According to WHO data, an estimated 700,000 people die from colorectal cancer each year. This means that approximately 2000 people die every day.

Colorectal cancer is cancer that grows in the large intestine (colon) or the anus (rectum). Colorectal cancer can be a barrier in the large intestine with some symptoms, such as pain, constipation, difficult defecation, and feeling bloated in the stomach.

The reasons vary, ranging from family history, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, physical inactivity, smoking, obesity, age, until the polyps in the colon (particularly adenomatous polyps or ever had polyps in the colon and colitis disease or inflammation of the colon Ulcerative untreated).

While the biggest cause of colorectal cancer is diet. A diet of modern society that is less fiber (vegetables and fruits), and tend to like to eat red meat, a trigger gene changes in the body become cancerous. What article?

Turn into cancer genes. There are from birth, and there is after carcinogen exposure from food. After exposure to carcinogens from the food, just an interruption in the DNA

Carcinogens, maybe the word is familiar in your ear. Many contain carcinogens berpengawet food, like chili sauce. Carcinogens are also found in red meat. So, beware if you are very fond of eating steak, barbecue, food or other red meat-based.

Carcinogens can grow on the surface of the intestine. Carcinogen is a substance or substances that can change normal cells into cancer.

Frequently eating fried foods increase your risk allegedly contracted cancer, colorectal.

because the cooking oil used is a bulk oil is used repeatedly. So that the quality of fats in the oil is not good for the body. Cooking oil can be used on average only two times usage. Other stories if you use virgin olive oil and canola oil.

Quality oils and fats to stimulate bile acids. If we eat lots of fat, the bile will Irritable bowel and DNA will be disturbed.

To prevent the body from the risk of colorectal cancer, it helps the body get the right intake, healthy, and appropriate. Fiber intake, vitamin D, calcium, and consumption of green tea in moderation, should be considered correct in your diet everyday. Also, try to reduce intake of foods that increase the risk of cancer, such as alcohol, salt, sugar, red meat, and preservatives food.

On the table is served a dish of food which is so tempting. There is a very tasty potato chips. Beside it, there is a biscuit. There is also a plate of fried foods.

You can not resist picking and eating them all? You may have entered the category of eating unhealthy foods addiction. Do not worry, you can stop it. Here’s how:

1. Have Breakfast correctly
Start your day with a healthy breakfast, such as fruit juice, low-fat milk, yogurt, high fiber cereal, and fruit. People who diet high fiber foods digest slowly. As a result, the hunger is delayed and the desire for fatty foods are also reduced.

2. Cut the portions and sizes
Do not even try to abstain from unhealthy foods as a result you are more tempted to get one. If you want to, buy it in small portions and then share it with your friend.

3. Choose quality
If a you like chocolate, choose a high-quality chocolate (which should be quite expensive). Because if it is expensive, so you won’t often buy it.

4. Start exercising
Sports will pump endorphins, the natural morphine in the body, to circulate throughout the body. With exercise, you so have little time to eat. To reduce the desire to eat chocolate or sweet foods after a big meal, try a walk around the house for a moment.

5. Eat regularly
Passing eating time will lower the blood sugar levels. As a result, you’ll grab sweet foods near you so that sugar levels can be normal. Keep your sugar levels to remain normal with three meals a day with balanced nutrition and appropriate portions for you. Remember, do not overdo it.

6. Look for other alternatives
The desire for fatty foods can be a sign of the body needs fat intake.  You should meet the needs of body fat with healthy fats, like avocado and use the salad dressing of olive oil. Eating yogurt, fresh fruit, sorbet, or low-fat ice cream to be able to meet the body’s need for sweet and fatty foods.

7. Consider using supplements
Many people do not realize their lack of minerals zinc, a substance found in shellfish and beef. This mineral deficiency that causes the tongue to be losing sensitivity. As a result, we  need more salt and sugar to enjoy the food.

Diabetes mellitus or diabetes has become a global health problem. If not treated, complications of diabetes will lead to a variety of other diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, impotence.

Christian Dr. Bibbins-Domingo, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, USA, recently published his research results on the incidence of heart disease with softdrink consumption.

He said the increasing consumption of soft drinks which generally contain high sugar, affects 130,000 new cases of diabetes, 14,000 new cases of heart disease, and 50,000 people with heart problems in the last decade.

“From the results of this study can be concluded, all policies that could reduce the softdrink consumption may have positive impact on public health,” said Dr. Bibbins-Domingo Christian.

By using computer simulation, heart disease associated with a variety of factors, such as obesity and consumption of food containing salt. “So far, we underestimated the incidence between heart disease and  softdrink because it is a popular drinks amongst teenagers. The focus of the disease research is adults over the age of 35,” said Domingo.

He added, the link between the incidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is very real. However, the increasing obesity factors may also be influential.

