A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who drink whole milk and eat full fat dairy products are more fertile than women who stick to low fat dairy products. The research found that low-fat dairy products increased the risk of infertility by as much as 85 percent.

     The study involved more than 18000 women aged 24 to 42, over a period of 8 years and was part of a larger study called the Nurses Health Study involving 116,000 women.

     “Women should consider changing to full-fat dairy foods from low-fat dairy foods. For instance swapping skimmed milk for whole milk and ice cream for low-fat yogurt,” said Jorge Chavarro, the lead researcher.

     “Even one glass of whole milk made a significant difference. The changes should be made, as far as possible, without increasing the total amount of saturated fat or calories in the diet by making small adjustments elsewhere,” Chavarro added.

     Dietary fat has an impact on hormone levels. Full fat dairy products have higher concentrations of oestrogen (female hormone) which promotes ovulation, whereas the protein that is added to low-fat milk has been found to have androgenic (male hormone) effects which suppresses ovulation.

     “It’s a very comprehensive study. Considering the large number of people involved in the study, you can have some confidence in the results,” says Chris Barratt, Faculty of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Birmingham. 

     Vitamin E is one of the most widely used supplements. But recent research published in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that it does not offer any protection against heart attach, stroke or cancer. On the contrary it might actually cause harm.

     Women’s Health Study, conducted over a period of 10 years, involving 39876 middle- aged, healthy women found that there was no significant reduction in the death rates of women who took vitamin E supplement, when compared to women who did not take the supplement.

     Another study involving 136,000 people which examined the effects of different doses of vitamin E supplement, found that an average intake of 400 IU per day does more harm than good. “Increased doses of vitamin E were linked to an increase in death,” said the lead author of the study, Dr. Edgar R. Miller, MD, Ph.D, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Current US dietary guidelines do not recommend vitamin E supplementation, emphasized the researchers.

     Why vitamin E supplement is not as useful as dietary sources of vitamin E? Natural vitamin E occurs in eight forms, whereas most supplements contain only one form of the vitamin, i.e alpha-tocopherol. Research suggests that it is the other forms of vitamin E that are more beneficial and that alpha-tocopherol may even reduce the beneficial effects of other forms.

     The best solution to vitamin E deficiency is to get it from food. Some of  the best dietary sources of vitamin E are Sunflower seeds (50.27 mg per 100 gm), Almonds (26 mg per 100 gm), Hazelnuts (15 mg per 100 gm) and Peanuts (5.6 mg per 100 gm). 

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A 4-year study involving 29000 men found that men who frequently eat cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale and kohlrabi are 40 percent likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer when compared to men who rarely eat these vegetables. The finding appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 

     Cauliflower and Broccoli stood out among the cruciferous vegetables. Men, who ate cauliflower more than once in a week, were 52 percent less likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer than men who ate cauliflower less than once a month. Similarly men, who ate broccoli more than once in a week, were 45 percent less likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer than men who ate broccoli less than once a month, said one of the researcher, Victoria Krish Ph.D of the Cancer Care Ontario, in Toronto Canada.

     What’s so special about the cruciferous vegetables? They contain isothiocyanates, which are capable of breaking down the carcinogens (cancer causing agents) and prevent normal cells from becoming cancerous cells. The indole-3-carbinol found in cruciferous vegetables has the potential of reducing the growth and size of cancerous tumours.

     Cruciferous vegetables also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine is an amino acid that causes good cholesterol (High Density Lipoprotein) turn into bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein). 

Chlorine is the most widely used disinfectant to purify water for over a hundred years now. Chlorine is used, not because it is the safest method, but because it is the cheapest method.

    The US Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) reported as early as in 1981, that drinking chlorinated water increases the risk of cancer by as much as 93 percent. The study examined 11398 people, who died of either gastrointestinal cancer or urinary tract cancer. 

     The increased risk is not from chlorine itself, but from cancer-causing chlorine compounds such as chloroform and bromoform, that are formed when chlorine reacts with the organic compounds in the water such as leaves and soil.

     But public water supplies is continued to be treated with chlorine, because of the fear that untreated water can cause more harm to people. The cost of treating water with ozone or ultra-violet light is not only prohibitive but also will not prevent contamination of water in the water distribution system which supplies the water to homes.

     The alternatives available for the authorities, are removing the organic matter from the water before chlorination and treating the water with charcoal where there is a high level of organic matter in the water.

     Till an alternative to chlorination is found, it is better to purify the water at home to remove the chlorine. There are different choices available to remove the chlorine from the water. Filtering the water either by carbon filters or fibre filters, Reverse Osmosis treatment and Distillation are the widely used methods to remove the chlorine compounds and guard against the harmful effects of chlorine.