However, in this latest issue of the Nutrition Action Newsletter, published by those wise watchdogs, The Center for Science in the Public Interest, they do narrow down the latest research to four things you can do right now to minimize your risk. They are all well documented in the cancer community, and are exactly what I’ve been hearing and reading about from the top cancer research hospitals - including the one I went to, the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

1- Watch your weight.

Like a lot of women, I gained too much weight in my 30’s. How much?

Here’s the query, followed by my reply:

Hello, Networkers,

Your experiences as a patient, either at M.D. Anderson or elsewhere, can be a big help to others who are following in your paths. I’m writing to ask your help by responding to either (or both!) of the questions below. We will compile the answers we receive, which will be printed as a House Call column in the ONCOLOG.

I have a friend who is getting her doctorate in nursing, and was diagnosed with celiac disease several years ago. She was diagnosed as such, having done the hard tests - they’re nasty, and invasive. She’s not the only celiac I know, either. These are people with a very serious problem.

However, the gluten intolerant ‘diagnosis’ seems to be going through a kind of vogue lately. And, I’ve begun to wonder, based on personal experience, if it’s really a gluten intolerance or a reaction from all the highly refined grain products - so often combined with too many other harmful ingredients and sugars -  that are manufactured into the American diet, whether they need to be there or not.

The end result may be the same, but the cause may not always be what the gluten free marketing blitz would like everybody to believe. Coming from a marketing background, I’m very suspicious that the food industry would seriously love to start selling gluten intolerance to create whole new markets for products yet to be invented.

Like I said, personal experience is what is driving my suspicions.

This is the conclusion from a first ever look at such a connection between sugar and blood cholesterol in a large epidemiological study, using data from the long-running National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 through 2006. The American Heart Association has issued a statement recommending reductions in sugar.

Think you are already consuming less sugar? Maybe. Maybe not, depending on the amounts of processed foods you’re eating.