“Various studies show the impact of consumption of sugary drinks. For decades there have been an increase in sweet drinks consumption,” he said.

The experts warn, to prevent diabetes, we must reduce the intake of beverages with added sugar. If one has diabetes, then the blood sugar, weight, blood pressure and blood fat levels must be controlled. If doing sports could not control it, one should take medication.

Potassium represents 5% percent of the total mineral content of a human body, even though only about one litre is found in the body at a time. Potassium is found in our bodies both inside and outside cells and is a very important mineral required every day to stay healthy. More than 98% of the body’s potassium is intracellular. The body easily absorbs potassium, but nearly 90% of it is excreted through the kidneys and bowels. Thus, potassium is a natural diuretic and is important for the elimination of body wastes, such as water and sodium.

Potassium is a primary electrolyte, it is a great alkalizer, and important for maintaining pH and water balance.

Benefits of potassium:

1. Along with other minerals such as sodium, chloride and calcium, potassium helps in normal cellular function, such as transmission of nerve impulses, digestion, healthy muscle contractions, proper cardiovascular functioning (heartbeat irregularities are normally a sign of potassium deficiency), and helping the body to convert glucose into glycogen (the body’s stored form of energy).

2. Potassium helps promote healthy cardiovascular health. It is strongly believed that potassium has the ability to pump sodium out of the body’s cells and reduce body fluid.

3. Potassium, along with sodium, helps to regulate blood pressure. Increasing potassium in the diet may protect against hypertension in people who are sensitive to high levels of sodium.

4. Potassium also affects blood vessel tone as well as the way blood vessels react to the flowing hormones, thus affecting pressure within blood vessels.

5. Potassium therapeutically assists in the treatment of alcoholism, acne, alleviating allergies, promoting the early healing of burns.

6. It also helps with problems such as congestive heart failure, chronic fatigue syndrome or kidney stones.

7. Potassium plays a vital role in cellular integrity by regulating the transfer of nutrients into the cell.

8. Potassium also attracts oxygen to tissues, helps correct positioning of vital organs. Potassium deficiency indicates that probably albumin, sugar, sodium, and chlorine are also in short supply or not being properly absorbed.

9. Potassium helps proper functioning of the adrenal glands. It helps support healthy sugar balance in the body.

Deficiency of potassium –

The kidneys excrete excess potassium from the body, and deficiencies are rarely found in people on a normal balanced diet. A deficiency may result in fatigue, cramping legs, muscle weakness, sluggish reflexes, acne, dry skin, mood swings and irregular heartbeat.

A shortage of potassium in body may cause a fatal condition known as hypokalemia, resulting from diarrhea, increased diuresis and vomiting. Hypokalemia can occur in people with a chronic disease or due to aging process. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness, ECG abnormalities, decreased reflex response, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia and respiratory paralysis.

If the fluid and electrolyte balance is not restored, the risk of heart failure increases.

Potassium deficiency increases acid levels in the body, lowers the natural pH balance, causes problems with the formation of connective tissue. Kidney diseases (such as acute renal failure), diabetes can also cause fluctuations in the levels of potassium. Many medications such as diuretics, cortisone, prolonged use of aspirin, and laxatives also cause depletion of potassium.

Dietary sources of potassium:

Eating a variety of foods that contain potassium is the best way to get the required amount. Individuals who eat a balanced diet do not need potassium supplements. Foods, which are rich sources of potassium include turnips, whole grains, molasses, fish, citrus fruit, apple cider vinegar, bananas, avocados, yoghurt, tomatoes, poultry, oranges, apricots, potatoes (especially their skins), leafy green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce; and meat. One large orange will supply one with 250 mg of potassium, one-eighth of a person’s daily need. Dried apricots contain more potassium than fresh apricots.

Steaming of foods helps to retain nutrients that are lost through other cooking techniques such as boiling (loss of about 50% of potassium content). Steaming results in only a 6% loss of potassium.

Recommended Daily Allowance of potassium:

There is no recommended daily allowance (RDA) for potassium, but it is advised to get between 2,000-3,000 mg per day. The range of intake for children is 780 to 1,600 mg per day.

This is not difficult, and most people meet this requirement on their own through a normal diet. In general, nutritionists recommend reducing salt intake and ensuring adequate supply by increasing the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in the diet.

If one is into bodybuilding, he must increase the potassium intake, since potassium is needed to maintain muscles in good form, and also because potassium is lost from excessive sweating and urine.

Symptoms of high intake of potassium:

Excessive potassium can be toxic and will affect the heart. This is a problem especially when one is suffering from some problem such as kidney failure. Irregular heart beat and muscle fatigue is sign of toxic potassium levels. In healthy people, the kidneys in the urine excrete excess potassium.

Who requires extra potassium?

