrusion into their space. To my untrained ears, the many new bird calls tell me there are many birds which I have probably never set eyes on before. Compounded by the flitting and flying of our feathered friends my eyes didn't quite know where to focus. But on some bare tree branches far away sat some birds and through the binoculars I made them out to be the Long-tailed Parakeet (photo below), a lifer for me.

Not wishing to dare the dogs to take a bite at me, I headed out to Sime Road. Which, to my surprise, was also full of bird life. I noticed a green bird eyeing me from a bare tree branch. Using my binoculars, I recognised its shape and colour but not its markings. I felt pretty sure that this was a Barbet. "A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia" (Craig Robson), tells me that this was the Lineated Barbet (photo at top and below; and a lifer for me):

The flutter of Green Pigeons was everywhere; I mainly saw the Pink-necked ones and there were others which I couldn't identify as to my untrained eye, they look so alike.

  

Pink-necked Green Pigeon (male)

Pink-necked Green pigeons (female)

The omnipresent Javan Mynah, I largely ignored, but there was one drinking its morning juice from an African Tulip (photo below).

 

Further away, a medium-sized bird was following my movement. It was a cuckoo, and another lifer for me. We exchanged stares for quite a while and then it flew off when I wanted to take a closer shot at it. I believe this is an Indian Cuckoo, given its brown head and throat (photo below):

Birds seem to like standing on bare branches while soaking up the early morning sun rays to warm up their bodies. These birds - a Dollar Bird (left) and a Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo (right) were seen at some distance off (photo below):

 

Last but not least, the elusive White-collared Kingfisher, whose call is everywhere but not that easy to spot, was seen standing on a branch within a tree (photo below) just before I headed home for my breakfast:

Not bad for an hour and a half.

To be continued  .....