People who require potassium supplements include:

# women on oral contraceptives,

# chronic alcoholics or drug abusers,

# smokers

# people undergoing stress

# athletes

# people doing strenuous exertion,

# anyone suffering from any degree of mal-absorption syndrome

# people with eating disorders, especially bulimia and anorexia..

There has been a dramatic decline in the number of deaths from heart attacks in the last decade. In 1970, nearly a million Americans died of cardiovascular disease; now the annual toll is below 600,000. The cause for this improved mortality rate are unknown, but most experts believe that the increased awareness of cardiovascular risk factors and their correction have played an important role in cutting the death toll.

What are the risks? Eventually, about half of all Americans develop some form of heart disease. The most common is a hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of fatty deposits along the vessel lining. This is a slow process that usually takes many years to develop into serious disease. If the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, become severely blocked by the fatty deposits, warning symptoms of heart disease may appear. These include shortness of breath, chest pains (angina pectoris) that are relieved by rest, or a combination of the two. In many people, however, there are no warning signs — the first symptom of heart disease may be a heart attack. This is why it is important to identify and correct possible risk factors before they reach this stage.

In recent years, a number of these risk factors have been identified. Some of them, such as age, sex and family history of heart disease, are things over which we have no control. But there also are a number of factors that can be modified or eliminated, and such action appears to reduce the portability of a heart attack. The three most important controllable risk factors are high blood pressure, high levels of blood cholesterol and cigarette smoking. In fact, many experts attribute the recent decline in cardiovascular deaths to the fact that more people than ever before are now being treated for high blood pressure. Changes in the American diet that have reduced the consumption of butter, eggs and animal fats – and consequently lowered the average blood cholesterol — and a reduction in smoking by middle-aged men also are credited with lowering the toll. Since the likelihood of developing heart disease increases when two or more risk factors are present, modifying the controllable ones helps reduce the hazard of those over which we have no control.

Role of Diet

Studies have shown that population groups whose diets are rich in cholesterol and other animal and dairy fats have more heart attacks that those whose diets are low in these saturated fats. Americans, whose diets are high in meat and eggs, have a higher incidence of heart disease than the Japanese, who end to eat very little meat and other animal and dairy fats.

Studies have also shown that high blood cholesterol — more than 200 miligrams per mililiter of blood — can be lowered by modifying the diet. This means eating more fish and poultry while cutting consumption of red meat, eggs, butter and other dairy fats, and increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables and cereal grains. Substituting polyunsaturated cooking oils (corn, safflower or sunflower oil, for example) for lard or hardened shortening, and using margarines whose labels indicate a high ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats (for example, 4 to 2) instead of butter or margarines with less favorable ratios (e.g., equal or 2 to 3) also help to lower blood cholesterol.

Role of High Blood Pressure

People with high blood pressure have a marked increase in heart attacks and strokes. The cause of most high blood pressure is unkown, but it usually can be lowered by the use of antihypertensive drugs, reduced salt intake, and weight loss in people who are overweight. Controlling high blood pressure is an important preventive measure because it increases the work load of the heart and also directly contributes to hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis).

Role of Cigarette Smoking

Since 1964, when the Surgeon General reported that cigarette smokers on the average had a 70 percent greater chance of having a heart attack than nonsmokers, many other studies have confirmed that cigarette smoking is a major risk factor. This risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked, and recent studies hae found that low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes do not lower the risk of heart disease. Stopping smoking is now considered one of the best things you can do to help prevent a heart attack.

Other Risk Factors

Sedentary life style. Although evidence linking a sedentary life style to increased likelihood of heart disease is indirect, physically active people are known to have wider coronary arteries, which presumably would not be as prone to blockage as those sedentary people.

Type A personality. In recent years, much discussion has focused on the relationship between the type A personality, characterized by anxiety, impatience and perfectionism, and the risk of a heart attack. Although many assessments have confirmed this relationship, scientific proof definitely linking personality type and the development of heart disease is yet to come.

Diabetes. People with diabetes, a serious disease in which the body cannot regulate its blood sugar (glucose), have a higher incidence of coronary disease and heart attacks. The incidence is increased further if the diabetic has other risk factors.

Obesity. the Framingham Study recently concluded that obesity alone increases the risk of heart disease — a hypothesis that has been debated for years. Since obesity often coexists with hypertension, diabetes and a sedentary life style, weight control is an important factor in reducing a number of coronary risk factors.

Sex and age. Some risk factors, such as age and aging and a person´s sex, are unavoidable. Statistics show that men under the age of 45 years are 10 times as likely to develop coronary artery disease as women in the same age group. Between the ages of 45 and 60 years, however, the sex difference diminishes. After age 60 years, the incidence of coronary artery disease is about equally distributed between men and women.

Family history. An inherited susceptibility is also an important risk factor that cannot be avoided. Some manifestations, such as high blood pressure or an inherited tendency to have very high blood blood cholesterol levels (familial hyper-cholesterolemia) can be controlled by drugs and diet.